Talked about hard and soft shackles for 4WD recovery yesterday, and it struck me that I was probably doing humanity a disservice overall by not first establishing some general guidelines for recovery.  

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The worst designed, least reliable and most dangerous component in off-road recovery is of course the human being.   People die during recovery. They get hit by projectiles. They get sliced open by cables. They get crushed by vehicles which drive over them when they run away under gravity after being freed, and nobody thought that far ahead. So there is quite a serious dimension to this off-road F-U-N.  TRAINING It’s a dud idea to figure out recovery for yourself. Like, lesson one, teach yourself recovery the first time you get the vehicle stuck in some preposterously precarious position. Just look confident and make it up, right? You’re kidding - that might work in a job interview; not here.   Instead, do a course with a bunch of like-minded individuals.  [SUPER: BYSTANDERS] Do I really need to say it? Recovery is not a spectator sport. Anyone not actually un-sticking a stuck vehicle - minimum safe lateral separation: 30 metres. A winch cable cannot attempt to amputate your arm or your leg if you are further away from it, than it is long.   If you’re not actively recovering, get out of the way - especially kids, whom a responsible adult should mind. And don’t go downhill from the problem, because that’s generally where a runaway vehicle will go.  Don’t rush Like, as soon as you get stuck, anywhere, wind it back to 50 per cent on the playback speed. Rushing is generally counterproductive and dangerous. You’re bogged in a 4WD near Dingo Piss Creek. You have not been engaged by a Taliban sniper. If you rush, you will only open the door to disaster.  BIN IT While we’re at it, throw away any damaged gear. Winch cable with a busted strand - just bin it. Snatch strap, tree strap - any sling with a gouge out of it, or substantially abraded - time for a new one, dude.   We’re gunna assume for the rest of this chat that your gear is in good order. If it’s not, then the risks are potentially through the roof.  MINIMISE LOADS Keep the loads low. Recovery is a ballad best played in the lowest of low keys. Low key. Low tempo. Do a bit of shovelling. Free up that chassis rail. Break out the jack - put some packing under that low-hanging wheel (whatever). Lift things up first, to (literally) take a load off. Let’s not be letting the winch or the snatch strap do all the work.  Speaking of which, on the snatch strap front. Low key, dude. Low key. It’s not a drag race. It’s a gentle pull. Snatch straps are not ballistic devices.  You do not want that. You really are trying to minimise the opportunity for the creation of a potentially dangerous situation.   THINK AHEAD What are you going to do when the vehicle gets free? Can it run away? If so, best get in it, or get someone reliable in it so they can stop it safely … before, perhaps, it rolls into you and crushes you against a 100-year-old gum tree.  Like, we’re all gunna die. I get that. But I vote heavily for not like that.