> I can only imagine the hardship of trying to get a Hummer down the majority of the trails around here without a Serman to cut it a bit wider.
I've driven the Hummer (military version M998 and M1038) in several
different kinds of terrain including desert and forest. I've also
driven the M151A2 and I currentyly own a YJ Wrangler. There's quite a
difference in the way you drive the Hummer from the way you drive a
jeep. Terrain is important, but not insurmountable.
In the jeep, the wheel width and the short wheel base both work to it's
advantage when negotiating narrow trails and/or obstacles. The hummer
driver takes a different line....instead of going between two boulders,
you may take one side's tires over one boulder...ore drive side-slope
around the obstacle (something you could never do in a jeep). In
forrest, a hummer driver may have to leave a trail at narrow points to
pick his way through the trees until the trail widens. In almost all
cases, the hummer's brute power can can get the driver out of a jam.
I only got my hmmwv stuck three times in two years of hard use at the
National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA (Mojave Desert):
Once, I was goofing off and tried to "jump" a 5-foot berm used as a tank
obstacle. In that case, I was left high-centered with all 4 wheels
spinning. A buddy yanked my vehicle off the berm with a tow strap.
I also dropped my Hummer on it's side into a 6-foot deep tank ditch
obstacle. I was slightly injured (I'd have been killed had I been in
our previous vehicle the M151A2), and the unit later dragged the vehicle
out of the ditch on it's side and drove it back to main post!
The third time, I high-centered the right side of the Hummer on a large
boulder (two wheels spinning). I added weight to the vehicle...put it
in low lock and drove off.
In short, I'm convinced through experience with both types of modern
U.S. military 4-wheel drive vehicles (jeep and hummer) that the HMMWV is
the finest all-terrain combat vehicle ever produced. I just wish they'd
release some to the public or (yeah, this will happen) that I could
afford to buy a civilian hummer.