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Post Drive Report Convoy #2 There was a thought at some stages of Saturday morning when I thought that this drive was cursed. Not one, but two leads pulling out due to car problems, 26 drivers arrving to potentially the longest convoy in many a month and then, our angel, @Foxtrot Oscar conveniently being awake and amazingly prepared to come out and lead the convoy at a single minute's notice. There's a reason how and why people are prmoted to marshal in this club. With an exceptionally frustrated @Jeepie by my side we did get under way. As she said herself, she had a plan for the drive (as it was supposed to be her lead and not mine) and I apparently went off plan within around 200 meters of entering the sand. Not having your own vehicle and being a passenger when somesone else is driving 'your' drive is nowhere as much fun. It's been a while since I drove at Pink Rock. I tend to avoid this area because the dunes are normally very heavily used and it's a challenge to find a route that is not covered in cross tracks. Up to Pink Rock itself, we did well to find a lot of virgin sand. We could see glimpses of Convoy #1 in the distance, there were not so many convoys operating in the area and our drive was quite incident free all the way up to the base of Pink Rock. Seeing that our club compatriates were crossing the Rock, we decided to follow suit. I am not sure what was happening inside @Danish Mohammad Pajero that it has problems getting up the hill - and eventually it managed and we were on our way once again. Climbing up through the cross tracks to what has now been named 'Bird Bowl' we saw beautiful birds before swooping down ourselves in the direction Big Red and the slight less Big red dune nearby. There was a point at which I think there was someone did a radio check to make sure that the radios were still working, so slilent and trouble free was the convoy initially as we enjoyed a smooth ride on our way to the bigger dunes. @imranaasghar81 was doing a great job in 2nd lead, @Watteau relaxing in the Raptor will little to do apart from the odd reroute or self recovery and @Arman was doing sterling work at the back. We started to have a few refusals as the soft shifting sand impacted the back markers - totally expected on a drive like this as we approach summer. @Russ even got stuck at one point, much to our and indeed, his surprise: probably an aural relief for Danish. It's hard to pick out anyone from the convoy who was not perfroming exceptionally well. @Abdul Rahman AK, @Nithin Vaidir @Humayun Ghias, @Chris [email protected] @JeromeFJ and @Thomas Varghese were making it all very easy and we all enjoyed the fun of chasing, and being chased by Convoy #2. For me it's a real pelasure knowing that there are club drivers close by on another convoy, doing the same, enjoying themselves and learing their way through a drive. It was also great to have multiple drives over the long break with the same people, so I can see how you react to different challenges. And then, as we got into the higher more challenging dunes, two pop outs and a very difficult FJ stuck in a pocket and we had some receovety work to do. This slowed down progress on the way to big red, but was a great learning experience for all concerned. @Abdul Rahman AK and @JeromeFJ - thanks for the lessons. Once again, we played tag with the 1st convoy. I wish someone could have got a picture of the Raptor moment on the hill with @Dodi Syahdar, @Watteau and @Russ all powering up and down at the same time, the two leadfoot beasts looking like a stereo picture as they misirrored each other. This was great fun and we were all planning to leave the area when suddenly @Thomas Varghese vehicle literally concked out. It turned out the batter was simply exhausted and hd given up the ghost, but meant we had to quickly lead everyone out of the desert and then leave a small group to return to recover the stricken Xterra. Special call outs for the day. @Jeepie sorry you missed out on your lead. @Foxtrot Oscar the saviour of the day and shall now be known as St. Angela @Arman who impressed so much as the sweep @Watteau a wing man that antone would be proud to have on their side @Nabil Bishara well done on your first lead Strangely, this was officially my 50th lead and I have apparently clocked more than 100 drives. Truly, these numbers mean nothing because I continue to learn every time I take a vehicle out into the desert. There's so, so much more than I need to learn and to practice and try to perfect that every drive feels a bit like the first. See you soon in the sand.

Wow, there was and incredible amount of drives this week, and it was literally possible to drive every day ! Big thank you to all the Marshalls, Leads and Support who made it possible !!!

Many thanks Richard @Wrangeld for the drive this morning. Beautiful dunes, lots of adventures ! Once again I took advantage of your experience and tools to solve a pop-out with Alex @Watteau and Marjan @Jeepie. Great opportunity to learn. @Arman, thanks for the support in sweep, with always very clear indications. And the parrots ! For sure this drive was special !

Congratulations @Anish S for reaching the Expert 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. EXPERT - Carnity Exclusivity Carnity Benefits Off-road Certification with rank and skills achieved Full access to Carnity without any paid subscription Join any drive in “Manage” tab even when drive is full Carnity Contribution Committed to drive with Carnity off-road club only Lead/Support: 3 drives or more per month at least Forum contribution to earn Carnity points Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 drives are required for Expert promotion along with mandatory attendance to leaders lead drives. (Promotion will be based on Marshal / Crew feedback.) What you'll learn Navigating with or without GPS on the fly Trip planning, safety exits and recce skills Basic firefighting and first aid techniques Basic knowledge of car and overheating issues Minimal response to vehicle breakdown and accidents Skills required Resilient, calculative and rational thinker Self-reliance, positive attitude and forward thinking Kind, selfless and considerate to other’s concerns 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, Floor jack and jack board, tire repair kit, tool box, tie-down straps, fluids. Drive teamwork Lead Fewbie or Intermediate drive with Marshal permission Inspect vehicle for safety before the off-road drive Support Marshal to learn 1:1 Desert Driving Course Drive Joining All Levels Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Thank you @Rawad Bahsas, @Lakshmi Narasimhan, @Chaitanya D @Frederic

Well deserved @Anish S !! Keep it up !

Congratulations @Anish S, great going and well deserved.

As usual it was great driving with you @Foxtrot Oscar at the lead. Everyone drove exceptionally well and during the first half of the drive, I was literally thinking if there could be a drive without the word "refusal" uttered and a momentarily zoned out me was not able to climb a teeny tiny slop and then heard the word spoken by @M.Seidam who was behind be. I was a bit irritated at myself at that. The drive kept on getting mildly more challenging as everyone was keeping up as the drive progressed and I loved every bit of it.

Great report @Wrangeld Richard and great to be a part of one of your drives again. Good to drive with some familiar faces and meeting some new ones too, including fellow Raptor and instagrammer @Watteau Alex keeping things going in the Centre. What a bonus seeing those beautifully colored parrots, awesome creatures! Thanks to the support team and a pleasure to meet @Arman for the first time. Hope everybody who had car issues before and during the drive manage to get them sorted in time for the weekend coming! As for the ‘stuck’, I preferred to call it a minor refusal See you all soon.

Thank you @Ranjan Das

Congratulations Anish @Anish S

Congrats @Anish S

Congrats @Anish S!!!!!!

Awe @JeepieI'm sorry you missed out on the drive and worse still had to be a passenger. @WrangeldI loved that you guys were nearby . It was so much fun! And great to catch up at some points too. I can't wait for this covid hell to be over so that we can get back to having real Carnity 'Community' drives and can all mingle and share our stories out there in the sand!

Congratulations @Anish S

Magnifique @Anish S! Félicitations ! C’est tout à fait mérité.

Driving behind the 2 Raptors, it felt like there was not enough hill for them to conquer !!! It was a treat watching and hearing the roaring beasts.

Drive report It was a beautiful Friday morning and it wasn't too hot at all, well, not at 5am at least .... It was a drive with very different types of terrain, we had long range dunes, some technical parts, lots of patches with very soft sand but most importanty, we had lots of fun. Everyone was driving amazingly with not a lot of refusals and only a few stucks. I had a very good support from @TT_Dubai as my second lead, @Brette and @jodha singh shekhawat in the middle and @varunmehndiratta in the back. Thank you everyone for a wonderful morning and I hope to see you all soon again !

Qudra to Ganthoot: Criss-Crossing Heaven - Trip Report "On a day when the wind is perfect, the sail just needs to open, and the world is full of beauty. Today is such a day" - Rumi Sun, sand, heat and wind. The essence of deserts, manifesting itself at its utmost during afternoon drives, like this one. While the heat was undeniable, with 41 degrees at starting time, and the sand as soft as expected, the sun played its role majestically, chasing us to the end of the drive, when it offered us a blazing sunset below the Ganthoot horizon. The wind, however, was the absolute star of the drive, blowing torrid in Qudra, ruffling the crests and making them very hard to read, as well as sweeping all traces of tracks in the Ganthoot stretch, where we drove on virgin sand. The wind also forced the convoy to approach the majority of the slopes, and making most criss-crossing attempts, from the north-east, the side from which it was blowing. This forced us to snake up and down the cordons, rather than attacking them from all sides. Still, a good exercise in this primary skill, which was well executed by all in the convoy (no stuck on crests, which on such a day, is a great testimonial to the drivers' ability). Differently from other drives, the experience of the members prompted me to create a rotation among them, switching Second Leads with Sweeps, progressively bringing the back of the convoy forward. Due to some time spent on fixing a pop-out, solving some refusals, and sorting a couple of technical areas, not all members managed to take both SL and SW positions, although all managed to try at least one of these key position. I feel this is an experiment that is worthwhile repeating, to offer more chances to all drivers in a highly skilled convoy to switch positions, and play key supporting roles. Therefore, no particular mention goes to single drivers for covering the Second and Last position in the convoy. The whole group did just great, providing well executed Second Leads, and Sweeps: @Thomas Varghese, @N@ved, @Gaurav Soni, @varunmehndiratta, @Mario Cornejo, @amir amiri, @Francois Germishuys and @marks, very well done. The only Desertnaut who got "stuck" with his position was @Yousef Alimadadi, on whose experience I counted to anchor the convoy, and support most refusals: thank you for your work. At the end of the day, the wind blew on our sails for 79.6 Km, driven in 3:07 hours of moving time (4:02 total), at an average moving speed of 26Km/h (20Km/h total average). Hoping to see you soon again, I wish you all a great week.

Congrats @Anish S, well deserved.

congratz.. @Anish S 👏

Congratulations... very well done👍

Congratulations @Anish S 🥳👍

Well and truly deserved recognition @Anish S hearty congratulations buddy hoping to support your drives soon 👍

👏👏👏👏👏 congratulations @Anish S well done

Thank you @Nithin Vaidir

Congrats @Anish S👏👏👏

Thank you @Wrangeld @Jeepie @Watteau @Arman for this lovely drive !!! Thanks for your support & guidance. It was great fun day as two Convoy crossing each other this is the best part of CARNITY to let everyone learn, enjoy and to feel they are in safe hands. It was a nice experience and good learning to drive at the back of two Raptors in such a super soft sand 🤭 Thanks to everyone in Convoy for your help, support and patience during refusals, stuck and pop outs! Mr. Richard congratulation for your 50th lead. See you in next drive!

Few cases with their car failing forcing to drop out in last minute and how quick alternate is been arranged in very short notice and how flexible our team is and willing to stretch, which shows every ones passion about this sport. I had a good share of 4 consecutive drives in 2 days. There were couple of drives stretched to 2 convoys. Hats off to leads, seniors supporting and the management and those joined the drives and few who couldn’t get chance to drive shall get in future drives.

So he changed a radiator but didn't spend an extra 70 aed to replace a thermostat? I guess the car is still overheating And wants to convince you that it is just a 70 derhams fix. Most probably it has a bad cylinder head. The other walk away is the different suspension color, meaning that it was damaged maybe by an accident or the owner was so cheap he doesn't maintain his car properly and only replaced suspension on one side using some aftermarket parts. God knows what other non genuine parts he also replaced in the past.

In simple words: Move away and find another deal. Here are the red flag that I observe: Radiator change - points to either accident or hardcore off-road or defer maintenance. Either case you shouldn't buy lemon, as when radiator bursted or leaking you don't know how long car has been overheated. It take 1 time full red-zone needle to leak the head gasket and you will be ending fixing that or changing engine as a worst case scenario. 1 month old and selling - he must have got the lemon from previous owner and it must be overheating while off-road so he wanna get rid of it too. Off-road Xterra has bilstein shock and they are in silver color (I guess), google it surely with VIN number. If you seeing yellow shocks means 100% its being heavily off-road in previous life, so move away. In my view buying road driven Xterra with FSH from dealer is FAR better than off-road version. If you can buy offroad version with no traces of off-road or mild off-road then you are lucky.

Second Convoy Drive Report (once more nudging in ahead of @Wrangeld) It was just meant to be I guess, there was no reason for me to be awake at the ungodly hour of 4.30am but for some reason I was. When @Chaitanya D said he had car issues , I happily jumped in. Truth is, I love this area, it is the perfect fewbie training ground for the larger bowls that lay ahead as you advance through the Carnity ranks. We started off by finding our desert wheels in the smaller but super playable dunes at the start of the route with the entire convoy in sync. After a short while we were all treated to @Nabil Bishara lead. He took us all the way up and over Pink Rock, guiding everyone as he did so. Well done @Nabil Bishara, it was a great lead, you chose a really nice path for everyone to follow. Not one single car had a refusal at Pink Rock, the entire convoy making it at the first attempt. As you had all demonstrated how well you could handle your various cars, it provided me with the opportunity to increase the level, ever so slightly. 😈 We left Pink Rock and headed into the wonderful low start shaped dunes to the East en route to Big Red. Here were able to sweep up and around, in and out and up and over keeping a nice pace and perfecting some great off-road skills. Again, not one refusal as we tackled these dunes. We were even treated to the site of locals with parrots, I think, perched on stands. What an awesome shot that would have been, but we know locals are camera shy so we didn’t disturb them. As we left the area the dunes grew in size and we started to climb more and more, I think it was @Darren Brooke who had the first refusal of the day, never go off piste mate, just wait and I’ll guide you through. A quick pull and he was free of the crest. I looped around a few times gaining momentum to join the rest of the convoy who were at the other side of the dune. We were all following, or so I thought, when we had another crest. @Rawad Bahsas careful with your GoPro buddy 😆. Well done to @GauravSoni and @Dodi Syahdar for helping me out with that one, it was a weird angle, in a tight spot and the sand was super soft. As we made our way down, and around Big Red we met with @Wrangeld's convoy, and @M.Seidam got himself crested in the most spectacular fashion. Quick dig and he was free. We overtook @Wrangeld's convoy as one of the drivers was stuck. Wrangled was waiting in position for the next play area, and it would have been remiss of me not to tell him of the awful situation he had to deal with. 😇 Having secured our spot at the play area 😎 🤣we all took it in turns to climb up and down , before we allowed Wrangeld's convoy the opportunity. We plotted our way around Big Red, climbing up and coming down on the various areas as they presented themselves. As we moved on to the ‘Road Side’ side of Big Red we climbed all the way to the top where we met with another convoy, I’m not particularly sure they appreciated us barging in, but thems the breaks, they were playing in a bowl, we were sweeping the area. The convoy became disjointed at one point as @Miguel Codes lost the track, I headed back up and took them down with @Miguel Codesdoing a turn at 2nd lead , and a great job he did too. We had one more climb left in us with everyone handling it well and we were about to go again, but one of @Wrangeld's drivers had car issues, and with that , all good things came to an end. The convoy was led to the tarmac where they could inflate etc, and I went back to help out. I have to say I thought you all did brilliantly, and handled absolutely everything I threw at you. And I threw a lot at you! It was the first time I had driven with many of you. Honestly, thank you, you made it such an enjoyable morning! Well done @Miguel Codes @Werno @luis mantecon @Goutam @Ranjan Das @Darren Brooke @Rawad Bahsas @Malachy McGrogan. Bravo! Great driving. Thank you thank you thank you for the great support from @Nabil Bishara, @M.Seidam @GauravSoni @Dodi Syahdar Until our next adventure ☺️

Congrats @Anish S!

Congrats @Anish S!! Well done

Many congrats @Anish S 🍻

Congrats to a fantastic team player and leader in Carnity.

Thank you 😍 @Veedooshee

Congrats @Anish S

Congratulations @Anish S well done 👍

Well done!!!! @Anish S looking forward for drives with your lead soon!

Thank you so much Doctor @M.Seidam Thank you @VipinShetty

Congratulations @Anish S way to go!! Good luck!

@Lawrence_Chehimi listening to tire shop is not very advisable as they will only push the tire with max margin. You should watch the real winner by seeing how many offroaders in carnity and other clubs, in parking lot drive and swear by geo. I'm using them since 2012 after trying grandtrek, bridgestone, cooper ATR and STT, BFG, LTX etc. @Wade Pat2 from quick online look this new LTX Force looks like another future winner tbh as it has some off-road tread to get you through self recovery and moderate wadi trails. Go for it, as you can never go wrong with Michelin.

Million dollar advise. Time spent in searching is better than time and money spending in fixing.

with the GCCVIN decoder you can check the vehicle specs and details. here is the link. https://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/check-lookup/5N1AN0N61BC501592 its a factory offroad version. it should have all around yellow bilstein shocks. i bought my xterra about 9 months back. that is also after continues search for about 4 months. I came across lot of lemon cars during my search specially offroad version. my advice is don't buy in a hurry do the research and test drive as many as possible. when you test drive couple of cars you will notice flaws in each once. try to test drive a low mileage high priced pristine onces as well even though its out of your budget. then decide the right one for you and get it thoroughly checked it from a trusted mechanic. Good luck.. 😊

Congrats on your 50th lead Richard @Wrangeld. It was indeed a fin ride . Each drive is a new experience and I wish to learn more from you all.

Evening all great drive after the Ramadan break with Richard and team. Great to meet some new faces and can't wait for the week ahead. The CF and Sweepers handled the drive with pure finesse - you guys were amazing! During the last stuck of the drive during the FJ pop out my attention was unfortunately diverted and I had almost been hit by fraud - had someone impersonating my workplace to have me almost put a large transaction through. Highly inconvenient and crapped on the fun I was having so having to deal with that whilst driving the last 30 mins was a ballache! Anyway thank god I cottoned on and got out of the situation! Thomas I would of loved to have stayed to have helped but I was stuck dealing with this issue and had to get to my office pronto. Anyway have a great rest of the evening and week ahead and catch you all soon.

Mate no chance I'm missing that Even if I have to hop in with someone I'm attending 😁

Thank you @GauravSoni

Congrats @TT_Dubai!!!!