First, if you have to qualify a statement with "Not to be a jackass", you're probably being a jackass....I think it's pretty sad that Ford did not design the grill and bumper around a winch. It seems like a major oversight.
However, I'm more interested in your take on a winch being an essential tool. In my 50+ years of off-roading in BC with my Dad (and later myself) we've been in two situations where a winch was necessary, and the first time, it would have been much better to have the winch on the rear as pulling forward was not ideal. In the other situation, while a winch would have helped, I managed to recover with some shovelling and traction boards.
So I'm curious what kind of situations you're getting into where a winch has saved you?
Not to be a jackass, but if you're often getting into a situation where you need a winch, isn't that more a statement about bad judgement, than the necessity of a winch?
Now if you're doing trails where winching over some obstacles is a known necessity before you even depart, that's another story... but if you don't have a winch, you just don't do those trails... right?
I've been in situations on trails that I've been down 100 times without using a winch where that 1 time the conditions were such that having a winch avoided body damage. That doesn't mean I have bad judgment, just means that conditions change. I've also been in situations where I knew I could get out but I would have had to tear up the trail, having a winch prevented that (Tread lightly).
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