No matter what kind of 4WD you drive, or the tracks that you like to hit there is surely a time and a place where your line wasn’t perfect or the track got too gnarly and you have found yourself seriously stuck in deep mud, on the edge of a bomber hill, or even just bogged on a long sandy desert track that swallowed you down axle deep!

Getting stuck in your 4WD is just a part of off-road life and could be taken as a personal failure, however we like to look at it as a challenge and something to tell stories about at the campfire later!

With more and more people getting out and hitting the tracks, we have found that the difference between a highly skilled and experienced 4WDer and someone who manages to get themselves into trouble easily, isn’t so much the ability to avoid getting stuck when you are off-road, but rather how you deal with the recovery scenario you are confronted with!

With all of that being said, here are five handy tricks that you can pull off when you are off the tracks. The Hercules Complete Recovery Kit has got just about everything you’ll ever need in one tough bag and believe it or not won’t cost you the earth!

1. Snatch straps

These are an extremely clever bit of kit. It’s best to think of a snatch strap as being stretchy like big rubber band or a bungee cord.
A snatch strap works by being stretched, the act of pulling it taught with a moving vehicle it stores a plenty of energy for just a moment, it will then start exerting that energy onto the stationary object by contracting back to its original length.

When attached between two vehicles you can drive an unstuck vehicle in the same direction of travel as the stuck vehicle is facing, when the strap hits tension it will stretch and store massive amounts of kinetic energy.

After the snatch strap reaches the end of its stretch the stored energy is then able to release that stored energy by retracting in a smooth and controlled pull, resulting in getting even the most stuck vehicles free (most of the time)

Because of all the stored energy, snatch strap recoveries can be dangerous if they’re not done correctly, so to make them as safe as possible, try a static snatch recovery.

Here’s how:
Attach your Hercules 8000kg Snatch Strap using rated bow shackles to proper rated recovery points on each vehicle.

The stuck vehicle applies its brakes while the towing vehicle then drives as far forward as possible. At the very moment the towing vehicle can’t drive any further forward, its brakes are applied and as the brake lights come on, the stuck vehicle’s brakes are released. It might take a couple of tries to get the hang of it, but it’s a whole lot safer than backing up and hitting it hard and fast in third gear low.

2.Winching for hero’s!

Lets set the scene, your mate is in his gun rig and chooses the toughest line and gets himself stuck and you’ve come to the rescue with your Domin8r X 12,000lb winch. Problem is, he’s just dragging you forward towards him, instead of you winching him out.

Simply grab your Hercules 10,000kg Tree Trunk Protector and wrap it around a tree behind your 4WD, and then secure it to a rated recovery point on the rear of your vehicle. Now your 4WD’s anchored rock solid, and it ain’t going anywhere.

Dont forget; You must Remind your mate of your heroic actions next time he gets up to go to the fridge or the esky…

3.Winch extension straps aren’t just for winch recoveries.

Sometimes you need to do a snatch recovery, but you can’t get the recovering vehicle close enough to the stuck vehicle. In this case, it’s perfectly fine to use you Hercules rated winch extension strap joined to the 8000kg Hercules snatch strap. The stretch in the snatch strap will still allow the snatch recovery to work properly. Never use just a winch extension strap on its own as a snatch recovery strap as they aren’t designed or rated to stretch.

To extend your 8000kg Hercules snatch strap simply pass one strap’s eye loop through the eyelet of the Extension strap and then back through itself, using something like a roll of toilet paper or a rolled-up magazine to prevent it binding on itself – otherwise you’ll never get it undone when you’re finished.

4.This technique right here is known as slingshot winching.

When you’re in the lead position on a tight track and the vehicle behind you gets stuck without a winch, you can use your rated snatch block to run your winch cable forwards and then back to the stuck vehicle. It saves having to find a place down the track to turn around – if that’s even an option at all – and the snatch block effectively halves the load on your winch, meaning it will make light work of any recovery situation. Just remember, whenever you’re winching, that you need to always use the included winch dampener on all runs of the winch cable as an added layer of protection in case any part of the system fails.

5.Synthetic winch rope is light, strong and really easy to work with.

It’s downside however, is that it can be damaged and even snap if it is rubbed up against a rock, root or dirt bank. The simplest solution? We grabbed the Recovery Folding Shovel out of the kit and used it upside down as a smooth run for the rope to pass over. It’s now protected from rubbing against the ground and faces far less danger of getting weakened or frayed.