What equipment to take offroad?

Yesterday the Brewers and Thomases were on an offroad trip when they discovered someone in a 2WD truck stuck in soft sand on the trail. Fortunately, they had a tow strap and were able to tow the folks out, although it took an hour.

A few weeks ago, while in the visitor center at Capitol Reef NP, I spoke to a couple who had rented a Jeep and went exploring an off-road trail. They got stuck and proceeded to walk in search of help. After a couple of hours, they realized they were walking further into the boonies and walked back to the Jeep. They slept overnight in the Jeep and walked the 8 miles back to the visitor center in the morning. Chris Pennings offered to go tow them out, but they had just called a tow truck.

I'm sure there are many more stories like these, but thought I'd ask what additional equipment folks feel is necessary when exploring the offroad/4WD trails, besides obviuously a 4WD vehicle.

Never go offroad alone if there is any chance of getting stuck or breaking down far from help.  You can't count on other vehicles coming along to help you. 

After our trip through Canyon de Chelly, we will be getting a tow strap and pins to secure it to our tow bar brackets. 

A GPS is, of course, an invaluable aid to finding your way. 

A full size spare tire is a must.

First thing when going off road I recommend having at least one person with you with a with a 4WD vehicle with you and your 4WD vehicle.  Now when I was much younger I would venture out with only the 4WD vehicle I was driving and yes 4WD can and do get stuck.  I have dug myself out many times but now I don't go out without at least one other 4WD vehicle with me.

Always carry a tow strap and shovel.  Hard to get pulled out or pull somebody else out without something to tow with.

Other things are plenty of drinking water, food or snacks, first aid kit, and common sense.   When you see somebody off roading alone with only one 4WD vehcile INHO they forgot the last thing I mentioned. ;D ;D

Actually, you don't want a tow strap, but a recovery strap.  A two strap is meant to tow a vehicle that is not stuck.  A recovery strap is meant to recover a vehicle that is stuck.  The recovery straps can stretch, so when you start pulling and pick up the slack, the strap will stretch and when it retracts again will give extra momentum for the recovery.

Preferably get straps that don't have hooks, a flying hook can break a window or a head.  The recovery points on the both the recovery and stuck vehicle as well as any pins or shackles used should be stronger than the strap to avoid damage to either vehicle.

Here's a good offroad checklist: http://www.offroaders.com/tech/Offroaders_Checklist.htm  It's a bit too complete, but can be adjusted depending on the location and duration of the trip.

Marc,

Good point on the recovery strap.  That's actually what I had in mind, I just didn't know it had a special name.  It won't have hooks, just the sewn loops on the ends.

Back in RI we were getting ready to get the beach permit.  They had a list of items to carry.  Included were 2 2x2 pieces of ply to support a jack or 2.  Shovel, communications equipment.  CB or cell phone or ham.  Shovel.  Recovery strap, first aid etc. 

Air pump to re-air your tires. 

Had the 4wd, much of the stuff, then plans changed.  Not sure about beach camping here yet, but we will be ready.

Its a good idea to tell someone where you are planning to go offload so that if you get broken down, someone has an idea on where to start looking.  A good thing to carry in the offload vehicle is a Gazetteer or better yet, a typo map.  If  you do break down, you can use your Gazetteer or typo map , along with you GPS to figure which way to go for help. 

Ron said:

I have dug myself out many times but now I don't go out without at least one other 4WD vehicle with me.

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Having only been on a few off roads with forum members, I would add the word "experienced" to your suggestion. I recall your riding with me to the post office on a busy day at QZ a few years back -- and showing me how to get out of the wash and up that steep sandy bank North of Main Street and the Post Office. If I was with another with as little knowledge as myself, I would probably have been in worse shape than if alone. Synergism amoung the unknowledgeable could multiply the degree of bad decisions.

Ned said:

Marc,

Good point on the recovery strap.  That's actually what I had in mind, I just didn't know it had a special name.  It won't have hooks, just the sewn loops on the ends.

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A lot of people use the name interchangeably including myself, but it's good to differentiate them when buying them.

We keep a plastic box in the back of the toad full of emergency "stuff."  First aid supplies, those tiny emergency blankets made of mylar (?), a shovel, a sheet in case you need to dig a latrine and want to rig it for privacy, toilet paper, a reflector for signaling (an old CD does nicely or a mirror), multipurpose knife, compass, extra food including SPAM, shovel, matches, flashlights w/extra batteries, trash bag, water purification kit, towels, tow/recovery strap, basic tools, etc.  Then, of course, there's the regular stuff like food, water, and GPS.  There's probably more I don't remember.  Always make sure you have identification on your person in case the worst happens.  Guess you can tell I was a Girl Scout. 

The reason we passed on the hike at the South Paria Canyon was because of the deep sand road going in to it.  No cell service out there so definitely not worth it.

ArdraF

If off-roading alot, get a winch installed, its helped me out of most of our mishaps  ;D

In my younger years I had 4WD with winches.  I finally realized that winches tend to get one in deeper in trouble making it harder to get out. ;D ;D  Better to have other vehicles with you so you can help each other if necessary.

Ron said:

... yes 4WD can and do get stuck...

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It's been said that 4WD simply allows a person to get stuck harder, deeper, and further from the nearest road

I take plenty of water (a few days worth), and don't go more than a few miles from a road unless there's more than one 4x4 going.
Off-road I also bring a shotgun... not so much for protection, but as a source of food... it doesn't bother me to be away from civilization for days at a time.

That recovery strap wrapped around an axle can become a winch in an emergency...

A can of lighter fluid (and a match/lighter) can re-set a tire bead when necessary... the tire may still be flat, but having the bead seated makes it useable...

If it gets really bad, a couple car batteries and some jumper cables can become a welder (you'll need to have brought rods, of course)...

56kz2slow said:

Actually, you don't want a tow strap, but a recovery strap.

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I seem to recall them being called "snatch 'em" straps. A friend who used to park his coach on the beach would need the strap to get the coach out at the end of a stay. He hooked one end to his coach and the other end to his Jeep, with lots of strap laying on the ground between the two vehicles. He'd floor it in his Jeep and, when it came to the end of the strap, the Jeep promptly stopped and the coach inched out of the sand. He'd repeat the process until his coach was on firm enough sand for him to be able to drive it off.

Actually, that's the third vehicle in two weeks we've found in trouble, such as Tom described.  Though this couple got the o.k. from the ranger that they'd have no trouble on this trail, we're thinking the ranger was talking about getting over the river, which was only 12-13 inches deep.  What he either didn't know about, or forgot, was the mile or more soft sand beyond the river.  These folks were Canadians, not youngsters, and were trying to dig themselves out when we came upon them.  (At least they had a shovel, but not much use in loose sand) Not only did he not have the proper vehicle, but also not the deep treaded tires to give traction.  He had the treads so packed with sand, it was like he had bald tires on the two-wheel drive wheels.  Absolutely useless for gripping.  They were going to track down that ranger and have a few words with him.

Another vehicle was a rented class C with a goiod sized overhang and carried about 4-5 VERY good sized men, two tiny kids and two women.  They were on a dirt road in Valley of the Gods a short drive from Monument Valley/Mexican Hat.  Only one of these men spoke English, the rest sounded like an Eastern European language.  They bottomed out on a fairly good sized dip and got stuck.  A pick-up came from the opposite side we were traveling and had stopped to help first, before we came upon them.  They only had a bumper jack and were trying to build the dip up under the tire enough for the tire to grip something.  While we were there, that jack slipped out and we thought the back had come down across one of those fellows legs, since he slipped towards the coach at the same time.  Somehow he was limber enough to fold his legs under him (I think) and therefore only suffered a sore arm from the jack handle bucking....  It was a real scary moment, but they soon had that rig out on the road again. 

These people really should not have been on that road with a rig that size and I'm thinking they are not being properly instructed or warned by the rental companies, or they just plain did not understand what was being said to them.  Since they were heading in our direction, we were hoping they found a place to turn around, because that road only got worse for a short while and would have been quite rough for a rig that size.

The third vehicle has already been discussed somewhere in this forum, and I do not wish to embarass the forumites again, by bringing it up......  ;D

Daisy

Daisy said:

Only one of these men spoke English, the rest sounded like an Eastern European language.  ... I'm thinking they are not being properly instructed or warned by the rental companies, or they just plain did not understand what was being said to them.

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Daisy, over the years of meeting folks in campgrounds, I've got the impression that a lot of renters are European. A couple of years ago I wandered into an El Monte rental center (in California) and, to my surprise, saw a number of brochures in German. It made me think that they specifically target the German tourist market. But it left me wondering about other countries/languages and also what other rental companies do to bridge the language barrier.

If I had a rescue strap and needed to tow someone out, what would be ideal attachment points for the strap on our Suburban and the towed vehicle? (I removed the tow hooks on the front of the Burb in order to attach the baseplate for towing behind the coach).

Use the tow bar attachments points.  That's what we used when we were the 3rd vehicle mentioned above   The towing vehicle could use the hitch mount, either a ball if available, or through the safety cable attachments, I would think.

I have heard  of hitch balls snapping, especially if only rated at 5000lbs.  It all depends how stuck the vehicle is.  What I do is that I remove the hitch from the receiver, then slide the loop in the receiver and put the hitch pin through it.  That way, it is secure and won't come off when moving with no tension on the strap.

I don't think I would trust the chain loops, at least not on my hitch.

Some vehicles have tabs with holes underneat, those are not meant to be used as recovery points, they are just tie downs for when travelling on a flat bed.  I know some people that used them successfully for a recovery and others that tore them off.  It all depends how stuck the vehicle is and how much force is required to pull it out.  Sometimes in low traction situation, you just need that little extra to get out and other times are deep in mud resting on the frame.  The latter would require greater force to get out.

Tom said:

If I had a rescue strap and needed to tow someone out, what would be ideal attachment points for the strap on our Suburban and the towed vehicle?

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Tom,

We used the tow bar attachment in front to hook up the strap.  Worked well.  The next thing to do is to communicate clearly with the person you are towing.  As the pick up truck was stuck in the  road in front of us with no place to pass, we had to pull him backwards.  On first attempt, Terry just spun our wheels down into the sand and the pick up did not budge.... Seems he had placed his truck in PARK!  duhhh

Betty