{"id":7931,"date":"2021-04-28T15:24:23","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T05:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.4wdsupacentre.com.au\/news\/?p=7931"},"modified":"2021-04-28T15:25:03","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T05:25:03","slug":"why-you-should-always-carry-a-4wd-recovery-kit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/why-you-should-always-carry-a-4wd-recovery-kit\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Always Carry a 4WD Recovery Kit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Recently my folks were out for a quick visit to one of their friends properties and of course they hadn\u2019t packed any of their 4WD recovery gear<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 it was supposed to be a quick day trip and their friends had only gone into the property a few days before. Less than three kilometres from the house, along the bushy access road, they came across a recent fallen tree which was completely blocking the track. It wasn\u2019t huge but they couldn\u2019t move it without their vehicle \u2013 the first couple of attempts to push the tree were no good and with no phone reception and no-one on the UHF at the house, they had to get creative. The solution ended up being a couple of ratchet straps\u2026 but it was a long and tough reminder that they should\u2019ve packed their recovery kit<\/strong><\/a>! <\/strong>It just goes to show that even if you\u2019re not expecting to have to use it, having a complete recovery kit<\/a><\/strong> in your vehicle is always a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funny thing is they do own a good quality recovery kit<\/a><\/strong>, but they generally only pack it when they\u2019re really going \u2018off road\u2019. Had they packed their complete recovery kit<\/a><\/strong>, my folks would\u2019ve had all manner of straps and shackles to solidly and safely tow the tree off the track. While you wouldn\u2019t ever use a snatch strap for the purpose, wrapping a tree trunk protector around the tree would ensure a good grip – combining that with a winch extension strap secured to the bullbar tow points with a shackle and they could have gently pulled the tree backwards from a much safer distance (not forgetting the winch dampener on their straps of course!) Of course an even better option would have been a 12V 4WD winch<\/a><\/strong>, giving them plenty of slow and steady power to pull the tree off the track at a safe but effective pace. A combo of a winch<\/strong> <\/a>and complete recovery kit<\/a><\/strong> would\u2019ve been the best option though \u2013 offering everything needed to get them out of this situation and just about any other one that pops up! Finally a drag chain<\/strong> is a great option to carry if you are expecting to have to drag trees and branches out of the way \u2013 these are a solid chain with a loop at one end and a hook at the other, allowing you to wrap the chain around the fallen timber, secure the wrap and then connect it your vehicle, the chain won\u2019t stretch and it has a high load rating \u2013 plus it won\u2019t sustain damage even if you\u2019re literally dragging it along the ground. If you\u2019re just looking for something to throw in the car then an essential recovery kit<\/a><\/strong> has everything you need to get you out of trouble and they\u2019re very affordable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the same story with a tyre deflator and of course your air compressor<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 the one time you don\u2019t pack it for a trip you\u2019ll definitely miss it! While this isn\u2019t strictly a 4WDing story, I was driving home late one night in my LandCruiser and noticed that I had a pretty deflated tyre\u2026 and of course my thumper air compressor<\/a><\/strong> was at home. I was about 10 minutes from the closest service station but figured I\u2019d push on slowly and air up when I got there. Finally crawling into the servo I started to air up (or so I thought) after having the air chuck connected for a few seconds I noticed the digital display wasn\u2019t going up. I disconnected and reconnected the compressor<\/strong> <\/a>and again no good\u2026 Long story short, the compressor<\/strong> <\/a>at the servo was faulty and I ended up completely airing down my tyre to zero PSI. It meant I ended up having to completely swap my tyre off and throw the spare on. Looking back, if I had had my portable air compressor<\/a><\/strong> in my 4wd it would\u2019ve been a two minute fix, rather than costing me two hours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having the proper recovery gear <\/a><\/strong>in your vehicle can be the difference between a good trip and a bad trip, or the difference between safely getting your vehicle out of trouble, or causing serious damage from being stuck in a bog hole or precarious situation. Often even having a snatch strap kit<\/a><\/strong> on hand is enough to help you get unstuck \u2013 and it\u2019s important that you carry your own recovery kit<\/strong> <\/a>and don\u2019t rely on others having theirs \u2013 because if an emergency does happen and in that moment if you\u2019re not sure where the gear is it could mean the difference between a safe and effortless recovery or a difficult and stressful one! Believe me, when you\u2019ve been in a situation where your snatch strap kit<\/strong> <\/a>is buried under everything else in your tray you won\u2019t want it to happen again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And of course, all these scenarios are only focusing on what happens when YOU get bogged. But if you\u2019re not the kind of 4WDer who goes out looking for the biggest bogholes and hillclimbs, you might be wondering if a 4×4 recovery kit<\/a><\/strong> is a worthwhile investment still. The truth is, it definitely still is! Most of the use 4WD recovery gear<\/a><\/strong> has gotten has been recovering other people \u2013 not myself! But the first time you use your snatch strap<\/a><\/strong> to help out someone else and they do the Aussie thing and thank you with a six pack of cold beer from the camping fridge<\/a><\/strong> (for when you get back to camp or get home of course!) you\u2019ll be glad you carried it. Being prepared is something every good 4WDer does!<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently my folks were out for a quick visit to one of their friends properties and of course they hadn\u2019t packed any of their 4WD recovery gear \u2013 it was supposed to be a quick day trip and their friends had only gone into the property a few days before. Less than three kilometres from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123456,"featured_media":7933,"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\/7931"}],"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=7931"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7934,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7931\/revisions\/7934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}