How quickly things can go wrong

I posted this earlier in a different thread but applicable here.

 

Aye, those are cool. Great for relatively stock trucks without winches, plate etc.

 

Come alongs work awesome in pulling situations, you can use them as a winch, they also work great to pull one end of the truck sideways, something that can be tricky even with snatch blocks. They should be in everyones off road gear.

 

Agreed. But if you do have a winch, a snatch block is a great thing, not just for off-axis pulls. Double-line pull is also helpful in some scenarios.

 

For sure a winch is a hugely useful tool!
I've just been in situations where the winch was useless, or the winch was being used to pull and the Come along was used to stabilize the truck from sliding sideways.
Sometimes it's so much simpler to use the come along to pull one axle out of the ditch than to try to come up with a snatch block combination that would pull the direction you want.

 

I carry a length of 2" webbing, usually a tail end from a heavy duty ratchet strap for various reasons. Great around trees, tie a short loop, and run it through a rim and lift a wheel with a hi-lift, good for a soft way to pull a stuck vehicle that doesn't have readily available tow points. The list goes on

 

Sad, but like I said.. he wouldn't be found alive... this guy was very experienced:

http://komonews.com/news/local/resc...-missing-hiker-at-granite-mountain-01-01-2016

 

That is sad. I can't imagine what the other hikers must be going through

 

Nice write up OP. I've "saved" dozens of people from bad situations that resulted from their poor planning. It is a mindset issue more than anything else. They don't properly prepare and they panic when "it" happens.

On a side note, the Delorme InReach is the best piece of gear anyone who ventures into remote areas can get. $300 and $10 monthly, and you can send text messages from anywhere in the world and can trigger an SOS beacon that will see immediate and competent SAR response.

 

Traction boards, such as those sold by MAX TRAX and TREDs, are great. They're quick, easy, and safe. That's really all I use anymore.

I would not venture offroad without a hi lift, a shovel, a recovery strap(s), and an ax. Now that I have had traction boards for a year, I would include those in the list as well. Those five tools are the fundamental tools of recovery and there aren't many situations you can't get out of with them.

 

Good story, some buddies and I helped recover a couple people last week that were woefully unprepared for the conditions they were out in. Everyone gets stuck, but not everyone properly prepares.

 

If you have a hitch I'm sure you can use the hi lift on that as well. Also, you could probably have some kind of adapter for the hitch that would catch the hi lift better.

I'm wondering why you checked the kids pockets? Make sure he didn't have any weapons?

 

I would do the same. Check for weapons or drug paraphernalia.

 

Really?! What? Did you want to get high?

 

Speaks to the character of the stranger. If I did see any signs of drug use and I was with my children as the OP described, then I'd leave the stranger in a millisecond and likely help him via a phone call to law enforcement.

 

Spent 4hrs this weekend recovering a 1ton dodge which had a rookie driver ad no recovery gear got himself wedged on the frame and front pumpkin on a ice shelf which dropped into a pond crossing which was about halfway up the door. Lucky for him we had the tools to get him out of a bad situation (myself and 2 other trucks) we were prepared for the cold and snow we had a tiger torch and melted the dice away from the truck and cut up some logs to give him some traction. Things go south fast in the snow and ice... because we ended up coming down the mountain in the dark the Trail turned to ice and several times it was steer, pray and aim for the snow bank...

 

In this area there are some rough people. The thing about Washington is you can go from the 12th biggest metropolitan area in the country to the complete, deep wilderness in an hour or less. The people who live on the fringe want to live on the fringe... I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that at all. I respect the rugged lifestyle... but I also know I have a duty to protect my kids and not put myself in a situation that could leave them alone.

As a FF in this county for years I've dealt with a lot of people in and around the area. Some of the best people in the world, and some shady people. Actually, I armed myself, let him know I was doing so, and then asked him to empty his pockets and then offered to help. I still made him ride in the back of the truck

 

Smart move! Good read.

 

A Hi-lift is a great multi-use tool, but a little sketchy in most situations. If you can only afford one tool I think I would pick a hi-lift though.

 

Looking over some old threads of mine and realized we're rolling back into the fun of winter weather off roading time.

Be careful and be prepared!