| Overview |
| Now the key to a successful recovery is not to get stuck in the first place. However as I have found out over the cause of our preparation it is easy to get stuck, especially when human nature, or rather me, are prone to mistakes. As mistakes are possible and sticky mud can act like glue it is important to make sure you have the ability to get yourself out of trouble. |
|
| Most of our recovery kit has come from Lifting and Crane Services based in Gloucester, designed for lifting and therefore all rated way beyond what is needed for towing. Highly recommend for great advice and decent prices. |
|
| Sand Ladders / Waffles |
| These are used to help put a solid base to slippery ground, especially sand, but also to bridge any gaps or slopes that are not otherwise achievable. Out of the two options, metal or fibre glass, we have opted for the lighter, cheaper and easier to use fibre glass style of waffles. |
|
| UPDATE: Finally we have managed to find some sand ladders that I feel will keep us out of trouble. We have gone for Tracmat's Heavy Duty (50mm x 310mm x 1480mm) waffles to ensure they will cope with anything we throw at them. However this length was mainly to be a bit vain and get black waffles to keep the look right! The length was too big to fit where we needed them so Tracmat kindly trimmed them to a specified length and then shipped all four pieces for us at no extra cost. |
|
| Bridle |
| To ease towing forces on the chassis we always tow or get towed by using a Bridle attached to the front of the vehicle. This ensures that a single towing rope balances it force on two points on the chassis, causing less strain and twisting. |
|
| Recovery Webbing |
| We have chosen webbing over rope, as being flat it is able to be stored easier and tidier with it still performing just as well. However ensure that no knots are present before towing as it pulls them so tight it is impossible to get undone (learnt the hard way!). |
|
| Kinetic Rope |
|
| Hand Winch |
| We have opted not to fit a vehicle based winch, instead we have decided to use a hand winch. This operates using a steel cable through a pulley mechanism that operates manually. They are harder work than an electric winch, are less expensive, lighter and easy on the vehicles suspension. The decision was reached based on the fact an electric winch mounted on the front can basically only take you in one direction, straight forward. A hand winch, although much slower can pull you in any direction, as long as there is something to pull against. |
|
| Hi-Lift Jack |
| Off roading can mean that you are unable to jack up the vehicle from under the axles. This style of jack allows you to be able to lift the vehicle from almost any point and with very little ground clearance. Unfortunately these can be very dangerous and not very stable. We have gone for the branded version, Hi-Lift from Paddock Spares, in order to ensure we can get spares if we need them. |
|
| We have mounted this upright on the rear left of the vehicle. It has meant that we have had to re-position the number plate to the other side, but the spare wheel swing arm prevented the jack going on the right. We used the Hi-Lift 4xRAC Mounting Kit to ensure the jack is supported sufficiently as they are extremly heavy. |
|
| Bottle Jack |
| For normal jacking for a maintenance purpose we will take a bottle jack as this is safer and is able to jack up on the axle. This came with the vehicle and lives with under the drivers seat. |
|
| Shovel |
| Sometimes recovery requires a bit of hard graft and removing what is making you stuck is the only option. Also useful for digging fire pits. |
|
| Saw and Axe |
| The Gweneveer is high in comparison to a lot of vehicles and therefore over hanging trees can be in the way of passing a certain route. Now you shouldn’t go chopping down or removing branches without thinking of another route if possible. |
|
| The saw and axe are also required for ensuring fire wood is useable and to make kindling. |