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Traction boards or kinetic rope first

Free2roam

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Blade1668

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I ended up buying the Rhino 30k recovery strap and two soft shackles. Although a lot of people say Hi Lift jacks are dangerous (if used improperly) I self extracted using a tree and the gear I bought. My next purchase will be boards.
A few years back I had to help someone recover a big 4wheeler out of a swamp that didn't have a winch, with my High-Lift and synthetic winch line. It was a PTA but no chance of taking any other vehicles in to the location. A come-a-long would have been easier but not when it's at home 50 plus miles away. I've needed to use my High-Lift at work 3 or more times, so go figure. Let alone for my Jeeps.
The off brand traction boards I got have a place for a jack to sit High-Lift, factory or bottle so they aren't one trick ponys. The one's I got are off brand, for the limited use I'll have probably.
 

LostWoods

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I’ve never used boards. A nice folding shovel will allow you to dig and place rocks, branches or even trash under your wheels to get out
The problem is when there's no immediately suitable rocks around. I don't want to be trudging through landscape to find rocks on some of these desert trails and you frequently won't like what you'll find underneath them.

A good shovel is always the #1 piece of recovery gear but for OP's question, boards have saved my butt on more than one occasion and they're a great way to minimize your impact.


While we’re on the topic of advising on boards, what brands? Lots of Amazon options sub-$100. Are ARB or Maxtrax worth it at nearly 3x the cost?
It depends on how often and how you intend to use them. I had some Amazon specials that broke the first trip out. Picked up some Maxtrax from OK4WD on that same trip and haven't had an issue since.
 

just_another_guy

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While we’re on the topic of advising on boards, what brands? Lots of Amazon options sub-$100. Are ARB or Maxtrax worth it at nearly 3x the cost?
I bought the knockoffs from Amazon a few years ago because I decided I would rather have a set of 4 cheap ones than only 2 "good" ones. If I ever break or melt them I'll replace them with a name brand, but I haven't seen any indication that's going to happen.

Edit: I have the Maxsa boards linked above, they work well
 
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I started with a front bumper and winch. I’m almost always in wooded areas. Boards are next.
 

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Sportsbiz

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Boards first, for the aforementioned reasons. Also, I highly recommend the "buy once, cry once" philosophy here and get Maxtrax or ARB TredPros.
 

Jefe1018

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I don't think I've ever been in a situation where I go, "Wish I had traction boards". Plenty where I was glad I had a tow strap (thankfully never for me) and where a winch helped me through deep snow.

The JT I believe will be much more capable than my last rig, so take that for what it is.
 

LaterGator

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The choice really depends on the type of terrain you will be covering. For sand and mud the recovery boards make a lot of sense for self-recovery. For rocks and hill climbing a winch is a better choice for self-recovery. And of course, as already stated, a snatch strap only works when you have another vehicle to pull you out.

I suggest all three and a shovel.
 

Wyofuy069

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So would you rather get married to a trophy wife, a great cook, or best friend? The trophy wife is the winch. Costs a lot of money, but looks great on your front end. However you still need to have a way to tie it down. The great cook is the traction board. Always makes you feel good knowing she is there. The best friend is the kinetic rope. Because you can’t do it alone and when it works it will get you out of trouble the fastest.
 

Free2roam

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So would you rather get married to a trophy wife, a great cook, or best friend? The trophy wife is the winch. Costs a lot of money, but looks great on your front end. However you still need to have a way to tie it down. The great cook is the traction board. Always makes you feel good knowing she is there. The best friend is the kinetic rope. Because you can’t do it alone and when it works it will get you out of trouble the fastest.
Trophy wife wins everytime! I've already got a cook (wife) who is also the best friend (wife) If I could just get them to agree on letting a third wife come to the party. I'd be golden.
Have dinner with cook, sit down and watch TV with best friend, then hop in the bed and have the trophy wife.

It would be like having 6 people in the house to argue with. Me, myself, and I. Cook, best friend, and trophy wife.
 

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Stsdroog

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I did boards first for self extraction. I use my kinetic rope mostly for extracting over confident SUV drivers stuck in the snow.

Also, go to the hardware store and buy an inexpensive short spade shovel. Using recovery boards as a shovel isn't ideal.
 

Vicegrips

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And a shovel.
I like this one: Krazy Beaver Tools Murder Spork
It's on my gift list. But I only want the one with the far more noticeable red blade.

For the moment, my local blue building supply place had this steel handle, very heavy blade shovel in stock. It is now Quick Fisted to a molle panel in the bed of the Jeep.

Also, when I got a set of traction boards, I drilled holes in them to mount in the bed. I also tied about ten feed of clothesline between them, and wrapped the center of that line with some hunter orange duct tape. If the traction boards are used in deep snow, mud or such, they might be buried pretty deep, and the clothes line might help recover the boards. Likewise with the orange tape.

I went with cheaper orange traction boards. If they save my butt once, that's enough. If they last longer, bonus! They cost little enough that I could gift them to someone who had an immediate need and not gulp at the cost.

In the "good samaritan" situation, even though I have a bigass winch, I would certainly offer the use of my traction boards before I'd actually hook up to their vehicle. I'd rather not rely on the soundness of their car and it's possible recovery points for winching.

Be safe, have fun!
 

Wyofuy069

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Funny this forum came up again today. I don’t have a winch yet, but have a couple of Kinetic ropes , traction boards, shovel, hi-lift, and some soft shackles. I was driving up the Snowy range west of Laramie around 10,000 ft and saw a Gladiator Rubicon stuck up to the doors in the snow Not more than 100 ft from the highway. I pulled over to help . I walked up to see if he had a strap and he had a tie-down in his hand. Well I finally got to try out a Kinetic rope. It pulled him out so easy it blew me away. First pull and already he was coming out. He was running 35 mud terrains and had zero traction. The studded LT3 Hakkapeliitta‘s kept me in rear wheel drive the whole time. Amazing. So today at least it is tires and Kinetic ropes for the win.
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