Posted: 11/22/2025 11:27:37 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Aimless][Edited]
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I thought a used Honda Talon this fall but haven't driven it a lot due to other time constraints. I've only ridden around near town where there's cel coverage. It doesn't take far to get into remote areas in Utah. I haven't really looked into finding other guys to ride with. Younger guys I know actually have to work  (can you imagine). I know some older Jeep guys but never see mixed groups of jeeps and ATVs. Anyway so far I have some wrenches, a tire inflater kit. I bought a pretty expensive mount to mount a Starlink on the Honda. I also have a Zoleo (a satellite texting thing) so that's an expense to maintain service on those. I bought a rim and spare tire but haven't mounted that yet. I also have some spare gas cans and mounts that I haven't installed. I see guys in RZRs that have fire extinguishers. I don't have anything yet to get unstuck like ropes or a winch. I've looked at a list of stuff this guy I follow on YouTube has in his Talon. He drove from New Mexico to pretty far north over a summer vacation with his daughter so he seems pretty experienced. But I think he drove a lot on roads, which seems pretty miserable. On road the Talon's just a fast, loud golf cart with a touchy throttle. I'm going to get a bracket for the tiny storage area in the back that lets you mount some Milwaukee tool boxes. I only bought a two seater. My kids don't really enjoy riding in side by sides, so it's a pretty small vehicle. I also am reluctant to load a ton of heavy stuff on what's really just a little race car with a motorcycle engine. |
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Originally Posted By Ambridge77: Tow chains and simple manual "come-alongs." Warm blankets and waterproof tarps in cold or wet weather. ETA - More than one spare tire. Extra fuel.  Chains are meant to hold things in place. Straps are meant for dynamic recovery. Chains break things and injure/kill people when used in dynamic recovery. |
Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good Use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.---John Adams
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A real ABC dry chem fire extinguisher is a real good idea. You need a shovel, recovery gear (a winch if you’re gonna be by yourself), and a spare tire. A way to deal with a dead battery or generator might be a good idea too. I don’t have any experience with SXSs but it seems like they break axles and tie rods commonly, so carrying spares might be a good idea. Obviously all the associated tools too. |
The hardest part about a zombie apocalypse will be pretending I'm not excited.
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Originally Posted By intheburbs: Chains are meant to hold things in place. Straps are meant for dynamic recovery. Chains break things and injure/kill people when used in dynamic recovery. I'm not a trained/certified rigger. Straps are preferable, but I've used chains for almost 40 years and haven't wrecked or injured anything or anyone. |
Alea iacta est
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Flat tires were my biggest problem, Spare tire and a repair kit with air, This is what I use being able to save the tire without changing it is awesome, so flats should not be a problem Fuel if you can carry it safely Water Tools you only need for the Talon, no extras, keep weight down, here is a list of tools Snacks Radio Good walking shoes Tow strap 10mm Glock Winch some things to get it started, can always add, change, upgrade  ETA: Fire ext Make sure you have a jack that will lift it, scissor works, sand you will need a flat base to jack, or it will sink, I got a Harbor freight one and welded a hex on the spinner so I could use a Milwaukee impact to lift it, and undo the lugs |
Republicans exist for the illusion of choice.....RustedAce
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Originally Posted By Ambridge77: I'm not a trained/certified rigger. Straps are preferable, but I've used chains for almost 40 years and haven't wrecked or injured anything or anyone. You have a choice of carrying 30ft tow strap ....or 30ft of chain. The strap is 2" wide, pull rating is 20K lbs, it weighs about 10lbs, and takes up a 15" diameter circle x 2" wide when rolled up. Costs about $30-$40, and it can be attached to a cage, thrown into a bag...easy to store it. It's easy to use with D shackles, and it's fine with absorbing some shock loading. Now....let's do chain. 1/2" grade 70 chain is good for 12K lbs, a 30ft length will weigh over 70lbs, and it will take up alot more space than a strap to store it. It cost about $2.50-$3 per foot....so double the cost of the strap. And....chains are rigid and have no elasticity. If a vehicle needs a "running start" to get unstuck, a chain can snap with the force, causing damage to the vehicles or injury to occupants. If you want to drag a tree truck, tie down a load on a trailer....chain is good for that. You want to pull a vehicle out of some mud, or some other recovery work....strap is what you want. Aimless..... get a 6ft x 2" strap to use as an anchor for trees, boulder, or for a vehicle that may not have a good hitch point. Get a 30ft 2" strap for recovery, towing, etc. Get TWO of the 3/4" D shackles to use as the link between a winch, vehicles, etc. Learn how to use the gear before you need to use. Decent winch with synthetic line on the front....this will guarantee you can help yourself, or others that get into trouble. Learn how to use it before you need to use it. Get a flat repair kit w/ plugs AND patches (add 2 long tire spoons), extra schrader valves, a schrader valve tool, and a GOOD 12volt air compressor that connects to a battery.....12 volt plugs blow fuses. Make sure it can reach all 4 tires when connected to the battery. Obviously tools....you can get hard containers like the Apache or pelican boxes that can be bolted down and locked. Small fuel and water jugs...the rotopax style containers can be mounted to the cage. Throw some random shit in the tool box too.... a roll of electric tape and gorilla tape, extra fuses, a few spare light bulbs, some nitrile surgical gloves, 2ft of bailing wire, and some cotter pins if your rig has cotter pins used on any nuts. |
Occid Vel Occisus Est !!
| If your rig uses a drive belt..have at least 1 spare as well as the tools needed to change it, also wouldn't hurt to have some duct tape and JB weld incase any clutch Gard/covers/vents get compromised or broken...Also be a good idea to tear it apart once at home to make sure you know what you are doing and exactly what is needed to do it..Bonus if its a used rig you get to make sure the belt is in good shape or replace as needed, if its a new rig, well now you know how to fix it if there is a problem...Also a good idea to carry spares for any other belts on the rig..and again any tools needed to change it... |
No drive belt  thanks for the advice. I'm slowly gathering suppliesI have a spare tire and gas cans with mounts. There's several brackets that bolt to the small luggage area in the back that Mileaukee boxes bolt to. I'm going to buy that. I talked to the Honda shop about installing a winch. I probably should have bought something with more room, like with a bed. This thing is more a teeny four wheeled dirt bike. I haven't been too far out of sight of town so far. I'd like to go to the Grand Canyon, which is maybe 50 miles. I've also found most people I know are either too old and cautious or too young and reckless, so I'm putting around on my own. I already chickened out once and didn't go down and up a steep rocky gully. 
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Originally Posted By Aimless: I bought a pretty expensive mount to mount a Starlink on the Honda. This is personal opinion but I don't know that I would mount a Starlink antenna on an ORV. Disclaimer that my application may be very different than yours. Mine is emergency communication when out of cell range. FYI: I have a Starlink mini and I do use it. But I have mine in a semi-rugged case with a Anker Solix C200 in there with it and I typically offroad in a 2 Door Jeep JK. My logic is that the antenna's are pretty flimsy. If you roll the vehicle with antenna attached then there is potential that the antenna could be damaged. Also depending on the reason that you may be stranded, the vehicle may not have power. In addition, in my AO we have some pretty thick forests. I may have to walk a bit to get a clear view of the sky for the Starlink to work . So I break it out and set it up when I need it and have multiple ways of powering it. If you are going with Milwaukee Packouts there are some people making foam inserts to hold a Starlink Mini, the cables, and other items. Looking for a link I see that people are making adapters to power Starlink antenna's from Milwaukee M18 batteries. That is something that I haven't seen before. But if you plan on using the connection on the go then having it mounted would be a really nice feature to have. I hope that helps. |
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Originally Posted By 2Hut8: This is personal opinion but I don't know that I would mount a Starlink antenna on an ORV. Disclaimer that my application may be very different than yours. Mine is emergency communication when out of cell range. FYI: I have a Starlink mini and I do use it. But I have mine in a semi-rugged case with a Anker Solix C200 in there with it and I typically offroad in a 2 Door Jeep JK. My logic is that the antenna's are pretty flimsy. If you roll the vehicle with antenna attached then there is potential that the antenna could be damaged. Also depending on the reason that you may be stranded, the vehicle may not have power. In addition, in my AO we have some pretty thick forests. I may have to walk a bit to get a clear view of the sky for the Starlink to work . So I break it out and set it up when I need it and have multiple ways of powering it. If you are going with Milwaukee Packouts there are some people making foam inserts to hold a Starlink Mini, the cables, and other items. Looking for a link I see that people are making adapters to power Starlink antenna's from Milwaukee M18 batteries. That is something that I haven't seen before. But if you plan on using the connection on the go then having it mounted would be a really nice feature to have. I hope that helps. There aren't many forested areas around here so reception is probably okay. It has it's own battery pack in the mount. i also have a doohickey to run the antenna off DeWalt batteries |
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if you are going to get a winch, best is a winch that goes in a cradle and can be moved end to end, so you need a receiver tube at each end as well as electrical cables and connectors to power it..not sure if they make them for SXS/atv's nowadays so other option is 2 winches 1 at each end..Sucks to put it on one end and get in a spot where only the other end will work..Sometimes you can use snatchblocks to run one under the rig and make it work, but thats pretty tough on a low to the ground rig, especially buried in mud..Shy of that get a winch on one end and then lots of straps and a good cable jack for the other end when you need it... I can list piles of gear that is usable but would need to know your specific conditions and uses... We do some serious off roading for hunting and to support our trapping cabins and just because..Not uncommon for us to travel over 100 miles one way from the drivable road system..We take it very seriously... Attached File Attached File |
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Originally Posted By Aimless: Oops too late! The winch is fixed in the frontthose are great pictures Thanks..when you have extra funds/time, get a second one for the rear..You would not believe how often the winch is at the wrong end..It really sucks when it is.... Attached File Attached File |
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Spare Tire/Collapsible Lug Wrench Plug/Patch Kit Short High Lift(36") / Can also be used to recover SxS, but very slow Small air compressor Spare Gas - 1 to 2g Tow/Recovery Strap Having a tire destroyed or flat is the only thing that has put damper on my riding/hunting with my SxS in 15 years. Depending on your terrain, a small chainsaw has come in handy for me also. |
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Originally Posted By mleaky: Spare Tire/Collapsible Lug Wrench Plug/Patch Kit Short High Lift(36") / Can also be used to recover SxS, but very slow Small air compressor Spare Gas - 1 to 2g Tow/Recovery Strap Having a tire destroyed or flat is the only thing that has put damper on my riding/hunting with my SxS in 15 years. Depending on your terrain, a small chainsaw has come in handy for me also. A little story about tires, we've run 44" tires since the early 80's on our off road trucks, they just have traction and clearance that the smaller tire can't..Anyway I've always carried 2 small 12volt compressors(what was available back then) and a normal patch kit and a well made leather plug kit..Leather plugs are the best plugs you could get for many years..Anyway back then we ran stock pickup beds and they had no room for hauling a spare 44" tire..They are to tall to carry standing up at the front of the bed(completely block seeing out the back window) and too thick to lay flat in the bed and be able to fit all your other gear.. We have fixed that issue going to flat beds, now days we take at least one spare and it sets half recessed in the bed on the front of the drivers side, still a pain but doable due to the 8'6" wide beds we make.... Anyway years back my buddy crossed a river about 2 foot further upriver than the rest of us and got his tire into a hole carved out by water down to bedrock, before anyone could say anything he leaned on the gas figuring he could climb out of the hole..He ended up catching sharp edged bedrock and slicing the tire almost all the way around, at one point about 6"-8" long it cut to the cords with about 2" of the cut all the way thru the tire, flattening the tire...We ended up packing the cut full of leather plugs till we couldn't get anymore thru the cut and drove it out that way..It held for about 200 miles off-road the rest of the hunting trip plus the 130 mile road trip back to town... Good thing to have along, air supply , good plug kit, spare valve stems(we have tore a couple of them off over the years, pretty easy fix though), and a couple tire irons or big pryers to get the tire off/on the rim...Now days we also carry a couple of new style plugs which are a combo of plug and patch, they work excellent for a better patch solution, but they can be a bitch to get in place.... Plug kit I have used since the 80's, my kit has metal handles.... Attached File https://blackjacktirerepair.com/product-category/patch-plug-units-inserts/patch-plug-units-inserts-gum-wrapped/ Modern plug/patch combo.... You have to pick what size the plug is, in the commercial off-road tire world I have seen plug/patches that went as big as 2" plug and 8" patch used for like loader tires, not sure if the public can buy them, but I have seen 3/4" plug/patches for sale as well as 1/2"-3/8"-5/16"- 1/4"-1/8" I wouldn't worry about 1/4" or smaller, a simple plug should do fine..maybe patch once back in town with the right plug/patch needed.... But a couple of the 1/2"-3/4" plugs might save the day off-road...make sure you have any glue/tools needed for install These guys make a 3/4" plug/patch combo as well as smaller ones..don't have any idea how good theirs are... a kit plus a couple of the 3/4" combo's would be what I would look for... https://products.techtirerepairs.com/product/bias-uni-seal-20mm-inj-bx-6/?gadid=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=17875771102&utm_content=&utm_term=&hsa_acc=6950797113&hsa_cam=17875771102&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17191275359&gbraid=0AAAAACj0i-ny07qOmKAWqDikpSMfWvY8u |
| I keep a tool bag with small socket kit and basic hand tools, 20ft jerk rope with soft shackles, a small folding shovel, tire plugs. Keep much more tools and stuff in the truck, but I carry enough stuff to be dangerous. I also usually ride with a group of people that carry similar loadouts. The area we ride is sand dunes, so you absolutely must plan on getting stuck every once in a while, even if you are really good! If someone breaks something that can't be fixed on the sand then we tow back to camp. |
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I've not done expedition offroading. The farthest I've driven offroad is a couple of miles. But a lot of times. A hunt club. Hills. Mud. Creeks. Rocks. Tough tires were necessary. Tough as is how many sidewall plies. Your sidewalls are especially vulnerable when tires are aired down. Street tires will blow in rocky terrain PDQ. Even a root sticking out will do it. Air compressor for airing them back up. Takes a while with a small one. A bottle of water to clean the valve stems caps before screwing them off. Mud tires didn't help me much except for less flats. Airing down the tires was the thing. |
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When it comes to spare tires, I am firmly in the "two is one, one is none" camp. One spare means you get a flat and need to get on out of the bush. Two gives one more options and a better safety margin. Getting caught twenty miles out from the nearest traveled highway, on a track that hasn't been visited by anyone in years is a nerve-wracking experience. Plus, with a repair kit, you have the leisure of waiting until you get to camp or home before repairing the flat. I've also found that, since carrying two spares, I never get a flat to start with.
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