Traction Boards and elastic strap

[Nex]

Jealous of having a back yard big enough to get stuck in.

 

[John M BUNMAN]

The thing about traction boards, it’s about when they’re going to break, and how easily because if you need them, you NEED them.

The BunMan may have some to say about the traction boards. I have a set I keep handy for work in the sand, and ...

horror of horrors: I paid less than fancy mud flaps that say Raptor on them...

Hey now..I came across a few pictures of my MAXTRAX saving my azzzzz a few years ago. I'm usually to pizzzed off from getting myself stuck to take any pictures, but this time I did.
I was Raptoring around in the Mountains NW of St George UT. I was flying Solo and hadn't seen anyone else on the trail the entire day. I was up over 9K feet when i started run into snow on the Trail, getting deeper the higher I went. The sun had been out all day, so the Trail was extremely soft. In a poor attempt to avoid getting stuck in the snow...Like a dumb Azzzzz, I got to close to the..Yes, extremely soft shoulder and got sucked in What you can't see from my less than Steller pictures, is the significant drop of the shoulder. If I ended up deeper, it would have been a long cold night,
If you have ever wondered what those pretty orange straps on your MaxTrax are for..you can see they help you find them when you bury them in sand, mud or snow.

 

[John M BUNMAN]

Note-Pre-KM3 days, KO2’s r worthless in the mud

 

[John M BUNMAN]

 

[4wheelinAZ]

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Snow is the devil

 

[John M BUNMAN]

Snow is the devil

The snow is better than that Fning mud..lol
Especially when I’m not smart enough to stay out of the soft edge

 

[amREADY]

MaxTrax, Treds and Action Trax. I think there is one other I can't think of off hand.
For me, traction boards aren't a do-all option, but they are a tool in the recovery toolbox.

I'm in the PNW, so I'm not in sand and rarely in mud. I am often trying to make it across rocky/gravelly washouts and they serve more of a 'bridging' role than traction.
I wouldn't bother with the cheap ones - I've seen very variable results on them ranging from they broke the first time I used them to, they last 3 or more times before coming apart.

I think if I recall that action trax ripped off maxtrax design, so I bought maxtrax on principle. Not sure if it was true.

For all trips, I carry a kinetic strap, tow strap, many soft shackles, a couple of D shackles, a few tree savers/bridle straps and a drain spade. It's light and compact to bring that stuff along. Oh, and a bottle jack and some good wood for cribbing/blocking. (The traction boards work as a base too for the jackall / bottle jack)

Then depending on the trip and time of year, along come the jack all, traction boards, and sometimes an industrial 4T come along. I go to some pretty remote places on my own and if I can't self rescue I'm pretty hooped. I also made up a 100' length of synthetic winch rope with an eye on each end. Works with the jack all or come along in spots where it's difficult to get to a good anchor. It could be used for a pull, but it would need to be slow and steady, not a dynamic one.

probably TMI

 

[SurfRaptor]

back on topic a little. i have a kinetic energy rope from freedom ropes. they are based out of the pismo area. they founded the group jerk pirates, which is a group of people who go out to the dunes and rescue people for free instead of paying $500 or more for a tow truck. several videos of them getting tourists (and even locals, like myself) getting them unburied and back to having fun. lea is awesome. i have their 110k rope. i prefer to support a local business and one that demonstrates their stuff on a daily basis. i used my rope to pull out a schoolbus full of kids out of the snow one winter. and then 1.5 hears ago pulled out a semi truck blocking an intersection during the big snowstorm here in colorado where we got 2ft of snow one night.

the jerk pirates group are on facepage as well as have a vhf channel. if you get stuck, reach out and they will come rescue you. they are awesome people.

I plan on ordering a Freedom Rope, but I can't find the 110k rope? Is this one rated for the weight of our Raptors? I want to make sure I get the right rope, but it's not in the budget to be spending big money on this since I also just got my MaxTraxx.

In addition, here is a good lesson learned for all the off-road people on this forum. This is a link to another forum, but one of the few places that shows the actual pictures instead of just the news article.

Another Tow Ball Tragedy - RIP Ryan - Warning graphic images

Team, Another tragic death from a recovery gone wrong with a towball. Please share this as I think it is really important that people know the reason that you should never recovery off a tow ball. This happened just a couple of days ago in the US. Very tragic. This was shared on FB by...

4x4earth.com

 

[John M BUNMAN]

MaxTrax, Treds and Action Trax. I think there is one other I can't think of off hand.
For me, traction boards aren't a do-all option, but they are a tool in the recovery toolbox.

I'm in the PNW, so I'm not in sand and rarely in mud. I am often trying to make it across rocky/gravelly washouts and they serve more of a 'bridging' role than traction.
I wouldn't bother with the cheap ones - I've seen very variable results on them ranging from they broke the first time I used them to, they last 3 or more times before coming apart.

I think if I recall that action trax ripped off maxtrax design, so I bought maxtrax on principle. Not sure if it was true.

For all trips, I carry a kinetic strap, tow strap, many soft shackles, a couple of D shackles, a few tree savers/bridle straps and a drain spade. It's light and compact to bring that stuff along. Oh, and a bottle jack and some good wood for cribbing/blocking. (The traction boards work as a base too for the jackall / bottle jack)

Then depending on the trip and time of year, along come the jack all, traction boards, and sometimes an industrial 4T come along. I go to some pretty remote places on my own and if I can't self rescue I'm pretty hooped. I also made up a 100' length of synthetic winch rope with an eye on each end. Works with the jack all or come along in spots where it's difficult to get to a good anchor. It could be used for a pull, but it would need to be slow and steady, not a dynamic one.

probably TMI

I’ll help you spend some of your cyber Monday money and stow the D-Shackles and pick up some soft shackles on sale They are much safer and more versatile.
But…. If you love the metal ones….PM me, I have about a dozen laying around in various sizes lol

 

[John M BUNMAN]

I plan on ordering a Freedom Rope, but I can't find the 110k rope? Is this one rated for the weight of our Raptors? I want to make sure I get the right rope, but it's not in the budget to be spending big money on this since I also just got my MaxTraxx.

In addition, here is a good lesson learned for all the off-road people on this forum. This is a link to another forum, but one of the few places that shows the actual pictures instead of just the news article.

Another Tow Ball Tragedy - RIP Ryan - Warning graphic images

Team, Another tragic death from a recovery gone wrong with a towball. Please share this as I think it is really important that people know the reason that you should never recovery off a tow ball. This happened just a couple of days ago in the US. Very tragic. This was shared on FB by...

4x4earth.com

Just in case you have a few bucks left over lol

Post in thread 'Traction Boards and elastic strap'
https://www.fordraptorforum.com/threads/traction-boards-and-elastic-strap.94883/post-1849499