1.5-lb pocket winch manhandles loads over 1,000 x its weight

Built for the type of fast, remote motorized adventure that can go wrong in a hurry, the new Pocket Winch from startup Dragan Systems aims to be the lightest, most portable come-along out there. It fractionalizes weight while still multiplying muscle enough to move up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of stuck vehicle, trail-blocking deadfall or whatever else stands in the way of open-ended adventure. Chuck it in your Africa Twin's pannier and have an instant backup plan if things go sideways.

While big off-road and overland trucks have the luxury of carrying an embedded winch effortlessly in their bumpers, lighter, two-wheel and tracked vehicles don't have that luxury. Instead, adventure riders, dirt bikers, backcountry discoverers and sled heads are left with the come-along winch, a manual hand-cranked gizmo that's small enough to carry on a lighter adventure vehicle but powerful enough to self-rescue a stuck bike, snowmobile or ATV with a few pulls of the lever.

When fully set up like above, the Dragan Pocket Winch doesn't look all that much different from the typical come-along. But while existing options like the 2,200-lb-rated Performance Tool W4003 and 2,000-lb Haul-Master Cable Winch Puller weigh in around 6 to 7 lb (2.7 to 3.2 kg), Dragan slashes the weight of the Pocket Winch down to 1 pound and a half (680 g), including the carry case.

Dragan manages to cut weight by a factor of four by lightening and shrinking materials. The two-piece collapsible handle is made from carbon fiber, while the core housing and gears are built from aircraft-grade anodized aluminum. Even the braided cord is a lightweight synthetic construction that Dragan claims as stronger than steel.

The main winch body sets up between a strapped anchor point (e.g. a tree) and a strapped load (e.g. your stuck 600 lb BMW GSA or a trail-blocking log) and then uses force multiplication to easily move loads that you wouldn't dare try moving with bare (or gloved) hands. The kit comes with a force-doubling pulley that creates a dual-line setup to bring capacity from 1,000 lb (454 kg) to the 2,000-lb maximum. The pulley also cuts pull distance from 20 to 10 feet (6 to 3 m).

While Dragan's rig is definitely ultralight and portable compared to the average come-along, you'll probably still have trouble fitting the "Pocket" Winch into an actual pocket ... unless you're talking the pocket of a backpack or a piece of luggage. Or maybe you're rocking a big, open dump pocket on one of those goofy jackets designed to carry around every gadget you ever owned.

We're inclined to call it more of a dopp winch, as it breaks down and stows inside a portable 6 x 2.8 x 3.2-in (15 x 7 x 8-cm) pouch that looks a lot like a smaller version of the one we pack our toothbrush and shave kit in while traveling. And if we're unsure about what kind of bathroom offerings the destination hotel(s) will have, we'll also squeeze a full bar of soap in there, maybe even a little bottle of shampoo. A tiny mouthwash is pushing it, but we've never complained about having one at the ready when it was needed. But we digress ... that has absolutely nothing to do with winches.

The point is ultimately that the Dragan winch packs small and light enough to stow comfortably in a backpack, store in a car glove compartment, carry in a saddle bag or pannier, or lash right to a bike. Beyond being used for tasks like pulling a motorcycle up off a cliff and back onto the trail or clearing oversized debris off the trail, it can also be handy for things like pulling a stuck snowmobile out of the snow, moving a sick animal on the farm, or saving your back and internal organs while rolling heavy loads up the ramp of a moving truck.

When terms like "crazy lightweight" and "unparalleled portability" come together, "pleasantly affordable" is rarely lurking in the shadows just behind them. And it won't be emerging here, as the Dragan winch retails in at $399. That might not sound so bad if you're not familiar with come-along pricing, but the Performance Tool and Haul-Master winches we mentioned earlier price in at $40 and $25, respectively. So 400 bucks is a whole lot of premium.

But we suppose if you're soloing hundreds of miles of remote backcountry, competing professionally where every additional ounce could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, or perhaps bikepacking thousands of miles without a motor at all, having such a light, portable and capable gizmo could make the difference between glory and failure ... or worse.

Dragan just took home a 2026 Outdoor Innovation Award for the Overland & Travel Safety Product of the Year. Watch the Pocket Winch in action below and decide for yourself if it's worth all that money, based on whatever it is you do out there.

Source: Dragan Systems