Having a 4×4 winch mounted to the front of your 4WD is one of the best upgrades you can ever make! It doesn’t matter if you aren’t really the kind of 4WDer who hits the big hills and the deep bogholes on weekends with your mates, because a 4WD winch isn’t just about hardcore 4WDing. It’s all about being prepared – which is something that all good 4WDers, campers and explorers should always be! However it’s one thing to decide that you want to put a 12,000 lb winch on your car, and it’s another thing altogether to realise the confidence that the winch gives you when you’re out exploring.

Yep, that confidence that even if you’re not expecting to get bogged but are prepared in case you do get stuck, is an amazing thing. It’s what allows us to search over that next big hill and find that elusive amazing campsite. When you’ve got your Dominator winch mounted to your car, you know that should the worst case scenario happen and you do fall into a rut, or a bit of mud turns out deeper than you expected, all you’ve got to do is unspool the 4×4 winch rope and get out the recovery gear, and self-extract yourself.

In fact, a quality 4×4 winch like the Domin8r Xtreme 12,000lb winch very much could be the difference between being bogged for hours on end or even being stuck in the bush overnight – an absolutely nightmare scenario that none of us would ever want to go through! – and a quick 20 minute 4×4 recovery that turns into a funny story to tell at camp around the campfire.

You might be thinking “but I always go travelling with mates and we’ve got snatch straps and other recovery gear” if we get stuck, but a 4WD winch has a couple of huge benefits even in these type of group camping scenarios. Firstly, often you’ll find that the position a vehicle gets stuck in doesn’t lend itself to a snatch recovery – maybe the track is too steep, or maybe the turns are too tight through the trees to do a proper snatch recovery.

Secondly, what about those typical scenarios when all your mates drop out at the last minute? You know the deal. “Sorry mate, boss said he’d pay me double time if I worked this weekend.” “Forgot I’ve got the kids sports this weekend” etc. In that scenario, you could either just sit at home on the couch and watch the idiot box (boring), or you could head out bush camping and exploring by yourself, knowing you’ve got your 12000lb 4×4 winch on hand should something go wrong!

And it’s not just small trips that a 4WD winch is an amazing confidence booster on, either. How about those big dream trips, like Cape York, the High Country or Tassie? Murphy’s Law means two things on big trips – it’s likely your mates who were so keen will pull out at the last minute, and it’s also likely that at some stage you’ll get stuck. Not that you’re driving to the very top of Australia to throw your vehicle into a deep boghole, but you’d be crazy to go all the way to Cape York and not drive the Tele Track! On that amazing iconic 4WD track, getting bogged is part and parcel of the fun. Palm Creek crossing – the very first crossing you’ll encounter when you head north leaving Bramwell Junction Roadhouse – has some very full-on steep exits that will almost definitely require a 4WD winch recovery. You could either turn around and miss arguably the most amazing 4WD track in Australia, or you could run out the 4×4 winch rope, hook up the recovery gear and winch yourself free!

And just to really drive home how vital an electric winch is when you’re exploring iconic destinations, a couple of years ago we took an old Pajero we pulled from a wrecking yard to the Cape to prove a point – that you don’t need the latest and greatest 4WD, if you’ve got a few of the right bits of gear like a 4WD winch. That old Pajero was nothing special, but it was also amazing. We pulled a set of steel wheels with mud tyres off an old Patrol in the same wrecking yard, bolted on a winch-compatible bullbar we found on another even more wrecked Pajero, and then slotted in a new 12,000lb low mount electric winch. I tell you what, I definitely relied on that 4×4 winch heaps on that trip – the Pajero was a tough old bus but I found myself winching out of multiple crossings on both the Frenchman’s Track and the Old Tele Track. And if I didn’t have that 4×4 winch, I’d have never had the confidence to go exploring, which led to some utterly amazing campsites and freshwater swimming holes.

Yep, whether you’re on a quick weekend adventure or you’re setting your rig up for the dream trip of a lifetime, the confidence you’ll gain from having the best quality 4×4 winch like a Domin8r X winch simply can’t be under-stated. And of course you need two other things too – a complete recovery kit, to let you hook up to other cars or to a tree for a recovery, and also a bit of experience using your winch. Because it’s one thing to have a strong 4WD winch – it’s another thing altogether to use it to its maximum effectiveness! Luckily we’ve got you covered there too – simply check out our Youtube channel www.youtube.com/the4WDsupacentre, look for the “Camping and 4WDing Hacks, Tricks and Tips” playlist and make sure to watch our “Beginner’s Guide to Winching” and “Advanced Winching Tricks” videos to get you up to speed!