Are Maxtrax (Treds, etc) mostly fashion?

.
.
.

.
.
No.

Here in Oregon we have real trees lol.
I'll put my Stihl up against a silky katana, bow saw, axe or whatever any day lol.

 

Where are people mounting their bo staffs? Roof rack, bed - collapsible CCBS (concealed carry bo staff) in the cab? Asking for a friend.

The friend is me.

For the other stuff, horses for courses. I'm single vehicle in remote areas a lot, so having different self-recovery options is nice.

Folding saw - yes, fast for limbs < 6"
Ax - yes, used it yesterday to split kindling. Don't use it too often for felling, but it's also my 4lb sledge.
Chainsaw- love mine, it doesn't live in the truck because they leak oil and I live in the desert.

Maxxtrax knockoffs - yes, as part of a well-balanced recovery diet. I've used them where winching would have been difficult/impossible due to anchors or angle of pull (e.g., dug out rear wheels on mega steps, available winch point over the lip).


Overall the weight/size/safety trade-off is a good one for me. For my frequency of use, the knockoffs are a good financial fit.

Plus one time I didn't use them to level my RTT and almost spilled my french press.

 

I always thought they were mostly for sand, until this past weekend. I'd just recently picked up a set of maxtrax and this was my first time using them. I was in TN and was on a pretty muddy trail. In the beginning, it was mostly downhill, so just controlled sliding. Then it turned into uphill, and no way we were driving up some of the spots without some sort of assistance. One hill had a really deep rut, only on one side. Took us 2.5 hours to get 3 trucks up with a combo of shoveling, winching, and using the traction boards to move the trucks up a little at a time. Other parts of the trail, it made the difference in making it over an obstacle or not. Used it as a ramp/bridge in some particularly rough spots. I will be picking up another pair of maxtrax at one point or another.

 

Winning!

You don't need'em till ya need'em.

 

Yep exactly! If we didn't have them we would have been just fine, but it's another tool in the toolkit to aid in recovery and makes certain recoveries easier.

 

Yawn. You got some pine trees. We got those too. So you got a chainsaw in Oregon....I’m super impressed.



This is honestly the first time anyone from Oregon tried to flex. Ever.

 

Well. I did say I doubled down on them. There is a REASON.

 

Lol, your a funny guy

Not flexing haha, just being practical lol.

 

Going to pretend this thread hasnt spiraled into an axe vs saw dumpster fire and drop my $0.02:

I've used my MaxTrax more times than all my other recovery gear combined (maybe with the exception of the snatch strap, maybe..) They cant be beat in my opinion.

And for what its worth, the knock off brands are good, but not quite as good from what Ive seen.

 

This is true. This weekend turned into an unintentional shootout of different boards. We had the $60 xbull, the $130 maxsa, and my maxtrax. We were not kind to any of them. The xbull cracked, both of them. One right down the middle. MAXSA faired better, but a lot of it's supports underneath the boards cracked. The maxtrax came out unscathed.

The two pairs of damaged recovery boards will still work, but we'll see for how much longer.

 

I have a set of the cheap knock off ones from Amazon that cost me like $100. The work excellent and I highly recommend them. They offer far better traction than tree branches stuck under the wheels.

 

Yeah I’m thinking if I wanted to fell a tree of some substance, a chainsaw is a fine option. Probably the finest, in an ideal situation. However, if we’re talking hand tools (which I was), then a quality axe...and if we’re talking HAND SAW then my suggestion still stands as the fastest and most versatile tool there is, completely kicking the ass of any other type of hand saw.

 

Wrong. Behold the best tree felling implement ever invented

 

In Oregon, they would sneer at you, unless that herring is a pull-start gasoline powered herring.

 

I've had good luck with a shovel and the GOtreads helping others get out of situations. I suppose we could have pulled them out just as well. Options are always nice.

Seems like the MAX trax are more durable than most other Stackable options though... I have hear about others cracking cheaper boards. pay once cry once I guess...

 

Def Red!

 

We got that good mud here..

 

I had to do that with my old Dodge Dart back in the day to get out of some mud. Worked perfectly, apart from having to clean the mat afterward.

 

When I see those, they always look like the life preservers from the Baywatch trucks.