So my friend gave me a call on friday morning to come spend a day at villiers. there is a local track at the lekoa lodge. so they took a merc gelandenwagen and im in with my hardbody. so after a quick briefing and a map. we went into the track. the first obsicles was not bad some humps and "turf" mud i got stuck but a small push from 2 guys got me out. the galendenwagen strugled on this course. he said he had lcokers but either they were not working or broken. after the humps we went to the track and some small axle twisters that they said were class 4 was like climbing pavment. the merc went first on every obsticle and strugled and my hardbody didnt even break a sweat. their mouths dropped open as they saw how easy it makes the stuff look. at the end of the track the gelandenwagen got stuck. so it was my first recovey with my new kit. ive added a link to the recovery and the axle twisters. how would you rate my recovery 1. was it safe. 2. what must i do differently 3. rate out of 10.
i made sure there was no bystanders close. used overkill shackles, hooked my bridal to my points in front and recover the vehicle in reverse. with my winch extension strap. its not a major recovey but it was my first.
Well done on recovering a GWagon
If its lockers were not functioning, that explains it. GWagons do not have much in the way of flex, so they are more dependent on their lockers.
I am no recovery expert. Have only been to one training day of Nissan last year.
But I have also heard about the reverse gear being more susceptible to break because it is slower than 1st forward. I think?
Otherwise,
a) the spectators should be further away
b) you can open the bonnets to protect yourself from the shackles in case they do break loose
c) I did not see a protective weight placed over the rope in the middle to slow down the snap effect if it does get loose.
The angle of the GWagon seemed quite bad (not in line with the HB) and may have been more difficult to get out if the front wheels were dug into the mud. So the amount of force that you would have needed could have been much more?
I must say that using the bridal split the load force on the recovery points on your hardbody, making an equipment failure less likely, was a very good idea. Well done!!
The comment, on the 4x4 community forum, of the spectators standing too close... For me it looked like they were far enough away, but is an important issue to always be aware of.
A sand blanket should have been used for sure, and bonnet up for added protection.
The issue of doing the recovery in reverse.... hmmm on assessing the severity of the recovery, this type of recovery can be done without vehicle damage, but using rear recovery points would probably have been safer for your car. But like I said on assessing the severity, and that you were also pulling the G/wagon upwards and forwards reduces the stress loading.
So in answering your question. We have ALL ( I doubt anybody in any 4x4 club) done a dangerous recovery. This was your first recovery, and I can see that you did take certain precautions to ensure safety. I know that your second recovery will be perfect. Lift bonnets of both cars, and use a blanket and that would have been 100% perfect.
Schalk, people will throw all sorts of things at you .... you did this wrong... you did that wrong.... But I think for your first recovery you did well. Next time you will have it 110%
thanks Cedric driving a 4x4 for only 4 months now anyways so allot to learn he-he. i forgot about the blanket my fault when i watched the video clip i told myself that. the g wagon had good recovery points and i used overkill shackles etc. to ensure nothing will break or fail in any case. but you never know. my next recovery will be flawless. and ill take a vid to prove it
Very well done. As Cedric has said, you will get lots of stone throwers, but you had the basics correct. We all learn through experiance and the only way to get experiance is to do it.
V8 Power
You can't expect to be old and wise
if you were never young and crazy
Report/ Recovery
and ill take a vid to prove it 
