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Someone else is stuck. Do you help & if so how?


jjdbike

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​Hey everyone,

I really don’t even feel good about posting this question. 

 

Here is why I AM posting it. I was fishing w/ a well known guide in NJ who will remain nameless.

 

He said, "if someone else gets stuck, it’s their stupidity and hard-luck. Keep moving. It’s too risky for you and your vehicle and if you damage your vehicle or even blow your trans helping someone else, it’s your problem & they won’t help you at all with that expense”. 

 

That statement has haunted me ever since. While I’ve never needed it, if I got in a jam I certainly would hope someone would help me. If I saw someone in need, I would not heistate to help them. Accident’s happen. Somethings are easy to miss or even unforseeable. We were all inexperienced and naive at something at one time.

 

On the otherhand, some of us have a lot of money time up in our buggy. I know I do, probably significantly more than I should.  It’s my baby & while I use it, I do baby it. In trying to educate myself about offroad vehicle recovery, and apparently there’s a good bit to learn, I keep hearing how dangerous it is and how risky it is on your vehicle. Clearly using quality and appropriate gear can lower that risk. But things can happen, that’s why people get stuck and that’s why they call them accidents.

 

So here it is. You see someone stuck real bad. Do you stop & help? Does it depend? If so what does it depend on?

As you see it, what are the real dangers and risks to your vehicle?

 

Please share.

JD

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I won't use my truck as a tow truck.. But I always will stop if someone is stuck to lend a hand, dig, offer advice or give the # of tow company. I carry a 4" nylon sling from work but will only use it for a dear friend, I don't want to ruin my truck. This past spring I stopped one night on the way out of a back beach to help some knucklehead kids out that were stuck. Three trucks, one stuck, no tow gear, no shovel, plenty of energy and some pretty girls. Kids couldn't be more respectable, thankful, etc, I didn't lift a finger just lent them tire pressure guage, spade and strap and did muncho ball busting. We all had some midnight laughs. Hopefully they learned and will help someone else. 

   As far as OP questions, there are situations where I wouldn't help like if someone is buried up to the frame, he needs a tow, engine-tranny trouble I'm no mechanic, obnoxious know it alls by-by,

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I have stopped to help, and pulled their vehicle out with no damage to mine or theirs.

I have also stopped and asked if a driver needed help, and been told no thank you, they have got it.

If I see a vehicle in a jam, I will stop and help if they need it.

It is, I feel, good karma...one day it might be me stuck in the sand with a storm tide rising, and watching trucks drive by would be the most helpless feeling I could imagine.

I say at least stop and ask.

If you know what you are doing, recovery should be relatively painless for the both of you.

Don't be lazy, dig the vehicle most of the way out, jack up the deepest tires, and place a floor mat under the tire,air down another 5 pounds or so, and you should be able to drive off.

Unless there is a mechanical problem, making it out shouldn't be any more of an issue than driving in was.

Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.
-Thomas Jefferson
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.
-Soren Kierkegaard

 

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​I will stop and see what the situation is, lend a shovel if they don't have one  if they don't haveone and give them a bit of s hit for not having the required equipment.  No permit and the s hit will be a little more .I have towed a lot of trucks off with my 2500 HD, each time I let the other driver know that I will not be held responsible if anything happens to their vehicle, pulled the bumper half of a Porsche Cayenne once, that was something, also pulled the tow hook off of a rented Jeep, just kept on going!

IN FAVOR OF COMMERCIAL FISHING AND SURFING THE NORTH SIDE

MAY THE RICH GET RICHER!!

FISH ARE FOOD!!

UA MAU KA EA O KA AINA IKA PONO O HAWAII

 

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I always stop and ask if they need help no matter who they are  :shrug:

 

Even if they don't have any business being on the beach  :wag:

 

I usually try to educate them on the reasons why they got stuck in the first place and how important it is to have the proper recovery gear, but for most of them, it usually goes in one ear and out the other  :dismay:

 

Then I put them on YouTube for a good public shaming  :p

 

 

 

 

Edited by 98 SNAKE EATER
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I was in this situation like this last fall.. There was a big swell happening and I wanted to see how big the surf was. I drove out to the jetty and was sitting in my jeep thinking how much it would suck to get stranded out here right now because there wasn't a sole in sight, the wind and rain had just picked up to where if you were standing outside you were soaked Instantly. A few minutes later the only other vehicle on the beach that day pulls up to do a u turn right on the hight tide line... I watched him try to back up and then dig in and get stuck. Then the two kids in the jeep got out to look at their jeep which was getting hit with water from the surf. They come running over to my jeep, Sir you have to toe me out..I said I'm not toeing anybody out I won't risk my truck for you, you need to air down your tires because the tides coming in and you don't have much time. The kid assures me the tide is going out and that he works on the ferry. I just laughed at him and handed him my shovel and said in a half hour your trucks going to be part of the jetty. I got my tire deflators screwed them on his jeep and sat back in my truck. Ten minutes later he was able to drive right out off harms way. You know I never got my tire deflators back that night...

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I will always stop even if it is just to give moral support. I have been stuck and have had guys drive by laughing. It's no fun to be stuck and feel all alone. Sometimes its just a matter of air pressure, but I do agree that you have to be careful using your vehicle. You could quite easily end up with 2 stuck trucks.

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Some dos and don'ts: do pretrip your truck,loook underhood fluids(leaks?) belts,tires.. Don't jump another vehicle with your own,possible whatever fault stopped theirs may damage yours. Use Jumpbox.I carry a spare fully charged battery and jumper cables,while i've never needed it for myself,i have used it to jump other dead vehicles,right Jim? My rule of thumb is if a stuck (framed) truck is larger than mine,i won't attempt to pull it out. I will ask them if they're aired down-while i'm checking one of their tires myself. How many times do you think i've found aired up tires on a stuck truck? Usually they say they let some air out,but don't have a gauge,so how do you know how much to let out,how much you actually have in the tires? Several times airing down to 10-12 psi,using lo-range and reverse,that truck will come out on its own. Will help shovel out if they want help.While stopping to help i take note of truck and permit or lack of,the occupants,people that clearly have been drinking or something else are dangerous to be working in close proximity with,sometimes aggressive. While i want to help,i'm sizing up the situation as i come upon the stuck vehicle, if above the high tide line,traffic able to get around them ok and occupants obviously under the influence,i call the ranger and let them deal with them. Not worth my personal safety or damage to my truck to help  people that shouldn't be driving anywhere at that point. More than once after helping people in this condition get out,after getting myself cleaned up and everything put away,get underway once again to come upon the same bunch stuck again not a mile from where they were and waving as i come past to help them,i wave and then call the ranger. Just to prove you can't fix stupid,this past spring was leaving the beach,saw a truck with hood up-below high tide line-owner waving at me to stop,wanted a jump,had his K-mart cables already hooked to his truck,trying to open my hood soon as i came to a stop. Got my battery and my cables out,jumped him,got him going and told him i'd follow him out. He said his wife had just made sandwiches and they were going to eat first and shut his truck off. Advised him probably a good idea to get off the beach,he said they'd be fine now that he knows the truck will start...My girl and i looked at each other,she said let's go,we did. Don't know how those folks fared,maybe they got someone else to jump them once they were ready to go....

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Having grown up a few miles from Nauset the beach was our freedom . I've owned a few beach (2wd) junkers and have been taught a few tricks.

#1 always wave ,you never know when you need help.

#2carry a jack board&2-4 boards for under the wheels. If your ever alone you will be glad you did.

#3 when airing down you might have to fine the proper pressure for your tire.

#4 when driving along the beach try driving in the wheel tracks and when turning around make large circles to keep from getting stuck. When you reach your destination back up ten feet.

   When you start out you will have an easyer time hitting the soft sand.

#5 In the good ol days we used a bumper jack when stuck, Jackup all you can then push the car sideways out of the hole.

#6For towing we used a 1,1/4" inch nylon rope about 50' long And after tying up the tow car would drive away and when the rope got tight it would --pop-- the stuck car free.

Sometime two or three cars in a row would tow and   - pop- the car free

I hope some of this helps just remember it all starts with a wave to everyone 

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When I first started beach driving (about 20 years ago) I would always stop fishing to help anyone that got stuck. It got to a point where I would literally spend 2 to 3 hours each trip helping numerous people that got stuck. I don't do that anymore but, I will help if I'm on my way out.

Where there's a will, there's a dead guy.
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