Thomas Varghese Posted February 14, 2021 Report Share Posted February 14, 2021 3 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said: Sorry my dear friend you got it wrong🤣. May be @Wrangeld can elaborate as to what discussion we had @Chaitanya D at least I understood you should always carry a good shovel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangeld Posted February 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2021 18 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said: Sorry my dear friend you got it wrong🤣. May be @Wrangeld can elaborate as to what discussion we had Absolutely. More than happy to set the record straight here. Particuarly as this refers to Marshal @Chaitanya D and @Kailas Using a rope is the quicker and potentially for the other people in the convoy quicker and more convenient way to recover. I think it's completely consistent between myself and @Chaitanya D that we prefer drivers to self recover, even with the assistance of digging instead. In this particular case, I think that a roped recovery was proposed (cannot remember whom - but not by a Marshal) and I generally said that I beleived that digging out is better for the driver's learning. I know that all the seniors supported the decision that if we can achieve without the rope it is better. Of all the people in the club, one person never shy of using a shovel is the Doctor. The last thing I could imagine is either his or Kailas face looking down at the prospect of acheiving a self recovery, as in many respects, this is what we enjoy the most because the challenge is one of logic, physics, and initiaitve. I was more than happy to defer to @Chaitanya D experience with the Xterra and how it can escape - indeed I had the pleausre of watching an epic self recovery once before of his Xterra. To be brutally honest, had he not been there with that experience and so determined to help you self recover, I might have even resorted to the rope. I am glad we did not. 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Varghese Posted February 14, 2021 Report Share Posted February 14, 2021 12 minutes ago, Wrangeld said: Absolutely. More than happy to set the record straight here. Particuarly as this refers to Marshal @Chaitanya D and @Kailas Using a rope is the quicker and potentially for the other people in the convoy quicker and more convenient way to recover. I think it's completely consistent between myself and @Chaitanya D that we prefer drivers to self recover, even with the assistance of digging instead. In this particular case, I think that a roped recovery was proposed (cannot remember whom - but not by a Marshal) and I generally said that I beleived that digging out is better for the driver's learning. I know that all the seniors supported the decision that if we can achieve without the rope it is better. Of all the people in the club, one person never shy of using a shovel is the Doctor. The last thing I could imagine is either his or Kailas face looking down at the prospect of acheiving a self recovery, as in many respects, this is what we enjoy the most because the challenge is one of logic, physics, and initiaitve. I was more than happy to defer to @Chaitanya D experience with the Xterra and how it can escape - indeed I had the pleausre of watching an epic self recovery once before of his Xterra. To be brutally honest, had he not been there with that experience and so determined to help you self recover, I might have even resorted to the rope. I am glad we did not. It was just pulling the legs of @Chaitanya D and @Kailas for doing the shovelling part and helping me out. Once again thanks for the lesson. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Varghese Posted February 14, 2021 Report Share Posted February 14, 2021 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Varghese Posted February 15, 2021 Report Share Posted February 15, 2021 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Seidam Posted February 15, 2021 Report Share Posted February 15, 2021 18 hours ago, Thomas Varghese said: THE DRIVE WITH A BANG Thank you @Wrangeld, @Chaitanya D . @Kailas for organizing such an exhilarating drive. Started off with a bang. The desert wanted an offering from me for all the enjoyment he has given me for the drives with @Carnity. The way the offering was taken reminds me of how unforgiving the desert is if we make a mistake. I was watching @Karim Allam who was ahead of me assessing his driving habits - how he accelerates, how he slows down and brakes so that I can adjust my driving styles accordingly to suit the driver's driving ahead of me to escape unnecessary refusals which may end up in a stuck. The ditch caught me by surprise - I literally jumped up from the seat even though belted to the seat and my head hit the roof upholstery with a thud. My spectacles flew off my face and under the shock of the jump didn't notice I was driving for almost a km without them. I had to radio the convoy to stop so that I can finally find them and wear. My worst fears about magnetic mounts had been answered when @Mahmoud Hamzawy announced he had been following me and my flag is missing. The only way to secure anything during a desert drive is only a proper fixture by a weld or secured by nuts & bolts. The magnetic mount was very convenient though as I could put the flag or remove them in a flash. Very valuable lesson learned from @Wrangeld, @Chaitanya D & @Kailas for crawl self recovery method during an almost impossible stuck with 1 wheel pointing up to the sky. When @Chaitanya D suggested to pull me out @Wrangeld promptly over ruled the method and said to shovel me out. @Chaitanya D's and @Kailas faces were down thinking about the physical labor and time to recover a car like this. @Wrangeld promptly declined the easy method to my dismay as he was intent upon teaching me the blip blip, left right steering and crawl out method even if it meant losing some precious time so that me and others would learn. THANK YOU @Wrangeld. The parting sentence at the end of the ordeal as I slowly crawled out from the seemingly impossible stuck from @Wrangeld was now do you realize the best friend of an off roader is a 20 AED shovel. Experience counts for sure and it proved he knew all along that my X could be recovered by a mere shovel and brute physical force. Thank you @Chaitanya D & @Kailas and sorry for the unintended exercise you had to do because of my stuck. The drive was exciting when the sun went down and I could capture some of the parting shots of the sun thanks to someone else in the convoy having a refusal. Hope everybody liked the pictures posted earlier. I intentionally enhanced the color and the clarity so that the overall effect is that of a painting. I never intended to give it a photo look. THE NIGHT DRIVE. I was really apprehensive about joining the drive as I had only stock headlights and was unsure if I can really see in the desert when the sun goes down. @Chaitanya D encouraged me during the weekday short drive that its ok and I should be able to manage. The last fewbie + drive with @Foxtrot Oscar which ended up at 8pm in almost similar situations gave me confidence I can with stock headlights. Don't know if everybody will like my comment but all the fancy lights fixed in other cars I saw is not good as the stock headlights. I did fine with them but I have something else in my mind to enhance night vision and hopefully will fix on my car soon. Nothing fancy but little vintage. When I was a teenager I used to ride Bullets, RD 350's and Yezdi 350 and their single headlight was like a sun during night rides and the single headlamp is all what I needed to ride all night. I have asked my friends to source the same headlight and ship it to me here with the light reflector of LUCAS (its a glass reflector and will not melt) along with 100/90 W bulbs. THE EXPERIENCE As all men are not same so are all the marshals. Every time it was a different experience. @Frederic's style is different from @Rahimdad's. @Gaurav's is different from @Chaitanya D. @Wrangeld is totally different from @Ale Vallecchi. @Vanessa8580 is different from @Foxtrot Oscar. The drive with @sertac to big red was a very good experience. Is one above the other? Not at all. We learn different styles from different marshals. Every drive with @Carnity was an experience and confidence booster to take the 4 X 4 out into the desert. I hope 1 day I can take the car out alone with a couple of shovels and friends with me thanks to the famous sentence - In the desert your best friend is a 20 AED shovel. THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR THE WONDERFUL DRIVE. Great write up @Thomas Varghese Once you master it “ practically “ to extra finesse you will be tempted to go alone in the desert , but please keep the safety above all means as the approach , drive style and depth of venturing lone is entirely different no matter how experience you are . Most experts officially and unofficially do agree about minimum of three cars off-roading. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Varghese Posted February 15, 2021 Report Share Posted February 15, 2021 1 hour ago, Mohamed Seidam said: Great write up @Thomas Varghese Once you master it “ practically “ to extra finesse you will be tempted to go alone in the desert , but please keep the safety above all means as the approach , drive style and depth of venturing lone is entirely different no matter how experience you are . Most experts officially and unofficially do agree about minimum of three cars off-roading. I want to test @Wrangeld's iconic statement. In the desert a 20 AED shovel is your best friend. 😅. I wish I could use friends who can shovel like @Chaitanya D & @Kailas. Just imagine their plight when I still have pain in my shoulder doing all the left right steering movement. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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