Although none of us likes to admit it, getting stuck is just part and parcel of taking your 4×4 or SUV off-road. It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re the most careful 4WDer ever, there\u2019s going to be a time when that \u2018little mud puddle\u2019 turns into something a lot nastier and catches you by surprise. And then there\u2019s those amongst us who live and breathe tough 4WDing, and head out with our mates every weekend to challenge ourselves and our 4x4s against the biggest, worst hills we can find!<\/p>\n
Whether you fit into Category A, Category B or somewhere in between, the one thing that should be in every car is a proper 4×4 recovery kit. It doesn\u2019t even matter if you have an electric winch or not \u2013 if you carry a good selection of recovery gear, you\u2019ll almost always be equipped to get yourself out of trouble. It\u2019s also very good practice that even if you\u2019re by yourself and someone stops to help, that you use your own recovery gear to get you out of trouble.<\/p>\n
The Hercules Complete Recovery Kit<\/strong> is the perfect 4×4 recovery kit<\/strong> to keep in the back of your 4WD for emergency situations because it has just about everything you\u2019d want in a recovery kit<\/strong>. Here\u2019s what you should look for in a 4WD recovery kit<\/strong>, what it does and when to use it.<\/p>\n SNATCH STRAP:<\/strong> The most commonly-used bit of gear. A good 4wd snatch strap has a certain amount of \u2018stretch\u2019 designed into it, like a giant rubber band. When the towing vehicle takes off, the snatch strap<\/strong> stretches a little, and as it recoils it \u2018pops\u2019 the stuck vehicle up and free. Use it on the beach, or if a 4×4 is stuck in the middle just a little bit, like when it sits on its diffs in a rut, spinning tyres.<\/p>\n EXTENSION STRAP:<\/strong> Often you won\u2019t be able to get the recovering vehicle close enough to the bogged 4WD to connect the winch cable<\/strong> or the snatch strap<\/strong> straight up. In this case, you can use an extension strap<\/strong> to cover the extra distance. Works beautifully with the Grande Mk3<\/strong> or the Domin8r X winches<\/strong>, but can also be connected to one end of a snatch<\/strong> strap<\/strong> by passing one eyelet through the other, and using a large branch at least three inches in diameter to stop it coming undone. NOTE: Never use a shackle to connect two snatch straps together.<\/p>\n TREE TRUNK PROTECTOR:<\/strong> When you\u2019re winching off a tree, you can very quickly kill even the biggest tree if you just wrap your winch cable<\/strong> around it. You\u2019ll end up ring-barking the tree. Use a tree-trunk protector<\/strong> wrapped around the tree as an anchor point for your winch hook<\/strong>. If you need to winch<\/strong> off the back of another vehicle that has a removable towbar, you can remove the towbar and feed one end of the tree-trunk protector in, securing with the towing hitch pin to provide a solid anchor point on the other end of the tree-trunk protector.<\/p>\n DAMPENER\/AIRBRAKE<\/strong>: Vehicle recoveries deal with massive forces, and sometimes things go wrong. We\u2019ve seen rated recovery points simply pull straight out of the vehicle\u2019s chassis rail. Whether you\u2019re winching<\/strong> or snatching, you should always use a dampener over the snatch strap or the winch cable<\/strong>. If something breaks, it\u2019ll happen at the moment when there\u2019s maximum tension on the strap or cable, and the dampener<\/strong> will ensure that tension doesn\u2019t slingshot a broken recovery point through your rear winch<\/strong>. Always, always use one.<\/p>\n PROPER RATED SHACKLES<\/strong>: Even large hardware store shackles<\/strong> simply aren\u2019t rated anywhere near close enough for 4WD duties. We\u2019ve tested our shackles<\/strong> and literally broke the test jig before the shackle let go. Always carry a pair of rated 4.7t bow shackles<\/strong> to use in connecting your strap<\/strong> or cable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n SNATCH BLOCK<\/strong>: Sometimes even the toughest winch<\/strong> won\u2019t cut the mustard \u2013 some recoveries are just that difficult! If your winch<\/strong> is struggling, doubling the winch<\/strong> hook back to the vehicle by running the cable through a snatch block<\/strong> effectively doubles the winch\u2019s<\/strong> pulling power. Also useful if you need to change the direction of a winch cable<\/strong> if you can\u2019t get straight at the bogged vehicle for instance.<\/p>\n And the best part is the Hercules Complete Recovery Kit<\/strong> has everything you need in it, for about the same price as just buying a single snatch strap<\/strong> from some other places! Along with everything listed above, you get a folding shovel<\/strong> that\u2019s perfect for digging yourself out of tight spots, a Kwiky tyre deflator<\/strong> for adjusting tyre pressures on the run, and a heavy-duty canvas carry bag to store it all in. Buy one, put it in the back of your 4×4 and you\u2019ll always have the gear you need to get you out of just about any situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Although none of us likes to admit it, getting stuck is just part and parcel of taking your 4×4 or SUV off-road. It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re the most careful 4WDer ever, there\u2019s going to be a time when that \u2018little mud puddle\u2019 turns into something a lot nastier and catches you by surprise. And…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123456,"featured_media":1470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123456"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1471,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions\/1471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}