When you hit the trails, there is always an element of risk of the three serious things that could go wrong.  Breaking something on your vehicle, getting injured or getting stuck.  To cover your vehicle, you might bring spare parts.  I bring a few key parts that might break.  For personal safety you got to consider the risks and try to be smart.  I carry two first aid kits that I put together myself as well as various other things that are multi-purpose and safely related.  Most likely though, you get stuck.  If you don't get stuck, you're not having enough fun.  But it's only fun if you can get un-stuck and get back to 4 wheeling.  So you want to be ready for recovery mode.  For recovery, I have several key pieces of gear and equipment that serve in recovery mode including a Warn winch, a hand winch, various straps, D-links, a Hilift jack and Earth moving items.  But if you're like me, you have limited room for gear, tools and spare parts.  My available storage space is at a premium, and I simply can't bring everything.  Many of the things I do bring serve multi-purposes.  Its those multi-tools that can be quite valuable because that one tool or item serves multiple purposes but takes up less of my valuable space and typically weights less than all individual tools combined.  One recent additions to the multi-purpose tools I carry is an item called the BajaBuster. 
 

The BajaBuster is an Earth moving tool that combines a shovel and a hoe, two very important and useful tools if you ever need to dig yourself out of a situation.  The shovel and hoe tools are located on either end of a very strong 28" handle that fits the Hilift Jack (or comparable jacks) as a backup handle.  Both the shovel and hoe are detachable from the thick walled tubing handle and can be placed on either end for better use usage.  One end of this handle has a 10 degree bend making it work better in certain situations.  Previously I carried one of those U.S. Army folding shovels but found that it was considerable lacking in effectiveness when I needed it.  For one, it was too small.  Two, it wasn't strong enough to do any real damage when trying to dig or move dirt.  But carrying the alternative larger dedicated shovel wasn't feasible due to a lack of space and I could justify the room.  When I discovered the BajaBuster, I easily found room for it strapped to my rear rack and the fact that it served multi-purposes made it a good choice in tools.
 

The handle is 28" in length of thick walled tubing with a 10 degree bend at one end, making the shovel or hoe capable of being arranged to serve better in certain circumstances.

A few times it came in handy and it was quickly evident that it exceeded my previous military issued shovel.  The hoe component of the BajaBuster really came in handy when I had the need to pull dirt and mud out from under a stuck vehicle.  In this case I arranged the hoe on the angled end of the handle angled down giving the hoe a better attack angle to drag mud away. 

The BajaBuster is very durable, light weight and versatile.  Well worth carrying onboard the Jeep.  It's heavy duty enough to take a good beating and ideal for digging out of a tight spot on the trail.  It comes with a Limited lifetime warranty but I'd be surprised if I were to ever need it.