Why do Europeans go winchless?

[thecriscokid]

I see so many great builds coming from Germany and other European countries and many if not most tend to go without a winch. I understand the weight trade off, and I understand the uselessness in the desert, But many of these great conversions are built to travel around the globe. Is there mindset to just avoid situations that need that kind of recovery? I feel like in the U.S. we are looking for terrain(north or south America) that demand serious recovery equipment.
I wish my German ancestors were overland travelers, I would just ask them...

 

[BigAl]

Because when they get in trouble they ask others to bail them out

 

[Repo503]

Ive often wondered this as well. I know for my travels I consider a winch essential equipment, and Im not a hardcore offroader. Of course I do like to travel alone so the ability to self recover is pretty important. Id bet most multi vehicle groups could get out of most situations without a winch, assuming other recovery gear was available.

 

[toylandcruiser]

Because when they get in trouble they ask others to bail them out

Hahahahaah


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[TangoBlue]

Because when they get in trouble they ask others to bail them out

********! Best reply ever!

 

[762X39]

I suspect that they don't fear getting stuck like north americans do. The worst that happens is that you are delayed an hour, day or whatever but you will get unstuck either by manual labour or the kindness of strangers. In 20 years of travel, neither my Niva nor my Unimog(or my F150, Windstar, Escort Wagon or Ranger) had a winch and the worst that happened is a few minutes delay while I sorted my stuck out and then moved on.

 

[keezer37]

Maybe they tend to wait to find a need before purchasing an item. This is the way I look at purchases. Albeit, that may be one incident too late but, I guess it's a matter of where one draws the line on needed equipment. Forethought and commonsense usually lessen need.

 

[Cards81fan]

In Germany, I know they are very restrictive about what can be on the front of the bumper. No stingers, etc may be out past the bumper. I believe this disallows winches and their fairleads.

So it's not so much a choice as it is a mandate.

 

[sasaholic]

because there traveling not wheeling. ive never came close to NEEDING a winch when doin anything other than actual wheelin. theres always another way around.....well mostly always

 

[DorB]

I understand the uselessness in the desert

don't know about europe, but there are lot's of good reasons to have a winch in the desert, specialy if you travel solo.
a ground anchor is easy to use, and replace the lack of trees..

even if you travel with a friend, in many situations, winching is better then pulling with a strap.

 

[Repo503]

Ive never used my winch to recover my own vehicle as Im not a hardcore offroader, but I have used it to play good samaritan in icy road conditions helping people out of the ditch.

 

[seanz0rz]

don't know about europe, but there are lot's of good reasons to have a winch in the desert, specialy if you travel solo.
a ground anchor is easy to use, and replace the lack of trees..

even if you travel with a friend, in many situations, winching is better then pulling with a strap.

even without a land anchor like a pullpal, you can always bury your spare tire or a similar item.

after getting desperately stuck in the mud and snow, i purchased a winch and a pullpal. havent used it yet for self recovery, but helped a few people out, as well as pulled a bunch of fence posts and tree stumps.

i believe in always being prepared. im sure one day i'll have to use my winch in the desert or the dunes, or maybe even the mountains.

 

[thecriscokid]

A winch is on my short list as is a pull pal(made down the street). It does seem like a crucial piece of recovery gear. I'd be curious if the German auto laws prohibit a front mounted winch. I do see a lot of very basic front bumpers on pretty exotic 4x4 campers. Hardly even an ARB seen on any of them.

 

[Buliwyf]

They just have a different method. Plenty still have winches. But not every truck needs a winch unless you're on a real hardcore trail.

Go to youtube. Over 1000 vids of newb off road drivers getting stuck in thick mud, not soft mud. What is the first thing they do? Go straight to pulling eachother out with chains and winches. Noone even gives a thought to a little shovel time or some 4x4 wood chunks. I've even seen people wait for a track hoe to pull their $55,000 truck out of somthing that 1 hour of digging could have fixed.

Sometimes a dozen scoops with a shovel and some boards is all the truck needs to get out on it's own. Moving the truck around with a hilift or lifting your wheels and placing boards under the truck are extremely good ways to get unstuck. In my experience, plenty of heavier trucks have become stuck not even axle deep.

Or at least a little effort like that changes a 10,000 pound winch force to something easy and safer like 6-8000. And often I have nothing to connect a winch onto. Sometimes connecting to another truck just pulls that truck in. Digging and hilift methods are quiker than digging a hole and burying my spare tire. Pull palls and giant boat anchors are out of the question. Too expensive or heavy.

I think the Europeans are defaulting to a safer less harmful method of recovery. While we just default towards pulling as hard as we can and tearing up our trucks.

Used to be that way myself. In a hurry to get back on the move. But now, taking extra time to ensure an easy dent free,lesser force recovery is part of the fun of off roading.

When I was into Jeeps I would often go straight for my winch. Now that I'm in fullsize trucks, pulling with a full 15,000 pounds of force is scary and dangerous. Listening to a Warn that large start to groan is not a warm fuzzy feeling. I'd rather just do a little digging than remove chunks of shrapnel from someones skull.

 

[762X39]

Sometimes a dozen scoops with a shovel and some boards is all the truck needs to get out on it's own. Moving the truck around with a hilift or lifting your wheels and placing boards under the truck are extremely good ways to get unstuck. I think the Europeans are defaulting to a safer less harmful method of recovery.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I stopped to pull a truck out of the ditch in the middle of winter and the first thing they asked was do I have 4WD. I have found that carrying recovery equipment (straps, shackles, recovery points front and rear) beats a winch every time. Not one of the trucks I recovered (or myself for that matter) was upset that the vehicle was recovered and could move on with their day. My straps and JackAll have seen a lot of vehicles and not one of them didn't make it home in a timely fashion.