Recovery Gear Checker
Tell us your rig, where you wheel, and how far from help you go. Get a prioritized recovery kit with the load-rating math shown, not a generic product list.
Kinetic recovery rope should be rated 2 to 3 times your vehicle's GVW (sweet spot 2.5x). Winches should be at least 1.5x GVW. Rated recovery points must be matched to or exceed the rope's working load. No tow hook welded to sheet metal counts as a recovery point.
HOW IT WORKS
Your Rig
Pick a weight class or enter your exact GVW for precise math
Where You Wheel
Sand, mud, rock, snow, or mixed terrain shifts the priority list
Get Your Tiers
Three priority tiers, ratings shown, and honest notes on what is overkill
Step 1, Vehicle Weight Class
Recovery ratings scale with vehicle weight. Pick the closest class or enter your loaded GVW below.
Step 2, Where You Wheel
The dominant terrain on your usual trails shifts which gear matters most.
Plan for the worst surface in your loop, not the average.
Step 3, How Remote and With Who
Solo travel and no signal both raise the floor on what you need to carry.
Do not leave pavement without
- Rated recovery points (front and rear), each ≥ 7,000 lb WLLFrame-mounted, stamped with a rating. No hidden hooks bolted through bumper sheet metal.
- Traction boards (one pair minimum)Even on rock, a board can bridge a step or lift a stuck tire enough to drive out.
- Folding shovelDig out a ramp under the tire, build a path, clear a trench. The cheapest recovery tool you can carry.
- Tire repair kit + plug tools + valve core toolMore flats end trips than any other failure. A $30 kit prevents most of them.
- Portable air source (compressor)After airing down for the trail, you have to air back up. A pancake compressor at home does not help here.
Add for remote travel
- Kinetic recovery rope: 17,500 lb MBS target (range 14,000 – 21,000 lb)Math: 7,000 lb GVW × 2.5 = 17,500 lb MBS. Under 2x and the rope is undersized; over 3x and it loses stretch (becomes effectively a tow strap).
- Soft shackles (pair), MBS ≥ 17,500 lbLighter, safer, and easier on recovery points than steel D-rings. Match or beat the rope's MBS.
- Satellite messenger (Garmin inReach, ZOLEO, ACR PLB)Out of cell signal, an SOS button is the difference between a long walk and a search. Subscription is the cost of insurance you hope to never use.
Specialized
- Winch rated ≥ 10,500 lbMath: 7,000 lb GVW × 1.5 = 10,500 lb minimum. Common production sizes round up to 12,000 / 16,500 lb. Synthetic line is safer than wire under load.
- Snatch block or recovery ringDoubles winch line pull or redirects the pull angle. Useless without a winch.
- Ground anchor (Pull-Pal style, deadman, or buried spare)Solo in open desert or sand, there may be nothing to winch off. A ground anchor is the solution. Skip if you only wheel forested terrain.
- Damper / line blanketDrops a broken winch line or rope to the ground instead of letting it whip. Cheap and required by sanctioned events for a reason.
How we sized your kit
Recovery gear is rated by force, not by vehicle. Two numbers do most of the work: your vehicle's loaded weight (GVW) and the multipliers the industry uses for each piece of gear. We do not invent these multipliers, they come from manufacturer guidance and decades of field use.
Kinetic rope: 2x to 3x GVW
A kinetic rope stretches up to 30% and releases that stored energy to pop a stuck vehicle free. Undersized, the rope snaps. Oversized, it stops stretching and turns into a tow strap. For a 7,000 lb rig that lands at 14,000 to 21,000 lb MBS, with 17,500 lb as the practical sweet spot.
Winch: 1.5x GVW minimum
Winch rating is measured on the first wrap of the drum. Each additional wrap reduces pulling power by roughly 10%. Sizing at 1.5x GVW (10,500 lb here) gives margin for a deeply buried rig on the third or fourth wrap. A snatch block or recovery ring doubles effective line pull when geometry allows.
Recovery points: rated, frame-mounted
The weakest link breaks first. A factory tow hook hanging off bumper brackets is not a recovery point. Look for stamped ratings, frame-mounted hardware, and a working load limit of at least 7,000 lb per point on a rig this size.
What we left off the list
No high-lift jack. They are dangerous and have been replaced by traction boards and exhaust jacks for most use cases. No chain. Chains do not stretch and concentrate force at the link. No "tow strap as recovery rope", they are sized for static towing, not kinetic loads. None of these are forbidden, just outclassed by current gear.