On our recent trip up to North Queensland we decided to unhitch the Suzuki from the motorhome and explore some off road tracks in the area.  On a particular sandy piece of track we suddenly found ourselves stuck fast.

With no mobile reception, no winch, no one else with us and the unlikely event of anyone passing soon, things were not looking all that good.  Fortunately, a few nearby logs and a bit of digging saw us free.

My wife, apart from pointing out my brilliant driving skills, quickly entered into one of her, “ I told you so moments” reminding me of the BOG OUT system that we saw at the Brisbane Caravan Show,  the one I didn’t buy at the time.  However, this little incident sparked me into action and on arriving back to base I began to research the best way to get a car out of the bog.

Bog Out Vehicle Recovery System

This started with a call to Paul, the inventor of the BOG OUT system.  I asked him how he came up with the idea for BOG OUT, and like us, it was from an incident where he was stuck fast on an isolated track in North Queensland.  In Paul’s case however, he was seriously bogged, in mud.  Unlike us, Paul was well equipped with both and electric and hand winches, he found the winch was unable to pull the vehicle out in a forward position.  The only way out was backwards, but the hand winch was not up to the task.  Stranded for 6 hours, no communication, and little hope of someone passing by, Paul was shaken by the experience, enough that it caused him to invent the BOG OUTsystem.

Paul, the inventor of the BOG OUT Vehicle Recovery System

What Paul realized was, that even though he thought he had all the equipment to get him out of the bog, it did not work when he needed it to.  What he also realized was that he already had the best winch available to him the whole time, and that was the wheels of his 4WD!  He just had to harness them.

BOG OUT Fitted to a wheel

BOG OUT works on the principle of using your wheels as winches.  A specially designed rope system connects one end to the bogged wheel or wheels of your vehicle, then the other end is anchored to something solid, then you just drive the vehicle out.  It’s that simple, it works in both directions, forwards or backwards, and has a huge breaking strain.

BOG OUT in action

The video below shows you the BOG OUT system in action.

As simple as it sounds, it took Paul over 10 years to develop and perfect the system, taking it from its primitive form of wire and rope, to the award winning system that it is now.  Paul explained that he needed a strong material with heavy towing capacity and breaking strain.  Something that would not stretch too much, and that was also waterproof to avoid it becoming weak and snapping under pressure.   The material also had to be the correct thickness to avoid damage to tyres.  With no such available material on the market, Paul set to work to develop his own, and has come up with a patent design and material that is used to create the BOG OUT system, and accessories.

The design of the system means that the towing point is as low as possible, making the recovery angle better than the traditional high tow points.  This not only reduces the load, but effectively means the anchor point can be lighter, in some cases even using just a small boat anchor if there is not a fixed object around.   Also, the fact that it is on the ground means that in the unlikely event of anything snapping, you have not created a lethal sling shot that snatch straps are often known for.

BOG OUT lies on the ground, making it safer and more efficient.

The total system is light weight at only 1kg per unit, can be stored in your car or caravan taking up very little room, is cost effective and incredibly strong with a single unit capable of shifting up to 4 tons of weight, and a dual set increasing the capacity up to 8 tons.  This will cover most vehicles, however in case of heavy vehicles, such as our 11 tone motorhome for example, purchasing two twin sets means we can effectively move up to 16 tons of vehicle.

We saw so many benefits to the BOG OUT system, that we have a twin pack on the way.  We liked the fact it was a self-sufficient unit, which means you can use it on your own and not rely on someone being there to tow you out, as in many cases the vehicle that is trying to get you out can become bogged also.

For caravanners and campers who are more frequently going off-road, the added benefit of the BOG OUT recovery system, is that it can pull out a car and caravan, or camper trailer all in one.  There is no need to unhitch the caravan, provided it can be pulled out in a forward position.

When we compared it to all the other alternatives on the market, i.e. a winch, towing devices, snatch straps, diff locks, or traction boards, we found it to be the most cost effective as some of those other systems can cost thousands, as can the cost of a professional recovery.  It is the most light weight and space saving of all the systems and more importantly, we think, the most effective of them all.