I travel alone full time to remote locations and I will tell you that the best thing to have when things go south are options. If you travel with a group and only do this occasionally your options generally increase by an order of magnitude.
Let's consider a solo adventurer and the three main levels of traction related issues and their solutions:
- easy
- approximately 80% of traction related issues
- issue - mild loss of traction over short distance
- solution
- engage four-wheel drive
- use traction boards
- moderate
- approximately 20% of traction related issues
- issue - significant loss of traction over medium distance
- solution
- engage four wheel drive
- use traction boards
- engage front locker
- engage rear locker or rear limited slip
- severe
- less than 1% of traction related issues
- issue - complete loss of traction over extended distance
- solution
- engage four wheel drive
- use traction boards
- engage front locker
- engage rear locker or rear limited slip
- utilize winch and recovery gear
A winch will generally get you out of just about any conceivable situation and if you could only select a single option, a winch, recovery gear, and proper tow points front and rear is what I would spend it on. But winches take time, add complexity, require a foreign anchor, and introduce other types of danger.
The second best option is a front locker since a front locker is a solution for most all traction related issues with the exception of the most severe ones. I have three decades of off-road experience in virtually every type of terrain and I can say without hesitation that a front locker is many times more valuable when compared to a rear for the majority of situations. Rear lockers are helpful but if I had only enough money to spend on one it would be in the front axle. I find that an aftermarket locker up front with a factory limited slip in the rear offers the most value for your money.
Many folks jump to the head of the line and and select a winch. For occasional recoveries this is a great option and although it takes a bit of time and effort, most folks have the time available when on the trail. Again, this is really the best money spent if you can only budget for one type of recovery option. For those who spent much time off-road the addition of a front locker is very nice since it can quickly pull you through those moderate situations where use of a winch is generally overkill and a waste of time.
One final note regarding electric versus hydraulic winches. An electric it great for most all winching applications with the exception of long and continuous pulls. An electric winch will eventually overheat and without protection circuitry, can damage itself on very long pulls. A hydraulic winch can effectively pull non-stop, for an unlimited amount of time. Over the past three decades I have had only one situation where a hydraulic winch was required and I had one mounted. The pull during this recovery was just over 1/2-mile in length, lasted over three hours, and involved climbing out of a gorge in the winter time with a non-functioning front axle.
Edit: the most important part of any recovery is in the very beginning. You must take charge of the situation and slow the process down. When a vehicle becomes stuck, or something bad happens, it is human nature to jump right into the mess and attempt to fix it. This is dangerous and many times leads to an already bad situation becoming much worse. Personally, I like to look at my watch and tell myself, or others, we are not going to touch a single piece of equipment or gear for a certain period of time. On an easy recovery analysis of the situation and discussion of all available options may only take five or ten minutes. If the recovery is moderate to severe, it may take longer, even hours. Just remember to slow the process down so you and your team are able to consider all options and select the best solution.
Things happen off-road and it's nice to have several recovery options available.
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