UAZ 452 River

Archimedes and a UAZ-452

Overland Expo East occurred last month in October. Kamil wrote up a piece about the vehicles of the Expo. He saw many great overland and off-road rigs, but he didn’t see a UAZ-452. He did see numerous tents catering to off-road recovery equipment: traction boards, off-road jacks, recovery ropes (bungees on steroids), and winches.

There is no way that he saw anything like this.

Good idea

These two have a static line between their UAZ and an immovable object. They are using basic lever science to utilize a fulcrum with a long enough lever to slowly but surely drag their stuck vehicle out. Each time the logs flip in any direction shortens the line. The UAZ’s engine and traction added to the tension of the line manually breaks the van free.

Here is another example of utilizing manual labor and a fulcrum to free a vehicle that was previously stuck.

After watching both of these, I have wondered about the strength of the rope that they are using. It’s pretty impressive the amount of weight that they slide up those boards on the frozen lake.

Either way, recovery is definitely a section of off-road that I need to be better educated about. I’ve seen too many videos about when operations like these above go catastrophically wrong in a fraction of a second.

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13 responses to “Archimedes and a UAZ-452”

  1. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    Not bad but why wouldn’t you carry a manual winch at least?

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Cost? This setup is also very reliable. I watch a lot of documentaries from Russia’s far east and their Southern neighbours. Lack of or just ancient equipment is the norm.

      Here they start a truck by hand swivel – and instead of pumping water, they fill a tank with buckets, for hours:

  2. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    I’m totally going to remember how to do this when I’m stuck and there’s no internet. Just like I always remember how to tie a sheepshank or a bowline or any knot more useful than the one called “a bunch of half-hitches”.

  3. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    Not bad but why wouldn’t you carry a manual winch at least?

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Cost? This setup is also very reliable. I watch a lot of documentaries from Russia’s far east and their Southern neighbours. Lack of or just ancient equipment is the norm.

      Here they start a truck by hand swivel – and instead of pumping water, they fill a tank with buckets, for hours:

      1. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        Can’t remember what I paid for my manual winch 10+ years ago, but under $100

      2. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        Well, I guess you were neither a tourist nor an “overlander” then, ha! Driving a huge Pajero in Kyrgyzstan had some strange social effects, too. Among other things, traffic in roundabouts would come to a halt in order to let us pass first.

      3. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        Well, I guess you were neither a tourist nor an “overlander” then, ha! Driving a huge Pajero in Kyrgyzstan had some strange social effects, too. Among other things, traffic in roundabouts would come to a halt in order to let us pass first.

        1. Number_Six Avatar
          Number_Six

          Yeah, not really. But at the same time, if we’ve experienced Central Asia in SUVs, haven’t we sort of overlanded whether we like it or not?

        2. Number_Six Avatar
          Number_Six

          Yeah, not really. But at the same time, if we’ve experienced Central Asia in SUVs, haven’t we sort of overlanded whether we like it or not?

        3. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          Definitely not a “pure” experience, no. A part of why I’m longing back – spending more time. Not just taking in vistas and having a few chats, but really taking the time to be there with no specific plan the next day.

        4. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          Definitely not a “pure” experience, no. A part of why I’m longing back – spending more time. Not just taking in vistas and having a few chats, but really taking the time to be there with no specific plan the next day.

      4. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        Can’t remember what I paid for my manual winch 10+ years ago, but under $100