Jeep’s have a lot of storage space, but it seems like we fill most of it with offroad recovery gear, tools, safety gear, air compressor, and all sorts of stuff for the trail. By the time we are prepped, there is hardly any room for personal items.

Wheels & Feels storage in Jeep — *Trunk space fills up fast w recovery gear, tools, etc.*

Ask any offroader to list what we carry, and no two responses will be the same.

We carry a lot, probably way more than we are likely to need. But it is smart to be prepared for as many contingencies as possible when you are wheeling out in the wilderness.

As a beginner, you really don’t have to go shopping for your recovery gear yet.

To start with, if you are traveling in a group – it is not necessary for everyone to bring everything imaginable. Just so long as someone in the group has brought one of something, everybody does not have to be similarly equipped.

What we bring also is determined by what is likely to be needed for that particular trail run. For example, if you run in remote forest paths, it is useful for somebody to bring a portable chainsaw in case you must deal with fallen tree limbs. But where we run, out in the middle of the Nevada deserts – it is unlikely to need a power saw.

For discussion’s sake here is a summary of what we carry in our Jeep in terms of Recovery equipment.

(two) Traction boards
(one) shovel
(one) kinetic snatch rope, 7/8-inch by 20 ft.
(one) non-kinetic tow strap, 30 ft.
(two or more) soft shackles, ½-inch strength
(two or more) metal D-ring shackles, probably already on your bumpers
(one) shackle hitch receiver, includes one D-ring shackle
(two) Tree saver straps
Gloves
Furniture pad.
For winching: Donut friction ring w soft shackle OR metal snatchblock pulley.

This “Recovery” list does not include general accessories such as flashlights, tire changing stuff, spare clothing, tools, air compressor, and more.

Traction boards. If you are stuck in sand, snow, or mud — these really do work. You don’t have to spend a lot; the medium priced ones on Amazon work just as well, but may break after repeated use. We mount ours outside our Jeep, but keep a large trash bag handy if you store your boards inside the trunk for when they get dirty after use.

Shovel. We prefer a strong shovel with a long handle, which is convenient if you have to dig out being high centered under your vehicle. Find a good shovel that is modular or telescoping to save space, or mount it outside on a rack.

Kinetic “snatch” rope or strap. For Jeeps and most 4x4’s, the 7/8-inch ropes of 20 ft length are appropriate. If a strap, we suggest the 3-inch.

Kinetic recovery rope — *Kinetic “snatch” rope*

Look at the weight ratings because if the kinetic line is too thick, those are made for heavy trucks and will not stretch under the weight of our vehicles (4000-4500 pounds).

Kinetic recoveries are what we do most often. It is commonplace for a vehicle in our group to get stuck in sand or mud and to need a friendly yank to regain traction. You need to be more cautious when a stuck vehicle is high centered, since a “jerk and pull” could damage the undercarriage; I would prefer a slow & steady winch for that situation.

You will need to connect your kinetic line to the stuck vehicle as well as the recovery vehicle. For speed and convenience, we use soft shackles at both ends. True, you could undo the metal D-rings that dangle off of the steel bumpers – but that is too much work. Much lazier to just soft shackle to the D-rings.

Soft shackles should be rated at least ½ inch. You should have at least two soft shackles in your kit, although most of us carry four or more, since they are inexpensive. I hang a soft shackle from the driver and passenger headrests, so that my rear seat passengers have a grab handle, or to hang storage bags from.

Hard shackles, aka the metal D-rings, are useful when you need to connect to a metal “eye”, such as those welded onto steel bumpers or sheet metal snatchblock pulleys. You don’t want to use soft shackles against a sharp metal edge that might cut into it.

If your vehicle sports two or four metal D-rings already on your bumpers, you really do not need to add any more to your kit.

Again, if the situation calls for additional soft or hard shackles – someone in your group will provide them.

Rear towing shackle hitch receiver. Not a necessity, but I find them handy. They insert into the rectangular tow hitch and provide an “eye” for attaching a metal D-ring shackle. Allows you to safely connect to the rear of a vehicle that is not equipped with a steel bumper w shackles. I prefer it to the single recovery hooks found way on the driver’s side of stock Jeeps, since the tow hitch is centered. Our shackle hitch receiver is already equipped with a D-ring shackle, so that gives us one more in our kit.

Tow straps are different than kinetic lines, because they do not stretch and rebound like bungee cords. Use a kinetic line for jerking a vehicle free but only use a non-kinetic tow strap for towing a vehicle behind you.

If you use a kinetic line for towing, every time you stop/slow/accelerate, the line will stretch and then catapult the car behind you. Not what you want when you are pulling someone home off of the trail.

Because tow straps do not have to stretch, they can be heavy duty. Good lengths are 20-30 feet. I like the 30’s, since it gives the car behind me a little more time to turn or brake.

You can also use your tow rope as an extension line on your kinetic rope or winch line. The kinetic line will still stretch & rebound the same, even with the extension added.

Use soft shackles for connecting lines to lines; do not use hard shackles.

Tree savers are really handy. Just think of them as short tow straps. We can use them as short extensions, or to create “Y” cables and bridles. The tree saver can serve as a “Y” cable to connect to both D-ring shackles found on steel bumpers to divide the strain. Tree savers can also be used to wrap around an axle or chassis frame if there is no other secure recovery point on a stranded vehicle.

In a winching scenario, tree savers are often used to anchor pulleys to tree trunks or boulders. Sometimes we need to anchor the vehicle doing the winching to something solid.

Tree savers are inexpensive and don’t take up much space. We recommend having two.

If you are equipped with a winch, then you would also want to have some sort of donut pulley or snatchblock. However, until you do have a winch, there is no need to add one to your kit.

Winch people should also have some sort of sandbag damper or heavy blanket to hang over the winch line, to keep it from whipping around should the line break under tension.

Gloves are important to protect your hands.

A furniture pad (aka moving blanket) comes in useful when you need to crawl under a car, need to damper a line, need to keep warm, or just want something to picnic on.

You can find pre-packaged Recovery Kits online from many sources, but you will save money by just purchasing the stuff you want individually and then choosing a storage solution that works best for your vehicle. Maybe a soft bag, or a fancy drawer system, or just a plastic tote bin.

What’s in your Recovery Kit

Introduction to Winching

What else is in our Jeep, besides Recovery gear