On my hunting trip last September I could have used some traction boards. I was able to get out fine with the X-Jack and some sweat, but I really think that some traction boards would have made short work of it. Had Maxtrax released their Minis I probably would have bought them, but they weren’t available at the time. Despite being teased for well over a year they still don’t seem to be available. HammerheadFistPunch also made a good point about cost.
With all that in mind I went looking. I watched a lot of YouTube videos from big names like Ronny Dahl to random dudes out with their buddies (some of which were actually quite good). I also read a lot of reviews and comparisons. And I got some hands on at Expo East. It was also interesting to hear from some of the road warriors at Expo that 2 works ... but nearly everyone ended up with 4 after some time with just 2.
I came away with the understanding that the vast majority of options will do a decent job of getting you unstuck. From there I broke down the pros and cons of various models to decide how I wanted to proceed going into next year. I generally take the buy once, cry once philosophy with gear. But given my findings I also didn’t want to waste money.
GoTreads became my top choice. They are foldable, available in orange (a priority for me; I like all my safety and easily lost important gear to be high vis), have a lifetime warranty, and are only $119 for a pair. The only potential downside is you can’t bridge with them. But seriously, even if you want to bridge with Maxtrax you really need 4. And that is a LOT of money.
Maxtrax and Tred Pro tied for second due to their superior stack-ability and lifetime warranty, despite the higher price tag.
Maxsa only has a 90 day warranty and are not as stackable. At $150 per pair the GoTreads seemed like a better deal with the folding and warranty. And I think the added $100 cost of upgrading to Maxtrax or Tred Pro for better stacking and the warranty is justified. At least to me, referencing my gear philosophy.
X-Bull are on Amazon for about $100 per pair. If you want the cheapest then these will probably work fine. However, they don’t stack very well and have no warranty. Being $50 cheaper than the Maxsa, it is a bigger jump in price to Maxtrax or Tred Pro for sure. Next to the GoTreads, they just don’t seem like a reasonable choice though.
I know there are many others, but these were the main ones that I ended up considering.
Now let’s get back to that bridging thing for just a bit ... I think a killer 4 board set, assuming you have the space, would be a pair of GoTreads and a pair of Crux Offroad bridging ladders. Total cost would be $518. That is versus $500 for 4 Maxtrax, but in a more versatile system at the cost of easy, stackable, mounting. If you want a super easy to mount 4 board system with moderate bridging capability for only one wheel, then Maxtrax is probably the best choice.
I ended up receiving a pair of GoTreads for Christmas today and I’m very happy to have them. Now I need to buy the Blue Ridge Overland Gear bag to hold them ...