DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Knowing your limitation is the best way not to get stuck but of course you can't know every possibility. To me when something is viewed as insurance is when you need to know it's going to work.Good question, really not sure I do to be honest, I don't consider myself an Overlander but use the overlanding ideas and ethos to get me off-grid to fish. My rig is class B+/C camper, it is 21' long, 9,500lbs, 10'5" high and 7.7" wide plus departure angle low due to only 14" rear clearance even with 4.5" lift. On east coast our trails are narrow with low canopy or trees obstructing path. I think the size of my rig is way more limiting than it being 2wd, again this is east coast.
I travel alone and boonebock off the beaten path but they are fire or forest road trails, My biggest concern is waking up or getting ready to move and rains soften ground enough under me or on way out and becomes slick enough that I need help. I think maxtrax in this situation would help, plus I can air down as I carry compressor, guages etc..
On east coast we have tons of trees so finding a tree is never an issue. The other concern is steep grade that becomes slick and need help getting up, but there is only one place I go to where I am concerned about this. Another thought is beach sand if I ever decided to take rig surf fishing.
So really winch is just a piece-of-mind insurance device that hopefully works when I need it. If it doesn't I have other gear to get out or I can wait for help to snatch or winch we out.
I don't have winch on my 4wd Jeep wk2 but if I did it would be a Warn since I take that into far rougher areas than camper van but still have never needed a winch with it. Even with its capabilities I don't rock crawl or go mudding with it so never got stuck.
My thought is, paradoxically, cheap winches are fine for someone who uses and maintains them a lot. How do you come to trust it's going to work when you're asking it to do a full strength pull with your camper bogged in mud if you don't use it routinely? Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. Maybe the seals on the motor failed and after 2 years of just assuming its full of corrosion won't turn.
It's just my $0.02 but carrying a come-along, Max-Trax and tire chains would be more comforting to me.