Hey guys,

I have heard that it is possible to use a two litre soda bottle to winch your 4x4 out of trouble.

The theory is that you fill it with sand and bury it horizontally with your winch attached.

Has anyone else heard this one... And does it work?

The concept is commonly called an anchor.

Depending on how bad you are stuck, a 2-litre bottle filled with sand and buried could provide an anchor point. Personally, I am not sure there is enough surface area to provide the necessary resistance.

A spare tire buried will provide a better anchor point.

As a veteran professor of getting stuck(yes, that was me holding up the trail the last time) I can assure you, no soda pop bottle will every get you un stuck. Nor will a buried spare tire(if you could manage to bury it). I read about a lot of urban legends as a youngster, and tried many. Winching from a log across a ravine as an example...NO WAY. I have had boulders bigger then my rig move! Boulders make me cringe, as they rarely hold. Aspens, never hold. Salt Cedar does though. The reason a pull pall works if soil conditions are just right, is because it digs in as you pull.

I think the key to all these urban legends is loosing traction Vs being stuck. Loosing traction ANYTHING will work. Being buried to the frame, little will work. Most of us have long since graduated beyond the open diffs and small tires of the past where these wheeling legends were born and get STUCK!

So basically you need a really solidly rooted tree or a lot of people to push to make sure you get unstuck I guess.

At least that is one more urban legend removed.