Hey everybody, just wanted to throw in a review for the Bog Out Recovery gear.
Summary: Australian made recovery gear, shaped like a 15 ft rope ladder. Comes with red webbing that you run through your wheel(s). Then you tie the ends of the red webbing to the loops on the end of the Bog Out. The other way is to put the Bog Out all the way over your tire and use the red straps to tie the end to the rest of the Bog Out. Once you have done that, put your vehicle in low gear and let your wheels do the rest. The Bog Outs should wind up over your tires and pull you out of a situation. "Turn your wheels into winches".
My review: Cost $250 dollars, compact, and can be used to pull you backwards or forwards. Has a great warranty, and if used right, they should be a decent, cheaper alternative to a winch. They can also be used as a recovery rope, and I imagine they could be used as a rope ladder if you needed one for some reason. Unfortunately they do not have the same range as a winch, so I would recommend having a land anchor, or some sort of recovery rope or strap so that you have more range. The website claims that it is safer than a winch and that it can even be used on saplings due to the angle of pull. It was pretty easy to set up and take off. And it got me over an obstacle, even though I did run into a problem.
One thing to be aware of is that you need to be very careful with them when you start. If they get caught on your brake caliper, the red connector webbing will snap. So rotate your tires a little bit until they start to wind up the ladder, and make sure that you or a buddy keep an eye on them and make sure they don't get caught on the caliper. Especially if you have the stock WJ wheels with the thick A shaped spokes. I though there was room between the wheel and the caliper, but the curvature of the A spokes allowed the red strap to shift up and get caught on the caliper.