How do you balance being prepared vs being a tool?

[roaniecowpony]

When I do anything with new (to me) people, I try to bring something to the party that brings us together. My BBQ and my wife's cookies usually work pretty well at breaking the ice. Made some good friends with that stuff. Loosens people up when they are eating food you brought that they can't get enough of.

Sponsored

 

[wibornz]

As I continued to surf this site, I realized that on the last trail run that I led, there were six women drivers. I wonder how many of them can fix u joints and axles while out on the trail?

As my wife said, It's just not that deep.. GO HAVE FUN.

 

[roaniecowpony]

why no chains?
simple. what would you rather get hit in the head with, a cloth strap, or a steel chain. those things, when they break under heavy load, becomes a slingshot/projectile, and you know where it's heading? that's right, straight to where the other end is, right back to the vehicle.

if you are still stuck on using chains, make sure no one is within the kill zone, and if one needs to be (winch operator), then you better make it be yourself.
put your hood up when doing a snatch type recovery with straps, and especially if you insist on using chain. but this is where i stress, no chains. they can be used safely in a winch type recovery with no power added from the stuck vehicle, but can still let go depending on resistance. even a 5/8 chain (13000lb WLL) is only as strong as the hook attached to it. which is usually only 3500lbs (WLL).
use D shackles instead, 3/4 inch is perfect and has from 6500 to 9500lb WLL, which should be marked on the shackle. stay away from ones that don't.

that's also the same reason i said no straps with integrated hooks. looped straps only, and there is a difference between tow straps and recovery straps, so make sure you choose accordingly.

and be weary of crappy do it yourself bumpers and shitty recovery points. they can kill you just the same.

btw, i'm a certified level 5 wreckmaster.

Amazing how many people aren't aware of the dangers of the energy stored in a stretched cable, strap, or chain. A steel or synthetic winch cable can stretch like a rubber band and when it breaks, it is a dangerous thing, especially if a metal hook or chain is flying thru the air.

 

[roaniecowpony]

As I continued to surf this site, I realized that on the last trail run that I led, there were six women drivers. I wonder how many of them can fix u joints and axles while out on the trail?

As my wife said, It's just not that deep.. GO HAVE FUN.

Ted,
they don't have to know. The pretty young ones will have guys falling over themselves to help them. The others just need to bring something like those cookies my wife bakes. Good will (or shame from wives) cover the rest. LOL.. Human nature.

 

[NFRs2000NYC]

So a noob has a brand new JL, and your suggesting that he change out u joints and axle shafts so that he can out on the trail???? I would think that a noob is not going to wheel hard enough to break those parts on a brand new JL.

This was a thread geared to a noob. He should be going out with others and learning how to wheel and as his Jeep friends build, Those skills to do advanced repairs will come.with the help of others. There are very few who ever tackled advanced repairs the first time all on their own. Someone took just about everyone under their wing and helped them along.

If your a noob and your going out on the trail with me, bring snacks, water and have the gas tank topped off, the rest of the group will help you along. Drop in between to more experienced drivers and have fun. The trail leader should to an extent help keep the noobs safe and injury free. The group as a whole should be helping the noob to have a positive experience. In our group, many of us even have an extra handheld radio that we can pass on to a noob so the noob can communicate with the group.

I always say to the new person, drive with in your skill set and stay below 70% of the vehicles capability. This will 99% of the time make for a trouble free great day on the trail.

I was talking about a person wheeling alone. Obviously if you are on a trail and break a ujoint with someone else that knows how to do it, you can learn from them, but the original comment was "know how to use the gear you take." Bringing a hilift without ever having used one, and trying to use it on a trail is a recipe for disaster. Likewise, trail repairs on something you've never done are going to be extremely difficult as you can't even get online to see how to do it, but again, this was for a wheeling alone scenario.

 

[beachbumm78]

Are you married? If not, are you interested in being married? I think I’m falling in love ...
Just kidding....sorta.

Haha. Is that all it takes? Jk

 

[mgroeger]

I’m going on my first organized trail ride this weekend. I got my JL in late Jan. but have been reading this forum and other sources for almost a year trying to learn. I think I have all the tools and recovery gear covered (I have an absurd amount of tools and gear). I also just ordered some handheld CB gear with external antenna support (not quite ready to install a full CB). What other tips and tricks would you experts give for a noob? I have a Sahara with 2.5” lift + 315/70/17 tires.

I don’t want to show up looking like an ass but I don’t want to be unprepared, either.

My wife has the same rig as you and I have an '04 LJ. My piece of advice... winch. Should be one of if not the first thing you get IMO. Has gotten us out of some trouble and helped another Jeeper as well. Get a tree strap and 30' recovery strap as well and you will never regret it.
Air down tool and small Viair compressor for $55 on Amazon are great too. The compressor comes in handy if there is no compressed air filler uppers near by or the line is long.
And last of all bring a smile because you will need it if you are doing it right

 

[MOPAR Boy]

IMHO, driving all alone way, way out in the remote boondocks in your car is an extremely risky thing to do in the first place, regardless of what "tools" you may, or may not, decide to take with you. For example, what the heck do you plan to do, whilst purposefully isolated many miles from civilization out in the remote boondocks, if you should happen to have an acute attack of appendicitis, and you are all alone, miles from civilization? Great, if and when your appendix then proceeds to subsequently burst, you would then immediately be in critical condition. Next, Murphy's Law kicks in, and you blow a tire as you struggle to remain barely conscious, and you are, of course, way too weak to change it. Buh-bye!

That said, IMHO the following 5 items are mandatory safety tools, if you plan to drive your car all alone out there in the phenomenally dangerous way out remote boondocks:

1. Acquire your General Class amateur radio (Ham) FCC license, and install a good HF radio and associated all band antenna on your car, covering the 160 thru 10 meter SSB HF analog voice bands. Along with this, also install a good VHF 2M Amateur Packet Reporting System (APRS) Ham radio and its associated VHF antenna, with an internally fully integrated GPS, or sans an internally integrated GPS, connected to its own GPS receiver. And, train, train, and retrain-up on the proper use and procedures of your installed HF voice radio, and use of APRS and your particular APRS Ham radio, so you are thoroughly familiar with HF SSB analog voice communications, and VHF APRS, especially as to how to use both of these technologies in an emergency.

2. Have a minimum of 3 fully charged up ginormous capacity batteries for your cell phone

3. Take a good Iridium satellite phone with you, with 3 spare fully charged batteries

4. Take a high quality satellite emergency alert beacon unit with you, with internal and fully integrated GPS, and several fully charged spare batteries.

5. Take a high quality handheld GPS unit with you, along with 2 or 3 spare and fully charged batteries.

It goes without saying, of course, all of the regular Boy Scout paraphernalia, like a signal mirror, flints, high quality compass, lots and lots of dry warm clothes, sleeping bags, a really good tent, boots, flares and flare guns, extra gasoline safely stowed and stored, etc. should also be included for your journey. The list is simply too long to delineate all of the "standard" safety items.

Good luck!

 

[IronScott]

Thought I’d report back. I had a blast. My first trail ride and can’t wait for the next. I have some pics and videos below. Keep in mind this is not a major wheeling, rock-crawling type trail. It’s a bunch of old logging roads and some newly cut trails spread out on over 2,000+ acres, mostly for all drivers. Unfortunately, I only had half a day or so to enjoy, so I need to go back and hit more trails.

There were a few steep climbs and some mud but only one climb I felt a bit of anxiety on. My Sahara with BFG KO2s did great, though thankfully I left before the group encountered a 2-foot deep mud-hole.

The park is a working buffalo and cattle ranch, so that added some fun seeing the animals. This is in northwest Arkansas in the middle of the Ozarks. The scenery is really beautiful.

Thanks to the responses here, I added several things to my prep that I hadn’t thought of and even bought a bottle jack the morning before the ride. I didn’t have a set of jumper cables with me but that was the only major thing I think I was missing.

We had a dozen vehicles, 11 Jeeps and one Hummer (from Iraq war - cool as hell but a bit too wide for some of the trails). Not a huge group but not tiny, either.

This was the first time I had met any of the other people. Everyone was welcoming and super friendly. I felt out of place both being new and having a JL but that was only my own insecurity. There were TJs, YJs, JKs, and I think a CJ (and the Hummer). All were super friendly and I got several compliments on the Sting Gray color.

Anyway, thanks to all for the positive feedback and comments. Now prepping for the next adventure.

 

[brazos]

Haha. Is that all it takes? Jk

It’s a start.

 

[brazos]

IMHO, driving all alone way, way out in the remote boondocks in your car is an extremely risky thing to do in the first place, regardless of what "tools" you may, or may not, decide to take with you. For example, what the heck do you plan to do, whilst purposefully isolated many miles from civilization out in the remote boondocks, if you should happen to have an acute attack of appendicitis, and you are all alone, miles from civilization? Great, if and when your appendix then proceeds to subsequently burst, you would then immediately be in critical condition. Next, Murphy's Law kicks in, and you blow a tire as you struggle to remain barely conscious, and you are, of course, way too weak to change it. Buh-bye!

That said, IMHO the following 5 items are mandatory safety tools, if you plan to drive your car all alone out there in the phenomenally dangerous way out remote boondocks:

1. Acquire your General Class amateur radio (Ham) FCC license, and install a good HF radio and associated all band antenna on your car, covering the 160 thru 10 meter SSB HF analog voice bands. Along with this, also install a good VHF 2M Amateur Packet Reporting System (APRS) Ham radio and its associated VHF antenna, with an internally fully integrated GPS, or sans an internally integrated GPS, connected to its own GPS receiver. And, train, train, and retrain-up on the proper use and procedures of your installed HF voice radio, and use of APRS and your particular APRS Ham radio, so you are thoroughly familiar with HF SSB analog voice communications, and VHF APRS, especially as to how to use both of these technologies in an emergency.

2. Have a minimum of 3 fully charged up ginormous capacity batteries for your cell phone

3. Take a good Iridium satellite phone with you, with 3 spare fully charged batteries

4. Take a high quality satellite emergency alert beacon unit with you, with internal and fully integrated GPS, and several fully charged spare batteries.

5. Take a high quality handheld GPS unit with you, along with 2 or 3 spare and fully charged batteries.

It goes without saying, of course, all of the regular Boy Scout paraphernalia, like a signal mirror, flints, high quality compass, lots and lots of dry warm clothes, sleeping bags, a really good tent, boots, flares and flare guns, extra gasoline safely stowed and stored, etc. should also be included for your journey. The list is simply too long to delineate all of the "standard" safety items.

Good luck!

My Lord. Is this what American manhood has been reduced to?

 

[TrailTorque]

Beer/Food/Gas/Knife/CB/Toilet Paper

Hope you had fun!

 

[Covet]

As I continued to surf this site, I realized that on the last trail run that I led, there were six women drivers. I wonder how many of them can fix u joints and axles while out on the trail?

As my wife said, It's just not that deep.. GO HAVE FUN.

6 women drivers? $hit.. may consider a move to MI lol!

 

[Covet]

I’m going on my first organized trail ride this weekend. I got my JL in late Jan. but have been reading this forum and other sources for almost a year trying to learn. I think I have all the tools and recovery gear covered (I have an absurd amount of tools and gear). I also just ordered some handheld CB gear with external antenna support (not quite ready to install a full CB). What other tips and tricks would you experts give for a noob? I have a Sahara with 2.5” lift + 315/70/17 tires.

I don’t want to show up looking like an ass but I don’t want to be unprepared, either.

Hello Scott,
I was reading all the replies to your questions on this thread trying to make sure i did not duplicate any advice etc. AND there is a wealth of knowledge here so I am not going to re-re-restate the same $hit.
- if you are going with an organized group 1. Let the lead, trail guid, WTF ever know its your first go. He or she should help you from there. If not, don’t run with those hoes ever again.
2. You probably have more than person A and less than person B on your rig, but if its a group thing somebody got whatever somebody needs, if not, then we are talking about needing some helicopter-type-$hit. Your experienced group will be geared and organized to go for whatever they have seen as necessary.
3. Hy lifts, welding machines, Palma torches, portable car lifts, spare engines, spare entire drivetrains, etc. - there are people on these forums that have done some unusually extreme crazy-$hit. And i think that is pretty cool, but! I would never do any of that insane $hit by myself, why you may ask? Because if I totally break my Jeep and didn’t happen to have one of the 1,000,000 possible parts that could break in my back up parts bag i can get in there rig and go the *uck home, call for a tow and call it learning.
Short version, talk with the people organizing the run. Let then know you are inexperienced if they are about that Jeep life they will help you and educate you. IF they react @ssholish tell them eat a d!ck and do not run with that group, go find a group that is about jeeping vs. about being some elitist @sses.

 

[spurly]

I don't do any hardcore wheeling but where I'm going usually dictacts what I take along. If I'm doing some light to mid wheeling in a location I KNOW with 100% certainty I will have cell signal, I don't see it necessary to take all the survival gear with me. Last weekend I went to Randolph, KS where it's the only place within 200 miles of Omaha to do any wheeling. Of course there were probably 100 other Jeeps there at the same time but I was with a group of 5. I have a 26" plastic tool box I use for wheeling. And I always leave it packed. It has several smaller compartments that makes it easy to keep things organized. In it, I keep the following:
30 piece ratcheting wrench set
4 screwdrivers
Pliers
Viair 88p air compressor
Rubber gloves
Mechanics gloves
Fuses
Zip ties
Electrical tape
Led flashlight
Tire deflator
Knife
Valve stems and shrader valves
Tire plug kit
Toilet paper
And a small tarp. No one wants to lay in mud if they have to crawl under their jeep.
I know there are some items I'm missing but that's what I can remember.
And a lot of this doesn't take up a lot of room.

My philosophy is I take what I think I may need. When I had my TJ, I used everyone of those items more than once. I don't expect to use these as often on a new JLUR, which means I may need to reevaluate what and how much I take with me. But I'll be damned if there isn't something I usually have that someone else has needed to use before.

Sponsored