I have the Smitty X20 10k with synthetic line. Have had it ~3 years. It's been a good winch that suits my recreational purpose. It does get used, and has performed well. It's a fair price point and is nice to have a wireless controller. Synthetic line is worth the cost IMO. I don't think you'll ever hear anyone bad mouth a Warn. They are nice and perform well, it's just harder for many to justify the price for limited use it may see. If you're going to be out wheelin' several times a week, maybe it's easier to justify.

 

So I have a Warn VR series with synthetic. I've never had any trouble with it, but I acknowledge that it's a china-made product. It's been on my rig for 6 years, I've used it 2-3 times per year with no issues. All that said, I think that there are several winches in that same category that compete with the warn VR series winch. Like resharp said, if I were purchasing again, the important stuff to me would be synthetic line and a wireless controller.

 

 

I've had my Warn VR-10,000 steel cable now for just over 3.5 years, use it a couple of times a year. Love it, never had a problem. Went steel cable cause everything else is already heavy as hell on the Jeep and I play in the rocks.

 

The $37 synthetic line is 2500lb line for ATV winches.

 

 

While some do, I don't buy the "any winch is better than no winch" (which I don't see Resharp saying in this thread....) I went with a Warn M8000 in much your same place because it's been around for forever, and I like to buy products that are proven with use. I don't think anything from a reputable brand will disappoint you, but I do think you'll be disappointed in yourself when you're saying "man I'm happy I saved $200" if that HF winch has shit the bed and you're buried up to the axles. Personally I wouldn't trust anything from Hazard Fraught to pull me and my expensive vehicle out of somewhere where you really need a winch. I sure as heck wouldn't buy their drills or impact guns, and I wouldn't expect the bigger item to be any better.

 

 

I don't own a HF winch, and I would say you get what you pay for, but if you're stuck in a situation, I'll still believe that you have a fighting chance of a self recovery with a piece of shit HF winch on the front of your jeep than you do with no winch. I would also submit someone with knowledge of recoveries could do a better job with a HF at their disposal than someone that knows nothing about recovery can do with a Warn, so everything is relative.