Morning Newbie Desert Drive - Lisalli - Dubai - 16 Dec 2023

[Dylan7]

1 hour ago, Frederic said:

Hi @Dylan7 does the car have active air suspension? That could be the reason your clearance could reach the minimum requirement.
 

The main issue is your tire sidewall height (35) which is a very thin race tire. This is absolutely not recommended for off-roading as you’d be damaging them very soon. 
 

My personal recommendation would be to perhaps try a Masterclass, which is a 1-1 training that allows the marshal to specifically tailor the terrain for you and your SUV and avoid steep technical dunes. That way it might be easier for you to learn what’s possible with the car.  After that session you can decide for yourselves if it’s worth the risk vs cost and if upgrading to all terrain tires would be worth it. 
 

If you have the active air suspension, and front and rear recovery points, the car can be accepted for joining a Newbie drive as it qualifies and ticks the required boxes. 

Thanks for your response, very helpful to me. 

[Gagandeep]

On 12/14/2023 at 1:31 PM, Frederic said:

There’s a couple of things which will be required for your first drive:

1. Pressure Gauge, deflator 
2. air compresor to re-inflate your tires  
3. Off-Road flag 

 

The other items you can purchase after your first drive. 
You can head out to the following places to get your stuff: 

-Dragon Mart 

-Ace or Speedex hardware stores.

We can lend you a spare radio for your first drive. In case you’re heading to Dragon Mart they sell the radios. Go for Crony MT777 or Baofeng UV5R. 

Hi @Frederic, @Davie Chase

1. I went to an ACE hardware store yesterday and couldn't get the off-road flag. Would you have an extra flag as well for the first timers in addition to the radio?

2. Regarding the tyre inflator, I saw different options - high power (connects with car battery using a jumper cable), medium power (operates with a cigarette lighter port) and low power (rechargeable battery type). Since I am new to this and not very sure how regularly I would be going for off-road drives, I feel I should take it slow and not invest in all the big and expensive equipment all at once. I decided to purchase a Xiaomi chargeable battery type tyre inflator (link: https://amzn.eu/d/3cJAi7X) since it seems easy to carry and is more economical.

Can you please suggest if this would suffice or I am making the wrong choice here. I went through the off-road gear and understand that heavy duty compressors would last longer. But I was not able to decide if I need something heavy duty yet or there's an alternate choice which I can make here and save some bucks till I get very serious about the activity. I would prefer something that is good quality but convenient to use/carry (low power but good quality preferred over high power but low quality).

Would highly appreciate your advice. Hope I am not being too much of a trouble, too many queries since it would be my first time with this group!

 

[Frederic]

10 minutes ago, Gagandeep said:

Hi @Frederic, @Davie Chase

1. I went to an ACE hardware store yesterday and couldn't get the off-road flag. Would you have an extra flag as well for the first timers in addition to the radio?

2. Regarding the tyre inflator, I saw different options - high power (connects with car battery using a jumper cable), medium power (operates with a cigarette lighter port) and low power (rechargeable battery type). Since I am new to this and not very sure how regularly I would be going for off-road drives, I feel I should take it slow and not invest in all the big and expensive equipment all at once. I decided to purchase a Xiaomi chargeable battery type tyre inflator (link: https://amzn.eu/d/3cJAi7X) since it seems easy to carry and is more economical.

Can you please suggest if this would suffice or I am making the wrong choice here. I went through the off-road gear and understand that heavy duty compressors would last longer. But I was not able to decide if I need something heavy duty yet or there's an alternate choice which I can make here and save some bucks till I get very serious about the activity. I would prefer something that is good quality but convenient to use/carry (low power but good quality preferred over high power but low quality).

Would highly appreciate your advice. Hope I am not being too much of a trouble, too many queries since it would be my first time with this group!

 

Hi @Gagandeep

i have a spare flag with suction cup which I’ll bring tomorrow. 
 

With regards to the compressor, I have those small rechargeable compressor as well which is only useful for top-up (from 30 to 32 psi for example). 

I don’t think it will suffice to inflate 4 tires from 15 back to 35 psi. You can perhaps use it to inflate to 25psi and then head over to the nearest gas station. 
 

If you decide to join weekly, you’ll definitely need a heavy duty model. Will post a guide below. 

 

[Davie Chase]

1 hour ago, Frederic said:

Hi @Gagandeep

i have a spare flag with suction cup which I’ll bring tomorrow. 
 

With regards to the compressor, I have those small rechargeable compressor as well which is only useful for top-up (from 30 to 32 psi for example). 

I don’t think it will suffice to inflate 4 tires from 15 back to 35 psi. You can perhaps use it to inflate to 25psi and then head over to the nearest gas station. 
 

If you decide to join weekly, you’ll definitely need a heavy duty model. Will post a guide below. 

 

 @Gagandeep I have a spare compressor that I carry with me so we should be good to get your tires pumped up 

and I also have spare radios so between my collection and @Frederic's collection of goodies we should be able to sort you out, 

[Davie Chase]

Dear desert wanders @Frederic @Abdullah Nasim1 @W a q a r @Rafey Hashmi @Faraz94 @karim hamandi @Mahesh_ @Bhaskar @Damian @Julien Recan @Gagandeep @Haneef Thayyil @Imran Asghar and @Aser the convoy order for tomorrow's adventures will be as below.

We will meet at 07:00 deflated and ready to move in Lisalli at the following meeting point https://goo.gl/maps/KGF6L8VwXMza3tJz7

The radio Channel we will be using is Ch4 (446.081)

Please ensure that your car is full of fuel, that you are full of enthusiasm with an added touch of desire to learn and most importantly to have fun

We are looking forward to welcoming some new members to this drive as well as some that have a few drives under their belt so we are in for an exciting morning. see you all bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning

 

[Damian]

Sorry team leads but i have to withdraw from this drive on account of receiving back a positive PCR test this evening. I am really disappointed to be missing out tomorrow, but I don't think it is safe for me to be driving even if the symptoms are only mild.  

[Frederic]

7 hours ago, Damian said:

Sorry team leads but i have to withdraw from this drive on account of receiving back a positive PCR test this evening. I am really disappointed to be missing out tomorrow, but I don't think it is safe for me to be driving even if the symptoms are only mild.  

Get well soon @Damian !

[Davie Chase]

16 hours ago, Damian said:

Sorry team leads but i have to withdraw from this drive on account of receiving back a positive PCR test this evening. I am really disappointed to be missing out tomorrow, but I don't think it is safe for me to be driving even if the symptoms are only mild.  

Get well Soon @Damian

[Davie Chase]

Dear desert wanderers @Frederic @Abdullah Nasim1 @W a q a r @Rafey Hashmi @Faraz94 @karim hamandi @Mahesh_ @Bhaskar @Julien Recan @Gagandeep @Haneef Thayyil @Imran Asghar and @Aser 

Thank you all for sharing in my inaugural newbie drive, it was a pleasure to lead you all through the beautiful sand of Lisalli. Great driving by one and all, great camaraderie, and we were treated to a rather large Camel caravan as it passed in front of us.

Each and every one of you drove sensationally well making our jobs so much easier, we had a couple of refusals but no real stucks that I can remember. we did encounter a couple of pop outs, and strangely enough both at the same time, who would have thought.

A special shout out to @Abdullah Nasim1 and @Gagandeep on your absolute newbie drive. I really do hope you gained some confidence from this drive and that we did not scare you too much, moreover, we really do hope to see you again in the sand very soon.

A big thank you to our sweep @W a q a r you did an amazing job my friend keeping me well informed every step of the way, so thanks it was a comforting knowing you were back there keeping the tail end of the convoy safe.

A big thank you to our center forward @Imran Asghar, you did an amazing job as always, your calm demeaner and professionalism as you swoop into action is second to none. Loved the electric jack and glad you got to play with your new toy not once but twice

And last but not least a huge thankyou to @Frederic for being my second lead. Always a pleasure to have you sign off on my milestones, as it all started with the first one of a master class way back in 2021 when I first met you. It has been a journey my friend and a very pleasant one learning my craft from your good self and all the other Marshals and support team members @Carnity thank you one and all.

I hope each and everyone of you have a fantastic rest of your weekend and that we get to see you al again very soon out in the sand pits of the UAE

[Julien Recan]

Thanks for the great drive @Davie Chase. Looking forward to more of them !