Sandladders vs Waffleboards vs ....

[jimboree]

What's best for self recovery in sandy, muddy or rocky conditions?

Because of space (and money) limitations, I'm looking for one tool that will do all the following. I know that means compromise, but what do you use/recommend?

1) Something that I can put under the wheels to help traction in mud and sand
2) Something that I can use as a bridging ladder for rock steps

Any suggestions gratefully received!

[davew]

Waffle boards will allow some bridging, especially when used in multiples, back in the day when we ran teams in challenges we used to carry 3 on each vehicle because you can bridge pretty much anything with 3 waffle boards per wheel. They're not perfect as they can bend quite a lot but ok for small gaps and for climbing rocks. If you really want to bridge then the 50mm ones would be better than the 38mm but then the 38mm ones weigh a ton when full of mud, the 50mm full of mud needs a JCB to shift !

Sand ladders are next to useless for bridging, they just bend and don't spring back into shape so you spend half your time driving over them to try and straighten them out. The steel ones are ridiculously heavy, the aluminium ones aren't too bad though.

Waffle boards are OK for traction in sand/mud, probably as good as sand ladders.

MaxTrax are really good for traction, are light and take up very little room comparatively (we have 4 on the bonnet of the 90). The downside of them is the cost, especially in the UK, and they're no good for bridging.

[jimboree]

Brilliant, thanks Dave