Safety First - Off-Road Responsibility

[Wildman]

As the weather warms up, more people are hitting the trails. On Monday, the Rainier Ridge Rams, one of our clubs, helped with a recovery. These situations are common, and many clubs and volunteers put in a lot of effort to keep everyone safe. We want to remind you that being prepared and staying safe on the trails matters, no matter how experienced you are.
Some Quick Reminders

Always put safety first

Don’t go out alone

Bring the right gear and supplies

Don't underestimate the weather
Our clubs and members are committed to safety, there are several trained in search and rescue and often work with other groups to help recover vehicles who volunteer countless hours. We encourage everyone, especially new PNW4WDA members, to use the trails responsibly, know your limits, be aware of the conditions, and don't be afraid to ask for help.
Thank you for your support, teamwork, and commitment to safe wheeling and exploring. Take care and look out for each other while you enjoy the trails.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us anytime.
J. Wylene Dillman
PR Officer & Membership Chair
Email: [email protected]

 

[lBasket]

haha Subaru

 

[Wildman]

haha Subaru

It is WA.... It's either a Prius or Subaru for most of those on the wetside....

 

[Squatch]

It is WA.... It's either a Prius or Subaru for most of those on the wetside....

I laugh, only because it's so accurate!

*And for a while, it was Teslas, too. Only after Elon got political did the Greenies start to disown him and his products.

 

[StG58]

As the weather warms up, more people are hitting the trails. On Monday, the Rainier Ridge Rams, one of our clubs, helped with a recovery. These situations are common, and many clubs and volunteers put in a lot of effort to keep everyone safe. We want to remind you that being prepared and staying safe on the trails matters, no matter how experienced you are.
Some Quick Reminders
View attachment 681852 Always put safety first
View attachment 681853 Don’t go out alone
View attachment 681854 Bring the right gear and supplies
View attachment 681855 Don't underestimate the weather
Our clubs and members are committed to safety, there are several trained in search and rescue and often work with other groups to help recover vehicles who volunteer countless hours. We encourage everyone, especially new PNW4WDA members, to use the trails responsibly, know your limits, be aware of the conditions, and don't be afraid to ask for help.
Thank you for your support, teamwork, and commitment to safe wheeling and exploring. Take care and look out for each other while you enjoy the trails.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us anytime.
J. Wylene Dillman
PR Officer & Membership Chair
Email: [email protected]


View attachment 681851

99.9% of the time I'm out alone. Someday, It may catch up with me. (40+ years in the backwoods, haven't died yet.)

 

[Wildman]

99.9% of the time I'm out alone. Someday, It may catch up with me. (40+ years in the backwoods, haven't died yet.)

Having common sense & then skillcraft plays a big part in this.... Knowing how to self-recover and tools to fix most shit plays into it also...

 

[sab]

haha Subaru

Trust me. It ain’t the Subaru - it’s the half-wit behind the wheel.

In other words, don’t judge a book by its cover. I drove my DD Impreza on job sites for almost twenty years and never needed a tow. Many of my employees with 4WD pickups can’t make the same statement.

99.9% of the time I'm out alone. Someday, It may catch up with me. (40+ years in the backwoods, haven't died yet.)

Same here. Before satellite messaging devices, I just used the old rule of always informing Mrs. sab where I was and when to expect contact again. If I had an issue, I knew I’d have to wait a long time for help to come. That forced me to be self-sufficient and cautious. If plans changed, I had to find a pay phone to update her.

Nowadays, the advice is always, “bring a friend.” What if I don’t want to???

 

[speeding_infraction]

Trust me. It ain’t the Subaru - it’s the half-wit behind the wheel.

In other words, don’t judge a book by its cover. I drove my DD Impreza on job sites for almost twenty years and never needed a tow. Many of my employees with 4WD pickups can’t make the same statement.


Same here. Before satellite messaging devices, I just used the old rule of always informing Mrs. sab where I was and when to expect contact again. If I had an issue, I knew I’d have to wait a long time for help to come. That forced me to be self-sufficient and cautious. If plans changed, I had to find a pay phone to update her.

Nowadays, the advice is always, “bring a friend.” What if I don’t want to???

The more skilled somebody is, or at least if they know the limits of what they're driving, the less people need to go with them. For example, I'd never let my buddy go out alone, just based on how I've seen him wheel. He's full throttle when he gets stuck and running 37s on his stock axle 2 door jk.

 

[Apparition]

Trust me. It ain’t the Subaru - it’s the half-wit behind the wheel.

In other words, don’t judge a book by its cover. I drove my DD Impreza on job sites for almost twenty years and never needed a tow. Many of my employees with 4WD pickups can’t make the same statement.

 

[Harold&Cat]

The majority of our wheeling is alone , turn around don't drown .... Oh that's not it ...if it looks sketchy we turn around and come back another day with friends . We've only had the winch for a couple of years . Before the winch we carried a 20 ton come-a-long with an extendable 4 foot handle . So far we haven't used either while exploring in our Jeep . The chainsaw is a different story , it is used regularly on the trails along with a trash bag .

Now in my younger days with the lifted Chevy mud trucks I use to build , walking out of the woods and finding a phone was not uncommon .

 

[Apparition]

Now in my younger days with the lifted Chevy mud trucks I use to build , walking out of the woods and finding a phone was not uncommon .

Story of my younger days. Once we got a truck stuck, then a tractor then another truck then we eventually got everything out except the first stuck truck and had to have a wrecker winch it out. My friends thought my dad was going to kill me that night. Now I do my best to avoid mud at all costs.

 

[gasiorv]

Similar to App, younger days a friend took a Plymouth Horizon out in the woods early Thanksgiving morning to build a deer stand. Ground was completely froze when he went out, few hours later he went to drive back out of the woods and it was a freeze/thaw layer and he was stuck. Pre cell phones so he hiked to civilization and called me. My jeep was able to get out there and I could go on my own but I couldn't pull him, we needed a bigger truck. Called my cousin with a Full Size GMC, 8 hours later, we got the 3 trucks, tractor, and the Horizon out of the woods. I still get hell for me and my cousin missing Thanksgiving dinner in 1989. He did get a nice buck out of that tree stand the following Monday (first day of deer season) and elected to drag it out in lieu of drive the Horizon back there to throw it in the back (yes we were that redneck ).

 

[Apparition]

He did get a nice buck out of that tree stand the following Monday (first day of deer season)

 

[Wildman]

OK if we're telling stories about our worst stuck.....

My first time in Germany I was driving one of the old M151 "MUTT" Jeeps... It's midnight or maybe a little later... And I take a wrong turn trying to head back out to where my unit is at out in the field... Doing field training in Germany is a totally other experience since they are rather strict about their woods...
So being 18 years old and cocky as fuck I don't turn around when I realize I'd made a wrong turn.... And proceed to get this Jeep buried to the frame...
So I walk back to where my unit is and wake up another buddy and we head out with a Duce to pull the Jeep out with...
Yep we get it buried too... It was a serious bog....
So finally I go back and let my Sgt know what I've done.... So they call in a M88 tank recovery vehicle.... And we proceed to get it buried and stuck...

36 hours later after knocking down 3 trees that cost the USA $$$$$ and tons of running cable and snatch blocks we finally get the M88 unstuck which then pulls the Duce out. But to finally get the Jeep out they deploy the boom on the M88 and have to lift the Jeep out of where I'd gotten it stuck...

I had SHIT details for the rest of that field maneuver and for the next few months once we got back to garrison... And I wasn't allowed to take a Jeep out alone for a LONG time after that.

 

[sab]

...Doing field training in Germany is a totally other experience since they are rather strict about their woods...

I never served in the military, but I've lived near Ft. Hood, arguably the largest military installation in the world, for over two decades. I have many friends and neighbors who served in Germany, and the German bills for damage is legendary around here. And from what I've heard, it's not limited to damage to woods - it's any damage. I heard one story from a 1st Cav tank driver I know who accidently left major ruts in a highway over there. That bill ran well into six figures, and his career stalled for many years after that...

 

[NDSpeed]

OK if we're telling stories about our worst stuck.....

My first time in Germany I was driving one of the old M151 "MUTT" Jeeps... It's midnight or maybe a little later... And I take a wrong turn trying to head back out to where my unit is at out in the field... Doing field training in Germany is a totally other experience since they are rather strict about their woods...
So being 18 years old and cocky as fuck I don't turn around when I realize I'd made a wrong turn.... And proceed to get this Jeep buried to the frame...
So I walk back to where my unit is and wake up another buddy and we head out with a Duce to pull the Jeep out with...
Yep we get it buried too... It was a serious bog....
So finally I go back and let my Sgt know what I've done.... So they call in a M88 tank recovery vehicle.... And we proceed to get it buried and stuck...

36 hours later after knocking down 3 trees that cost the USA $$$$$ and tons of running cable and snatch blocks we finally get the M88 unstuck which then pulls the Duce out. But to finally get the Jeep out they deploy the boom on the M88 and have to lift the Jeep out of where I'd gotten it stuck...

I had SHIT details for the rest of that field maneuver and for the next few months once we got back to garrison... And I wasn't allowed to take a Jeep out alone for a LONG time after that.

i was way too terrified of the german fines for taking my jeep offroad. so i would just go down a fire break as about the extent of the jeeps time in germany

i will not push any limits when im out and about by myself.

and have had to make that walk of shame before. when the wife’s jeep was three days old i got it stuck in a a bog. we went through five vehicles getting it recovered.

one broken transmission, one ripped off bumper. a truck ran out of fuel, it was a mess.

 

[bucky]

Does this count here? My Son got it stuck at 1am moving bees. I told him to let it sit and I came out by myself the next afternoon, lifted it up, placed dunnage under it and drove it out.