Last year the guys at TRED Pro gave me a set of their Total Recovery Extraction Devices to evaluate and write about in Outdoor UAE. We received them just after the summer, in early September and the biggest challenge was to try them out in daylight, in the hottest part of the month to meet my publisher’s deadline! Here’s what appeared in the magazine.
The weather was hot and in no time at all I managed to get myself stuck, deliberately I hasten to add. The most difficult stucks to recover are those on the flat, where gravity cannot lend a hand, so we chose a soft, flat area to test the TRED Pro recovery ramps from Evolve.
It is always a good thing to check the product before you head to the desert whether it be a winch, a pair of gloves or even a solo-extraction device and as I unpacked these recovery ramps I could instantly see that they were made of a high quality, strong material and quite different to competitors products. Evolve have been selling TRED recovery tracks for over 5 years now and with the knowledge they have gained and some in-depth research to see how offroaders use their traction boards they have developed a new product. EXOTRED™, a composite which has good flexibility and superior durability and strength.
TRED Pro have been developed and manufactured in Australia by Evolve, an award-winning collective which specialises in bringing innovative designs to market.
The set of TRED pros come with a useful set of instructions which gives sound advice to make your recoveries and easy and effective as possible.
Firstly, once you know you are stuck, stop trying to accelerate out of it. Power rarely wins when you are stuck in sand and putting the pedal to the metal will only make the eventual recovery more difficult to achieve.
Decide whether you are going to go forwards or backwards once you get moving, and clear the sand away from either the front or the back of the tyres. You can do this without even reaching for your spade as TRED Pros come with an integral shovel, designed to clear sand quickly. The smooth grips on each side of the tracks were comfortable to hold for both small and large hands and although unwieldy at first, I soon got the hang of it.
Having never dug out a car with a rectangular green board before I was surprised just how much sand it could shift in a very short time, testament to the TRED Pro’s advanced design. Of course the job got done even quicker when my husband joined in!
Once the sand was adequately cleared the contour ramp slipped easily into position under the rear tyres ..
and then it was only a matter of selecting 4LOW and gently pressing the accelerator and I was out.
Unlike their competitors, these come with a lifetime warranty
Having tried these out in Liwa in the summer I find myself wondering how many tricky self recoveries over the last 7 years could have been made so much easier with these. Whether carried on a roofrack or in the car, they take up little space and only add a few kgs to the payload so they are well worth carrying, either as your primary recovery device or as added “insurance” if you have a winch.
The name says it all TRED Pro® – Total Recovery and Extraction Device. From now on you will see my carrying a set whenever my journey takes me off the tarmac!
Update May 2017
The car was not terribly stuck for the test but we have since used them frequently in extremely deep, soft sand, the kind you sink up to your ankles in and they have never let us down. I keep them on the car permanently and we have even taken them out a couple of times to assist random strangers caught in soft sand by the side of the road. Umpteen recoveries later they are still serviceable. There is some black tyre rub on the green portion and a few of the little black treads have some wear but they still make easy work of self recoveries on sand and still have a long life ahead of them. There was one time we nearly lost one – the sand was so soft it well and truly buried and we had to poke around in the sand with a bit of rebar for ages until we found it – so we have now tied some line on to each one as a “tell tail”, just in case it happens again. I really don’t know what I did without these!
TRED Pros are available for 1100aed per pair from AAA and Mebar Auto in Dubai. If you go and buy a set please tell them the Desert Diva sent ya!
Further info
These were brought to the market via Kickstarter – there is a great video charting the research and development of this product.
Footnote
We have found an additional use for them – they make great shade for Rahhal!
*tredpro *selfrecovery #offroading #desertdriving #outdooruae
Source:
http://www.desertdivaevents.com/tred-pro-total-recovery-and-extraction-device-review/