You're stuck. What now?

[overland_squirrel]

Bob Wohlers has a great book you may want to check out, Live Long to Wander. I have no association with him, but do live offgrid in the woods and travel a lot solo in the Idaho Rockies. Even with my experience, I found a few gems and am recommending it to my friends. I can't agree more with his recommendation of taking a backcountry first aid course. Every other time I go in the backcountry I find someone is various states of vehicle or personal distress. In winter we average 2 recoveries a week.

Wohler has another book on raising vehicles and one coming out on self recovery, anxious to see the latter.

We live by the mantra that "Knowledge without mileage is useless" so practice, practice, practice.

thanks for the recommendation, just ordered it.

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

This is a great read. Keep em comin!
Partially posting to get a few posts in, partially a real question :) Never have done much off road driving, but i plan on it next season.

To add to this, where would you spend your money in terms of recovery gear? (not safety, medical, oh $hit!, etc)

In terms of "bang for your buck", Maxtrax or equivalent are probably the best investment. A lot of people who use them rarely (if ever) need a winch because the Maxtracks get them out of a jam most of the time.

This is assuming you already have a shovel and an axe -- if not, start there.

I'd say a Winch should be way down the list, even though they are 'expo cool'. Winches also cost a lot of money to mount since you might need to do bumpers or a mounting plate if you haven't already.

 

[Desert Runner]

Growing up, and getting the truck stuck was always a possibility with our family. This was before recovery straps, CB radio(Limited to OTR truckers/licenses), or other now common recovery methods. If you were high tech, you had a winch, for the rest of us.....A logging chain, and a shovel and a 'come-along'. Also any and all available rocks, and wood branches you gathered. 2 wheel drive trucks were easy to find your limits. I had many adventures helping my dad get unstuck from situations which required the above. The secret to getting unstuck was to never bury the truck to the frame rails. Aka...know when to stop and start shoveling.

We always were able to get ourselves out, but it also took time, and a lot of effort. Dad always regretted not getting that 4x4 option, when he got his first truck.

P.S. This was also way way before on-demand air was available, and the service station air hose was just not quite long enough to reach. There-fore any airing down had to be carefully weighed so that tire damage did not happen once you freed yourself. A different era, where the options we now have are much simpler to contemplate.

 

[SubeeBen]

Just food for thought. My dad was in the off-road racing world I.E. Baja 500, 1000 etc & long before recovery boards & other methods they used 12” x 3’ strips of carpet to get unstuck from sand mud etc. just sayin if this helps anyone.

 

[Cendee]

The best thing you can invest in is Maxtrax. They were able to get me out of this yucky mud in just a few minutes.

 

[Desert Runner]

The best thing you can invest in is Maxtrax. They were able to get me out of this yucky mud in just a few minutes.

That looks like the STICKY/Slick type of mud that adheres to everything and takes forever to remove, It probably took longer to clean your footwear, than the Jeep. The dry lake bed outside Vegas becomes that type of mud as soon as it rains. 15 minutes of fun equals 3 hours of pressure washing......NOT FUN AT ALL!

How much prep did it take....shovel work...etc to get the Max-Trax under your wheels?

And just where did you store them on the way home.Hopefully on the rack at 20 lbs apiece

 

[Desert Runner]

Honestly can ad nothing that has not been said above. Great advice on knowledge, gear, vehicle prep, and attitude.