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Totally agree @Barry that closed shoes/boots should come automatically than making a choice. I feel the problem is the impression you get from advertisement, lifestyle magazine, social media videos showing up people sitting bare feet or with sandals in the sand. This take away applied to offroad drive without using common sense is simply astonishing. We do take off our closed shoes off while sitting down on a mat or lying flat on my recliner chair, but that doesn't mean that people should see that 15 min impression and multiply that with 6 hours drive. After a continuous warning and briefing points, I still see people showing up in sandals with some or the other excuses.

If I was in America I would totally wear those boots but I don’t think I could pull the look off here without looking like a douche. I used to wear these at home all the time. Fleece lined. Perfect when the average temperature is around 10 degrees but you would end up with trench foot quickly wearing them here I swear by caterpillar in this climate. Had the same pair for 3 years. Had a new set of laces and glued the soles a couple of times but they’re still going strong. I don’t lace them up full either, just to the bottom of the ankle the spin the lace around the leg a couple of times. Can slip them on and off like trainers. Never mind snakes, it’s just common sense to wear boots. Sandals and flip flops are for the beach or around the house. I have always religiously worn boots when I’m doing anything, apart from this one time last year. I was super hungover one morning, like the kind of hungover where you don’t know if you’re really hungover or you’re still drunk. I was managing an important project and I knew I couldn’t take the day off but I was so sick I couldn’t even bend over to tie my laces so I slipped on a pair of flip flops and went to work. After a few coffees and lots of fizzy water I sobered up around lunchtime. When it came time to go home, I started packing up all my tools. I picked up a 9” grinder, dropped it on my foot and broke 3 of my toes. I had no insurance so no doctor, suffered with it for around 3 months. Never ever again did I go to do anything without wearing my boots.

@sertac it was your lucky day that I was all ready and loaded in my car to head to Dubai lake area and able to do a quick detour to reach you within 30 minutes, faster than pizza delivery boys lololol. Imagine a scenario, if I am in office or out with my family this can easily take 4-5 hours to reach you. Thankfully you have rescued all passengers and brought them to the Bidayer shop as that's the most important thing to do, well done. Cars can stay in heat for a couple of hours but humans may not. After this quick recovery, I headed to Dubai Lake area and found that Emmanuel and Sri left from the entrance as it was guarded and appeared to be private property. Seems like Dubai Lake is primarily developed for offering a good aerial view for Skydive and hot air balloon visitors than visiting and chilling like at Qudra lake or Love Lake in Qudra Desert. At least, we have explored and marked one less thing in our to-do list that Dubai Lake is not a place or a park which is open for public visitors and we shouldn't get tempted with a picture or description posted in google maps.

While this exploration happening I was in bidayer shop area. My friends asked me to take them famous orange sands. I thought they should see bidayer area, than we will drive to buried Village and take some pictures. Plan was not pushing any think just go nice and easy. When we enter the area I saw one wrangler got stuck on top. I decided to go there any help him out. I went up pull him out and I was all OK. Than when we are heading back down one of my friend got stuck. I tried to help him but his car was looking upword and back side was looking to dune. Only chance to pulling him from front but I couldn't pull him upward. When I am trying I also got stuck. Later I found a way to take myself out from situation. Then I called the @EmVarlet and @Gaurav. After half hour Gaurav showed up and pull the car out with his winch. I want to thank him. He break his program and come to help us. It is good to fell that you have friends when you are in trouble.

The sand is so hot these days. Why would you even want that slipping between your toes? It like walking on fire.

So, regarding Dubai Lake, there is no public access to it as it is the Sheikh’s private property. The surroundings are very soft technical dunes with slipfaces as steep as walls and with nasty pockets and bushes everywhere. Nice views and lot of gazels but I wouldn’t recommend this area, would you @Srikumar and @Gaurav?

Eid Mubarak to all dear friends.

Sure you can join this drive as you have previous experience of driving in sand, so you should be fine with this night drive. Only absolute newbie is not fit for this night drive.

Eid Mubarak to all of you and your loved ones

Hello! I’m looking at buying a used Wrangler for off-roading, and wanted some advice on how to make the right selection. Since this is going to be a car mostly for the purpose of weekend drives, I don’t want to spend too much money on it, so 2005-2006 TJs seem to be the best bet for my price range. I’m looking at a 3-door, 4-litre automatic. I’ve never bought a used car before that’s as old as this, and definitely never a Jeep, so I wanted to get some advice from people who have either owned one, bought a used one, and people who drive in the desert. Is this a good choice for the desert? From what I’ve seen, it’s probably one of the most common cars in the sand. They have a great power-to-weight ratio, and the clearance angles are great. What’s the best way to scope out how good a condition the car is actually in? Most of the vehicles I am seeing are not available with full service history. Can I get a car checked at a mechanic? Who does this and how much does it cost? Should I look at cars with desert modifications/upgrades? There are plenty that I can find with lifts, larger wheels and tires, and upgrades to the roll cage done. It will be cheaper than getting a car that’s stock (assuming, of course, the car is actually clean. I am not sure how to actually verify this). How reliable are these cars? It’s hard to find anything in this model year range that doesn’t have at least 150,000 km on the odometer, if not 200,000 km. If I do buy a stock car (assuming it is clean), what are the basic upgrades that I should consider, where should I get those done, and how much do I budget for it? For a car this old, what mechanics/garages in Dubai are reliable and trustworthy for servicing the car? Is there something in particular I should look for (either as something good or something to avoid) when I inspect and test drive the car? Thanks in advance!

Modifications are definitely not required when you start offroading. A stock and proper 4x4 should do just fine. You can do the mods after you understand thoroughly what the vehicle can and cannot do. In the budget of 25,000 you can get a good condition Xterra which would be capable as well as reliable. Jeeps are fun to drive but they get abused a lot and reliability is not their main forte. I do drive a Cherokee XJ and though it has initially troubled me I love it completely as it's a simple car and I enjoy doing self work on it. But reliability is an issue. Regarding getting the vehicle checked you can take it to any known mechanic who can do a thorough check. I am not aware of any mechanic in Dubai, maybe someone else on the forum would know.

Wrangler TJ with a 4.0 litre engine is a very capable car in stock condition. Also, you are in the right season to buy an off-road car as the offroading season is over and you can get a good deal. Few points from my side: 1. Buy a vehicle which is as stock as possible. 2. The 4.0 litre engine is bullet proof and you should not have issues with it. But regarding the automatic transmission, transfer case, etc. are things that need to be checked. 3. Try to get a GCC spec car. Try to find out the accident history of the car. Some cars have been in rolls or flips. 4. And you definitely will have to keep AED 5000 aside to get a full maintenance done and all fluid changes. This depends on your budget. If you can mention that you can get some good advice.

First of all don't but if you must buy a sheep buy absolutely bone stock with the lowest mileage and best cared for possible. A bone stock TJ is more than capable for pretty rough terrain.

There are a lot of garages in Musaffah area, maybe @Asif Hussain can point you to a recommended garage. You can check the business listings also for a few garages in Abu Dhabi and speak to them over the phone before you give them a visit.

Eid Mubarak Guys. Hope you enjoy your eid break to the fullest 😁 https://www.thenational.ae/uae/eid-al-fitr-2019-in-uae-to-begin-on-tuesday-says-moon-sighting-committee-1.869973

Eid Mubarak to all of my Muslim friends and colleagues !!!

Eid Mubarak !

Hello Gaurav, wishing all a happy Eid. I wish to join this drive. Not sure, if I will qualify. I have not been to a night drive earlier.

Not sure about the day will try to join Missed last drive 😌

Would love to go and have a look, but I’ll be working the whole week 😔

That's the thing, I never laced up above the ankle tight but kept them pretty loose, hence I could slip in and out of them like full length cowboy boots. Didn't need to lace them up or use the side zips. So they were pretty loose above and didn't hinder any mobility first because they were loose and the material on the ankles was padded fabric and not leather or thick material and pretty flexible, The only time I laced them up was the one time I bought them and they lasted a good 7-8 years of daily abuse in the desert and wadis. Till the day I got rod of then I never touched the laces.

I agree dude on walking with kgs of sand is no fun. To this problem I found a solution by chance to wear a boot cut Jeans that snuggly cover the shoe neck and prevent sand seeping in 90 out of 100 times. I hated the military shoes long neck as you cant drive comfortably for long with tight hold of ankle and calf area.

Ironically one of the things I hate most is sand in my shoes and these ankle length shoes just would not stop the sand getting in. After trying many pairs I still ended up with small dunes in my house after I came back from work and took my shoes off. Then I finally bought a pair of military boots from these shops that do uniforms for the police and military for 300dhs. Best 300dhs I've ever spent. literally light as a feather, sand, water and oil resistance and after a full day in the desert even in knee high sand, not a single speck of sand. They were light, never got hot and ltook about a couple of seconds to get on and off as I kept them slightly loose on the top and just slipped them on and off like cowboy boots. I don't have a pic but they look something like this but with a thinner sole and proper laceeyelets all the way to the top

sure. But as the video suggest, a little TLC can be done. By removing the bolt and cleaning up the spring etc, and changing the o-ring. Just need a bit of assistance... Anyone in abu dhabi willing?

Some boosters develop rust and dust in them then they make sound when friction affects it while pressing the brakes it's normal until the Bellow itself starts to leak...then things will go south a little bit...