1) Winches
A bit of a luxury, but if you’re on your own, a decent winch will allow for self-recovery.
2) Straps, strops and anchors
Ropes and anchors are the recovery basics; without them, you can’t connect to anything.
3) Jacks/airbags
A decent Hi-Lift jack is useful everywhere – for soft ground, use an exhaust-inflated airbag.
4) Sand ladders
Waffle boards or sand ladders get dropped under spinning wheels to provide grip.
5) Lights
You need to see what’s going on – and not just at the front of the car, either.
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6) Tire deflators/compressors
Airing down is useful in most off-road situations. Might as well make it easy.
7) Medical go-bag
This isn’t top of mind when you think of off-road essentials, but always carry a basic first-aid kit. You’ll be surprised how many grazes you get.
8) Tire repair kit
If you’re going far and not carrying spares, a kit with a few ‘tire mushrooms’ is killer.
9) Crovel
Basically a ‘tactical shovel’ with a load of useful features. Top Gear owns one and loves it.
10) Portable power pack
A small power pack can be the difference between making it back out...and not.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
