Bog Out: ‘Rope Ladders’ Turn Your Wheels Into Winches

So I recently stumbled across something called Bog Out, which is a product designed to help you get a stuck vehicle unstuck.

Before that, I’d never heard of it, but I shared a more complex product a few years ago, called the Bush Winch. That one is more complicated because you have to mount it to the side of your wheel, whereas Bog Out hooks to your wheel across the tire and then wraps around the tire as you drive, allowing your entire tire & wheel to act as a winch.

Instead of just watching a bunch of promotional videos, which always show products working well, I looked for unbiased reviews. The first one I found was titled with just those words, so I gave it a watch.

Early on, the reviewer says that if you break it, Bog Out will send you a new one. I searched for details on the Bog Out website, but only found mention of a “12 month warranty” without any details. So I won’t hang my hat on that guarantee.

This review is a bit slow-moving for me, but around 3:45 he starts talking about actually using the thing and how to attach it to a wheel. And attachment is about as easy as you can get: run a strap through your wheel, tie a half-hitch to each of the two eye splices on the end of the Bog Out, and you are done attaching it to your wheel.

Once it’s attached to the wheel, hook up the other end to something solid such as a land anchor, tree, big rock, or another vehicle, then start driving. The Bog Out will wind up on your wheel and help pull you along.

It’s recommended that you buy a pair of them if you don’t have a limited-slip differential, to prevent you sitting there spinning the wrong wheel. That would be aggravating.

Here’s that review:

I found another review which is a little different, and uses still photos as well as video along with voiceover to get the message across. It’s clear early on that this reviewer knows a lot more about off-roading than the first.

This review shows actual use more clearly, and points out some highs and lows, including the snapping of a Bog Out strap through operator error, as well as noting what a hassle it can be to get the Bog Out off if your wheel once it’s all wound up on there. That said, he does suggest a cool method of driving up onto blocks in order to remove the Bog Out from a wheel.

Watching him remove it from the wheel was tough for me. I kept wanting him to pull out a pry bar or screwdriver to pop the cross straps out of the tire treads. But it’s good stuff because it shows potential buyers what they’ve got to look forward to after actually using a Bog Out.

In the end, he recommends the Bog Out, with some caveats.

Both reviewers says it’s reasonably priced, but at $270 USD per pair I would have to disagree. For a couple rope ladders? Yikes. Then again, I’ve seen the time I would have considered shelling out when I really needed to get my flivver unstuck.

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Being more the practical budget-minded type, I’d lean more towards the old “strap a board or tree limb to the tire” approach, as outlined in this old post. But the Bog Out is something worth looking at anyhow.

What do you think of it?

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.