Before you go
Most long recoveries are long because of something that was decided before anyone left the house.
We are volunteers, not professionals.
Nobody here is a certified recovery operator, a mechanic or a medic unless they tell you they are, and we do not check. This is what the group has learned, offered freely. It is not training, not a standard, and not a substitute for hiring somebody who does this for a living.
Tell a person, not a group
- Where you are going, roughly which way, and when you will be back.
- When they should start making calls. An hour late is different from four hours late, and they cannot judge that unless you tell them.
- A post in a group is not this. A person expecting you is this.
Assume there is no signal
- Download the offline map for the area before you leave the house.
- Screenshot the map, so you have it when the app cannot load tiles.
- Write the coordinates of where you are headed on paper. A phone that dies takes the whole plan with it.
Fuel, water, daylight
- Half a tank is the turn-around point, not the worry point.
- Work out when it gets dark, then subtract an hour.
- Water for everyone in the vehicle, plus some for whoever comes out to you.
Air down, and plan to air up
- Lower pressure is the cheapest traction there is, and it is free.
- Know the pressure you are going to, and check it rather than guessing.
- You need a compressor to get home. Borrowing one at the gate is not a plan.
Go with somebody
- A second vehicle is the difference between an inconvenience and a night out.
- If you are going alone, tell somebody the route and stick to it.
If somebody is hurt, call 911 first.
Injury, a vehicle in moving water, or anything in a traffic lane is an emergency call, not a recovery request. We are volunteers with trucks. Nobody is on shift and nobody is obliged to come.