↓ Advertise on Defender2 ↓

Home > Puma (Tdci) > Off Road/Recovery Gear
Post Reply  Down to end
Page 1 of 1
Print this entire topic · 
MGDM4



Member Since: 28 Aug 2015
Location: Leeds
Posts: 45

United Kingdom 
Off Road/Recovery Gear
Afternoon all,

Where do people get their Off Road/Recovery Gear from?

Looking at items like bow shackles, snatch blocks, tow ropes, kinetic ropes etc etc

Who are the best names?

What sort of standards should I look for?

Thanks

Matt
Post #574543 31st Oct 2016 12:55pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
John P



Member Since: 26 Dec 2013
Location: West Sussex
Posts: 311

United Kingdom 2012 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 SW Corris Grey
I got all mine from Devon 4x4. Go with someone you can trust.
Post #574549 31st Oct 2016 1:17pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
YOLO110



Member Since: 14 Feb 2015
Location: Perth Oz and Stansted UK
Posts: 1641

Australia 
In Oz, ARB are highly regarded with all of this stuff.

If you can find a UK ARB distributor, I would go with that...

Just a pity about Brexit and the £ collapse against the Oz $... Whistle Crying or Very sad YOLO... You Only Live Once...
Post #574561 31st Oct 2016 3:04pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
YOLO110



Member Since: 14 Feb 2015
Location: Perth Oz and Stansted UK
Posts: 1641

Australia 
In Oz, ARB are highly regarded with all of this stuff.

If you can find a UK ARB distributor, I would go with that...

Just a pity about Brexit and the £ collapse against the Oz $... Whistle Crying or Very sad YOLO... You Only Live Once...
Post #574562 31st Oct 2016 3:07pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11324

United Kingdom 
There are lots of places that sell this sort of stuff. The bottom line is look for equipment that is properly and sufficiently rated.

If you're not sure what you want then you could do worse than visit Challenger 4x4 near Farnham. I went there recently and noticed that they have a reasonable selection of this kind of gear on display.

I'd question your need for a kinetic rope. Whilst they can be an incredibly useful tool, they can also be very dangerous in inexperienced hands. The same results can usually be achieved in a more controlled manner with more regular kit, albeit at the expense of a bit more time.

If you really do need one then I believe David Bowyer sells ones that are properly rated for the typical weight of Land Rovers, as opposed to ex-MOD ones designed for trucks and the like. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #574574 31st Oct 2016 3:59pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
bpman



Member Since: 21 May 2008
Location: Oslo
Posts: 8069

2008 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 SVX Station Wagon Santorini Black
Another vote for Devon 4x4 Thumbs Up
Post #574589 31st Oct 2016 5:03pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
Devon-Rover



Member Since: 22 Jan 2015
Location: South Devon
Posts: 913

United Kingdom 2014 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Aintree Green
with the same level of kit with a better value I would suggest you check out First Four and their Website

I have used their gear and it has lasted well and they use proper tested shackles and the ropes are good quality.
Post #574613 31st Oct 2016 6:53pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
miker



Member Since: 13 Sep 2015
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1762

United Kingdom 1999 Defender 110 Td5 CSW Rioja Red
For strops and shackles I went to a local lifting equipment supplier. Same stuff, much cheaper than many of the 4x4 suppliers.

I will be getting a snatch strap or nylon rope at some point, probably the one from Damar.
Post #574614 31st Oct 2016 6:56pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
leeds



Member Since: 28 Dec 2009
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 8580

United Kingdom 
Re: Off Road/Recovery Gear
MGDM4 wrote:
....

Where do people get their Off Road/Recovery Gear from?

.....

Who are the best names?

What sort of standards should I look for?






First piece of advice, buy from a well know reputable supplier.

Avoid the el cheapo suppliers that sell on the likes of eBay. we sell a 2 tonne strap which is actually stronger then a 5 tonne strap on eBay. The 2 tonne strap has a 7:1 safety factor, i.e. break strength of 14 tonnes compared to the 5 tonne strap with a 1.2 safety factor or break strength of 6 tonnes..

What sort of standards?

Basically there are no standards aimed at the leisure 4x4 market.


Shackles? Go for a selection of 3.75 and 4.5 tonnes WLL. WLL = Working Load Limit (modern version of SWL + Safe working load limit) These have a safety factor of 6 or 7 (sorry slightly brain dead at the moment, can not remember exact factor)


Material? Polyester or polyamide = Nylon?


Lifting straps are made from polyester as it is basically low stretch. The same reason why seat belts are made from polyester, low stretch.

Recovery straps, snatch straps, KERR are made from polyamide or nylon as they are higher stretch. The same reason why climbing harnesses and ropes are made from nylon as they need high stretch.

Now a bit of basic physics . Force = mass x acceleration (or deacceleration) F = ma

In identical situations a polyester strap will suffer from a much higher peak load then a nylon strap. Higher peak forces = more chance of something breaking.

Basically do NOT use polyester straps in a snatch/recovery situation.

Learn about the physical properties of each item in your towing/recovery kit and best/safe way of using the equipment.

We have a wide range of equipment including our own recovery straps.


HTH


Brendan
Post #574646 31st Oct 2016 9:09pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
jst



Member Since: 14 Jan 2008
Location: Taunton
Posts: 7981

 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 USW Stornoway Grey
Goodwinch and Devon4x4 Cheers

James
110 2012 XS Utility
130 2011 M57 bespoke Camper
90 2010 Hardtop
90 M57 1988 Hardtop
Post #574647 31st Oct 2016 9:21pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
Cupboard



Member Since: 21 Mar 2014
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 2971

United Kingdom 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 HT Corris Grey
What sort of situation are you likely to find yourself doing recovering in or being recovered from?
Do you have a winch?
Are you talking about stuff to keep in the vehicle at all times or stuff to throw in the back when things are likely to get nasty?

I have a winch on the front (but I wouldn't recommend buying one initially) so some of my recovery kit is based around having that.

The most important thing I think is a decent shovel. I have two, the one I put in if I'm expecting issues or an issue would be awkward is this one: http://richardcarterltd.co.uk/product/soli...re-shovel/ and I have a smaller Roughneck one that I stash behind the seats all the time. The Richard Carter one is a really nice bit of kit. The Roughneck one is tolerable and doesn't take up too much space.

Another cheap and useful thing are waffle boards. They're not just useful for recovery, they're handy at home too or if you're camping they can be used as a sort of door mat. The problem is they're bulky so I've made a spare wheel mount for mine. Like the big shovel, I only carry them if I think there's a chance I'll need them. When you're trying to get a vehicle like a D4 out of ruts it's stuck in, waffles come in extremely handy seeing as there aren't any decent front recovery points (or at least ones that are easy to get at quickly).

Those two items have done all the recovery (primarily of other vehicles) that I've needed.

Under my driver's seat in the box there, I keep all the "other stuff".
Lifting slings: 2t rating (14t breaking strain), a few different lengths to be used to make a bridle, put round a tree, extend the winch or whatever. I prefer the ones with loops at either end rather than the endless ones. 2t is plenty. These have little to no give so aren't really that much use for un-sticking a stuck vehicle and not the best thing for towing with either. They give too much of a shock which isn't good for either vehicle and are therefor prone to break stuff. However something "dead" like that is exactly what you need when winching.

Nylon recovery strop, 9m. I bought this from Brendan and Barbara at 4x4 Overlander and I trust them to supply decent stuff, particularly as Brendan has history in that sort of thing (industrially). This isn't a "snatch strap" but has a bit more give to it than the polyester lifting strops. That replaced a 4.5m nylon rope which I used previously and takes up about the same amount of space. 9m is good because off road it means you can get a fair distance away from the stuck vehicle, and on road you can double it up to 4.5m and keep within the legal limit.

Rated shackles. I have 3.25t shackles for most stuff, and a couple of smaller ones (2t possibly?) in case I need to tow a small vehicle. When I've towed my dad's car I couldn't get a big shackle in the towing eye, so I had to use a small one. It's important to get rated shackles, they're usually galvanised. Skip the non-rated ones (usually shiny BZP) because you don't want a failure and a lot of metal flying through the air.

Gloves, winching blanket etc. Gloves are good, but you won't need a blanket unless you've got a winch or want something waterproof to kneel on.

The most important thing is to stop and think. What are the forces involved, what is stopping the vehicle moving, is there something you can do (like with a shovel) to make it easier to move the vehicle? If something breaks, what is most likely to break, what can you do to make it less likely to break and what happens if it does break? You don't want to pull a rusty rear crossmember off an old Defender and have that flying through your windscreen and in to the cab next to you or on to you. Bear in mind that straps can pop off tow balls, so don't use a tow ball if there's a decent alternative and if there isn't, put something there to hold the strap on to the tow ball. Do you have any front recovery points, and do you have any rear recovery points? If not, do you need them? If you come across a stuck stranger and you offer to help, what happens if you pull their front bumper off?

Helping is good, but try not to make things worse Smile

Finally, it's good if you don't get stuck in the first place. If you're going somewhere boggy let your tyres down - it makes a big difference. You can quite happily go to 15 or 20PSI but make sure you have a plan for putting the air back in again.
Post #574704 1st Nov 2016 8:57am
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
DonH2000



Member Since: 12 Jan 2015
Location: North Kent
Posts: 551

United Kingdom 2009 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Santorini Black
What not to buy: Britpart recovery kit as is is not very good.

Also as mentioned a kinetic snatch rope is just too dangerous without special training. You can look up on youtoob the sort of things that go wrong using these things.


 Cheers Don.
Post #574717 1st Nov 2016 9:48am
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Post Reply
Post Reply  Back to top
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT

Jump to  
Previous Topic | Next Topic >
Posting Rules
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum



Site Copyright © 2006-2024 Futuranet Ltd & Martin Lewis
DEFENDER2.NET RSS Feed - All Forums