Jimmy and Tyler sit down with James, the International Distributor for Carbon Off-Road — a 10-year-old Australian winch and recovery gear company quietly making a lot of noise in a space dominated by legacy brands.

James is a Kiwi who grew up on farms in New Zealand’s Taranaki region before moving to Australia 22 years ago. He found off-roading the same way a lot of adults do: by needing friends and buying a Suzuki. He joined a Suzuki club, met Carbon founder Dan through those connections before Carbon even existed, and eventually joined the company. Now he’s traveling the US in what Tyler accurately describes as a “homeless American gypsy” role — meeting wheelers, attending grassroots events, and slowly building the Carbon Off-Road name in the US market. He stopped in Sacramento on a layover to come on the show, having spent a week with Jimmy and Tyler at Trail Hero Expeditions.

Carbon’s pitch is three words: lighter, faster, stronger. Their 12,000 lb flagship is the lightest 12K winch in the world — just under 58 lbs fully installed, aluminum housing, 480 amp max current draw, lifetime mechanical warranty on the gearbox, 5-year electrical on the motor and control box. It retails at $899 USD. The RS9 is their race-spec winch — 9,000 lb capacity, 80 feet per minute unloaded, and James jokes it should come with a parental advisory sticker because it will unspool 78 feet of spectra fiber rope in about a minute if you don’t have tension on the line.

On the recovery gear side: Carbon just launched a full lineup available in three colorways — High Viz (orange, commercial/heavy equipment), Blue, and Tactical (so popular it exceeded all expectations). Their Essential Recovery Kit ($349 USD) includes soft shackles, kinetic rope, tree saver, recovery ring, gloves, and a bag that doubles as a winch blanket. The Tac 4×4 Kit ($599 USD) upgrades to spectra-fiber soft shackles rated at 18,000 kg working load limit, adds a utility rope (replaces the tree saver — works as a bridle, rock anchor, winch extension, or general purpose rope), and comes in a MOLLE-style bag. Everything is designed in-house in Australia, third-party tested to minimum breaking strength, and not white-labeled — James is emphatic about this.

The show also covers: Carbon’s 10th anniversary camping weekend at Black Duck Valley (120 vehicles showed up despite two weeks of rain), what it’s like trying to sell winches at a trade show for 14 hours in a row, why James hasn’t been able to drive his own trailer-queen Suzuki Sierra much lately, King of the Hammers 2026 (“we saw a lot of winches stalling out — caveat: none of ours”), the Australia/New Zealand land access crisis vs. US land access fights, and why the name Carbon has nothing to do with carbon fiber.

Bonus content includes the full Australia ongoing-topics segment: Vegemite vs. Marmite (James sides with Marmite, the New Zealand version), camping vs. glamping (coffee machine in the tent = crossed the line), and the fanny pack question that previously required Australian listeners to call in and educate Jimmy about what the word “fanny” actually means.

James’s closing advice: In a recovery situation, don’t rush it. Take a breath, assess, and figure out how to do it safely.

Carbon Offroad:
Website: https://carbonoffroadusa.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carbonoffroad_usa/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@carbonoffroad
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarbonWinchAndOffroad

GROUP BUY: There is a new group buy happening, and this time it is with Wolfbox for their G900Tripro. If we get ten people signed up then we will get $20 off. If we can get 20 people signed up, we will get $30 off, and if we can get 30 people signed up, then it will be $40 off. If you’re interested in joining the group buy, then please email Jimmy or Tyler, or jump on to the Discord.

SnailTrail4x4 Discord: https://discord.gg/yFyFFkQbuy
Come hang out with us on the SnailTrail4x4 Discord — it’s the easiest way to connect with Tyler and Jimmy directly, chat with fellow offroad enthusiasts, and get first access to Group Buys and Treasure Hunt token drops.

MORRFlate Giveaway at 900 Reviews on Apple Podcast. But our next giveaway is when we reach 800 reviews; we are giving away an OnX Elite Membership. We will also give away an OnX Elite membership when we get to 850. However, when we reach 900 Reviews, we are teaming up with MORRFlate for a $1000 MF Product Giveaway. Go over to Apple Podcasts to leave your review now and become eligible to win. Congratulations to A13XMONT, who won a set of tires from Yokohama Tire!

Call us and leave us a VOICEMAIL!!!

We want to hear from you even more!!! You can call and say whatever you like! Ask a question, leave feedback, correct some information about welding, say how much you hate your Jeep, and wish you had a Toyota! We will air them all, live, on the podcast! +01-916-345-4744. If you have any negative feedback, you can call our negative feedback hotline, 408-800-5169.

4Wheel Underground has all the suspension parts you need to take your off-road rig from leaf springs to a performance suspension system. We just ordered our kits for Kermit and Samantha and are looking forward to getting them. The ordering process was quite simple, and after answering the questionnaire, we ensured we got the correct and best-fitting kits for our vehicles. If you want to level up your suspension game, check out 4Wheel Underground.

SnailTrail4x4 Podcast is brought to you by all of our peeps over at irate4x4! Make sure to stop by and see all of the great perks you get for supporting SnailTrail4x4! Discount Codes, Monthly Give-Always, Gift Boxes, the SnailTrail4x4 Community, and the ST4x4 Treasure Hunt! Thank you to all of those who support us! We couldn’t do it without you guys (and gals!)!

SnailSquad Monthly Giveaway

July’s Giveaway is with a company that Jimmy and Tyler have very good experience with, especially after TrailHeroX. This month’s giveaway is with Wolfbox. They are giving away one G900Tripro to a lucky winner. This is the same three-camera rearview mirror setup that they received during TrailHeroX. If you want a chance to win this system from Wolfbox make sure you sign up for the giveaway tier on either Irate4x4 or the SnailTrail4x4 Discord.

Massive Congratulations to Liz Sandstorm for winning the Iceco Freezers. We are excited to work with and share their exciting new releases. One lucky winner has a chance to an ALP20 Fridge. Big thanks to Iceco for sponsoring this month’s giveaway. If you want a chance to win, sign up for th...