recovery.

Goodwinch do 3 sizes of hand winch, ranging from about 1tonne to 5 tonnes, very good value too, check them out

Just dipping into the conversation. A few things to consider......
Its been said but the best recovery item is.......another truck(or 2) it's not advisable to lane alone, leading into.....
Winches are great while you have power! Perfect for play days etc.. But if you lose power for any reason and are alone you need basic recovery principles in play first. The winch will typically be on the front and fixed too so unless you have something to winch from in front and/or a ground anchor it will only work in the ideal sense of a recovery.
Your idea of ratchet straps i get but i wouldn't want to have an extra big old lump of metal as a link in a recovery, they're not designed for recovery. The weights mentioned are often relating to a static level pull, the forces involved with a stuck vehicle off road can often be multiplied 3+ times the weight of the vehicle. Even using a Tirfor style winch i would still use a strap on the cable in case the cable gives up.
1st plan of attack would be to try and dig some of your way out and use waffle boards. After that a ground anchor, snatch block and tirfor will be your friend! They're slow but unless you have seriously mis-read the route you shouldn't need to be winching every few meters of the way.

Waffle boards can be used in multiple ways, i would recommend waffle boards over sand ladders. They're flexible and you can use 2 together to create a ramp against an obstacle. Weight shouldn't be a big deal if you only put them on board for the outing. Sometimes they can be best used too with another person on hand to reposition them provided they know what they're doing and don't put themselves in danger.

A final option would be a hi-lift but they are tediously slow with a short pull, worse to store and while more useful for jacking you need jackable sills and bumpers. There are attachments for your wheels to jack from but that only works if you can get access at that point.

There's no reason to over-complicate things.

There's always power for an electric winch. Well, as long as you have power on the battery. But the engine doesn't have to run to use the winch. But of course, the standard Jimny battery has it's limitations.
Why do you think most comp-trucks with mechanical or hydraulic winches also have a small electric winch fitted? So they can recover themselves if they're up-side down, and the engine not running.

If in need of a ground anchor or a tree for winching and neither are around, it's no big deal digging a trench for you spare wheel, and use this a a recovery point.

TomDK wrote: There's no reason to over-complicate things.

There's always power for an electric winch. Well, as long as you have power on the battery. But the engine doesn't have to run to use the winch. But of course, the standard Jimny battery has it's limitations.
Why do you think most comp-trucks with mechanical or hydraulic winches also have a small electric winch fitted? So they can recover themselves if they're up-side down, and the engine not running.

If in need of a ground anchor or a tree for winching, it's no big deal digging a trench for you spare wheel, and use this a a recovery point.

I am soooo glad I don't do this stuff. I wonder if Suzuki ever envisaged the Jimny to be taken to these lengths??

helijohn wrote:

TomDK wrote: There's no reason to over-complicate things.

There's always power for an electric winch. Well, as long as you have power on the battery. But the engine doesn't have to run to use the winch. But of course, the standard Jimny battery has it's limitations.
Why do you think most comp-trucks with mechanical or hydraulic winches also have a small electric winch fitted? So they can recover themselves if they're up-side down, and the engine not running.

If in need of a ground anchor or a tree for winching, it's no big deal digging a trench for you spare wheel, and use this a a recovery point.

I am soooo glad I don't do this stuff. I wonder if Suzuki ever envisaged the Jimny to be taken to these lengths??

I think that goes for many 4x4's.

If suzuki ever envisioned the jimny being used how they are offroad they would have atleast given us decent recovery points!!!

ive seen some videos of peoole using waffle boards for recovery and they look very versitile, I think taking into account all the other things that would be needed to accompany a hand winch (tree strops snatch blocks extra ropes etc) waffel boards are the most cost effective solution and will take up the least space.