A demonstration of the Tirfor hand winch when used for 4x4 recovery.

Pros
Inexpensive
No need for mounting/bullbars etc
Can carry in any vehicle
Pull any direction
Can be carried into any location
Can have other uses
Work well

Cons
Slow
Need to be reasonably fit
When solo you have no one in the vehicle when operating the winch
Wont usually pull as much, not as powerful
Hard to use on steep slopes
Need some room to carry them
Just more cumbersome to use
dont look as cool as a winch.

One advantage over other hand winches is it doesn't use a drum so can pull for the entire length of the steel rope.

http://www.tractel.com/en/products.ph...

http://www.spanset.com.tw/cata/liftin...