Afternoon Newbie Desert Drive - Maliha (Sharjah) - 6 Mar 2020

[sebin]

Thank you Guarav.

Which car 4x4 are you driving ?- Fortuner 

* Any prior offroad experience ? No

* Are the towhooks on the front and back available and in good condition ? Yes

[Grenville Mark Stuart Wright]

Mitsubishi Pajero LWB 3.8

I have some experience 1993 to 2003 but not driven since. Friend joining me zero experience.

[Alexander Sarte]

2007 Toyota 4runner V8.

Hooks F & R, Yes

Edited March 6, 2020 by Alexander Sarte

[Ale Vallecchi]

Hi guys. Has everybody exited safe and sound? Sorry for not saying bye to the whole group. It was a fun drive (at least for me 🤓), and full of learning, for sure. Great surroundings as well. Thanks Gaurav for the lead, thanks Rahim for guiding us out from "the other side", and for watching over the group from high above. To all the drivers and passengers, have a great coming week. 

PS. Looking forward to Richard's reporting on the drive (after recovering from the very long day).

[Chaitanya D]

Hello all...I hope everyone is back home ...have some rest and thanks to @Gaurav @Rahimdad for guiding . Well done all of you, have a look at the pictures in gallery.

Looking forward to the report

[Grenville Mark Stuart Wright]

We had a great day; well organised and a fun morning thanks for everything guys. Hope to see you again soon. Mark and Ilya

[sebin]

 

Guarav thanks a lot your guiding and we enjoyed a lot as newbie

[Jefy]

Good morning everybody.

I hope everybody reached home safely. It was a challenging sunset yesterday.

Off-roading is a team sport, the bigger the team, the more challenging to manage. I want to stress out 3 things that are important in my opinion to keep the process streamlined.

1- Radio
If you have bought a radio, please take the effort to read the manual or Fred's guideline how to program your radio. Or take the effort to come 10 minutes early and talk to one of the other drivers if you need help. 

2- Deflating
Lowering the tire pressure is essential for driving in the sand. Off roading is a sport/ hobby that needs some investments, we don't expect that you arrive with full recovery gear on your first newbie drive.
In my opinion, the cheapest investment you should invest (Financially and a bit of your own time to read/ watch YouTube instruction) is a DEFLATOR. 
There are different ways to deflate your tire. Do your own research and make a choice. What I did/ do when I have a new deflator, I test it! I drive to a gas station, check if the air pump is working and I test my deflator. Test the gauge, see how much it is reading. (Not every gauge is calibrated the same, so the gauge might over/ under- read.)
Inflate my tires again and drive away. So I feel comfortable with my new gadget. But this is my technique. 
The same counts for the radio, if you have bought new equipment and you don't know how to use it, please arrive 10 minutes early and ask one of the other members to help you.

3- Open communication
As I said, this is a team sport. Don't be afraid to ask any questions. If you are ashamed to ask a question in front of a big group, ask the question direct to one of the more experienced. There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers. This also counts for during the drive, please communicate.
Hearing is a sense that is effected by stress. If you get stuck, or in any uncomfortable situation, hearing is the first sense that will deteriorate. Thats why the communication over the radio is essential. Talking to each other pulls you out of this tunnel vision so we can guide you.

 

Hope to see you all on the next trip.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Xaf

[Frederic]

Totally agree @Xaf I also mentioned this in my briefing to emphasize on the fact that if you buy a tool like a radio or deflator, that you should at least do an effort to test it, read the manual, and if still in doubt approach us. I understand that learning the off-road hobby takes some time but the forum and the tons of MUST READ topics were made to smoothen the process of learning. 
 

I’ve seen two types of drivers so far. People that have joined the club, took some time to got through most of the posts and information to get themselves familiarized, and people who just click on “going” without having the slightest clue on what they’ve signed up for. I guess we can all guess which type of persons will learn this skill the quickest...

[Wrangeld]

3 minutes ago, Xaf said:

Good morning everybody.

I hope everybody reached home safely. It was a challenging sunset yesterday.

Off-roading is a team sport, the bigger the team, the more challenging to manage. I want to stress out 3 things that are important in my opinion to keep the process streamlined.

1- Radio
If you have bought a radio, please take the effort to read the manual or Fred's guideline how to program your radio. Or take the effort to come 10 minutes early and talk to one of the other drivers if you need help. 

2- Deflating
Lowering the tire pressure is essential for driving in the sand. Off roading is a sport/ hobby that needs some investments, we don't expect that you arrive with full recovery gear on your first newbie drive.
In my opinion, the cheapest investment you should invest (Financially and a bit of your own time to read/ watch YouTube instruction) is a DEFLATOR. 
There are different ways to deflate your tire. Do your own research and make a choice. What I did/ do when I have a new deflator, I test it! I drive to a gas station, check if the air pump is working and I test my deflator. Test the gauge, see how much it is reading. (Not every gauge is calibrated the same, so the gauge might over/ under- read.)
Inflate my tires again and drive away. So I feel comfortable with my new gadget. But this is my technique. 
The same counts for the radio, if you have bought new equipment and you don't know how to use it, please arrive 10 minutes early and ask one of the other members to help you.

3- Open communication
As I said, this is a team sport. Don't be afraid to ask any questions. If you are ashamed to ask a question in front of a big group, ask the question direct to one of the more experienced. There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers. This also counts for during the drive, please communicate.
Hearing is a sense that is effected by stress. If you get stuck, or in any uncomfortable situation, hearing is the first sense that will deteriorate. Thats why the communication over the radio is essential. Talking to each other pulls you out of this tunnel vision so we can guide you.

 

Hope to see you all on the next trip.

@Xaf Essential points to remember.  Well said. More about the challenging sunset later. 

We all have to rely on each other while out in the sand, so the more that we try to help each other, the better. Yesterday was a prime example of how working together, and understanding that when people are asked to do something they could perhaps understand that there is a reason for it. 

Turning up as an absolute newbie to a drive unprepared is fine, as long as you then pay attention and follow the rules. Turning up and thinking you know better is not. 

Carnity has a massive amount of informaiton avaialble BEFORE you drive, as ALL levels. It's not there because the people who wrote it have nothing better to do with their lives. 

As Xaf says, it;'s a team sport.