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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchOver the Hill’s limited tool slots reward planning rather than carrying everything. Treat the reusable regular winch as your baseline, then use the selected slots for hazards it cannot solve: a portable winch for missing anchors, planks for gaps or poor traction, a jack for rollovers, and a repair kit for severe damage. On an unfamiliar route, that four-tool combination covers the costliest failures; on a short, known trail, replace the least likely recovery tool with a weather or meteorite utility.
The game does not permanently delete tools when you “drop” them. You equip a limited set, use a tool to empty its slot, and refill or change the loadout at a mechanic or cabin. The mechanics and prices below reflect the sources’ October 2026 reporting and the Steam-build data dated October 14, 2026, so a substantial game update could change them.
At a glance
| Name | Best for | Key spec | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular winch | Routine recovery | Reusable and always available; not a limited slot | November 2026 |
| Portable winch | No nearby anchor point | Limited-use anchor; must be within winch reach | November 2026 |
| Planks | Small gaps and low-traction ground | Placement-sensitive; a bad angle can let the vehicle slip | November 2026 |
| Jack | Rollovers and severe stuck situations | One copy; rights the vehicle and moves it to a nearby chosen spot | November 2026 |
| Repair kit | Serious damage far from help | Restores one vehicle to full health, then is spent | November 2026 |
| Camp tool | Bad light or weather plus team upkeep | Advances time and repairs every vehicle by 25 health; one copy | November 2026 |
| Cloud-clearing bell | Immediate bad-weather removal | One copy; does not remove darkness | November 2026 |
| Meteorite Radar | Finding landed meteorites | Locates the nearest meteorite already on the ground | November 2026 |
The regular winch is included as a baseline, not as a slot you have to spend. TechRadar’s review describes it as reusable and always available. The other entries are the selectable tools documented by the OverTheHill.app tools reference.
How many tools can you carry in Over the Hill?
You start with one selectable tool slot and can raise that vehicle’s capacity to four. Crazy Günther, the mechanic, sells three sequential upgrades: 25 Pebbles for a second slot, 50 more for a third, and 75 more for a fourth. Reaching the maximum therefore costs 150 Pebbles in total. The upgrade belongs to the vehicle on which you purchase it; changing to another vehicle does not transfer the capacity.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →All seven selectable tools are available from the start according to the fan reference’s Steam-build data. Availability is not the same as carrying capacity: each slot holds one tool, and using a tool empties that slot until you refill. The regular winch is separate from the portable winch. The former is your repeatable recovery option; the latter consumes a slot and supplies an anchor where the environment does not.
Pebbles are a shared upgrade currency, so buying a slot competes with other vehicle improvements. The second slot is usually the easiest quality-of-life purchase because 25 Pebbles is a relatively small commitment. The third and fourth slots are strategic investments: they reduce the need to predict hazards perfectly, but cost 125 additional Pebbles after the first upgrade.
Which tools should you keep equipped?
For a route you do not know, prioritize tools that prevent a forced return to a cabin or mechanic. The following order reflects hazard coverage, scarcity, and the fact that the regular winch already handles ordinary recoveries.
1. Portable winch: keep it when anchors are uncertain
Take the portable winch when a trail has long stretches without trees, rocks, or other objects that the regular winch can reach. It creates an anchor so you can pull yourself out instead of reversing all the way to the last usable attachment point. The anchor still has to be within normal winch reach, so placing it too far away does not create unlimited range.
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It is a limited-use tool. That makes it a poor automatic choice for a familiar, well-anchored loop, but an excellent insurance policy for an exploratory route. If you have only two slots, pair it with the tool that addresses the route’s most expensive second failure rather than automatically carrying every recovery option.
2. Planks: keep them for gaps, ledges, and slippery approaches
Planks bridge small gaps and can improve grip on rough ground. They are most valuable before a crossing: place them where the tires will actually meet the obstacle, then approach slowly. The tool reference and TechRadar both warn that poor alignment can let the vehicle slide off, turning a solution into a recovery problem.
Planks are less useful on a route whose obstacles have solid, nearby winch anchors. In that case, the regular winch may cover the consequence of a bad line, while a jack or repair kit protects against a failure the winch cannot fix.
3. Jack: reserve the scarce rollover reset
The jack rights an overturned vehicle and moves it to a nearby chosen position. That is a different job from pulling a vehicle forward: a winch cannot reliably solve every roof-down or awkwardly wedged position. Because the reference lists only one jack, treat it as a scarce team resource rather than a disposable convenience.
Carry it on steep, uneven, or unfamiliar ground where a rollover would strand you. On a short route with gentle surfaces and frequent cabins, it is a reasonable candidate to leave behind, especially if the group already has a plan for avoiding risky slopes.
4. Repair kit: keep it when damage means a long retreat
A repair kit restores one vehicle to full health and is then used up. It is the strongest individual emergency repair, particularly when you are far from a cabin or when one damaged vehicle would otherwise end a cooperative run. The camp tool cannot match that single-vehicle restoration.
Drop it first on a brief, low-risk trip where a cabin is close and collisions are avoidable. Keep it for rocky descents, blind weather approaches, or any expedition whose return leg would be expensive after a major hit.
5. Camp tool: choose it for time management and group sustain
The camp tool advances time, which can move a run past poor light or weather, and repairs every vehicle in the session by 25 health. Its group-wide repair is useful when several vehicles have taken modest damage, but it is weaker than a repair kit for one critically damaged vehicle. Only one camp tool exists, so decide in advance who should use it and when.
On a solo route, its value is mainly the time advance plus a small repair. On a convoy, the 25-health repair applies to every vehicle, making it more attractive than the table’s single-target tools when everyone needs a modest top-up.
6. Cloud-clearing bell: take it only when weather is the main blocker
The bell clears bad weather immediately. It does not solve darkness; if the problem is time of day, the camp tool’s time advance is the relevant answer. Because the bell is a one-copy utility, carrying it on a route with ordinary visibility gives up a slot that could prevent a rollover or recover lost health.
7. Meteorite Radar: a specialist slot for a Pebble-finding run
Meteorite Radar identifies the nearest meteorite that has already landed. It does not detect a meteorite while it is still falling, so it is not a warning system for an event in progress. Equip it when locating landed meteorites is the purpose of the trip and the possible Pebble return outweighs carrying another recovery tool. The fan reference describes meteorite rewards of 15–80 Pebbles, but those figures are source-specific game data rather than a guaranteed payout for every search.
What should you drop first?
Start by removing tools whose problem the route, nearby anchors, or the regular winch already covers. A practical drop order is:
- Remove Radar unless you are deliberately searching for landed meteorites.
- Remove the bell if the forecast is acceptable or if darkness, rather than clouds, is the issue.
- Choose between the camp tool and repair kit: take the camp tool for a group that needs a time advance and small repairs; take the repair kit for one vehicle that may suffer heavy damage.
- Choose between jack and planks based on the dominant terrain. Steep, rollover-prone ground favors the jack; gaps and slick approaches favor planks.
- Keep the portable winch whenever the route lacks dependable anchor points, even if the regular winch has solved every recovery so far.
This is not a permanent discard system. Leaving a tool at the mechanic simply means it is not in the current loadout; you can select it again when the trip’s hazards change.
Which loadout fits each kind of trip?
Unknown or remote trail: portable winch, planks, jack, and repair kit. This combination covers missing anchors, crossings and traction, rollovers, and severe damage. It is a reasoned loadout from the tools’ documented functions, not an officially endorsed or independently tested build.
Known route with poor weather: retain the recovery tools that match the terrain, then substitute the bell if clouds are stopping progress immediately. Use the camp tool instead when changing the time of day is the real objective or when several vehicles need a 25-health repair.
Meteorite search: replace the least likely recovery item with Radar, especially on a route with easy terrain and frequent anchors. Radar helps locate meteorites after they land; it does not improve the odds of spotting one during its fall.
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Short run near a cabin: the regular winch, plus whichever single specialist tool matches the immediate obstacle, may be enough. The close resupply point reduces the cost of leaving the jack or repair kit behind.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How do tools refill or change?
Visit Crazy Günther or a cabin to change the equipped loadout and refill emptied slots. The tools reference also notes that respawning at a cabin refills the available tools. Plan a resupply stop before using a limited item casually: an empty portable-winch or repair-kit slot remains a gap until you reach one of those points.
There is no evidence in the supplied mechanics that a tool is permanently lost from your collection after use. The meaningful choice is which tools occupy the vehicle’s slots for the next leg, not whether you can ever obtain the tool again.
Are more inventory slots worth the Pebbles?
For most players, the second slot is the clearest early upgrade because it costs 25 Pebbles and lets you cover two different failure types. The third slot costs another 50, and the fourth another 75; together those later upgrades consume 125 Pebbles that could fund other vehicle improvements.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute| Purchase | Resulting capacity | Cost | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| First upgrade | 2 slots | 25 Pebbles | The vehicle upgraded |
| Second upgrade | 3 slots | 50 Pebbles | The vehicle upgraded |
| Third upgrade | 4 slots | 75 Pebbles | The vehicle upgraded |
| All three | 4 slots total | 150 Pebbles total | Not shared automatically with other vehicles |
Buy capacity when repeatedly returning to a mechanic just to swap one tool, or when a route routinely combines several unrelated hazards. Delay the third or fourth slot when Pebbles are scarce and your regular routes have dependable anchors and nearby cabins.
What mistakes make a “good” loadout fail?
- Confusing the winches: the regular winch is reusable; the portable winch is a separate, limited-use anchor tool.
- Placing planks by eye: a small alignment error can leave a tire unsupported and cause a slide.
- Using Radar for a falling meteorite: it locates an already landed target, not one still in the sky.
- Taking the bell to solve darkness: the bell addresses bad weather; advancing time is the camp tool’s role.
- Spending a scarce tool beside a resupply point: if a cabin is close, save the jack, camp tool, or repair kit for the remote section.
- Assuming upgrades follow the driver: slot capacity is attached to the vehicle on which it was purchased.
How certain are these tool mechanics?
The slot prices and vehicle-specific upgrade rule come from AllThingsHow’s guide, published October 19, 2026. Tool quantities and effects, including the one-copy jack, camp tool, and bell, come from the unofficial OverTheHill.app reference based on a Steam build dated October 14, 2026. TechRadar’s October 2026 review supplies the observation that the regular winch is reusable and discusses plank placement.
Because two of those sources are third-party or fan-maintained, treat the figures as the documented October 2026 state rather than a promise that every later patch will behave identically. Recheck the in-game mechanic and tool descriptions after a major update before committing a long expedition to a particular loadout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I permanently lose a tool after using it?
No. Using a selected tool empties its slot, but the tool can be equipped again at a mechanic or cabin. The practical penalty is an empty slot during the current leg, not permanent removal from your available tools.
Does buying a slot upgrade unlock that capacity on every vehicle?
No. The upgrade is attached to the vehicle on which you buy it. If you switch vehicles, check that vehicle’s capacity separately before leaving the mechanic.
Is the portable winch just a stronger regular winch?
No. The regular winch is the reusable default recovery method, while the portable winch places a temporary anchor where no suitable environmental anchor is available. The portable anchor still has to be close enough for the normal winch to reach.
How many Pebbles can a meteorite give?
The fan reference lists a 15–80 Pebble range for meteorite rewards. That is a description of the cited Steam-build data, not a guaranteed amount for every meteorite or a promise that a later update will keep the same range.
