Recovery gear is the sort of thing that we tend to overlook until it's needed. The trouble is if it's not in the car when you need it, things are going to quickly go pear shaped.

Recovery gear is often only thought of in respect to the beach, but there will be plenty of times where you also might need it during a run off the track in the bush. Ever been in black soil country when it rains?

ARB stock a large range of recovery equipment from winches of various styles, high lift jacks and air activated exhaust jacks, right through to the more commonly seen recovery straps like snatch straps and the ever useful winch extension straps.

Tree trunk protectors are also available for those times when a handy tree is going to be the one immovable object standing between a bogged car and exit from the mire. There are plenty of places these days where damaging a tree in order to extract a vehicle can lead to a lot more than just a frown so it pays to bear that it mind.

To compliment these items ARB have a range of heavy duty shackles, vital for quick action in a recovery situation.

ARB stock pre-packaged kits for both the winch and non winch situations all components being engineered to the highest standard to ensure long life and reliability.

In this review we will look at a couple of exceptionally well put together recovery kits handy for either bush or beach work given the activity expected in the next few months prior to winter.

ARB regard this kit as a bare minimum kit for beach use. It will suit a lot of people who don't go up the beach on a regular basis but like the peace of mind that comes with having the kit in the vehicle for use if necessary.

Packed in a handy easily identified carry bag the Snatch Strap Kit consists of a powerful snatch strap, a damper to place over the central area of the strap to prevent vehicular or personal damage in the event of it breaking. While ARB snatch straps are manufactured to the highest standards it's still wise to take precautions against an unexpected break which might see the strap moving at great velocity towards a vehicle.

There's also a set of heavy-duty shackles and a pair of large gloves to protect your hands while recovering your vehicle. Each incident involving a hung up vehicle can differ of course and recovery might be either straight forward or quite an involved and lengthy process. Either way the car has to come out especially if it’s on the beach and the tide is inching forward!

For $205 the kit is a one off purchase. Tucked into the car it's ready for use and in fact most people carry their kits on a permanent basis.

This is the kit for those intending extended off road work. It's the one to rely on when undertaking both beach or bush work and the only people who are going to extract a hung up 4x4 are those travelling in it.

The kit caters for both beach and inland travel and packed into its heavy duty satchel takes up little room but is arguably as important as the winch up front, shovel and high lift jack stowed elsewhere.

The kit contains a range of straps. First and foremost is the Winch Extension strap, which is vital if the one solid object available as a winch point is just out of range of the winch cable.

Next is a snatch block. These bits of kit are essential in that they can double a winch's capacity by reducing the load on the winch by half. It can also allow winching from different angles if necessary when winching directly ahead is not the best option.

These well made snatch blocks feature snug fitting 5mm rolled steel side plates to avoid damage to a cable and a tapered centre pulley section to cater for different thickness of cable (6mm to 13mm). They also come in two sizes (7000kg and 9000kg working load) to suit a 4x4 owner's requirements. Both snatch blocks can be greased for longer working life.

The nylon snatch strap within the premium kit is also designed to cater for the largest of four wheel drives and comes with especially reinforced loops to facilitate the fitting of a shackle. Again, a recovery damper is part of the kit and, as it contains pockets, can be used to store shackles and other things when setting up things for the recovery action.

A tree protector and large bow shackles are also part of the Premium Kit and are stored in their individual compartments within the heavy-duty recovery bag.

In all, for around the $495 mark the Premium Recovery Kit is great value for money; worth every cent when it's time to get it out and put it to work.