in the position chris was in, pulling by a vehicle at the correct angle with a strap was not an issue. we had to pull sideways from inside a lot of trees where a vehicle could not fit. doing it tug-of-war style would not work, so the hi-lift became a come-a-long. i dont see that being any more dangerous than a real come-a-long.

your assumption that im at home when im near flat concrete is not always true, when i'm at home i certainly do use my floor jack and jack stands, but if i have to pull over at a gas station to change a tire, out comes the hi-lift. i dont see that being more dangerous than the bottle jack as long as i'm not under the vehicle, which i NEVER am with a hi-lift.

 

You only really use a hi-lift to extract a vehicle as a last resort. Maybe you're wheeling solo, or don't own a winch. Maybe none of the other vehicles with them is strong enough to pull it out (I've seen this happen, deep deep mud). You make it sound as if using a hi-lift for any purpose is a stupid idea. I have used my hi-lift multiple times on the trail for a trail fix (albeit with a slider adapter). Sometimes you have to do the best you can do to get yourself outta there. I'd like to see a bottle jack that could get up to my sliders and then lift one of my wheels off the ground

 

Fred: As a former paratrooper and rappel master in the military I can appreciate your safety first approach but you need to look at the bigger wheeling picture. The bottle jack is not a one size fix all tool. I have used my high lift to help some idiots that have buried themselves to the axle on the beach and had did not have a tow point on their vehicle that I would trust a strap on. High lift got them out faster because it lifted their vehicle higher and faster to get some material under their wheel than digging under a frame with a bottle jack.
If I can use my bottle jack I will, however there are times that using the high lift is the prefered tool for me. I have used a high lift to pull myself out several times because it is the tool I had on hand and it got me the 2-4 feet I needed to go and I have used it to stretch fence wire. The high lift can be used for much more than changing a tire.

People are free to make their choices and suffer the consequences if they make the wrong, unsafe choice. The high lift jack has been a useful tool for a long time. Used and maintained responsibly in the correct situation it works as intended.

 

Good high-jack.

Spend the dime on something that will work more often than not, this is not a place to skimp.

I laugh at people who have Hi-lifts but no sliders.

My Hi-Lift is a tool I carry and use when the situation arises. There are many better tools for most situations.