Nena Barlow operates Barlow Adventures at Moab and Sedona. Her 4×4 guiding and recovery tools include the Pull Pal land anchor. At the Dunes south of Moab, Nena uses a Pull Pal and Superwinch® EXP winch to quickly free a Jeep® JK Wrangler from a barren, sandy slope. See why Pull Pal is a “must” companion for your winch!
Nena Barlow carries a Pull Pal anchor in her trail 4x4s. “Sara” at left is a Barlow Adventures Jeep® JK Wrangler. For this demonstration, Scott Salmon, VP of Marketing at Superwinch®, drives Sara as high on this sand dune as possible. Rather than bury the 4×4 to its frame, Scott stops at the point of lost traction. Nena (right) brings out the Pull Pal anchor.
At the 2017 Moab Easter Jeep Safari, the EXP winch made its debut. Nina equips each of her Jeep® JK Wranglers with a Superwinch® winch. This freshly mounted EXP series 10,000 pound winch provides formidable, leading edge performance. At this barren sand bowl south of Moab, Utah, there isn’t a tree or rock in sight as Nena spools out the synthetic rope!
Nena and Scott discuss the winch control options and choose the remote control cable for this exercise. Routed from the winch to the cab, the cable remote provides Scott with direct control of the winch. To reduce drag, he will apply steady 4×4 power to the wheels and tires as he winches. Without the tires rotating, the vehicle would be plowing through the sand, creating a dead pull. The Pull Pal and winch will do the heavy pulling.
The Pull Pal anchor takes a set in the sandy soil and quickly cinches itself in the ground. The lever action at the arm drives the shovel securely into the ground, providing a solid anchoring point that enables the vehicle to self-recover. At right, with the Jeep® out of the sand bowl, Nena rocks the Pull Pal and quickly frees it from the ground. The Pull Pal has decades of proven use by 4×4 owners, the U.S. military and emergency responders.
Note: For me, this scene with Nena Barlow looks familiar…When I covered technology for Argus’ OFF-ROAD Magazine, Pat and Jan Gremillion demonstrated the original prototype of the Pull Pal at Sand Canyon, California nearly three decades ago. The physics of the device immediately earned my support, and I subsequently promoted the safe use of a Pull Pal in each of my books, while conducting Tread Lightly 4×4 Driving Clinics with Bill Burke in the ’90s, at my Camp Jeep® Mopar Workshops, and while guiding media and corporate groups into hardcore four-wheeling back country. Since the early 1990s, a Pull Pal has been my companion on every back country 4×4 venture!—Moses Ludel
