Electric winches are part of a fast-growing product market that is quickly becoming flooded with a bevy of choices. Along with top name manufacturers like Warn and Mile Marker offering up electric winch contributions, smaller niche-market companies are beginning to join the fray.

And though the general premise of an electric winch remains the same -- pulling power for off road recovery or general utility situations -- technology has a way of throwing curveballs at consumers, making choosing electric winches more difficult than one might suspect.

Granted, we may not answer all of your questions about electric winches, but at the very least, we hope to provide you with valuable information to help bring you a few steps closer to purchasing your very own electric winch.

The fact that this guide focuses solely on electric winches is not a sleight in any way to trusty hydraulic counterparts. In fact, many off road enthusiasts would tell you that hydraulic winches are the only way to fly. In either case, both hydraulic and electric winches have advantages and disadvantages.