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Well i'd like to compare it with going to the gym because you want to get in a better shape: Option 1: You go alone to the nearest gym, mess around a bit with the equipment, get sprains and injuries, and maybe you will become a bit more fit once you get to know how the equipment works, but you are left to your own devices and not always sure about if you are doing the right thing OR if it is even safe to do with the health or equipment you have. Option 2: You join a gym and go for 10-15 lessons. Your personal teacher will assess your current condition and will guide you safely to minimize injuries or accidents. Thanks to his experience and knowledge you will progress much faster than others and will be grateful for having somebody to learn something from. Joining an Offroad club like Carnity is free, and you get professional advice from people who can safely guide you through and avoid mistakes which in the desert can end up being costly or even fatal. But don't take it from me, take it from the dozens of people that joined Offroad clubs and learned essential stuff like how to deflate properly, recover yourself, and what you and your car can do. If you or your friends get stuck, do you know what to do or which equipment to use to safely recover yourself ? I go for regular camping trips myself with a group of friends, but we don't venture deep and definitely don't do the stuff we are doing in an Offroad club. We drive around a bit, set up camp, and have some drinks. We avoid the real dunes and difficult tracks because most of my friends have very little Offroad experience and we don't want to get in trouble having our car full with kids, dogs, etc... Joining Carnity Offroad and doing the Newbie drives gave me more confidence and far less stress when going camping with my friends, as i know that my car is always equipped with recovery gear and i know how to use it. And most of all i can help my friends by sharing that information. PS replace "teacher" by our Offroad Specialists like @Gaurav, @Srikumar @Asif Hussain, @Emmanuel, @Rahimdad and more team members who will take your under their wings and teach you all the skills and fun our UAE deserts have to offer....

Very good question @derik, actually difficult to answer since we don’t know your friends... In a good off-road club, you increase your chances to learn things your friends may not be able to teach you.

@Frederic i managed to find your land cruiser before the flip-flop

@derik I can write up all I want, but you will only realize the difference if you join us once. We too will get a chance to know you better and discuss this further. From my personnel opinion having driven off-road for over 10 years and been on both sides, when I have done a few drive with friends and done it as a club. When you are driving in private you might take things seriously and have all the equipment, but those around you would always keep depending on you, where as in a club as you grow you realize that you need to carry some equipment as an individual and along with your driving capability your safety tools also increase. Within 10 friends you are limited to certain areas and would not venture out much, plus if friends are busy or have other engagement you will be left with no drive at all. Whereas in a club there is a drive posted very week, sometimes multiple drives and you can join one which suits your level, having a 100+ members helps, because atleast 10 - 15 cars would want to attend every week. The first year we had no official structure in Carnity due to which we faced several problems, after introducing structure last year, more people enjoy their level of drive, learn with enthusiasm as they want to grow and help others and we make new friends every week. in a friendly drive you will not be able to discover so many places as the comfort level is not so much, you might always sacrifice your drive style to suit the lowest level member in your friends, whereas in a structured club you can join the drives you like or lower level drives knowing that it is going to be slower than your style of drive. As a club you will get to taste several flavours as everybody as individuals has their own preferred terrain and drive style. plus with so many minds at work we are always trying to discover and try out new areas with intermediate drivers and above. I like the way @Frederic has tried to give you an example of a gym, or the way @Emmanuel has expressed his concern as we do not know your drive level or drive style along with your friends or the equipment available to you or the areas you visit or if you have tried to explore new terrains. We are always open to questions and appreciate your question. I have been off-roading for over 10 years, but I still learn from people who ask questions and the many challenges we face during each drive. We are blessed at Carnity to have a very strongly knitted team and all those who join have a like minded approach. Once again I would like to welcome you and your friends to join us and we can chat further on this subject. I am sure after driving with us a couple of times most of your questions will be answered without a word being said.

my opinion, there is no should, the main matter is never going alone to the desert if you are more than 2 cars and you have experience with full recovery equipments, enjoy the ride

Hello, Thanks for the offer, I just upgraded myself from a saloon to Pajero 3.0 2009 I am a newbie & I am ready to learn. is there anything else I needed to bring with me?

Its just a mirage captured on camera. Must be the dunes in Ajman.

Hi All, This is to make everybody aware about the Service Recovery offer through Al Wathba Insurance. I have been insuring my cars with service recovery option for over 10 years now and all the insurance companies I have come across and dealt with had unlimited recoveries throughout the year without any restrictions. For the very first time in my life I got the insurance from Al Wathba Insurance due to their good customer service and convenience. However I was surprised a couple of months back when I was in Kalba/Maliha area and needed recovery. I called the IMC number given and they confirmed my insurance and car details. The surprise came when they told me that I was in Sharjah area so they will only tow my car to any garage in Sharjah, I insisted that the garage I deal with is in Ajman, but they refused and insisted that I take it to any garage in Sharjah only. I was further surprised when I was told this was the first of the 3 recoveries allowed during the whole year. As if this shock was not enough, I had a situation on last Friday in Liwa where I needed the recovery, I called the IMC number given and told them I would like to take my car to Musaffah which was in Abu Dhabi. They initially confirmed, but called me later to say I was in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi so could take it only within the Western Region. Not knowing Abu Dhabi so well I was really worried. I asked them to suggest me where I would take my car for urgent repairs in the Abu Dhabi Western region, but was told I need to tell them the place. Miles away from anything I checked with one of our fellow off-roader and he suggested Madinat Zayed. They confirmed that I could take it to Madinat Zayed and send the recovery accordingly. I am just shocked as I was not made aware of these clauses at the time I was buying the insurance, and since I had never faced these restrictions I was not aware that these restrictions existed. My main aim for starting this thread is to make everybody aware of the horrors of having such restrictions. So next time you are looking for a car insurance Al Wathba might not be the right choice for you, as you might be more comfortable with a certain garage closer to your place just in case the car needs a day or 2 to be prepared and ready to be in action again. I stay in Sharjah and if I had to leave the car in Madinat Zayed which is over 300 kilometers away it would be ridiculous to leave it so far, or have to pay heavily to get my car from Madinat Zayed to a garage in Sharjah after having silly restrictions and clause for the recovery services. In conclusion if you want to avoid the restrictions and clause for the recovery services which is added on to the insurance please do not use Al Wathba Insurance. Next time if you have to go with a new insurance company check the restrictions before paying and finalizing the deal. Just trying to save a one day delay and having to go back to register my car, I fall in a trap unknowingly, but if I had in mind the inconvenience I have been facing for this year I would have happily got the insurance from the known company I was previously dealing with and face the inconvenience that one time only. Please do share your comments and if you can share similar experiences and such insurance companies to avoid.

Both @Emmanuel and @Frederic are correct @Ren13 got the first part right. He did try to come up after overshooting the turning point which meant his car was already on the other side of the dune pulling him down. He was fighting gravity and tried to accelerate up. The guess on the LC is wrong, here is a pic of that LC after the roll.

Just an update on this post. I am currently taking a new insurance policy and reading the above experience, before taking the policy from Noor Takaful, I called up the roadside assistance which happened to be IMC as well. They confirmed that for Noor Takaful, be it 3rd party or comprehensive cover, the road side assistance is unlimited and intercity. At the same time I happened to ask him about Al Wathba Insurance and he checked the system and informed me that for the 3rd party insurance there is restriction on the number of recovery as well as it has to be within the city only. However, with the comprehensive coverage there is no restriction on the number of recovery and intercity is allowed. So it would be a good idea to henceforth check with the recovery company before taking up the policy so that we are not caught at the time when we need the assistance the most.

I like to know why I should drive with any offroad club in dubai when im happy with private drives with my friends? love to hear from ppl who have done both and favor one side over the other

Satin black finish with black pick guard Locking nut Floyd Rose tremolo Alder body Ebony fretboard with shark inlays EMG 81 active pickup on bridge Custom EMG 89 active pickup on neck Jumbo frets 25.5” scale Pearl binding on neck and headstock Real special edition guitar. One of only 50 pieces, never to be manufactured again. Originally commissioned by the guitar god Randy Rhoads. Proper collectors item, the value of this guitar will only go up. This guitar has been kept in storage and is in as new condition. Also comes with custom Ritter gig bag with shoulder and backpack straps. Price is 3,500 dhs. Negotiable. Will also consider trades. I will throw in a brand new set of Dunlop straploks. Will also offer 3 hours of guitar lessons for the lucky new owner.

Hi @Barrywill forward details to my friend Errol who plays for a band here and check if hes intrested. Wish I could get my hands on her she looks sleek and sexy.

yes i have exp of 8-10 drives in last 2 years and we go 5 to 10 cars with famiy

Always maintain safe distance and make sure the car is clear in front of you before you make an attempt. Using flag will avoid such type of incidents. CARS 4 UAE.mp4

Give the coordinates too, you never know it might help someone save lot of time

Looks like he turned at the very last moment towards the left instead of going towards the right or down the slope and braked due to which he lost momentum and rolled over.

I have used a China lcd android unit (Dont remember the brand though)on my optra which costed me 350dhs 4 years back and its still going strong as the car had been sold to a colleague in office and I get to see it quite often. It has bluetooth,reverse camera,DVD,aux,USB functions in it. Except for navigation.

I have no experience with these but would refrain from using their own built in amplifier. Just check if they have RCA pre-outputs so you can hookup your own preferred standalone amplifier. Never put your headunit higher than 80% total output volume to make sure that you don’t send a distorted signal to the amp.

That's the problem with everyone these days, always hasty to ask in the beginning and when ripped off then they have all the time for sharing sad stories with every minute detail. Little time and patience go a long way.

1) The dramatic soundtrack was basically asking for dramatic results (just kidding). 2) I feel he went pretty far up the ridge and completely turned his wheel at the last minute, which created the roll-over. If i am not mistaken you should avoid turning the wheel completely and suddenly in the desert and especially on slopes. He then put on full throttle expecting he could push himself out but made it worse by doing so. 3) The backside of dune was very soft and it looked like a LWB Land Cruiser or at least a heavy long car but i could be wrong.

First : falling asleep or at least paying too much attention to the nice music he was listening to - and not enough to the convoy path. Anyways he went down the dune, then tried to correct his mistake, fighting gravity, turning his weels in the direction of the top of the dune.

Flag missing out is an important issue pointed here. Second is they must be driving without radio and radio etiquette to announce in advance if the first guy has been stuck in the soft sand bowl so that others won't come to worsen the situation. Distance between cars is too less to react and do anything. Black Cherokee that got stuck first was in 2WD, with sand fountain from the rear wheel.

All Cherokee drivers don't use flags

With regards to the Audio question: your sound will only sound as good as the weakest link. Do not expect any kind of speaker, subwoofer, or amp to do a proper job if wiring is too thin or cheap, or if you skipped on other things. My two cents on this one: 1) Invest in a decent headunit (Sony, Kenwood, Clarion, Pioneer) that has RCA outputs. DO NOT buy these crappy converters that convert speaker output into RCA.... 2) In upgrade phase one, buy some decent stereo speakers for the front and connect them to your head-unit. Your sound will already be 5 times better than the cheap Toyota crap speakers. Make sure all connections are properly soldered and not twisted like most shops in Sharjah will do. 3) Upgrade phase two: Buy a 2 channel amplifier and 2 more speakers for the back, OR buy a 4 Channel amplifier and connect also the front speakers. Install everything the way it should be done with proper grounding, power cables, fuses, and put new speaker cables all the way through if possible. Fine tune your amp and learn to set it correctly. A good rule is setting your headunit to 80%, putting the amp sensitivity to lowest possible and slowly start increasing until you hear some distortion, Then dial it back again a bit. Learn to fine-tune your settings such as Lowpass, Highpass, and EQ which you can set according to the speaker capability (regular speakers can be filtered to everything above 80hz). Give it some time and lots of listening to all preferred genres. 4) Upgrade phase three: Buy yourself an additional amp with sub or active system where sub and amp are in one tube or box. Only buy a sub if you really need it, because it takes up space and after having many subwoofers in the past, i came to realize that you can perfectly go without if you listen on "normal" volumes. If you have space for 10" rear speaker then they can deliver pretty good bass. I have seen so many friends and colleagues in the past that would go through these steps in one weekend and go for a full fledged audio setup in which they have either no clue what was installed and they ended up paying too much, or they blew up their amps or speakers after 3-4 months because they simply do not understand the basic audio rules. Can you blow up a 1000 Watts subwoofer with a 100 Watts amp ? YES you can; when you send a distorted signal from the headunit or amp to the speaker, this alternating sine wave becomes DC voltage that burns your speaker coil in an instant. Can you put a 1000W amp on a 100Watts speaker without issues ? YES you can, it is all a matter of setting the sensitivity setting correctly and learning to listen how your speaker reacts and plays. Beware, Subwoofer distortion is difficult to hear...

Crazy, but that’s how it goes, millions of people, living as foes 🎶 It’s not a V, it’s a custom shape designed by Randy. The guitar is probably worth more than I have advertised it for, just check out the hardware, it’s hardcore. I’d love to keep it but I want to buy a ESP Snakebyte and have some spare cash to modify it

Honestly @Ren13 this is a full on badass metal guitar that megadeth could walk on stage and play a gig with. It’s not something you can walk into virgin megastore and buy. It’s a proper import. I hate to sell it but I need to free up some space.

Sorry for doing this actually I did that under pressure. This guy was just to hasty to ask. And I mixed up the questions my bad.

Thank you for a great advice. Please also advice on those LCD ANDROID head unit sold in many shops are they good. Again thanks for sharing your experience.

So what does 30 A x 3 means, Mr. Einstein.......? That's my AMP manual page 16/72 https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Car/GM-D9605_OwnersManual062716.pdf

Found this one which also clarifies a bit on headunit watt power vs stand-alone amp power: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-dwXRxOwPi1T/learn/reviews/20030722/power-power_comparison.html

I totally agree on every point you said to upgrade one thing at a time so that you can understand how that change improved the sound quality. Barry helped me a lot in doing proper wiring with oxygen-free cables and soldering instead of twisting that eliminate a lot of low-end hissing and music cut off while doing sideys.

Definitely with you on Crutchfield. Fantastic knowledge base !

Well said and documented @Frederic, 1 like is not at all enough for such detailed and crisp explanation. In the morning, I was busy and though @DiamondDallas merge two different questions in one post so I assume no point in explaining all things in details and let him research bit on Crutchfield first and then we can slowly build upon.

You are most welcome dear @Gaurav I wish to bring luck for your offroading, last Friday I gave another one to @Frederic Nuyttensalso regards

congratulation @Frederic Nuyttens a part, Mitsubishi flag also worked 😁

Congrats @Frederic Nuyttens

Congratulation @Javier M

Congrats @Javier M !!

Flags can help to a certain extent. If you see a flag waving at the top of a dune, it’s probably best not to attempt a climb.

@Jeh, at least this weekend there will be one less Cherokee without a flag. Infact it might end up with two flags at a time. So looking forward to seeing your Range hitting the dunes this weekend.

If bitten by one, then kill and take it with you for antidote as there are hundreds of different antidote for spiders and scorpions and first thing hospital will ask you which type of creature was that - shape, color, and size. If you can't kill take a photo, if you cant take a photo record in voice message how exactly you have seen as after a while your memory will lose the details that can help the doctor.