Recovery gear

[Podog4674]

Hello everybody. I have a question for the entire Over lander world here. I’m looking at building a recovery kit for my Disco 2. My question is what gear do I need to make a good recovery kit? Right now in my vehicle I have the winch, shackles on both sides, a basic tool kit, a tree saving strap, a snatch block, and a pair of gloves. If you guys have any other items that I might need to buy to make my recovery kit complete; please let me know.

Thank you.

 

[Brewbud]

In addition to what you carry, I carry splicing tools for synthetic rope, a soft shackle or two, a few tug-ems (at least one of them with stretch for snatching) and a rock sleeve for the winch line. I am sure there is more I am forgetting. That's in addition to digging tools. I also have a Ready Welder I sometimes carry.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Hello everybody. I have a question for the entire Over lander world here. I’m looking at building a recovery kit for my Disco 2. My question is what gear do I need to make a good recovery kit? Right now in my vehicle I have the winch, shackles on both sides, a basic tool kit, a tree saving strap, a snatch block, and a pair of gloves. If you guys have any other items that I might need to buy to make my recovery kit complete; please let me know.

Thank you.

I would like to see your rig when you have time to post it.. Cant help with your question because I'm just now getting my rig trail worthy.
I think a shovel, some of those rigid skids for driving up on (the name slips my mind) I would have tire chains and a hi lift jack (they can be used like a come a long also).
I'll let the more experienced guys give you their knowledge on the rest.

 

[UploadAdventure]

Treaty Oak Offroad makes a good full kit.

Recovery Kits

Prebuilt recovery kits are the easiest way to get fully outfitted in a hurry. We have put together a handful of kits that will fit a variety of...

www.treatyoakoffroad.com

 

[Dorian]

I would definitely carry a shovel and recovery boards. I’ve had to use them both on several occasions. I also carry a good tow strap. Used it a few times to help out other stuck vehicles without needing to use a winch.

last item which may sound odd is extra fuel. I have run across three other vehicles on the trail this year that weren’t stuck, just out of gas.

 

[Stormcrow]

Is your winch line synthetic or steel cable? Most snatch blocks are designed for cable, so the ones on the cheaper side will have gaps between the arms and the pully. If you run synthetic line through that block, there's a chance the line might jump off the pully and get into one of those gaps. If that happens, the frictional heat will melt through the line pretty quick. Also, if the snatch block is ever used with cable and you try to use synthetic in it later on, the burrs on the pully from the cable will cut through the synthetic line. They make billet aluminum snatch blocks designed specifically for synthetic. They're a bit more expensive than the cheap Smitty Bilt ones, but lighter. For synthetic line, you could also use a recovery ring, it's not as efficient as a snatch block (higher frictional loses), but a lot lighter and takes up less space.

A kinetic rope won't help as much for self-recoveries, but is easier to rig up and use than a winch in assisted recoveries. For synthetic line and soft shackles, your steel shackles may give you problems. If the shackles are drop forged with raised letters on the face of curved section, those raised letters have the potential to cut through a soft shackle when put under load - it might not happen the first time you do, but the chances increase every time you do. If you're running synthetic, it's good to keep a Van Beest Shackle in your kit to use with the soft shackles.

If you have the room in your kit, you might consider adding a 3" x 30' static/tow strap (do not use in kinetic recoveries) and/or an equalizing bridle.

[Most of those links are to Treaty Oak Offroad, which is all I really use for soft stuff. Other places that have quality recovery gear are 7P Overland and Step 22 Gear. At one of the Overland Expos last year, the guys from Step 22 did a really good clinic on what to look for when buying recovery gear and what the specific gear should be used for.]

 

[Stormcrow]

last item which may sound odd is extra fuel. I have run across three other vehicles on the trail this year that weren’t stuck, just out of gas.

Number of times I've run out of gas on the trail: 0
Number of times I've come across someone else that was out of gas: 3

I've started carrying extra gas specifically because of that.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Extra 100' roll of winch line is nice to have, soft shackles, 4tn come a long can be handy in some situations.

 

[MidOH]

I ditched the recovery boards and switched to truck claws.

Tire plug kit with lots of plugs.
Double redundancy on spare tires.
Spare battery, belt, alternator, and starter. Battery doesn't have to be fullsize.
Good bottle jack and some 4x4 lumber.
Can of ether.
Air compressor.
A 120v extension cord, that can be hacked up in an emergency.
Chainsaw, for people that tell me that I'm camping too close to the lake.

My 38g tank reads empty with 10g left, so I'm not too worried. I always tank up when I leave the freeway.

 

[PDB]

Hello everybody. I have a question for the entire Over lander world here. I’m looking at building a recovery kit for my Disco 2. My question is what gear do I need to make a good recovery kit? Right now in my vehicle I have the winch, shackles on both sides, a basic tool kit, a tree saving strap, a snatch block, and a pair of gloves. If you guys have any other items that I might need to buy to make my recovery kit complete; please let me know.

Thank you.

If you always travel in a pair with another vehicle and practice common sense, all you need between you is:

A suitable jack and support blocks and boards

A kinetic strap/rope suitable to vehicle size

Two suitably rated shackles hard or soft

A full mounted spare wheel each with lug wrench

Rated recovery points

A make shift airbrake/winch sail for the kinetic rope/strap.

A shovel.


Moving on to self-recovery, that would depend on the following:
1. How heavy is your rig when typically loaded?
2. What is your max winch rated pull?
3. What is the rating of the winch line?
4. How long is the winch line
5. Steel or synthetic winch line?
6. Winch amp draw, alternator capacity and battery CCA?
7. Do you travel through trees or not?

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

If you always travel in a pair with another vehicle and practice common sense, all you need between you is:

A suitable jack and support blocks and boards

A kinetic strap/rope suitable to vehicle size

Two suitably rated shackles hard or soft

A full mounted spare wheel each with lug wrench

Rated recovery points

A make shift airbrake/winch sail for the kinetic rope/strap.

A shovel.


Moving on to self-recovery, that would depend on the following:
1. How heavy is your rig when typically loaded?
2. What is your max winch rated pull?
3. What is the rating of the winch line?
4. How long is the winch line
5. Steel or synthetic winch line?
6. Winch amp draw, alternator capacity and battery CCA?
7. Do you travel through trees or not?

I would add that some winches require two batteries. I just bought one that had that recommendation. Check the winch spec's.

 

[PDB]

If you always travel in a pair with another vehicle and practice common sense, all you need between you is:

A suitable jack and support blocks and boards

A kinetic strap/rope suitable to vehicle size

Two suitably rated shackles hard or soft

A full mounted spare wheel each with lug wrench

Rated recovery points

A make shift airbrake/winch sail for the kinetic rope/strap.

A shovel.


Moving on to self-recovery, that would depend on the following:
1. How heavy is your rig when typically loaded?
2. What is your max winch rated pull?
3. What is the rating of the winch line?
4. How long is the winch line
5. Steel or synthetic winch line?
6. Winch amp draw, alternator capacity and battery CCA?
7. Do you travel through trees or not?

I would add that some winches require two batteries. I just bought one that had that recommendation. Check the winch spec's.

Yeah thats my point really. You have to know if your winch is up to the job with the vehicle you have, and resolve any issues with approriate gear accordingly. I'm not sure what amps a Disco 1 alternator puts out. Older vehicles not much. Check the amp draw per wrap of rope. Double line recoveries may be the only option on the first winch layer. So then you would need longer winch line or extentions, which is limiting with a wire winch line which can't be shortened easily like a synthetic line can be.

 

[M Rose]

I would add that some winches require two batteries. I just bought one that had that recommendation. Check the winch spec's.

Most winches recommend dual batteries. I always recommend dual batteries and a high output alternator for winching. Another often overlooked spec on winches is its duty cycle... or how long of pulls under full load. For these reasons I went with a hydraulic winch. No duty cycle to worry about, no need for an extra battery, or a high amp alternator, can be used submerged in water. Only drawback is that the rig has to be running in order to use it, and a power steering cooler is going to need to be fabricated. Ohh and they are about 2x the price of an electric winch of the same spec and quality.

 

[Brentski]

Most winches recommend dual batteries. I always recommend dual batteries and a high output alternator for winching. Another often overlooked spec on winches is its duty cycle... or how long of pulls under full load. For these reasons I went with a hydraulic winch. No duty cycle to worry about, no need for an extra battery, or a high amp alternator, can be used submerged in water. Only drawback is that the rig has to be running in order to use it, and a power steering cooler is going to need to be fabricated. Ohh and they are about 2x the price of an electric winch of the same spec and quality.

I have the an opportunity to by a used Mile Marker 12,000 hydraulic winch for $500. The seller says it needs a solenoid replaced and it doesn't have a cable on it. I've never had a winch before but I know a new one is about $1500. Are these easy to fix? Am I right for wanting to hop on it?

 

[M Rose]

We manufacture recovery gear.

MADE IN THE USA

K72 Rope by Guardian of Bravery
3/8'' - Store - Guardian of Bravery
1/2'' - Store - Guardian of Bravery

For Kinetic energy recovery ropes also MADE IN THE USA
7/8'' x 20' - Store - Guardian of Bravery
1'' x 20' - Store - Guardian of Bravery
1.25'' x 20' - Store - Guardian of Bravery

For more info on K72 Rope by Guardian of Bravery
All the specs for our products are on the website, links above.
We also can custom make other sizes upon request.

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[madcratebuilder]

I have the an opportunity to by a used Mile Marker 12,000 hydraulic winch for $500. The seller says it needs a solenoid replaced and it doesn't have a cable on it. I've never had a winch before but I know a new one is about $1500. Are these easy to fix? Am I right for wanting to hop on it?

The Mile Marker controller is about a $150 part, you may be able to use a generic controller that is cheaper, it's just a HD solenoid. It's a bolt on part, you need heavy gauge wires and hyd crimps.

 

[M Rose]

The Mile Marker controller is about a $150 part, you may be able to use a generic controller that is cheaper, it's just a HD solenoid. It's a bolt on part, you need heavy gauge wires and hyd crimps.

Why heave gauge wire... it only pulls 5 amps continuous with a peak of 20 amps... as for generic actuators... yup, I got mine at tractor supply for $25.00 a piece.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Why heave gauge wire... it only pulls 5 amps continuous with a peak of 20 amps... as for generic actuators... yup, I got mine at tractor supply for $25.00 a piece.

The wiring from the controller to the winch needs to be heavy gauge, I used #2 welding cable on my Warn. We must be thinking of different things, a winch uses much more than 5 amps. You have three leads from the controller to the winch when you remote mount the controller.

Edit to add: I reread to OP's post "Hydraulic" winch, 5 amps runs that?

 

[M Rose]

The wiring from the controller to the winch needs to be heavy gauge, I used #2 welding cable on my Warn. We must be thinking of different things, a winch uses much more than 5 amps. You have three leads from the controller to the winch when you remote mount the controller.

Edit to add: I reread to OP's post "Hydraulic" winch, 5 amps runs that?

Yes, it’s only an electro/magnetic solenoid to open and close the valving for the hydraulic fluid to pass through... the supplies kit comes with 14 gauge wire and two 10 amp circuit breakers.

I don’t see how to add anything larger than 10 gauge wire to the solenoids, and even that seams to be counter intuitive since the solenoids have 14 gauge hard wires wires coming out of them.

 

[Joseph Gaitan]

Recovery can be basic or advanced. There are many ways to do recoveries.

For basics: Always carry
Soft shackles
Kinetic Rope
Recovery strap
Gloves

For advanced recovery, I would suggest taking some recovery classes.

Please do make sure that the gear that you buy from has been tested. All the ropes made in the USA have been tested to a work load limit in pounds. This is key to making sure that your equipment is rated for your vehicle. Keep in mind that we Overlanders tend to add lots of extra weight with camping gear, consider this when buying recovery equipment for your truck/SUV.