Factor 55 Winch Class

GP NOIR

GP NOIR

Hooked
Justin of Factor 55 giving a class on winching at King Of The Hammers

Recovery tools and tech has come a long way!
 
Cool! To confess, I had never heard of Factor 55 until this video... I kind of wish I still didn't know about them as I now see an entirely new pile of products I want! :ROFLMAO:

Thanks for sharing!
 
ScottofKSU said:
Cool! To confess, I had never heard of Factor 55 until this video... I kind of wish I still didn't know about them as I now see an entirely new pile of products I want! :ROFLMAO:

Thanks for sharing!
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I don't know much about their other pile of products, but that thimble thing they make, I have yet to see one work when needed. They don't fit what a lot of people carry. I'll stick with the factory warn hook that came with my winch.
 
ScottofKSU said:
Cool! To confess, I had never heard of Factor 55 until this video... I kind of wish I still didn't know about them as I now see an entirely new pile of products I want! :ROFLMAO:

Thanks for sharing!
Click to expand...
eh, you might want to put your wallet away for this one. As WJCO said, I've YET to see a single one actually be useful on the trail and this is not to say that there haven't been plenty of guys who bought into it and tried to make it work. See video below.


Here's another, just for an example of what I mean.

 
I know I said gear and tech has come a long way (it has). My biggest takeaway from the Factor 55 video was how to fix a synth rope and how much strength was reduced when a bite was put in the rope.
 
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When I heard Factor 55 was set to be acquired, I was afraid it was going to be a foreign investor. Glad to see it was WARN.
 
I think their big ass hook is trash. Talk about a projectile! Much rather have nothing but a soft loop or a regular hook. However, I do like their snatch ring a lot.
 
This kind of feedback is why I love this forum. I only get to go wheeling a couple times a year; so I come here to get the real story "from the field/trail" from guys with vastly more experience. So far for recovery, I have an ARB snatch strap, tree saver, snatch block, a couple extra D-rings, a few soft shackles, and an APEX 12k winch. One of these days I will add the passenger side Hard Rock tow hook I have to give me two recovery points at the rear of the Jeep. Is there any other recovery gear you all would highly recommend beyond gaining the experience to use it safely?
 
When I bought my winch used on Craigslist it came with a Factor 55 thimble (and other goodies) in the box, I was super stoked because they are so expensive and really kinda cool looking.

Needles to say after one trip through the Rubicon I switched it back to the Warn hook and gave the thimble away. I can't argue that the "Closed loop" concept is possibly safer than using a hook, but really its a PIA to use and costs more time. Several of the people I go out with don't have the standard size or shape recovery points, so we ended up just using a soft shackle any way because the thimble wouldn't fit or their D-ring bowshackles wouldn't fit Etc.

Their products do seem well built and functional otherwise, I keep a Factor55 "fast fid" thing in my tool kit to assist with synthetic line repairs although I have yet to need it. I also carry a short 2 foot long Factor 55 recovery strap which has been used quite a bit, its great for going around frames, roll bars, and bumpers, besides my 10 foot ARB tree saver its the strap that gets used the most.
 
ScottofKSU said:
This kind of feedback is why I love this forum. I only get to go wheeling a couple times a year; so I come here to get the real story "from the field/trail" from guys with vastly more experience. So far for recovery, I have an ARB snatch strap, tree saver, snatch block, a couple extra D-rings, a few soft shackles, and an APEX 12k winch. One of these days I will add the passenger side Hard Rock tow hook I have to give me two recovery points at the rear of the Jeep. Is there any other recovery gear you all would highly recommend beyond gaining the experience to use it safely?
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What you have seems fine. I would highly recommend using it off of the trail so that you are comfortable with all of it. Then on the trail, you'll be prepared to use it safely and quickly. Also make sure you keep it all in a spot where you can get to it easily when you need it on the trail.
 
I think they look gay, and like all the others have said, I also have yet to see one be useful over the conventional hook - like the hook provided and designed for oh yeah, every single winch on the market. 🤷‍♂️
 
wayoflife said:
eh, you might want to put your wallet away for this one. As WJCO said, I've YET to see a single one actually be useful on the trail and this is not to say that there haven't been plenty of guys who bought into it and tried to make it work. See video below.


Here's another, just for an example of what I mean.

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I came to the videos to see what you meant, and did. I kept watching them because Cindy is a badass! Damn that girl can wheel!

What you have seems fine. I would highly recommend using it off of the trail so that you are comfortable with all of it. Then on the trail, you'll be prepared to use it safely and quickly. Also make sure you keep it all in a spot where you can get to it easily when you need it on the trail.
Click to expand...

I have pulled a couple stumps but definitely need to create some practice scenarios to get some more real world experience before I actually need it! I thought I was going to get some experience today after we got 10" of snow dumped on us overnight here in Omaha, but no one was stranded on my way to work.

Thanks again!
 
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