Dragan Pocket Winch Named Overland Travel Safety Product of the Year by the Outdoor Innovation Awards

We’re proud to share that the Dragan Pocket Winch has been named Overland Travel Safety Product of the Year by the Outdoor Innovation Awards.

The Outdoor Innovation Awards recognize standout products, brands, and technologies helping move the outdoor industry forward. For Dragan Systems, this recognition is an exciting milestone and a meaningful validation of the work that went into creating the Pocket Winch: a compact, highly engineered recovery tool built for real-world self-reliance in remote environments.

From the beginning, our goal with the Pocket Winch was to rethink what portable recovery could look like. We wanted to build a system that delivered serious utility in a format people could realistically carry, store, and deploy across overland travel, off-road riding, trail work, property use, and backcountry preparedness. This recognition reinforces that mission.

Recognition for Engineering-Led Outdoor Safety

For overlanders and outdoor travelers, safety often comes down to preparation. The right tools can make a meaningful difference when conditions change, terrain gets complicated, or help is far away.

The Pocket Winch was designed with that reality in mind. Compact, power-independent, and built with premium materials, it brings portable pulling capability into a refined system engineered for control, durability, and field use.

While recognizing the importance of that approach, this award also helps spotlight a category of gear that is often overlooked until it is needed most: compact recovery equipment that supports safer, more capable travel in remote places.

A Milestone for Dragan Systems

For Dragan Systems’ owners Jake Ruhl and Ryan Neil, the award represents a significant moment in the brand’s journey.

“This recognition means a lot because it validates the problem we set out to solve from the beginning,” said Jake Ruhl, co-owner of Dragan Systems. “We built the Pocket Winch around the idea that meaningful recovery capability should be easier to carry, easier to deploy, and useful across a wide range of real-world situations. To have that work recognized in the overland safety category is incredibly exciting.”

The award also brings broader attention to Dragan’s commitment to premium engineering and manufacturing. The Pocket Winch is built from CNC-machined anodized aerospace-grade aluminum, a two-piece carbon fiber handle, and high-modulus synthetic line, with every component designed around strength, portability, and control.

“We’ve always believed that outdoor safety gear deserves the same level of precision and refinement as any high-performance tool,” said Ryan Neil, co-owner of Dragan Systems. “This award helps validate the design, the manufacturing, and the amount of engineering that went into making the Pocket Winch compact, capable, and dependable.”

 

Built for the People Who Go Farther

Since launching Dragan Systems just one year ago, the Pocket Winch has reached customers in more than 30 countries and has been used across overlanding, enduro riding, off-road recovery, trail maintenance, backcountry work, and everyday utility.

That real-world adoption makes this recognition even more meaningful. The Pocket Winch was created for people who value preparedness, self-reliance, and smart equipment they can trust when conditions are unpredictable.

To everyone who has supported Dragan, carried a Pocket Winch, shared feedback, or helped introduce this product to new communities: thank you.

We’re honored to be part of the coveted Outdoor Innovation Awards and look forward to continuing to build tools that help people move through the outdoors with more confidence, capability, and control.

Explore the award-winning Dragan Pocket Winch here.