In the world of four-wheel driving, most people are familiar with winches and starter straps. They are very different in many ways (including price), but they will get very similar results. A boot strap is basically a long strap with some elasticity, allowing the strap to stretch up to 20% of its length. The idea behind this is simple: When an all-wheel drive is stuck, you put the strap on the rated recovery points on both vehicles and one vehicle takes the other out. The advantage of a stretchable strap is that it can be accelerated and when the strap is lifted it will stretch and power will be slowly applied to the stuck vehicle. If you did this with a rope that did not stretch, it would break or seriously hit both vehicles.

Boot straps are great for bouncing off sand, mud, snow, and even rocks. In many cases, you only need a little tug anyway, so no stretching is necessary. However, in some cases it is necessary to have the ability to get an extra boost. These start at around $ 40 and are worth having in your vehicle. However, the only downside is that you need two cars to use them.

Winches, on the other hand, are a bit more versatile. They can be attached to another vehicle or tree, which means you can usually get out even when you don’t have another vehicle nearby. If there are no trees, you can bury a spare tire and lift it out with a winch. Winches have a number of advantages over starter straps, but the main one is that they are slower and more controlled. Instead of having to accumulate a considerable amount of kinetic energy, you can slowly pull out a vehicle. This is very advantageous when driving on four wheels on rocks. If you suddenly jerk a vehicle over rocks, it is likely to cause damage or make the situation worse.

Obviously winches are much more expensive (and you can only pull forward unless you have a rear winch!), But they are very common on four wheel drives today. The biggest complaint I have with winches and starter straps is the risk of them being applied to both people and four wheel drives. If either one breaks, serious damage can occur. Many people have died using them and they are very dangerous if used correctly.

So my preference (for everything except rocks) is Maxtrax. These are technical grade nylon boards that you simply put under your vehicle’s tires. From there, you can drive to them and they’ll be out in seconds. There is no need to apply excessive force to the vehicle (and you can do it without the need for another car), there is no risk of anything breaking and flying through the air and they are considerably faster and easier to use. You’ll get beach-stuck four-wheel drive in half the time it takes to mount a starter strap or winch (risk-free either!)