If you are getting ready for a trip offroad, the list of gear you could, should and eventually will bring with you, seems to go on forever, the tedium of organizing all of your gear makes it just a little bit easier to put off trips away with the family and friends.

But procrastinate no longer, we are going to run down the top 6 things you absolutely MUST bring with you when heading on trips away, many of these things you should keep in the car indefinitely.

1.Navigation Equipment.

When travelling far into the unknown, it is easy to forget that 4g reception hardly ever works when you need it the most, on top of that, your smartphones map application will typically be unable to provide clear and detailed mapping of the area you are driving in. This is why any adventurer worth their weight in salt, knows that you need a DEDICATED GPS navigation system like the VMS Touring 700HDX with both detailed topographic maps and on road turn by turn navigations, with the ability to leave a breadcrumb trail to backtrack if required, you’ll wonder how you ever did without one of these awesome devices!

2.Clear Communications
As with navigation requirements, the necessity to be “off grid” and “self sufficient” are important when it comes to communications, mobile reception towers are few and far between, and in our opinion GOOD RIDDANCE! However, it is still extremely important to stay in contact with any other 4WDs on the tracks, as well as being able to call for help in emergency situations.

This is where UHF comes in, UHF is somewhat restricted in overall transmission power being legislatively restricted to only 5W compared to the 25W found in VHF marine radio or up around 100W found in some AM radio transmitters.

Due to its relatively low power, this means it can be used as an effective unlicensed CB radio, and when fitted with the right dBi antenna still is able to reach out beyond 20km (or much, more when using the duplex repeater function and a repeater station). If you are looking for a powerful 5W UHF with a 6.5dBi antenna all in a no soldering installation then the Oricom UHF380PK is perfect for you!

3.Spare Fluids

Even if your vehicle is newer, particularly on longer trips, it’s a really good idea to equip your 4WD with spare liquids such as;

engine oil the same rating as the oil in your engine already, fresh water approximately 20L can be used to add to radiator or as emergency drinking water or even for washing hands, fuel  for just in case you misjudge distances, transmission fluid, brake oil make sure you use the right type recommended for your vehicle and coolant concentrate, no point carrying heavy premixed coolant if you have a 20L jerry of fresh water too!

4.Air!

This sounds silly but being able to measure and adjust your tyre pressures offroad will be one of the most critical aspects of how much grip and how much performance your 4WD has offroad. We recommend at least carrying a Thumper MKII Air Compressor and a Kwiky Tyre Deflator. You can drop your tyre pressures in seconds and re-inflate in just a minute or two per tyre.

There is no substitute to having a reliable air compressor, and purpose made tyre deflation tool in your arsenal!

5.Recovery Kit!

This one goes without saying, however there are a bunch of different ways that people use to get their 4WD free when the line they chose on the tracks just simply didn’t work out the way that was planned.

If you are lucky enough to have a bull bar fitted to the front of your 4WD then fitting a Domin8r X 12,000LB winch to the front will surely get you out of just about anything, however a winch on its own is next to useless, you will have to hook it up using all the right rated straps, and rated shackles and if you were wanting even more power, using something along the lines of a rated Snatch block pulley can give you up to double the pulling power!

If you find yourself driving on soft surfaces like sand a lot then something like a snatch strap might be just the ticket, it is a clever way to bungee your 4WD out of trouble using stored kinetic energy from another 4WD!

There are a handful of different recovery kits available in the 4WD Supacentre range, but the most comprehensive is the Hercules Complete Recovery Kit, including a shovel gloves and even a Kwiky Tyre Deflator along with all the other bits and pieces required for snatch strap and winch recoveries.

6.Recovery Safety

This one is more critical than ever no matter which recovery method you employ, there is inherent risks involved with tons of force and load bearing straps shackles and hooks, so to increase your safety, you must always think of safety above everything, All winch recovery kits in the range include a winch dampener to stop potential projectiles from hurting spectators or damaging vehicles.

On top of the winch dampener, you should also consider the anchor point you are fastening your winch or snatch strap too. Whilst you may be tempted to hook onto your tow ball, or your vehicles integrated tie down loops, you should seriously consider getting a set of rated tie down points fitted to your vehicle!