Do I need a winch? It’s the age-old question that’s been asked by 4×4 owners since the dawn of time. And guess what. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer! It really is up to the individual and the way they use their rig. But what if we simplify the scenario?
What’s the purpose of insurance?
We’ve all got insurance on our 4x4s. Most of us insure our health, our property, our income and our lives. We’re insured for just about anything the universe can throw at us. So what is the fundamental purpose of insurance?
We buy insurance because we’d rather pay a little bit now to avoid paying a lot later. That’s a little over-simplified, but that’s the crux of it. We want to avoid nasty bills when things go wrong, so we buy insurance.
So when things go wrong on the tracks, what happens? Sure, we can rely on our car insurance if things have gone really pear-shaped, but there’ll be an excess to pay. If you can get yourself out of the pickle you can avoid that extra cost.
That’s exactly where a winch comes in. If you’ve equipped your 4×4 with a good winch, and equipped yourself with a bit of knowledge on winching, you will get yourself out of many tricky situations. An added bonus is the confidence that a winch will give you. When you know you have the ability to self-recover, you’re inclined to push that little bit harder, and go that little bit further. That’s where the best adventures lie; just outside your regular comfort zone.
Which winch do I choose?
There are an absolute arsenal of options on the market these days ranging from the suspiciously cheap to the ridiculously expensive. Unless you’re planning on entering a few winch challenge events, you can cross the uber-expensive options off the list. If your appetite for risk isn’t too high, you should also cross off the cheap ones.
You can get a great winch and an accompanying recovery kit for yourself for under $1,500. It’ll do everything you need, and it’ll be there when you need it. You could spend more, but why should you? If you choose a well-established brand with a great reputation, like VRS, you’ll get the best bang for your buck.
That $1,500 will get you a 12500lb winch wound with 26m of synthetic rope, a fairlead and a winch controller for $1,155. Spend the change on a full recovery kit and you’ll have a set of shackles, a tree trunk protector, a snatch block, cable damper, a couple of straps and plenty more. In other words, everything you need to winch your way out of just about anything.
The best part about a winch is it’s the kind of insurance you only need to buy once, not once a year. And when you need to use it, there’s no excess to pay.
