Tami’s Tow Truck

Thank you, 775 Off Road Recovery, for the recovery training that helped me rescue Hubby!

Recovery Training

In November, 5 of my Jeep ladies and I attended the basic recovery class through 775 Off-Road & Recovery Group. The group are all volunteers and donate their time to training and recovering vehicles off-road. If you are stuck off-road, you can contact them by phone or text at 775-238-3793. I have entered their information into my phone and Garmin InReach, so I can reach them if needed. They are expanding areas of coverage through Northern Nevada.

We worked on multiple scenarios. After a course on safety and recovery gear, we took a break before heading to our stations. The three stations focused on different activities: recovery with kinetic rope, recovery from a ditch using a snatch block with two vehicles, and overturning vehicles.

The instructors were great, walking us through hands-on recovery. Someone should have warned him what Jeep girls are like; I think we wore out poor Joe, who taught us kinetic recovery.

Tami’s Tow Truck

I thought I would use the skills I learned off-road, not on our ranch. The last week has been crazy with snow, ice and mud. The entrance to the ranch was partially blocked by a stranded vehicle. On the way home from the pharmacy, Hubby swung into the ranch around the vehicle, and the Grand Cherokee stopped moving. It didn’t matter what he did; the tires spun even in 4WD low. We checked, and it wasn’t high-centered or against an obstacle but on sheer ice.

Before, I would have left it to the men to figure out what to do—this time, I took control.

I suggested using the floor mats, but Hubby didn’t want to ruin floormats on a brand-new vehicle. So I walked to the ranch hand’s house to see if he could pull us out. We looked, but his truck didn’t have any good anchor points, and he didn’t have a tow rope. I called Hubby, and he mentioned a chain. I said no way we were using a chain; then he told me to call AAA. I knew they were backlogged and they could take days to respond.

My Rubicon, Honey Badger, is still at the shop. At home were the truck and my unopened Christmas gift: Rhino soft shackles and a kinetic rope. As I was already partway to our house, I decided to hike and pray that “BNT,” Big Noisy Truck, started. I was stupid when I headed to town; I wore summer hiking boots, jeans, a shirt, and a jacket. I never even thought to use my phone as a flashlight; I walked the quarter mile to the house in the dark at twenty degrees and was a frozen popsicle by the time I reached the house (the snowbank that jumped up and grabbed me didn’t help matters).

A few lights we had on at the house were like a beacon in the distance; I huddled up as much as possible and continued my journey. The first thing I did was head to the truck. I almost panicked, thinking the keys might be with Hubby. Thankfully they were in the truck. Diesel trucks don’t do well when cold, and it sputtered a few times, then powered up. Halleluja!

I headed into the house, and once my brain reengaged, I told my little one to open the Rhino boxes as I changed into clothes I should have been wearing. She wanted to go with me to rescue Hubby. She thought it was funny the girls were the rescue party. We threw the recovery gear in the backseat and returned to the stranded vehicle. My little one kept joking that it would be funny if we got stuck too. I told her she was no longer my favorite daughter; she laughed… she is my only daughter.

Girl Power

When I returned to the front of the ranch, the ranch hand found a rope, but it was a standard rope. I told him there was no way I was using that rope; it didn’t have a working load limit. He looked at me like I was speaking alien. Then I pulled out my kinetic rope, which he looked at with a mix of confusion and impression.

Hubby hooked the strap on the Grand Cherokee, which thankfully has recovery points front and back. I took my end of the rope to BNT, facing away from the Grand Cherokee. But, darn it, I never realized there were no anchor points on the rear bumper (a hitch was locked on). The ranch hand wanted to hook the rope on the ball hitch; I told him no way, that is a good way to die.

It would have been dangerous to take the other road off the ranch and recover from the middle of a busy and dark highway. Thankfully Dodge Trucks have hooks on the front bumper, so I turned the truck around. Hubby hadn’t used soft shackles before, so I attached them to the anchor point. I made sure everyone was out of the way, especially the “death triangle,” which I had to explain. I didn’t even have to tug the Grand Cherokee out, I slowly backed up, and it slid off the icy patch.

My daughter thought it was hilarious that the girls recovered the guys… twice.

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