Stuck in the Mud

You could always wrap the rope around the wipers if all else fails.....  incoming

I remember going on a rally once and needed 2 Range Rover to pull us in, never did another. 
Good luck. 
Rich..

We have used a set of these for years and always place them under the front (driving) wheels whenever we arrive on grass or sandy pitches. They stop you sinking in and also give you a good start to get you moving off the pitch. They can also be used with the Fiamma Level-Up ramps, on hardstanding they will also help stop the ramps shooting out:

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Some useful ideas here about how to use mats etc.  Wish I had read this before we got stuck at Easter at C&CC rally at Patching, we do carry two sets of mats but didn't try deploying until we found we were stuck.  Thought that the tyres would grip the edge and draw the wheels on to them.  A bit naïve of me and lesson learnt!

Thanks all for the advice.

We also use the monster matts having found the yellow Fiamma equivalents useless.  Before I had my levelling jacks fitted I tried to park the drive wheels on the matts and the non-drive wheels on small wooden boards so that the wheels didn't sink into the ground and form cups that are difficult to get out of.  I now find that the levelling jacks with pads to spread the load help stop the wheels from sinking into the ground and before departure I can raise the drive wheels to put the monster matts under them.  I also take a tow rope with me to use with the towing eye. In the winter months we only use hardstanding.  When I change my tyres I will upgrade from summer to 4-season which should help.  It also helps to reduce the load over the un-driven axle and increase the load over the driven axle.  This particularly applies to FWD coachbuilts with long rear overhangs which are inevitably rear heavy and front light and is why their off-road capability is poor.

RWD can be a lot better on any loaded van, especially if you have long overhangs, but it is a matter of what you can get. I would have liked to have converted a 4x4 Crafter but the weights just get too high if you prefer to keep under 3500 kgs. In my case not just the extra unladen weight of the Crafter, and the 4x4 running gear, but also compounded by a separate issue that if I convert myself I will tend to build it too heavy. I am used to working on barges where weight is simply not an issue. For the moment I will be looking at better tyres before next winter. I had identified what seemed to be a good converter of Crafter vans before I bought the present Kingham but unfortunately they ceased trading. I also decided that it might be wise to buy a van and try it before trying to design one myself!

Whatever happened to the legendry cut out bottoms of bread baskets ??

I kept the mounting adaptors for Spikes Spider Snow Chains fitted to each of our vans for many years. Only ever used them twice to get out of deep mud - not the easiest things to clean afterwards! Now added to the pile of gadgets no longer used and sitting on a shelf in the garage. Changed to fitting M&S (mud & snow) tyres a few years ago and have only got stuck once since, mainly due to an unseen kerbstone edging on a pitch. 

If anyone can make use of them, make me an offer. They'd need to be collected from Berkshire.

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I think site owners have a responsibility in this respect.  If they only offer grass pitches they really out to provide a pile of large heavy duty grip matts.  I was on the CAMC all grass Plymouth Sound site a couple of weeks ago and that's exactly what they did and the attentive warden made sure they were used.