Recovery techniques and equipment Personal safety and the protection of property are paramount when considering 4WD recovery. • Never attempt to recover a vehicle without all the necessary equipment.

Recoveries can be extremely dangerous, which highlights the need for care and forethought before attempting any sort of recovery, even one that may seem on the face of it to be dead easy. Here are a few tips to make it safer.

The quickest and easiest way to recover a stuck vehicle is to tow it with an accompanying vehicle. This also can be the quickest way to damage one or other of the vehicles, or their passengers, as the forces applied to both vehicle and equipment are huge.

The first three questions asked of 4WD owners: “Have you been stuck yet?” “When are you getting a winch?” “Have you used the winch?” Noble thoughts, but some of the most common immobilisations happen where a winch cannot be used.

Often a winch is regarded as the final option when manual and vehicle powered recovery has failed. However, there are times when it should be the first choice, in terms of efficiency and safety.

Rescue techniques by hand, vehicle and winch.