your list of recovery gear

Gidday NL

NachaLuva said:
allens keys (btw, who the hell is Allen & why are they called "keys"! :raz: ),

Cant think of anything else but if I do I'll update this list...
Click to expand...

A good list ... :).

As for Allen keys:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_keys

Particularly:

"The Allen name is a registered trademark, originated by the Allen Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut circa 1910, and currently owned by Apex Tool Group, LLC. Its genericized use is discouraged by this company. The standard generic name used in catalogs and published books and journals is "hex key"."

It's called a key, because that's what it is. The indentation in the bolt head is a keyway, so a key is used to manipulate it ... :iconwink: :poke: :cool:.

Seeing as how we are not the target of the copyright owners, many of us call them "Allen keys", not "hex keys". It's what I was brought up calling them.
 
on the issue of hoses, I carry a full set. They don't take up much space at all. I keep them in the spare wheel well where there is space to pack them around the spare tyre in what would otherwise be useless space.

I would have to remove pretty much everything in my cargo area to get at them, but I figure that if I am really stuck i will have time to do that.
 
New safety flag regulations in the Simpson Desert, chances are they will come in for other areas as well:
Safety Flags, Simpson Desert - NPSA

Safety flag requirement

All vehicles must be fitted with a safety flag as detailed below when travelling in the Simpson Desert Conservation Park or Simpson Desert Regional Reserve.

Flag:

  • Minimum 300mm wide by 290mm high
  • Made of fluorescent materials, red-orange or lime-yellow in colour
Vehicles:

  • With front bulbar - flag pole attached to the bulbar, with top of the flag a minimum 3.5 metres from the ground
  • Without front bulbar - flag pole attached via bracket at the front of the vehicle, with top of the flag a minimum 3.5 metres from the ground; alternatively flag pole attached to the front of the roof rack, with top of the flag a minimum 2 metres from the roof of vehicle
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I would use a red flag as it would stand out against both the sky & sand better. You could make this from a red safety vest & connect it with cable ties. A few people have used that bright orange PVC underground electrical conduit :biggrin:
 
My List.

D shackles x5
Leather Gloves
Tow Strap
<Equalizing strap>
Small hand saw
Hammer
BA Screwdriver/prybar
Wood Jack Plate
Spare belt
CB Radio
Ratchet straps
Jumper cables
Towel
Blanket
Power Converter
Axe
Shovel
Fire extinguisher

Bug out bag containing:
pocket knife
550 cord
space blanket
2 bottles of water
MRE's
lighter
finger-chain saw
first aid kit
Compass
trioxine tablets (fire starter)

Sure I'm missing somethings too
 
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Going offroad in Australia is very different to in the US or Europe. Here we have to be FULLY self-sufficient, something which is drummed into everyone from an early age. Everyone has heard of people here who die after breaking down or getting stuck. There are many tracks here you wouldnt see another car for weeks! Imagine the harshness of Death Valley, but more severe, and the size of California and the population of a suburban street!

In the states, if you break down or get stuck, you can rely on others to help.

In Oz, if you do that & others are there to help, they get really p***ed off you came so unprepared. They'll still help of course, but you won't be making any friends.

And if you're in an isolated region, if you're unprepared...you die!!! :evil:

So...the lesson here boys and girls, is be prepared :biggrin:
 
NachaLuva said:
Going offroad in Australia is very different to in the US or Europe. Here we have to be FULLY self-sufficient, something which is drummed into everyone from an early age. Everyone has heard of people here who die after breaking down or getting stuck. There are many tracks here you wouldnt see another car for weeks! Imagine the harshness of Death Valley, but more severe, and the size of California and the population of a suburban street!

In the states, if you break down or get stuck, you can rely on others to help.

In Oz, if you do that & others are there to help, they get really p***ed off you came so unprepared. They'll still help of course, but you won't be making any friends.

And if you're in an isolated region, if you're unprepared...you die!!! :evil:

So...the lesson here boys and girls, is be prepared :biggrin:
Click to expand...

I have no doubt the above is true!

There are some very remote roads here where one can die if the car brakes down or something, but probably far fewer than in Australia.
 
What NL said ... by about ten :poke:.

About 1/2 to 2/3 of Oz is about as hospitable as Death Valley, with a total population outside of the towns of maybe 10,000 men, women and children. That's around 1.5-2 MILLION square miles.
 
Having made the move to a heavy 4WD I'd say the best prep you can do is a course. It's quicker, easier and less messy to avoid getting bogged for example in the first place. If you master momentum and tyre pressure management, & driving through the brakes, you've mastered traction.
 
Personally I prefer to rely on gears rather than brakes but essentially you are correct.
The major disadvantage of a larger and heavier 4WD is that you are capable of getting bogged a lot better (!) than in a smaller lighter one.
 
Okay:

Helpful car features/upgrades:
Oversize AT tires.
Upgraded, powerful AGM battery, Duracell built by East Penn in PA.
OEM fog lights on this model are as powerful as headlights (by contrast, the
OEM Tribeca fog lights are useless).

Gear:
Full-size matching (if used) spare tire.
Die Hard 1100 Power Station with AGM-battery: excellent jump starter and air
compressor, 2xDC and 2x400W AC outlets. This is a powerful unit.
Good-quality folding shovel.
Two small bags of cat litter.
TRED 1100
ARB 2 3/8"x30' 20% stretch recovery strap, 17,500lb
2xBubba Rope Gator Jaw soft shackles, 32,000 lb
Cheap 10,000 lb 2x20 tow/light recovery strap with great reviews by customers
2x"off-road" lights on magnets that can be mounted anywhere on car, for example to
help with reversing in darkness
Flexible head 1/4 and 3/8 drive ratchet with 1/2 converter and sockets of all sizes as
well as other basic tools. Gorilla tape, electrical tape.
Emergency blankets, fire starters, waterproof matches, headlights, spare batteries.

Not-yet-decided:
Keep the exhaust jack I got and did not like or get a genuine HiLift, probably the shortest one available.
Gotta find some communication device other than a satellite phone if I keep going solo in the middle of nowhere.

Most important:
No gear replaces good judgement.
Water, water, and more water, as well as appropriate for emergency situations food and clothing, including heavy-duty hiking shoes.
 
Sigmund said:
Having made the move to a heavy 4WD I'd say the best prep you can do is a course. It's quicker, easier and less messy to avoid getting bogged for example in the first place. If you master momentum and tyre pressure management, & driving through the brakes, you've mastered traction.
Click to expand...

Forget about that on 2013 (or thereabouts) and newer USDM Subarus. The brake overrides the gas.
 
I was wondering, some lists are huge others are a little smaller, but where the heck you you store all this stuff. I know most cars are pretty big. But how do you guys stay organised? Custom build boxes? Duffel bags?

For the sake of inspiration, pics (or it didn't happen)

:ttiwop
 
In this ...

E-30_JAK_2015-_1262921.jpg


:iconwink: :ebiggrin:
 
Things like spare radiator hoses, fan belts, wire, etc, I keep in the spare wheel. Cable ties, duct tape, gaffa tape & a few spanners/screwdrivers I keep in the floor compartment. I also have a large tub which I put in the back when I go offroad, with recovery gear, compressor, tyre repair kit, picnic blanket (for lying under the car), ropes, etc. Another small tub with my "MilkTrax". A strap holds the tubs in place.
 
Finally lashed out and bought a creeper winch. A Bushranger extracta. Will pull 2.5 tonne. Added insurance when travelling solo :)
 
Just started my recovery kit today, so far I have:
-5t snatch strap
-equaliser strap
-2x 3.2t bow shackles
-gloves

Soon to get a decent shovel to take on trips.

Also have tyre deflators and a decent compressor with me.

I also want to eventually add a rear tow hitch and recovery shackle with it, and a set of MaxTrax.
 
Here's my list of 'budget' recovery gear that I've been building up from this thread for my SG Forester over the past few months. I'll list prices to give an idea of what I payed for the budget minded, this might be pretty AU specific, and I didn't buy any junk that is going to let me down or be unsafe.
I'm yet to go on any 'serious' trips as I didn't want to take my car anywhere I wasn't able to get myself out of if things did go south - IMO what I've got now is about the minimum.

Recovery:
- Gloves
- 5.4T Snatch strap
- 4.1T 2.5m Equalizer strap
- 3.2T bow shackles x 2
All above gear bought for $120 through Juststraps2go website, great quality straps that are not too expensive. Actually much cheaper than that, shipping was the killer!

- Old short handle garden shovel.

- Tirfor T516 1.6T hand winch and winch cable - Picked this up 'used' (hardly) on Gumtree for $150. Wait for a good deal or bid on eBay, they're common enough and can be picked up for around that price.

- Very heavy duty snatch strap. Winch seller (former Defender owner) gave me this for free after a friendly chat. Way too heavy for my car so I'll keep it as a tow strap.

- 2x X-Bull 5T recovery tracks - Recently released a newer design, cheap at $100 a pair on eBay.

General gear:

- SCA spec tyre pressure guage, $20 on sale.

- Ozito Bunnings 12V compressor - These are $30 at Bunnings but twice the price on eBay. Not the best but a Bargain and probably as good as anything you'll get for under $100. Plug into a 12V socket rather than off the battery - SG has 3 of these including one in the boot so its much preferred. Bonus is it can be returned nationwide if faulty.

- PIAA LP550 5" LED driving lights - These are great lights for the price and size. I needed something under 6" to fit neatly in my SubaXtreme bullbar, most cheap driving lights in Australia start at 7" and just look too big even if they happen to fit IMO. Got them on Amazon US for $380 shipped, more than I wanted to spend. IPF are another option that make good small driving lights.

- Socket set, screwdrivers

- Bottle jack, wood block for bottle jack stand, jumper leads. Had these already but they're SCA spec.

Still needed:

- New steering rack :rolleyes:

- Tree trunk protector, second winch cable and snatch block - for easier winching and winching on slopes and out of bad bogs.

- Proper A/T tyres. Might seem necessary but they're an expensive investment, I'm looking to move to 15" rims so not prepared to fork out for 16" tyres. Currently have 215/65 touring tyres. I think if I'm careful with my lines and my tyre pressure I'll get pretty far.

- Fuel and water cans

- Better organisation of gear

- Sump guard

Wanted in the future:
- Awning
- Heavy duty tow bar for recovery
- 2 x more recovery tracks
- 2" Lift
- Long roof basket
- Rear bike carrier for MTB
- Rear drawers
- Dual battery setup
- Troopy ;)
 
Rambler said:
- 5.4T Snatch strap
- 4.1T 2.5m Equalizer strap
- 3.2T bow shackles x 2
All above gear bought for $120 through Juststraps2go website, great quality straps that are not too expensive. Actually much cheaper than that, shipping was the killer!
Click to expand...

Is this the strap you got?
https://www.juststraps2go.com.au/standard-snatch-strap-9m/

That is RLL of 5.4T & BS (breaking strain) of 8.1T. Snatch straps work on breaking strain, so this is actually a 8.1T snatch strap, not 5.4T. From their website: "The Minimum Breaking Strength MBS of the strap should be between 2 and 3 times the vehicle's Gross Vehicle Mass GVM, and must be suited to the GVM rating of the lighter of the two vehicles used in the recovery process"

This is the one I use & suggest:
RIDGE RYDER 5,000KG SUV SNATCH STRAP - SCA
 
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