TAV Recommended Off-road Recovery Essentials

Heading out to the trails is a lot of fun. But what can start as a good day can turn south fast if you don’t have the right tools along for the ride. You may encounter many situations on and off-road that you can get yourself out of with the right equipment.

DMOS Delta Shovel

One of the best tools to have is a shovel. If your vehicle slides off the road in the snow, or gets stuck in mud on a trail, you can dig yourself out of many situations with a shovel. Our go-to shovel is the DMOS Delta (pro) shovel from the DMOS Collective. These shovels are easy to store, strong as hell, and great to have with you no matter what vehicle you drive. If you need a snow-specific shovel they have that as well.

You can purchase that shovel and others HERE

Assault Industries Quick Release Fire Extinguisher

A fire extinguisher should be in any vehicle you drive. S#!t happens, and you never know when you might need to use one. One item that we use on our UTV’s is the Quick Release Fire Extinguisher Mount. This attaches to your cage, but can also attach to any bar from 1.5” to 2” and allows for quick access to the extinguisher when you need it. Extinguishers are great not only for the potential vehicle fire, but for any campfire situations as well.

You can pick up the Assault Industries Quick Release Fire Extinguisher HERE.

A good example how having the right tools can lead to a better out come. 

As you can see he kept calm, created a fire barrier with his shovel, and exhausted his fire extinguisher. Without these tools he likely would have seen the fire grow into a large brushfire and do much more damage.  

MAXTRAX Traction Boards

Traction boards are another go-to item that we like to carry when on the road. We prefer Maxtrax. These boards will last you a long time. That and their customer service is amazing. These boards not only double as recovery tools, but you can use them to level your truck when at camp, you can place them across small ditches to help you cross, or even just use them as a camp floor if you happen to be in a wet/muddy area. Most of the time, you find that you are able to help other motorists out when they are stuck in the snow. They have a selection of colors, so you can pick one to match your build color.

You can pick them up HERE.

Deadman Off-Road Kinetic Rope & Soft Shackles

There are a lot of situations in which you don’t need a winch to recover from. Most times, a simple bump with a kinetic rope can get a vehicle unstuck. Kinetic energy ropes operate by transmitting momentum energy from the moving vehicle to the immobilized one. As the rope takes in the kinetic energy of the former vehicle, it temporarily stores it as potential energy before releasing it in the form of force onto the stuck vehicle. One option that we really like is the Deadman Off-Road Kinetic Rope and Soft Shackles. These items together can help you out in a pinch. Purchase one HERE.

Dead Man Off-Road Deadman Anchor

One really unique piece of recovery gear is the Deadman Anchor from Deadman Off-Road. This device is great in case you are in an area where you do not have something stable to winch from, like out in the sand dunes. You can take the anchor and bury it in the sand and use the weight of the sand to help pull you out. You can also wrap this anchor around a boulder and use it to pull yourself over an obstacle when a rope might slip off. Other great uses are when the ground is sandy, muddy, wet, etc you can set this down when making a repair and keep your tools clean and keep from losing nuts and bolts. 

Purchase one HERE.

BoxoUSA Off-Road Tool Bag with Tool Roll 

Another thing that people tend to forget about are tools. There are alot of things that can go wrong on a trail and a set of tools will help you get out of the situation. One set that we carry with is is the BoxoUSA Off-Road Tool Bag with Tool Roll. This has not only the essentials, but also a few extras so you can fix just about anything when SHTF.

Pick up tool rolls HERE.

Pro Eagle Jack

We prefer to use the Pro Eagle Off-Road racing jacks. This style jack is much safer and easier to use while changing a tire. You can also use this style jack to raise the entire rear of your vehicle and diagnose drivetrain noise and issues. With their mount you can secure this jack to the bed of your vehicle and not have to worry about it moving around. 

You can purchase one HERE. 

ComeUp Winch

If you do choose to mount a winch on your vehicle we prefer the ComeUp SEAL Slim 12.5rs. It is the same size as the 9.5 but gives you that bit of extra weight rating. These winches are durable and watertight and you can run them both wired and wireless. If you have followed us for any amount of time this is one winch that you will see on all our builds.