Winter recovery equipment
Hi All
I'm planning a long overland trip on ice roads / frozen rivers / forestry tracks next winter in Russia.
Driving conditions will be mostly hard packed snow on ice roads, ice on rivers / lakes (even the sea perhaps) and maybe some recent snow, perhapssome rutted forestry tracks.
It will be extremely cold and remote terrain, though the routes I use will be in use by other people.
While I am not going to attempt any unnecessary off-roading, and will have studded tyres, it is pretty easy to slide into a ditch or deep rut and get stuck.
My preferred method of recovery is getting towed by a passing truck, however I would maybe like to have an emergency recovery mechanism. I do not want a front-mounted electric winch.
One person has recommended me a hand winch and plenty of rope, another a hi-lift jack.
What would you recommend?
Hand winches seem quite flimsy to be honest (a look on ebay turns up only a 1600kg winch, which is just less than the vehicle weighs), and a hi-lift jack has the advantage of being able to jack the car up and push it off the jack if I'm stuck in a deep rut. But how 'geared down' are they? Are they really viable as winches?
Would appreciate any input.
EO
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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.
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