Basically im 17, I like to offroad, and am looking for something to get me out of sticky situations. I have looked into winches etc.. but spending 1,000 on the whole setup is not appealing. What is a comealong and how do you use it/is it affective. Help appreciated!

 

its a hand operated winch basically

like a ratchet strap with chains and a longer handle for more leverage

 

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-come-along.htm

Pics:

 

An Amish man used one of those to pull me back up and over a burm that I thought I could clear while attempting to turn around in his driveway. Lifesaver. DEFINITELY effective.

 

Cheap, effective way to get yourself out of those sticky situations. Keep in mind you will need a couple or three straps as they tend to only have about 5-10 feet of effective pull, depending on if you use the block or not. Kind of a pain to keep in your ride unless you have a decent sized bags to hold all your offroad goodies. I used one for a few years until I finally got a winch up front.

 

any suggestions to a good one for a 1999 blazer 4wd? I will most likely be pulling friends out too fyi...

 

i have used mine a few times. works great if your by yourself or both trucks are stuck. They can get hard to crank once you start pulling a bit of weight. I would recommend keeping a pipe handy to help.

 

If I were you (i own/carry/use all of these BTW) i would go to the local harbor freight tools and buy a $40, 48" hi-lift jack, $20 ea. for 2x 20' tow straps (reinforced loop preffered, no metal is best), and a $10 shovel. Those 3 items will get you out of A LOT of situations.
If you have room also grab 2 metal fence posts (the blunt spear white tipped green kind) and a post pounder (for when there is nothing near by to attach too), and a ball hitch/shackle/recovery hook for your vehicle as an anchor point (for light to medium pulling).


there. you are out less than $100 and self recoverable in most situations and EASILY buddy recoverable. Enjoy
the hi-lift jack is a combo jack, come-along, un-high-center-er and can be worth it's weight in gold whan you have no near by winches....

 

agreed. i have used the hi-lift jack as a comealong before to get me unstuck. it just sucks and takes forever as you can only move a few feet at at time and have to keep readjusting the chain. but if youre in the middle of no where. also use the highlift to jack the truck up and throw stuff under the tires. just keep a flat piece of metal or strong wood wo put under the jack cause itll sink

 

LOL yeah in anything softer than packed dirt, a base pad of ANY kind is a huge must

the little plastic legos they use for 5th wheel jacks are about $1 million cheaper than the hi-lift brand one.