Owl Recovery Kit- thoughts?

[MileHigh]

Overland Van Recovery Kit

Built for serious off-road travel, the Owl Recovery Kit includes leather gloves, a kinetic rope, a tree saver, a HMPE bridle, soft shackles, hitch mounted recovery point with pin, and X-Lock — all packed into a modular molle rollup bag. Every component is selected to work with the weight and...

owlvans.com

Saw a video. What do you guys think? Paying a lot for an Owl Bag and bits?

 

[anand]

Buying stuff from Factor55 and other big names, not finding anything on sale, and everything being load rated at least as high as the Owl stuff is, my calculations bring the total cost of product to $844. Plus the bag.

Buy it all as a kit from a recovery gear manufacturer or reputable shop and that price would probably be ~$850 with a bag.

It also shows 4 shackles in the photo, but in more than one place in the description points it out as a singular soft shackle.

Putting on my work-hat I'd say that more important than buying a kit like that (which is technically designed for vans, not the Grenadier) would be training to know how to use the equipment, such as the kinetic rope (which is oversized for the Grenadier's weight) and the X-Lock.

I feel like the kit has some glaring omissions, such as not having any screw pin bow shackles; sure, remove the steel where you can, but there are more than a few instances when you just can't avoid sharp edges on a recovery point or pulley block and are going to need one; the X-Lock has a lot of uses, but also take a lot of practice and some good training to be able to use it at all (unless you're used to similar devices in the climbing world), it is especially useful when you incorporate a winch extension, which the kit doesn't include; the 10' tree saver works well for a lot of stuff out West, but if you're wheeling on the east coast, you may not have (or want) that much extra distance off the tree (additionally an 8' tree saver works really well to wrap around the backside of a tire and use a Hi-Lift to jack from; the 10' is too long unless you're running 37s); also odd that it doesn't include a pulley block but has some winching related parts.

TL;DR - Yes it's overpriced but they'll probably sell tons of them because it has their logo on it

 

[CRH]

Buying stuff from Factor55 and other big names, not finding anything on sale, and everything being load rated at least as high as the Owl stuff is, my calculations bring the total cost of product to $844. Plus the bag.

Buy it all as a kit from a recovery gear manufacturer or reputable shop and that price would probably be ~$850 with a bag.

It also shows 4 shackles in the photo, but in more than one place in the description points it out as a singular soft shackle.

Putting on my work-hat I'd say that more important than buying a kit like that (which is technically designed for vans, not the Grenadier) would be training to know how to use the equipment, such as the kinetic rope (which is oversized for the Grenadier's weight) and the X-Lock.

I feel like the kit has some glaring omissions, such as not having any screw pin bow shackles; sure, remove the steel where you can, but there are more than a few instances when you just can't avoid sharp edges on a recovery point or pulley block and are going to need one; the X-Lock has a lot of uses, but also take a lot of practice and some good training to be able to use it at all (unless you're used to similar devices in the climbing world), it is especially useful when you incorporate a winch extension, which the kit doesn't include; the 10' tree saver works well for a lot of stuff out West, but if you're wheeling on the east coast, you may not have (or want) that much extra distance off the tree (additionally an 8' tree saver works really well to wrap around the backside of a tire and use a Hi-Lift to jack from; the 10' is too long unless you're running 37s); also odd that it doesn't include a pulley block but has some winching related parts.

TL;DR - Yes it's overpriced but they'll probably sell tons of them because it has their logo on it

What do you suggest as a kit for a Grenadier without winch?

 

[landmannnn]

What do you suggest as a kit for a Grenadier without winch?

Something like the ARB Weekender kit.

 

[anand]

What do you suggest as a kit for a Grenadier without winch?

The ARB Weekender that @landmannnn suggested is a good starting point...

For a non-winch equipped vehicle I would recommend

• 20-30' snatch/kinetic strap/rope. The ropes are easier to use as you don't need to worry about twists, but don't pack as neatly. Length will depend on where you go off road (30' length isn't useful if you're in a tight/winding track, however, 20' isn't useful if you're likely to be stuck in a long bog). There are ways around both of those concerns, but that's a bit more than a starter kit. Also make sure the rating on the rope/strap is appropriate for the weight of the vehicles involved; too light and it'll stretch before loaded and too heavy and it won't stretch at all
• 2-3 soft shackles, again, from a company with an independent testing label attached to it and load rated. In this instance it's ok to go heavier than necessary, BUT, once you start going up in size you limit what the shackle will fit through (unlikely to be a concern with the recovery points on the Grenadier)
• 2 steel screw pin bow shackles. If I haven't said this enough yet, make sure they are from a known and trusted company. Personally, the two companies I use/trust are Van Beest and Crosby. I hate to say this, but at least for what's available in the US, anything in this segment that is Chinese made is garbage.
• Gloves, preferably leather. Wear them for every step of a recovery process, every time. While much more important in winching operations, an easily seen color is better as are gloves that do not have a tightening strap/velcro of any kind. That way, in the event that the glove gets caught on a winch line or something that is moving, it can be ripped off your hand and not take your hand with it.

That would be the starter kit, and then it increases based on what else you carry and where you're going.

Other items to consider:

• 2x 8' tree saver straps: having 2 in your bag will allow you to use them as a bridle or as extensions, or as a strap to lift a tire from a hi-lift jack
• 2 more screw pin bow shackles
• 2 more soft shackles
• 20' or 30' static recovery strap or a winch line extension (can be used as an extension to another strap or as the "line" if you're using a hi-lift jack to hand winch you out of a situation)
• Hitch recovery point with a trusted pin (to give you a centralized rear pulling point)
• Small multitool with pliers to toss in the recovery bag in the event that the pins over tighten on the screw pin bow shackles