I drive a silverado 4x4 with auto locking rear dif and manual trans, and for better hwy mileage all weather radials (low traction). I am an occasional solo backroads traveler so I have not invested in the electric winch and bumper setup. Here is what I carry: tire chains; a Wyenth Scott hand winch with 60 feet of blue line; tree strap; 2 tow straps; 1 snatch block; 2 shackles; 2 traction boards; a DIY ground anchor system; army surplus shovel; so far I have never needed them.

Along with recovery gear, you need at least one rated recovery point on your rig to recover off of. The best recovery gear in the world doesn't do much good if you can't use it without ripping pieces off your rig. Also, recovery gear is kinda like a first aid kit - it'll do a helluva lot more for you if you know how to use it. If you're new and don't wheel with experienced drivers that get stuck alot, take a hands-on recovery class so you can be familiar with the gear before you really need to use it.

Excellent vid as usual. Might be worth doing a "how to" for winching sometime. Would be helpful for a lot of folks!

You raise some great points. Some people I know won't go out with people that don't have a winch, because on tight trails, that can be a real problem. In any outdoor activity, it's always better to have a "buddy" for help in getting out of difficult situations or dealing with injuries and unexpected health issues. A winch really is important along with solid recovery points, not just those flimsy tie-down points used by tow trucks. Remember, the difference between 2WD and 4WD is about 20 feet before getting stuck.

Glad to see Openroad supporting your channel. Because of you, I now own one as well and love it.

This video was right on time. After this last snow and Ice storm we had in NWA Ozarks, I decided to get serious about proper recovery gear. I was having to use a HD chain and questionable "rig'n" to get my poor poser 2wd truck unstuck on these crazy Madison county dirt roads! I just ordered a kit from ARB and will be adding some of the items you recommended in your video. Your advice was especially well received and much needed as most of the finer points of offloading are new to this flatlander! Thanks for taking the time to break down what I am sure y'all veteran off-roaders consider the fundamentals!

Love the video! Been waiting for you to make this video for a while. It will help me get prepared for the March trip to the Ozarks.

Another great gear vid Matt, thanks

Hi Matt, i very much liked this video. Very helpful. Thank you for all you do! 😊

I may have missed it, but one of the most important pieces of recovery gear to have is a good jack. I am not advocating a highlift. They are useful in MANY situations, but they are DANGEROUS even when used properly. Likewise, the factory jack in most vehicles is barely sufficient and entirely inadequate on a trail, but you need SOMETHING that can get a tire off the ground in the environment you travel in. IDEALLY if you wheel with friends, between 2-3 of you, you will have 2-3 different types of jack good for different situations. A good bottle jack... maybe a decent scissor jack (many have good ground clearance while still staying reasonably stable), even a highlift IF YOU KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE RISKS and proper operation.

I have one, but have only used my winch to help someone else in slick mud. I try to stay out of those situations, but it's there if I need it.

Thanks Matt! I have pretty all of that minus the winch. I have the Mopar steel bumper so I need to grab a winch plate and winch soon!!

Keeping a soft shackle in the vehicle within each of the drivers area is also a good practice.

I have the same shovel in my wrangler... it's a cool piece of kit, that doesn't take a bunch of space or need to be mounted outside. And I keep my traction boards on the back of mine, then I don't get slop inside

Another great vid!!

Solid winch mount up front, and RATED recovery points front and rear. to be fair to that warn... ANY winch will fail at some point (typically when you are needing it the most) Synthetic is a superior choice for rock crawling as well... You just need some chafe guards. Someone who loses a synthetic line to abrasion is inadequately equipped for self recovery. Unfortunately there is no place (except maybe on the roof) that is not going to get blocked at some point while wheelin. I have seen trails where the path was cut through leaving 3-5 feet of wall on the side of the trail preventing access to sides (even requiring people to get out of their vehicle via windows) There are two types of rope/strap that are used in recovery under various names. Dynamic: snatch straps/recovery strap, kinetic ropes/recovery rope, etc. (stretches significantly while in use, but mostly springs back when the load is removed) Static: Tow strap, tree saver, winch extension lines, etc. (barely stretches while in use, and does not spring back very well) Never really owning "lifted" trucks, (well never more than 2 inches of lift to allow for 32-33" tires) and learning to wheel in alabama and tennessee, I have always carried a camp shovel (D handle but not much larger of a head than that folder of yours) I have used it a couple times to dig out under my diff to let my tires hit ground again... so a shovel is ALWAYS handy... not to mention it is always handy for digging a good latrine. :) Those plastic recovery boards that have become so popular are just an unnecessary commercial replacement for good old fashioned redneck engineering. Wooden boards have been getting 4bys unstuck around the world for over 40 years. For about 25 years I carried some home brewed traction boards in various incarnations. They got me (and others) unstuck more than a few times. I usually make them out of plywood, and while I used to use skateboard grip tape (stair tread safety tape, or even course grit sand paper), after maxtrax caught on with some Australian channels I was following close to a decade ago, I added bolts to create a knobbier pattern to a set I had at the time. As the Aussies say. They work a treat. Can I justify spending $200-500 on a PAIR??? Nope. Mine probably cost about $50 each to make the first time due to all the nuts bolts, and washers, but once the initial metal is purchased, it is just a matter of occasionally replacing some wood. I have never seen someone with max tracks or any of the imitations that had not melted off a good many of the traction knobs on the board. Honestly though a better choice is a set of bridging ladder tracks. The max tracks themselves where a commercial replacement for military surplus runway modules that had been in use as sand tracks for decades prior. The old metal tracks were made to make a more stable surface for dirt runways for various militaries around WW2 and would be laid atop leveled hard packed dirt to make a runway. They were later used in Australia and Africa as sand tracks by what would become the origins of overlanders. The supply started running scarce and the "new manufactured" versions where obscenely priced. Somewhere along the way those same overlanders came up with the idea of using angle iron welded between a couple rails of C channel to make "sand tracks" that would allow you to drive across a rut, ditch, or ledge that otherwise would threaten to swallow your 4by whole. Eventually cheaper injection molded plastics overtook the market for either of the other options, especially since we were packing heavier and heavier loads into vehicles that were meant for lighter loads. I mean realistically a jeep or toyota is only meant for 600-800 pounds of cargo plus passengers while the Landies they used to use where designed for up to 2500... we HAD to lighten our gear unless we were going to load up dodge diesels for a weekend camping trip.

I’ve never seen a factory hook from any winch fail people over the last 30+ years have been using them and they have not failed ( at least) for the ones that have decades of winching knowledge/skills

Great video, as always. An item that I would add, is a jack. Not necessarily a high lift, as those can be dangerous, if used improperly, but an xJack, or an off-road jack. The standard jack that comes with vehicles, is not going to work if you have lifted and/or put bigger tires on.

Adding recovery gear is an absolute must to ensure you have the tools to get out safely. However, just having the gear and knowing how to use the gear are two completely different things. Even when running the ropes and soft kits you still need to have some level of understanding of how to set things up safely. Make it a priority to learn how to use your gear. I rarely make a suggestion on another channel but I will make an exception this time. In addition to Matt and Cara's always amazing content, check out Matt's Offroad Recovery channel (Not to be confused with Matt from OOA) almost every video that he makes is winching people out with the same kind of gear that many of us have.

Great video !! I live in Colorado and I have 2 30 foot webbing tow straps I carry for winching off boulders above tree line. I needed them one time when I got stuck in 3 feet of snow.

Iam first again Matt, take me on adventure with you. My Jeep is ready. With love from Colorado!!😇. Good info on recovery gear.

Have to say, with the open road winch, mine internally exploded after the first use. Not a brand I'd ever recommend myself. Company also ignores warranty claims.

Can you make a video how to use your recovery gear telling us how to use it is good but somebody new in the game it would be helpful I know there's other videos but I would like to see you do one 👍

A bit off topic, but what was the fix to keep water intrusion from the submerged gas cap? Seems like there needs to be a way to protect that area...

Hey Matt. Great content as always. One thing though lets get away from calling Screw Pin Bow Shackles “D-Rings”. Bow shackles would also suffice. I would also like to point out when choosing recovery gear, one should look for equipment with weight ratings on their labels. Kudos to you for making your own soft shackles but there is no way of knowing how much weight it’s rated for and could potentially be dangerous trying to pull someone else out. Cheers

Matt, what’s the name of the snatch block ring you bought so I can get that instead of a traditional heavy snatch block? Checked your details and did not see a link to it.

I have a question have you ever gone over the snorkel on your gladiator

Us Toyota guys use a winch just to get up stuff a Gladiator walks up 😂

What organizer are you using in the apache case for the recovery gear? Mine is just shoved in there.

Hey Matt, do you ever carry a chainsaw for downed trees to big to winch out of the way?

Matt, why not run a molle panel on one of the back wrangler windows then throw in that apache box?

A recovery board can act as a shovel in a pinch

With all the videos and noise out there about "Overlanding" yours are always really good. The several videos you did a couple years ago about Colorado trails I think are some of the best.

Which roll bar bags are those

Matt how are you securing your gear from being stolen when away from vehicle? Do you keep everything attached when at home? Thanks.

I've never seen you use one, nor mention it here. Winch blanket? Thoughts?

Always make sure yu have enough petrol to get home mate.

Was your previous WARN winch the VR series? I've heard those been crapping out on a lot of people. It seems the only good model is the ZEON but thats $$$.

Hey man, new to the TN/KY area. Do y’all have a discord for local events or good spots to go check out?

What is the name of the drawer system you have next your fridge in the back? Is it waterproof and lockable? Thanks

I have a problem with my winch having a slow draw on my battery. Wondering if you’ve ever had this issue. Thinking about powering it with Like a trailer 4 pin to plug and unplug. But idk

The most important piece of recovery gear is the one you don’t have. Great tips Matt on being prepared for recovery situations. Love the content as always. 🤙🏽

I guess the recovery on my old defender is over kill, 2- 6 ton winches nylon, 2 high lifts 3 soft shackles, 2 yankum ropes + D rings + a sand anchor + shovel + pick + Ax + long traction boards.

Love your videos......question, now that we need a commercial permit to film just about anywhere....... what are u guys doing about that..... AND.. what about all the older park and BLM videos everyone has up on their KZfaq......Thanks! 👍👍

The term "wheeling" is definitely the worst word in all of the languages of the universe...