Member Since: 15 Oct 2020
Location: Wokingham
Posts: 412
Winter is coming ...
Rightly or wrongly I've got a feeling we might have a hard one this year. With that in mind I thought it would be a good idea to start collecting together some recovery gear to keep in the boot.
What would people recommend:
Rope or straps or both? lengths/weight limits?
Shackles - Bow/D/soft shackles how many and what weights?
Waffle boards?
20th Oct 2022 12:11 pm
Moo D3 Decade
Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14388
Other than accessorising, are you planning to put winter tyres on?New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!)
Sold Volvo XC90 R-Design (known as Basil)
Sold - D4 HSE (Known as Gerty)
No longer the Old Buses original owner
231,000 miles and counting
05 S manual owned from March 2005
D4 Face lifted
Still original injectors and turbo
V8 Front brakes
BAS Remap, Allisport Intercooler and deCat
EGRs blanked
T-Max split charge
Hanibal Expeedition rack
Prospeed ladder
Duratrac tyres
IID BT
BAS FBH control
Realistically, you best kit is some blankets, a couple of foil bivvy bags and something to make a hot drink with. Recovering people to a place of safety is massively more important than recovering the vehicle.
As a rule, if a vehicle is stuck, the driver and/or vehicle lacks the capability to safely continue, and you have a high chance of vehicle damage (theirs) during recovery, or for them to get stuck in a worse situation 100 yards up the road.
Recover the people, get them warm and safe, move on.
Oh, and do not attempt to recover an ambulance. The amount of rear ends I've seen pulled off those......I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
20th Oct 2022 12:52 pm
Moleshome
Member Since: 15 Oct 2020
Location: Wokingham
Posts: 412
Moo wrote:
Other than accessorising, are you planning to put winter tyres on?
I've already got all season tyres on, if we start getting predictions of extended spells of blizzard conditions I'd have a good hard think about forking out close to £1,200 for winter tyres.
20th Oct 2022 2:45 pm
RogB
Member Since: 15 Jun 2018
Location: Mansfield
Posts: 1729
are you south of the Watford Gap ? if so there will only be a few flakes on the ground for 30 minutes 2011 D4 XS 305 MY12 - gone but not forgotten
Member Since: 07 Apr 2014
Location: Here
Posts: 13541
Moleshome wrote:
Moo wrote:
Other than accessorising, are you planning to put winter tyres on?
I've already got all season tyres on, if we start getting predictions of extended spells of blizzard conditions I'd have a good hard think about forking out close to £1,200 for winter tyres.
Which all seasons are you currently running?Visiting from rrsport.co.uk
2012 RRS SDV6
2008 RRS TDV8
"When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! You don't know who's children are going to scream and burn. How many hearts will be broken. How many lives shattered. How much blood will spill, until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning: SIT DOWN AND TALK!"
21st Oct 2022 8:02 am
Trailered Movements
Member Since: 16 Jan 2020
Location: East/West Sussex Coast Borders
Posts: 1200
With the discussion around winter tyres, or not, these are still available;
Dave2011 Discovery 4 Commercial SDV6 (Gone)
2010 RRS TDV8 (Gone)
1980 OBLIC 4.0ltr Range Rover (went a long time ago)
21st Oct 2022 8:11 am
RRSTDV8
Member Since: 07 Apr 2014
Location: Here
Posts: 13541
Re: Winter is coming ...
Moleshome wrote:
Rightly or wrongly I've got a feeling we might have a hard one this year. With that in mind I thought it would be a good idea to start collecting together some recovery gear to keep in the boot.
What would people recommend:
Rope or straps or both? lengths/weight limits?
Shackles - Bow/D/soft shackles how many and what weights?
Waffle boards?
I have a couple of tow ropes and a strap under the back seats all year round. Also a set of jump leads that will handle big loads. Sometimes someone might just need a jump start if their battery is tired and found out by a sudden bit of cold weather. Oh, and silly folding spade, a fire extinguisher, tyre inflator and a couple of lightweight ratchet straps that got put there and never left! See photo below.
I've towed people up hills around the village when it's snowy but mostly because they're in the way of people who can get about. Getting them up on the level so they can at least get to the village means they don't have to walk home and abandon the car (we did that before I had my first 4wd vehicle, and it's a bit boring trudging through snow in normal shoes! ). Also, being sat on a hill puts you in a dangerous position because if others lose control you're in the firing line.
But I don't think I'd try to recover people from ditches and the like simply because you can do lots of damage to their and your vehicle if it goes wrong. Big difference between pulling a car up a slippery bit of hilly tarmac and full-on recovery dragging them out of a snowy ditch.
(The tow ropes are a Halfords 4m 3.5t job which is fine for towing ordinary cars a short distance, a 5m 12t (I think) one that was bought as part of a group buy on here a few years ago, and a 5m 8t (I think) strap. The ropes have their own hooks fitted, the straps have a couple of shackles (can't remember the rating on those but they are reasonably rated. I do have a 10m version of the 12t rope but that's in the garage as it doesn't really have a use on road.)
Click image to enlarge
Visiting from rrsport.co.uk
2012 RRS SDV6
2008 RRS TDV8
"When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! You don't know who's children are going to scream and burn. How many hearts will be broken. How many lives shattered. How much blood will spill, until everybody does what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning: SIT DOWN AND TALK!"
21st Oct 2022 8:16 am
Moo D3 Decade
Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14388
Boots and gloves New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!)
Sold Volvo XC90 R-Design (known as Basil)
Sold - D4 HSE (Known as Gerty)
No longer the Old Buses original owner
231,000 miles and counting
05 S manual owned from March 2005
D4 Face lifted
Still original injectors and turbo
V8 Front brakes
BAS Remap, Allisport Intercooler and deCat
EGRs blanked
T-Max split charge
Hanibal Expeedition rack
Prospeed ladder
Duratrac tyres
IID BT
BAS FBH control
21st Oct 2022 8:42 am
nigethecat
Member Since: 11 Sep 2016
Location: Marnoch
Posts: 4244
A decent shovel should be mandatory up here (not one of those silly foldaway plastic ones that break the first time you hit ice - ask me how I know ), always have a decent tow rope and shackles in the car along with webbing straps, torches (2) fire extinguisher, long handle ice scraper/brush and first aid kit.. If the weather is bad out a flask with a hot drink or soup and extra layers of warm clothing, sleeping bag/blankets and a powertank to keep your phone charged if the car battery dies.
As other have said the usual problem is being stuck behind someone who hasn't bothered to fit winter tyres, can't drive in snow or ice and is completely unprepared for the conditions.I want to see the sweets before I get into your windowless van... I'm not stupid!
Corris Grey D4 Commercial SE 2016
Zermatt Sliver 2007 D3 SE manual (gone)
Indus Silver D4 HSE 2015 (gone)
Bonatti Grey D3 HSE 2006 (gone)
White D3 S (LHD) 2007 (gone)
Firenze Red D4 HSE 2014 (gone)
Black RRS 3.6TDV8 2008 (gone)
Rusty Green Defender 110 1997 (gone)
Black FL2 HSE 2013 (gone)
21st Oct 2022 9:15 am
ronp
Member Since: 29 Nov 2006
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 15263
A Winter kit isn't just for Christmas .... erm Winter.
For me, I carry my kit all year round, as you never know when needed.
I've got the usual: waffle boards, shovel, tow rope, shackles, compressor, power pack, lights, saw, tool kit, triangle, hat/gloves/scarf, etc etc all stashed in my "Disco4" box.
Also got: blanket, fleece, jet boil, fresh water, cups, spork, soup/coffee/tea sachets/oat bars etc etc stashed away in the rear side panel & under the rear seats.
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