Almost everyone has heard of Murphy’s Law. For those that haven’t, it’s pretty simple – “If anything can go wrong, it will”. Plus, to make it worse, it generally goes wrong at the most inopportune time and place… and if there is more than one thing that could go wrong, they all will… or the worst one will go wrong. While that may all sound a little pessimistic, that’s how it seems to pan out most of the time.
That’s not to say that things ‘will’ go wrong, but the more remote we 4WDers travel, the better the backup plan should be for when something does go sour. Our problem thereon in is, the more precautions we take with the more spares and tools we carry, is all added weight, which in itself causes many problems for intrepid tourers. The more weight we lug about, the more overloaded our 4WDs become and the more likely that we’ll need those spare parts we are carrying… catch 22 if ever there was one!
No, that doesn’t mean we should stray off into the bush with no tools, no spares and no way of getting ourselves mobile if Murphy’s Law should strike – that’s just plain ol’ stupid!
So, at what stage do we say enough is enough with the heavy tools, spare parts and recovery gear? No definitive answer from me I’m afraid, that’s dependent on your type of vehicle, its condition, where you’re travelling and your ability to do makeshift repairs from minimal equipment – not everyone can wrangle a piece of fencing wire to hold an engine mount together or whittle a gum tree branch to help support a suspension component… but it sure helps to be creative and resourceful with what is at hand in trying conditions.