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DRIVE REPORT A big moment for me on Friday .... My first newbie lead .... Slightly nervous and I didn't sleep well the night before .... It was good to see that everyone reached the meeting point on time and all the drivers turned up. I didn't know most of them and I always find it nice to get to know new people. I was also suprised to see a lady driver @kolinrrj ! There are not a lot of ladies in the club so I get excited when I see some more of us turning up. Once everyone was deflated and put their flags up, I did a briefing, radio check and we were ready to start. That was also the moment the nerves went away and I relaxed .... I started a bit slowly just to see how everyone was reacting but there were no troubles so I scaled up the level a little bit. At one point we reached the bowls on the left side of the 2nd December cafeteria and that was where some of the drivers found it a little challenging. The slopes were quite steep and once you got down in the bowl you got to give it gas again to climb up the other side ... @Tamas Hoffmann was brilliant in leading everyone out of the bowls and helping with a few recoveries. We proceeded the drive up to Pink Rock where everyone got the chance to drive up and over PR and got a bit of a thrill. Every car managed to drive over it without too many troubles except for @Sandeep Subhash, we all thought that the horses in his car died but apparantly the brake paddle was a bit sticky so I didn't matter how much gas he gave, the car didn't make it up .... Also @Carlos Fernandez his car was acting a little funny, he was not driving smoothly but was more bouncing in the sand. I hope you found out what the problem was and got it fixed. After coming down from PR, we drove around it through some more tricky bowls, got on the track and went to the exit at 2nd December cafetaria .... Everyone did amazingly well with a minimum of refusals and stucks and I think everybody had a good time. I want to thank @Srikumar @Anvar Sadath Bekal and @Tamas Hoffmann for their wonderful support and I hope to see you all very soon in the desert !

Thanks a lot @Foxtrot Oscar for today’s drive.. I was impressed with your handling of the unfortunate rollover .. amazing how you kept cool and maintained control of the situation and managed to lead the recovery until everyone was out safely @Ranjan Das hopefully things go well with your insurance and the car repair goes smooth and fast so we can meet again on the sand Finally thanks to all drivers on the convoy for the wonderful team work to get the car back on its wheels and finally out of the bowl to the tarmac.. enjoy your week and meet you all soon

Very late drive report. We had a pleasant time. Area was not a preferred area for me. I am known as Fossil Rock guy but i found the area very nice. We found a lot of long range dunes to make sideys. I splashed so much sand that all my interior was covered with sand. At the beginning unfortunately Jon hit his bumper and we observed water leaking. Luckily it was just a washer fluid tank not the radiator. After a check on the car all looked good and we continue our journey. Than on a sidey i hit to a small bump and i had pop out. Big help from Anand and Shaaz we were able to fix in minutes. After sometime we found our self in to some technical dunes and we decide not to waste time and drove back out from that. This time Anand had a pop out that was an easy fix as well. Paul and Jack got crested on one technical dune but it is very well sorted by the team. We continue driving and found some sweet dunes to do even more sidey. In this time Nihal got crested on one dune but that was also easy recovery. Overall it was a smooth good pace drive. Thank you all for your attendance and you all are awesome. Special thanks to @Mehmet Volga @Anand Nataraj and @Shaaz Sha for their effort on every possible time. See you all next time.

@Nivin, @Mario Cornejo, @Alexander Alcala we also have discussed the possibility of organizing such clean up drives with the sponsorship and cooperation of a water company whose CEO took one of our Masterclasses (and voiced his disappointment at the pollution in the desert). Nonetheless, more than the sanitary aspect of collecting garbage - mostly plastic, glass and cans which have been exposed tsun, wind, hot and cold for quite sometimes, thus very unlikely to be infectious, if picked up with gloves and masks - the current regulations about limiting gatherings prevent us from setting up such organized, officially sponsored drives, and from advertising or raising awareness about such group activity. I believe we'll just have to wait a little longer, to tackle this issue, which is very much at heart for all of us. Surely we will be able to resume these drives in the future. At the same time, as @Rahimdad said, there will never be enough drives to solve this problem if the culture and habits of desert going people is not changed. As a club we are doing our best, but may certainly do more, by rehiterating the concept of "bringing out what we bring in" with our briefings and advertise our drives as "pollution free", marking "trash dumps" points and alerting authorities of their location (especially in wildlife protected areas, as Marshald and Leaders we could stop the drive for the time necessary to take the waypoint). I guess any idea on how to spread this awareness is welcome, as we all wish this problem to be solved (or limited).

Hi @Niki Patel don't get me wrong but camping with others in the middle of COVID is not my preferred choice for the moment. As soon as our lives can go back to normal a bit it will however be on top of my list

Drive report. It started off so well, we had some fun climbing the tall dunes of Shuwaib and everyone was comfortable and enjoying the drive. As we plotted our way around the tall dunes and towards the Iftar Bowl we met with an unfortunate incident, which I won’t discuss in detail here, however what I will say is a massive THANK YOU to the entire convoy who literally leapt into action to help our stricken member. You were all amazing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. The sense of camaraderie and team spirit that Carnity is known for really shone through. Thanks again, until our next adventure.

@Frederic is with us, no worries! And we are not going far away from the paved road. Our aims is to practice astrophotography basics so later you can do the same on your own in so many lovely places in the UAE 😃 So, location for the first time does not matter much.

I was having a few refusals that day, normally I do get over such dunes but perhaps because it was my first Intermediate drive as well and was a bit anxious. I hope everything is going to be okay with your FJ @Ahab Shamaa. Thanks for helping me recover that day bro! Thanks a lot to @Emmanuel for the lead and taking us on such a fantastic drive. A big thanks to @Pancho for the guidance and @Kalahari to you as well. A big thanks to @Abu Muhammad, I had you digging sand more than I would ever want to.

I agree with this approach @Emmanuel, for Intermediate drives. It generally worked well and allowed people to get more experience. Overall it was a great drive, providing many opportunities for the Intermediates to gain experience in keeping the momentum of the convoy and approach challenges with confidence. You threw in a variety of different scenarios and I think all had a lot of fun! Maybe just one observation to the newer Intermediates: Try to focus on your approach angle / line of approach, with steady and constant momentum, rather than 100% throttle to overcome every obstacle. That way the convoy will move at a steady pace, you will have a "healthy" car for longer, and you will enjoy a smoother drive. See you all next time!

I've been in three Carnity drives so far and I've seen so many spots where garbage is left behind, it is really sad. Today, my son and I were in Al Qudra, we came across a spot (24o 47' 50" N / 55o 24' 32" E) where clearly there was a year end's party with lots of trash left behind, my son has been listening in the radio the campaign "Keep the desert clean" and asked if we could clean a bit, which I could not help but agree to. He used his little shovel to pile garbage, I put on gloves and picked up around 4 bags of trash, mostly whatever was on the surface, bottles of liquor, tin cans of all sorts, unused plastic plates, water bottles, etc. There is so much garbage still there, buried in the sand, if anyone can let me know how to send the location to DM then I will be happy to do so. We ensured we wore a mask at all times and sanitized well after picking up and dropping the bags in the trash bin.

Congratulations @Baskaran P.R for reaching the Fewbie Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 5 Newbie drives are required within last 3 months for Fewbie promotion. What you'll learn Basic dune and sand reading Basic self-recovery techniques Advance side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Presence of mind and attention to detail Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor. Drive teamwork Manage second lead and sweep positions upon request Intuitive and proactive to support Trip Lead Observe recoveries and offer help, when needed Drive Joining Join Newbie and Fewbie drives And Fewbie Plus, after 5 drives at Fewbie level only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

@Abdul Rahman Abdul Kader the only reason you being here is You. u made the right choice. 👍🤘@Thomas Varghese tough luck, could be any reason. since u mentioned its already 600k driven so if the maintenance is not regular, this could also be a reason. Thnk you fr the advise. see you all soon. cheers 😎

Congratulations @Mobeen Anwar for reaching the Fewbie Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 5 Newbie drives are required within last 3 months for Fewbie promotion. What you'll learn Basic dune and sand reading Basic self-recovery techniques Advance side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Presence of mind and attention to detail Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor. Drive teamwork Manage second lead and sweep positions upon request Intuitive and proactive to support Trip Lead Observe recoveries and offer help, when needed Drive Joining Join Newbie and Fewbie drives And Fewbie Plus, after 5 drives at Fewbie level only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

"not pushing the living snot out of our vehicles".... we should put this on a banner of our homepage 🤣 Welcome to the club !

You can expect to get pictures similar to this one! By the way, it was my first off-road trip on a rented Pajero which convinced me to buy my own 4x4 😃

Great idea @Mikhail Lukichev! I,d love to go. Will set up great fire place) Will we need someone experienced with us - then we will not get lost in a desert? Or you know the route?;) Noticed the calendar event. Thanks indeed @Frederic. Looking forward to the night desert experience. Never seen it before).

@Wrangeld Safety first is unnegotiable though was unpleasant to leave the drive but happy with the new learning 👍 Now to install bigger cooler & fan to be ready for the next drive ... Thanks again see you soon

So cool to see so many people interested in the star photography. I checked the moon cycles and found out that evening and night on 12-13 Feb 21 is going to be excellent for the night photography! We will have almost new moon which will hide below the horizon right after the sunset. The best place for astrophotography is Abu Dhabi. but there are some very nice places not too far away from Dubai too! So, 12 Feb 21, 7pm - 9pm, place to be advised a bit later (hopefully, within 1 hour of driving from Dubai). Should we create a separate topic for it? Thanks!

That's awesome night picture. @Niki Patel, shall we go together with @Mikhail Lukichev? You can both practice, I will be responsible for setting the fireplace?

Mira community where I live are doing regular desert cleanups on the weekend. Unfortunately my weekend is filled with Carnity drives, but they collect hundreds of trash bags and work together with DM.

Congratulations @Bernd Stucke for reaching the Fewbie Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 5 Newbie drives are required within last 3 months for Fewbie promotion. What you'll learn Basic dune and sand reading Basic self-recovery techniques Advance side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Presence of mind and attention to detail Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor. Drive teamwork Manage second lead and sweep positions upon request Intuitive and proactive to support Trip Lead Observe recoveries and offer help, when needed Drive Joining Join Newbie and Fewbie drives And Fewbie Plus, after 5 drives at Fewbie level only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

@Abdul Rahman Abdul Kader I have joined the coming friday drive with @Ale Vallecchi. Thanks for your kind words and considering me as your friend. I was at the garage with my Xterra when the RSVP opened. Unfortunately my car's axle came loose from the front differential and has destroyed the axle as well as the differential. Fortunately we got a replacement from Sajaa and it will come out of the garage tomorrow. Since the time I found out that the axle has come out from the differential I'm wondering how it happened. Any body in our forum can answer me on this? My conclusion is that the axle was already weak - possible as the car had done 600000 kms till date and I have no idea if the previous owner changed it before. Another possibility is I had forgotten to switch back from 4HI to 2H when the drive got over and I damaged the axle and differential by driving in 4HI on tarmac with speeds exceeding 130kms/hr. As per the manual I found that 4HI can be used on tarmac's but speed shouldn't exceed 100km/hr. It can create torsional forces more than what the axle can tolerate. There was a moment in the last friday's drive with @Wrangeld when the front hit the ground hard while coming down after a ridge crossing and from that moment I suspected something may have got damaged. The shock of the hard hit to the ground may have caused the axle to get dislodged from the differential slightly and my forgetting to switch from 4HI to 2H after the drive may have aggravated the injury already caused to the system. Or all 3 contributed to the damage. My advise to all of you after spending couple of thousands and looking like an idiot - PLEASE REVERT BACK TO 2H AS SOON AS THE DRIVE IS OVER.

The Waitlist (as of 19:51 Sunday 24th) 1. @Joe Biju Joseph 2. @Lucky sAm 3.. @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ 4.. @Tamas Hoffmann 5,. @GauravSoni 6.. @Ahab Shamaa I'll keep you all posted

@Paul Zeitoun I was just going through the list of people who were able to join my drive. I love the mix of ksome known people i haven't driven with in some time and some new faces which is just amazing. Looking forward to seeing you all on Friday.

Congratulations @VipinShetty for reaching the Intermediate Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. INTERMEDIATE Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 drives are required within last 6 months for Intermediate promotion. (Drives can be a mix of Newbie, Fewbie (50%) and Fewbie plus, depending on your adaptability, learning progress and Marshal’s feedback) What you'll learn Basic GPS and navigational skills Basic tow rope and winch recoveries Extreme side sloping and long hill climb Tall dunes ridge riding and criss crossing Precise control over technical dunes Fast pace desert driving Skills required Adventurous and thrill seeker but in a safe manner Level headed under stressful situations Responsible, dependable and accountable Car Worthiness Capable 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle High profile tires Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor, tool kit, rated recovery rope and 2 rated shackles, GPS. Drive teamwork Manage center forward position with Trip Lead’s permission Learn/assist recoveries under Trip Lead’s supervision Re-route convoy and coordination, when needed Learn to lead small portion of Intermediate drive under Marshal supervision Drive Joining Join Newbie, Fewbie, Intermediate and Exploration drives only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

@Rahimdad it finally is happening, i am joining you for Pink Rock, together with @Sara EL FANIDI and @Sanjay Malik. Yuppiiii

Hello @Ahab Shamaa. #1 on the WL. Hope to see you. Thanks. Hello @N@ved. No need for a test. We'll stay within Dubai. See you. Hello @Aravind Padmaraju. You are #2 on the WL. Thanks

Welcome on board @Denizzalbayrak Congratulations! Eglence yeni basliyor!

Hi @Ale Vallecchi, probably a stupid question as your drive already mentions "Dubai", just need to check if will we be required to carry a covid negative test result for this drive (not sure if the start and end point would be within Dubai or Abu Dhabi limits)?

@Wrangeld I have driven multiple vehicles in multiple situations, In SA mainly rock and dirt roads with some forest track roads. Toyota hilux, and Isuzu Double cabs. In the UAE mainly dunes, not massive drives but just plodding along - Nissan Pathfinder and Chevrolet Suburban. Currently in a Mitsubishi Pajero - zero mods and don't plan on doing anything too crazy (probably just suspension lift and wheel spacers) Have been on about 5 Carnity drives with one of the other members @franco up to fewbie level and really like the vibe of the club and not pushing the living snot out of the vehicles...I dont plan on doing anything much more extreme than fewbie to be honest, just good clean driving fun with the club and the ability to drive home after it

@Frederic hhhmmm not to be sounding ungrateful knowing you and @Mikhail Lukichev have set up a photography drive!.... however reading the above ... how about a joint camping + photography drive to Al Qaa in Feb/March? 😳🙏🏽😳 Hearing about it being the darkest spot in the UAE ... what a great combination?

Thanks @Janarthan, appreciate it! thanks @Anand Nataraj appreciate it! thanks @Gaurav appreciate it! Thanks @Rahimdad i believe i am up for it!

Congrats @Denizzalbayrak!!

Congratulations @Denizzalbayrak Tebrikler 😊

Very well deserved @Denizzalbayrak

Congratulations @VipinShetty

Great news @Denizzalbayrak !!

@Frederic will you also be trying a few shots with the iphone? if so do i need to download any special software to allow me to play with the exposure time? @Mikhail Lukichev HUGE kudos to you for making this happen! the list is a great idea and only item i am missing is the red light headlamp so will pick one up before the trip! my camera gear for the trip: Nikon 3300 Kit Lens 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 Tripod (basic but sturdy) excited for this first astro drive!

Samyang 14mm F2.8 is a great option! By the way, autofocus is not needed. We will focus manually and tape the focus ring after 😃

I found this online: https://photographylife.com/landscapes/how-to-focus-for-star-photography Not sure if its helpful. I have very little experience in shooting stars, and using manual focus will take me a while too. Love to engage in talking with others and learn a lot that evening ! I have my eyes on a Samyang14mm 2.8 Ultrawide lens i might be picking up secondhand (inshallah).

Congrats @VipinShetty!!!

Hello everyone! Thanks for joining us! Since we are going to take some stars photos, we need to have some basic equipment with us. If you do not have something, probably, you will not be able to get desired result. However, equipment list is very basic: 1) tripod suitable for your camera. There is no need to have an expensive tripod, however, if your camera and lens is heavy, sturdy tripod would be handy 2) DSLR or mirrorless camera able to shoot in raw with exposure time up to 20 seconds. If you do not have one, you can try to shoot with a simple point and shoot camera or phone, but lack of settings could be an issue. If you have a camera but not sure if it is suitable or not, feel free to ask here! 3) wide angle lens. Actually, any kit lens should work fine. Do not bring your telephoto lens or a portrait lens this time, we will not use it. Again, if your are not sure what to bring with you, feel free to ask! 4) a bit of adhesive tape would be handy but not mandatory 5) fully charged battery for your camera 6) red light headlamp. Red light helps a lot operating your camera and not overstressing your eyes That's it! Kindly let us know what camera and lens you are planning to bring so we can check if it is suitable beforehand. Thanks!

Congrats @Bernd Stucke !

Fantastic idea @Mikhail Lukichev i have created a calendar event. Now lets try to find a suitable location. https://carnity.com/calendar/event/561-star-photography-meetup

I was at the Margham drive led by Brette Whilst the drive was excellent, I felt sad whenever I see garbage recklessly discarded at various spots Disappointing to see campers or off-roaders behaving irresponsibly

Hey Guys Ive just joined and loving the pics especially the astronomical types! Amazing! Ive new to filming and editing the drives and built a little rig to stabilise my 360 camera on the outside of the car to handle the rough treatment on the dunes and it seems to have done well on the last two drives with a few tweaks. I have a few test drives of the rigs on my YouTube. Here are the last two "proper" drives I did. Hope you Enjoy! And

Thanks guys for the kind words - I also did a video of last week in Murquab with Richard - I need Friday to come around asap!!!!!! I'll post the link below for last week

@Pancho, @Rahimdad and the whole convoy, thanks a lot for the wonderful drive! It was my first drive from the Fossil Rock to Faya and I found it absolutely stunning! Gorgeous dunes complemented by beautiful rock formations made this a bit technical drive absolutely stunning! @Pancho @Hennie Schoeman @Abdul Rahman Abdul Kader @AlexPol @Federico De Chirico @Federico Galbieri @Joe Biju Joseph @Danish Mohammad @Niki Patel @Rahimdad you can find some photos in the gallery. Just in case you would like to have the high resolution photos without watermark, you can download them following the link: https://yadi.sk/d/A2GNvk9Vn0mW_Q It will be active for a couple of weeks. Thanks!

Thank you @sertac for an enjoyable drive I posted a couple of videos in the gallery Clip 1 has @Nihal17 and @Mehmet Volga riding the dunes sideways, Clip 2 is a proof that my camera setup is solid after it got run over by the rear tire when it fell 🤣🤣🤣. It also shows @Ranjan Das @Jack Thomas @Jon M and @Shaaz Sha going down the big dune @Hisham Masaad find me on facebook, i got a 40 min video of you in the last section of the drive.