It was supposed to be a chill weekend celebrating the New Year snow camping with friends. An ill-chosen side trip along the way got me into some trouble.
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Some of the gear I use:
Yankum Ropes:
https://yankum.com/?afmc=softroadingthewest
(use code SOFTROADINGTHEWEST for a discount off your purchase)
Warn VR EVO 10 winch:
https://amzn.to/3Bs9Q5u
(I bought this steel cable version and swapped in synthetic winch line from Yankum Ropes)
MAXTRAX MKII recovery boards:
https://adventure-imports.com/products/maxtrax-mkii-signature-orange
Alldogs Offroad/Koni 2″ lift kit:
https://www.alldogsoffroad.com/alldogs-offroad-complete-lift-kit-w-koni-82-series-shocks-for-2nd-gen-nissan-frontier
Alldogs Offroad wheels for Frontier/Xterra:
https://www.alldogsoffroad.com/alldogs-offroad-rb6-16×8-alloy-wheel-for-nissan-frontier-xterra
ASFIR 4×4 skid plates:
https://www.asfir.com/skid-plate-set-591070b.html
Diode Dynamics SS3 LED pods (my amber pods)
https://amzn.to/341SWv2
LED CoLight driving lights (my large round lights)
https://www.led-colight.com/products/colight-7-inch-mars-series-round-offroad-driving-lights
Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro power station:
https://www.jackery.com/products/explorer-1000-pro-portable-power-station?aff=94
Reliance Beverage Buddy 4-gallon water container
https://amzn.to/2Sf7Gnr
Mr. Heater Buddy
https://amzn.to/2UyX3Kw
Coleman 0° Sleeping Bag
https://amzn.to/2PDGv1s
My cheap camp knife:
https://amzn.to/2ZvWUfL
Get Out Gear puffy down blanket:
https://amzn.to/3orklOV
12V heated blanket:
https://amzn.to/3Cn3G67
Odistar budget USB flashlight:
https://amzn.to/3pW8Yyw
Breakfast thanks to Grizzlies:
https://www.grizzliesbrand.com/
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Dawn – by C3NC
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This was awesome, enjoy your channel
Definitely think winches r worth the money if you do any solo off-road driving & great piece of mind, thanks for sharing buddy
One time in my CJ5 we got a running start to go down a road that wasn’t maintained during the winter. We only got about 50 yards down the road before we floated up onto the snow whit all 4 wheels off the ground. We had to shovel out all the snow underneath the vehicle to get the tires back onto the ground. Fun times. Lol. To lock your gear check out the BOLT brand locks. They learn your vehicle’s ignition key so you won’t need any additional keys and you’ll always have the key for the locks.
When driving in snow always carry chains.
Realizing when you are truly stuck, not going into panic mode, trying to power yourself out, just digging yourself deeper.
If you don't have traction boards and tree limbs are available,,,,, breaking off dead tree limbs or sawing off live branches and stuffing them under your tires will work. It's worked for me. Always carry a shovel!!!! That snow also looked really wet. There is a huge difference between driving on cold, frozen snow and heavy, wet warm snow. Just waiting until after dark and temperatures drop can improve conditions enough to drive yourself out.
An extra 100 lbs or more in the bed of your truck over the rear wheels would have helped.
I went through a similar experience on a solo trip two years ago. Late fall, no snow. Volcanic ash…The Panum Crater area south of Mono Lake, CA. Driving through, all of the forest service roads leading off. It looked like a giant Japanese Bonsai garden. This stuff was like milled flour… absolutely bottomless. Pulled offroad to explore and eat lunch…
Three hours later… finally back on blacktop. A lot of truly valid points, "When in Doubt, Back Out".. Stay in the wheel tracks…Don't try to turn around…I did the branch piling thing to get my truck up on the dubious packed roadway. No Cell Signals.
This is the reason I mounted my winch to a front mount receiver hitch. I can pull the pin and move it to the back receiver hitch in minutes. Also have the power ran under the truck along with my air lines. Easy peasi.
Drop the tail gate next time, you can see better.
Recovery gear is sooooo important indeed. Thank God for your winch. Now I am determined to have one installed on my truck. You did really good out there. Great video as always.
Nothing like getting stuck in snow! Could you have used chains??
Hate to sound like a smart ass, but doesn’t anyone carry tire chains anymore???
Great video! Way to stay calm.
Been there done that. Stuck alone. One hour digging and nothing to winch to. Finally out and someone showed up 😂
4 year old me is feeling vindicated in my anti-nap stance. Those things are nothing but trouble.
Now me is glad you got out ok. Yay MaxTrax.
I don't know if it will work for snow, but here it goes. I have a lot of experience on dirt roads, specially on rainy days. I get stuck all the time. Where I live, within my family, we call it "hamacarse". There are several translations (hammocking, swinging, rocking), I really don't know which goes best. The maneuver goes like this: alternating going forward and backwards as fast as you can until by sheer momentum one gets dislodged or unstuck. Takes practice, but usually works. I hope it helps someone. salutations.
happy new year Donald…..is it possible to install "snow chains" on your nissan frontier?
I’ve never understood the desire to wheel in the snow. It’s cold, wet and every video of it I see on YouTube is of people spending 80% of their time getting unstuck.
No thanks. I’ll wait for spring or find somewhere less snowy. Excellent video tho! Been an huge fan from day 1.
you need the rear crane. immediate
The best part of snow is when you do get stuck it’s not like being stuck on a rock or in the mud , with a little time a shovel and traction boards you can eventually get out and realize how much work shoveling is lol but with the winch you can winch yourself forward up on the traction boards so you can easily dig the snow out from under the rig . Pnw snow packs down solid in a hurry so it’s real easy to high center and loose traction , not like that soft fluffy powder stuff you can just bomb though feet of it in a passenger car .
Also rear locker with a empty bed is essentially almost worthless when you get something on the bed again you will notice the locker is more effective with a little more weight on it .
You're not really having fun until you're just hoping to get back to the main road.
Clearly you need to carry a flamethrower so as to melt any pesky snow 🤣🤣
This was one of the best recovery videos I've seen in a long time. I tend to get very stressed when I'm stuck even though i have the gear. You didn't show how you connected your winch around the tree, I have a tree hugger but you didn't seem to need one. Did you just wrap your winch in a loop?
I love a nap but I need more than 10 minutes 🤣😴
Watching you use the shovel to clear the snow from under your truck reminded me of why I replaced my shovel with a hoe.
Sounds like you were in low gear also. Might’ve slowed you down going up that hill to the main road.
Most people do not sit down enough. As long as your not on the frame, you can air down to the point before sidewalks pinch – 6-8psi. Remove any slight bumps built up for tires spinning. You will drive right out. You can spin tires slowly to inch out. This ALWAYS works, even with all season tires. Always. Go back and forth calmly to not damage tranny.
You can also part on tracks to help prevent sinking.
Donald the question is are you getting stuck more often because you are more willing to go further than you did with the Forester because the Frontier is more capable in adverse conditions 🤔
This video has motivated me to get my winch especially since my wife and kid are going to start going with me offroad
Just became a top level Patreon supporter. I really value the stuff you're putting out. This thing we do – it's about learning from mistakes. And you're happy to share that process. Thanks for everything! Hope to see you on the trails.
I don't understand why you and Primal Outdoors don't use chains with icebreakers on your front wheels and if it's serious put chains on all four wheels I worked on County Roads for 27 years when I went to the snow I always change the front end up never had a problem
I see this was a little bit of a bad video and it's very cold, but my question is are you tired of using a tent, verses sleeping in a warmer a topper on your truck.
Well done!
You should get a descent square show shovel if you want to Play in snow. IT would be easyer to dig you Out.
Great job getting out you did every thing right once you got stuck
It's a good thing you had all of those options to try in this situation, though I would say that in a situation like this usually time is against you. I've had snow freeze into a block beneath my vehicle because I decided to wait. Now I always get right to work on digging the snow out from under the vehicle. Even if that doesn't free me up, at least I don't have to worry about literally getting frozen in place. It may not have been that cold there, but probably something to keep in mind. Another great video as always, sir!
Good stuff. Thanks for sharing, I'm sure thinking about filming while in a frustrating situation wasn't fun. I liked seeing the trial and error and listening to your thought process.
Good meeting you. That snow was nasty no doubt.
😊👍🏼
Around the 17:15 mark when you are inside your cab it looks like you have a switch panel/controller mounted on the left side. Is that what I think it is and if it is, what type do you run? Have you talked about it any of your other videos?
Way to hang in there and film Donald, that's dedication!
Add 2 bags of cement to the back , or gravel , concrete block or a 100-150lbs of weight works wonders in the snow.
Do you put anything on top of your gazelle tent to help keep heat in?
Last year I got stuck in a couple feet of snow up in the hills of Southern Oregon and It was hard as a rock. The snow shovel was just not cutting it but luckily I always carry mining tools. With a pick McKloskey and spud shovel I was able to dig out. I also used a rock hammer underneath the vehicle to loosen the snow which was more like ice. 10 minutes after I got unstuck and was on my way back to the main road I passed a tow truck coming up the hill who was there to get someone else out. LOL. Now I carry traction boards which could have saved a lot of digging that day.
Turning off the traction control would of have made a hell of a difference.
Thanks for filming your predicament and recovery. As you narrated your options it was like thought bubbles popping up for us viewers. In the upper snowy upper midwest I keep a cheap full size snow shovel on hand in the winter to more easily move more snow out out of the way; I still keep the baby shovel for under vehicle and stubborn digging when needed. HNY!
I know tire chains are pretty old fashioned but they would you a lot. Looks like a lot of your troubles were not knowing what was beneath the snow and chains wouldn't be much help there.