Flip-Flop Winch

The flip-flop winch was a technique developed during the Great Patriotic War (Вели́кая Оте́чественная война́) (WWII), or perhaps earlier, and popularized in the survival community by Canadian bushcraft and wilderness survival instructor, naturalist and author, Mors Kochanski.  

Using a rope and two 10cm (4 inch) diameter poles, each about 2 - 2.5 meters in length, you can use the principle of leverage to recover a stuck vehicle or move other heavy objects such as boulders and fallen trees. The flip-flop winch is easy to set-up and use, but does require an open area to operate the winch, and an anchor point in line with your intended direction of pull.

A few videos that demonstrate the flip-flop winch are here:

• Kochanski Flip Flop Winch
• Flip Flop Winch
• Kochanski Flip-Flop Winch
• Flip Flop Winch Simple Machines  

The flip-flop winch is easy to use, but as with all of our fieldcraft and survival skills it must be practiced to develop and maintain proficiency.