Cheap but good gear?

Any links or advice on brands etc maybe links from Amazon on not dirt cheap gear but reasonably priced and still decent gear.

Gear as in light bars, ditch lights
recovery boards
rifle/carry cases
straps
shovel/axe
hi lift jack
small portable tire inflator/ deflators

Just small simple recovery gear just in case, no crazy off roading...yet

 

You might want to reconsider going "budget" on gear that can literally be your lifeline in the right (or wrong) situation. I would hate to put myself or my family in a position where my recovery gear fails because I went budget.

Bigger cost up front, peace of mind when you are in a bad situation. Buy once, cry once..

 

Straps, shovels, and axes hit up Home Depot. I would not go cheap on a hi-lift jack. That thing is nicknamed the widow maker for a reason. Learn how to properly use a solid hi-lift before you try any real world recovery.

 

Lights-Amazon
Recovery boards you probably don't need
Axe and crap, home depot lowes Walmart, it doesn't matter
Straps- 4 wheel parts or Amazon. Do not get anything with hooks attached
Hi Lift- 4 wheel parts and get the brand name
Inflator- viair since the others will die on you ARB is expensive for tire inflator only
Tire deflator- ARB E-Z tire deflator, best one hands down

 

Appreciate it all gents, and yeah I didn't mean like dirt cheap scraps lol, I was just saying as some light bars are $1000+ when I've seen great ones for the $200 range, same as recovery boards which I prolly don't need but there are some for 50$ a pair...then you got the holy grail max trax. Just trying to find the middle of what actually works, what I actually need and what doesn't break the bank for "name" brand or for show if its not necessarily needed.

 

Lights are a good thing to spend as little money as possible. I have a wide range from Amazon to $500+ lights. For the amazon lights, you can purchase a 20" bar for $40 or fogs for $20. Open them up, seal them up with some waterproof bath and kitchen caulking and they will last as long as you wire and ground them correctly and properly. If they go bad, $20 for a new set isn't the end of the world.

I, personally, have Maxtrax. Never seen them break ever. Yes the price deters purchase.

The closest to them are TREDs I believe. Those have a lifetime warranty, but crack and break. I think they are also on version 4 or 5 of their product.

So you can see why people purchase Maxtrax since they are proven.

 

I went with Smittybilt for my recovery gear. I've always been happy with their products and it doesn't break the bank. I'd say they are a good middle of the road source. Here are the traction boards I got a year and a half ago and haven't needed. Glad I didn't pay for Maxtrax to not need.

 

D-ring shackles. Crosby brand, don't cheap out there. Cheap ones can prove fatal.

ARB straps or Bubba Rope. Just look for a good buy on them. Avoid cheap-o's

HiLift brand jack. Learn how to use it SAFELY. Do NOT buy "bargain brand".

I like Warn winch and winch accessories. High end of price range....high in dependability.

Learning how to use this stuff is far more important than meets the eye. Looks "no-brainer". There's more potential for injury and damage than any part of this hobby.

Buy the best you can afford. Just accumulating various pieces of recovery gear is not the primary goal. Getting SAFE, RELIABLE, RUGGED recovery gear is.... This stuff gets hammered when used. Over-kill is FAR better than under-kill.

 

Anything that will see stress ie d-rings ,straps etc buy the best you can on your budget, Hilift brand jacks only, and for the winch superwinch makes great reliable alternative to warn. Shovle ,axe home depot, lights Amazon+caulking, Traction boards you can diy something decent if you think you will need it for sure on your outings, some 48" 2x6 with skate board grip tape is better then nothing

 

Unless you're driving in the dunes, you more than likely can cobble together some branches and rocks to stack, so even cheap traction aids are IMO superfluous - just one more thing to take up space. I've used floor mats in the dunes...

Do you "need" lights? Even cheap ones? Do you find yourself doing a lot of night wheeling? I have found that my headlights do just fine for those once in a while situations where I'm stuck out longer than I expected.

I got a "real" hi-lift, but the price difference between it and a smitybilt or whatere wasn't that big, so I went with the gold standard there.

For a tow strap, I just have a 30k lb strap from the local off-road/truck shop. There are other straps that are designed to stretch, but are a bit more expensive.

I'm really eyeing the Deadman earth anchor. It can be used as a tree strap or a winch point in the dunes. https://www.deadmanoffroad.com/

For an air compressor, I have the Viair 400P. I considered the 88P which is a great pump and much cheaper, but the $120 I spent on the 400 is well worth it IMO.

As others have said, the shovel/axe stuff just get from home depot/walmart or whatever. I see a lot of overlander goobers with $300 Swedish axes or whatever and IMO that's just a compete waste of money. Actually, don't even get an axe, get a hatchet and a folding hand saw. You're not felling trees here, you're clearing branches.

On that note I would recommend getting a chain, too, but NOT for recovery. Use it to drag trees/branches out of the way. Don't use your recovery strap for that.

 

Thanks and yeah I have since re gone over my "list" of things I need vs want lol. No I don't think I'll need traction boards or lights, at least not yet and from what I do but I just wanted those haha, like I said I have since re gone over my list to get things that I actually need or may need in a sticky situation vs what I want just bc.

 

It's all about the gram

 

If you have pep boys in your area they carry the Hi-Lift brand jacks and frequently run discounts on them.

 

Yeah that's the problem its hard when ya see some badass tricked out rigs on social media etc and I'm just like, want, want and want, just bc the idea of it is cool or it looks cool haha but I'm starting with what I actually need and will use and find myself lacking first.

 

I promise you 96.6 percent of the guys on the gram that are decked out never pull the maxtraxs out to use them. I see JKs here like that and you walk up and underside is flawless with out a scratch. They are either an excellent t driver or they dont like to have fun

 

Same with tricked out guns.