Thanks for the replies. Quick recap of the weekend: did some light off-roading (with an occasional o poop moment), beer, shooting guns, fun times. Towards the end of our second day we decided to stay at hot springs, the shortest way to which was by crossing a playa for about 20-30 miles, it looked pretty dry and solid, so we went for it. Around a mile or so away from hotsprings I start noticing that my tires are starting to sink a bit too much for my comfort, so I slow down. My friend, driving a Subaru Outback, plows right into the wet section of the playa, spinning tires like crazy. Instead of stopping, he attempts to turn around, and leaves his car sunk to the belly at an odd angle. Both of us had tow straps, but he managed to get himself maybe 60 ft into the wet stuff, where I did not dare to go for the fear of getting stuck myself. We tried to improve some extra tow straps out of tie downs, but after around 3 hours of trying different combinations, we pretty much ripped them to shreds. Finally a couple of dudes show up, apparently a part of an outdoor trance party taking place a few miles away from us, they did not have ropes, but they did mention that one of the people at the party has a military truck with enough straps to pull us out, and that they will send him our way when he comes over. Figuring that I got this truck as a last resort I went ahead and drove deeper into the wet stuff so we can use proper straps and rely on jerry rig?ed ropes. I promptly got stuck, properly stuck. Anyway, I walked to the outdoor party, waiting for the guy on the military truck to show up and he helped to pull both of us out. We spent the rest of the night at that party because why not.
Moral of the story: carry more than one tow strap and don?t drive far into the mud.