TRED Pro ® is a new Total Recovery and Extraction Device, designed to make self-recovery possible in various offroad terrains. Whether it be mud or sand, these traction boards will allow drivers to extract their own vehicles from stuck  situations in a safe manner. 

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I tried these out in the Liwa area in the first week of September when the weather was hot, and in no time at all I managed to get myself stuck – deliberately, I hasten to add! The most difficult stucks to self-recover from are those on the flat, where gravity cannot lend a hand, so we chose a soft, flat area to test the TRED Pros.

It is always a good thing to check the product before you head to the desert, whether it be a winch, a pair of gloves or even a solo-extraction device, so I unpacked these at home; I even read the instructions.

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I could instantly feel that they were made of a high quality, strong material and quite different to competitors’ products. Evolve have been selling TRED recovery tracks for around four years now and with feedback and some useful insight from their customers as to how they actually use their traction boards, they have developed the next generation, TRED-Pro. ® Manufactured from EXOTRED ™, a composite which has good flexibility and superior durability and strength, TRED Pros offer a lifetime warranty.

The accompanying instructions give sound advice to make your recoveries as easy and effective as possible.

Firstly, once you know you are stuck, stop trying to accelerate out of it. Power rarely wins when you are stuck in sand and putting the pedal to the metal will only make the eventual recovery more difficult to achieve.

Decide whether you are going to go forwards or backwards once you get moving, and clear the sand away from either the front or the back of the tyres. You can do this without even reaching for your spade, as TRED Pros come with an integral shovel, designed to clear sand quickly. The smooth grips on each side of the tracks were comfortable to hold for both small and large hands and although unwieldy at first, I soon got the hang of it.

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Having never dug out a car with a rectangular green board before I was surprised just how much sand it could shift in a very short time; testament to the TRED Pro’s ergonomic design. Of course the job was done even quicker when my husband joined in!

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Once the sand was adequately cleared, the contoured ramp slipped easily into position under the rear tyres and then it was only a matter of selecting 4LOW and gently pressing the accelerator to reverse out. The developers at TRED Pro ® have analysed the tread pattern of the most popular all-terrain tyres and optimised the grip position on the traction boards accordingly; I felt these really took a hold of my Pirelli Scorpion ATRs.

Cheap recovery tracks often melt due to a build-up of heat caused by the friction of spinning tyres, rendering them smooth and useless for future recoveries, but TRED Pros have black gripping “teeth” which have been engineered to have a high melt-point; this means that if you do spin your wheels accidentally then your boards will remain serviceable.


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Having tried these out in Liwa in the summer I find myself wondering how many tricky self-recoveries over the last seven years could have been made so much easier with a set.

Whether carried on a roof rack or in the car, they take up little space and only add a few kilograms to the payload, so they are well worth carrying either as your primary recovery device or as added “insurance” if you have a winch.

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TRED Pro have been developed and manufactured in Australia by Evolve, and are available in the UAE from AAA and Mebar in Dubai for 1,100 AED for a set of two.

Over the years I have seen many cheap traction boards break or melt during recoveries and so I have resisted using these; from now on however, I will definitely carry a set of TRED Pros whenever my journey takes me off the tarmac!


Words by: Marina Bruce
Photos by: Tiaan Nieuwoldt