I attended Overland Expo West for the first time as a pure journalist, with no instructor duties whatsoever. Never before have I had the entire weekend to simply walk around and look at stuff. And one thing I couldn’t help noticing is the metastasizing, inexplicable proliferation of winch mounts that hide, or render completely inaccessible, the drum and its layers of line or cable.

Along with every other instructor I know, I consider it critical that the winch drum be plainly visible both during a winch recovery and during re-spooling afterward. In the first case, the winch operator or a spotter needs to be able to see that the line is spooling correctly, neither bunching up at one end—which rapidly reduces the winch’s power as layers of line build up, and can jam if not corrected—nor snarling or diving between layers of line.

Likewise, during re-spooling after the recovery it’s critical to be able to see the line from a comfortable distance to ensure it lays on the drum in even, tight wraps. Some mounts, such as the one below, do allow inspection of the drum, but only from a spot directly over the winch, which is not where you want to stand either during a recovery or during re-spooling. And this inspection port is too small to insert one’s hands to correct any issues manually.

It’s not just off-brand companies doing this. Even ARB, whose products I respect hugely and is the only sponsor decal on my FJ40, has embraced the hidden mount.

It’s not a universal affliction. Metaltech’s new winch mount for the Ford Bronco sets it right out where you can access anything (although I overheard someone there talking about a possible hidden version).

But there was a significant majority of hidden models.

Hidden winch mounts might look stylish, and perhaps provide some protection against theft, but they are a bad idea. If at all possible, make sure your winch bumper has full access to the drum, and an easy line of sight to the line while working and re-spooling.