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@varunmehndiratta thank you Varun for giving us, Sand Sailors, another amazing opportunity to sail under your leadership from Faqa to the end-point (not sure how to call this area...). The weather was simply amazing yesterday, with a cool morning, which provided us with the correct conditions to enjoy the drive. Minus a couple of minor refusals and tugs, we all drove well and managed to keep up with the momentum. @Mahmoud Taha well done mate - you seem to be getting better grip at your Xterra now. @salah2u always a pleasure to drive with you mate - looking forward to your promotion. @Niki been a long time since we last drive together - enjoyed your clear instructions and directions on the radio. @MMansoor you still amaze me how you manage to handle this beast on the dunes - keep it up mate. @Looper no drive will be same without your calm presence mate - you really add experience to the center of the convoy, and always have the right solution. Enjoy your week gents

@Benjamin you are very mature for your age. The fact that you bring up this matter speaks a lot about your good intentions that reflects an off-roader with the heart in the right place. Keep up the good work !

@Benjamin well done on your recovery. the halfdesert is a very popular on the weekeds. Personally i venture sometimes there when i am not in the mood to drive a really long time to get into the sand as its really close-by. Just a few advices out of my experiance to take into consideration before you help anyone next time to avoid getting yourself in some serious problems ( could even be legal at some point). 1. Never help a car with no license plate on. 2. Never help a car that have signs of damage or accident. 3. Never get into someone's else car to try to drive it out( i am refering to people you just met ) 4. ALWAYS use your recovery gears ONLY even if they do propose to use theirs. 5. Remember that recovering random stuck people in the desert is not the same as recovering your friends at carnity ( many of them might not have a safe recovery point, that is if they even have one ). 6. Follow your instinct if you feel uncomfortable ( for any reason )just bailout. 7. Tell them that some damage might occure to their vehicle due to the recovery and ask for their verbal consent to proceed( thier are some really rude people out there). 8. Always consider your safety and the people around you on the 1st place Cheers and see you on the sand

Bravo @Benjamin! Great to see you not only developing your off-roading skills but also extending hands to help others. Also transferring the bug to your dad who we will hopefully see soon joining us. However as you already know by now recovering stuck cars specially with ropes involved comes with inherent risks and hence requires extra precautions and require both drivers to be alert and capable of communicating very clearly and work together as a team to avoid damage to the cars and more importantly bodily injuries. Unfortunately a lot of these solo weekend roamers lack the basics and sometime don’t understand these inherent risks and take things for granted when someone is extending help and will sometime even claim damages later on of their bumper is scratched during the process.. also due to their lack of attention they are not able to execute their role during the recovery properly.. there are lots of stories about this.. last one I heard last week from an owner of a brand new Raptor who went into the desert and got crested. A passing by car offered to tug him out and during the tug he pushed the gas too much so that the raptor ended on top of the poor guy who was helping him with the tug.. luckily no one was injured .. I am not saying don’t do it, I am just highlighting the risks associated with it and the need for extra care specially with those inexperienced drivers

I totally agree with Fredy and apart from not being thankful, some even treated me like a slave to even inflate their tires, while they were sitting in the car AC. A bigger question: Why did god didn't give some brain along with money to the Lambo owner? Even if they don't know English, I would have explained to him in sign language: Lambo - Sand - No No......!

@Carnity Good evening everyone, I wanted to write this in general discussions to generally thank the community for the warm welcome. Most importantly teaching me many of the important techniques to drive in the desert and recover myself and other individuals safely. earlier on today I visited the half desert road with my dad @Furpg to test the new jeep gladiator and generally improve upon my own navigation skills for the future. Along the journey we had a pretty hands on refusal with shoveling which eventually lead to my dads first self recovery which was good to see on itself After passing by roads covered in sand I noticed a Lamborghini urus that got stuck in the sand which I gladly held the offer to recover their car. Self recovery was a no go because they didn’t speak well English, so instead I resorted to a kinetic rope pull which I’ve assisted on a few occasions but never have done myself below I’ve attached a photo of the recovery because unfortunately I can’t attach a video (which would’ve been great for some constructive criticism) also below I will attach a photo of the drive. The recovery was a success, which brought a thought to my mind that it would be great to visit that area during winter to help with recoveries. And finally I want to bring a special thanks to @Brette @Hisham Masaad and every other experienced driver + marshal I’ve drove with in the past that taught me the safety and introduction to off-road See everyone on the sand soon!

thank you @Imteeaz @varunmehndiratta you are the master man. @Looper @Niki many thanks dears for your support. @salah2u @MMansoor nice to see you again guys, looking to see you next!

Will work on it and keep you posted @Benjamin!

@Simon Dawood this information has definitely helped and improved my understanding on the people you meet out in the sand, I truly appreciate the pointers and will consider them the next time I think about helping someone out. When helping these people out I ensured everyone’s safety even through the language barrier. Fortunately these people were thankful and I felt very comfortable in the situation however next time I’ll consider your experience and everyone else’s. I’m happy that I’m getting replies as this really helps my off-road knowledge and safety of myself and my passengers. cheers. Hope to see you out in the sand soon

1000% agree

Very good points raised @Islam Soliman, well done. Also @Benjamin if you are keen on helping maybe you first learn the three beep method, and the definition of soft, and medium pull from any marshals on the next drive, so you are 100% sure to execute the safe recovery.

@GauravSoni thanks for an exhilarating drive, I loved the faster pace in the second part. Good to get some adrenaline pumping 😂. And thanks to @Simon Dawood and @salah2u in support as well as @Haitham Khattab in 2nd lead. @Yusuf Esaf I hope you have been able to sort out your car. Fellow dune bashers @Sam K @Ignacio Quindós @Tareq Al Turq @Salim Akhtar below a link with some Gladiator POV videos of our drive. https://photos.app.goo.gl/3JCdLJUDaF3z5mJH8

@Lawrence_Chehimi sounds like if I head in that direction I’ll be running a small scale business 😂 after everyone’s responses Im going to be more vigilant about these people and hopefully I’ll be able to avoid those interactions. As I’m also a very young driver at the age of 19 everyone’s advice is very welcome. Can’t believe there are some people out there that won’t accept the advice or help for that matter… hope to see you out in the desert sometime soon

@Benjamin go to sufouh beach on a weekend and you will end up working as a tow truck, you can easily recover 4-5 cars per hour🤣. But as everyone mentioned, be extra careful, especially with small cars, you might think it has a recovery point but that’s more of a tie down point, give it a medium tug and it will break immediately. you will also encounter some rude people who don’t appreciate your help and ask you to leave them alone; happened to me once, a pajero was recovering a Tahoe with a tie down strap🤦‍♂️of course the strap broke and I left them searching for someone else to help..

@Islam SolimanGreat drive on Saturday I really enjoyed it I couldn’t agree with you more and a lot of consideration went into the recovery luckily i had a spare radio so there was some communication. And I made sure to explain the recovery to the driver who seemed to have the best English out of the group. if I’m ever in a situation that I spot a stuck car again I’ll consider these factors. Thank you for the pointers this is exactly what I was looking for so I can improve on my skills cheers. See you on the sand soon

Probably because many of them are rented cars and are not actually owned

@Gaurav I am keen to help people out but at the same time I want to do it safely that’s why I’ve enjoyed my time at carnity these past few months. I’m very interested and constantly ready to learn especially on the sand. I’ll definitely learn more from the marshals during the drives and always be ready with questions. cheers. Hope to see you out on the sand

@Mike. I love this idea and think it would be great considering how often I drive with passengers. Hope to see you soon mate!

@Furpg generally getting stuck is part of the fun. Testing your own limits and the car.

Congratulations @Vaibhav for joining the Support Team 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. SUPPORT TEAM Pre-requisite 1) Minimum 10 any level "Carnity" drives are required after your Intermediate promotion. Once you decide to join Team Carnity to excel further with your off-roading, people, and commanding skills, you will be extensively trained by the whole Team Carnity from Expert - Marshal - Crew at various stages by supporting different levels drives. Stage 1 Support different Marshals and Crew at Newbie level drives to demonstrate: Your ability and willingness to support new offroaders. Ability to gain control of the commanding situations. And clear communication skills to help manage the convoy. Stage 2 (optional) Pre-requisite 1) Minimum supporting 6 Newbie/Fewbie drives per quarter (within 3 months). 2) Minimum 10 "Carnity" Intermediate drives are required within the last 6 months. 2) For progressing further to Advisor level, you need to receive a minimum of 4 different Marshals / Crew approval by supporting 4 or more Newbie drives, so that you can attain adequate exposure for bigger roles that come with more responsible and commanding tasks in the future. To learn and demonstrate your recovery and self-recovery skills. Help individuals to self-recover or use tow rope or winch recoveries. To demonstrate your convoy commanding skills in difficult situations. And people interaction skills to manage the convoy with clear communication. Once you receive 4 different Marshals / Crew approval, then you will be eligible for your Advisor promotion. Eligibility criteria: Maximum two rounds of 4 Newbie drives each will be assigned to you with different Marshals for demonstrating your skills, knowledge, commitment, and team player attitude. You must attain a full consensus of all 4 Marshal / Crew in either the first or the second round as a qualifier. Full 4 drives consensus need to be achieved in either round for you to proceed, else your promotion request will be rejected permanently. You may of course continue in the Carnity Off-road Club at your previous rank.

Looks like the same guy

Yessss.... Now the actual fun and enjoy👏👏👏👏👏👏👏well deserved promotion @Vaibhav congratulations, look forward to see you promoted for more

Congratulations @Vaibhav

well done.

Thank you for joining the team @Vaibhav, you are already very supportive, always good to have you in a drive !

Congratulations @TT_Dubai

Thanks @Danish Mohammad Thanks @Imteeaz

Hi @Carnity family, It has been an overwhelming and pleasurable experience to date with everything that the the club has to offer. No question about that. The high level of organization, structure and communication has been predominantly evident throughout the journey. While the majority of the experience has been mainly around "Sand Duning" [don't like the word bashing ], I was wondering if the club is willing to consider conducting Overlanding drives. I ask this assuming maybe everyone is busy preparing for the new season and now would be a good time to throw in this idea. @Gaurav, thank you for constantly accommodating my new ideas/suggestions, unfortunately this is part of who I am and what I do for a living [Always rocking the boat :)] Here is some food for thought, when the weather gets cooler of course: 1- Start small, maybe 1-2 drives per month, I am sure there are certain leaders who have a thing for Overlanding. 2- The drives would be naturally longer with more family and friends oriented activities as part of the overlanding experience, while bringing Carnity club members closer 3- If the number of subscribers increase and the concept gets traction, then the number of drives would increase per month 4- This would act as a new attraction to increase the number of new subscribers, as I am certain there is a significant amount of people looking for such a thing. In turn, this would naturally generate a new revenue stream for the club as I don't think there are many similar clubs offering this kind of drives 5- As we mature and grow within these kinds of drives, we can get creative in the types of family-oriented activities that can be done in such drives. What are your thought ladies and gents? Thanks Mike

Congratulations @Vaibhav

@Vaibhav truly deserved mate - congrats. looking forward to drive with you in your new role. cheers

I appreciated getting stuck up to the frame in soft sand and impressed at how you handled it. @Benjamin hopefully when I have my first official drive I won’t do the same.

Well done @Benjamin ! If you’re keen on helping others that’s a great thing. But once you’ve spent some time as an off-roader you’ll come to see that these areas are flooded every single weekend with guys showing off and getting stuck without any kind of off-road knowledge. Most of them will appreciate the help but I’ve gone into a few recoveries as well with some people who didn’t even want to lift a finger let alone help shovel, and I’ve broken most of my off-road ropes on those kinds of recoveries from guys refusing to listen to basic instructions and not paying attention. Some of those negative experiences left me with a bit of a bad taste recovering others in those areas. If I happen to be in that area or any other typical desert area I will never hesitate to help out but I won’t visit that area with the purpose of practicing recoveries. Having said that, half desert area, the winding road to Damac Hills 2, and Qudra area are full of stuck people every weekend so by all means go ahead 😜

Congratulations @Vaibhav very well deserved promotion 👍

Thanks @Gaurav, count me in, anytime! I'll work on it in parallel as well from a personal point of view to find places. Some of the things I have in mind for diversification and growth is have a structure model for "Exploration/Expedition" drives. Requires detailing based on number of drives, planning and involved activities but it's something like: 1- Explorer 2- Adventurer 3- Pathfinder 4- Trail Blazer Some of the activities that can be done in addition to the drive itself is family and group-oriented activities. Some examples: 1- Create an equivalent of an egg hunt to help members sharpen their navigation skills while groups would enjoy looking for the hidden "eggs" with their cars as a family and in groups. 2- Create themes for drives where everyone gets involved during camping / picnics etc. Mexican Themes, Christmas etc...limitless options I am sure you get the gist of it, basically it is combining the off-roading passion with a community building, family-oriented approach which no other group offers in the region, not sure for the rest of the world. If I want to push the envelope a bit, it could be much grander things in times like this when there are multiple days off which also can help in marketing such as Expedition Drive to Oman or the Pyramids and back (This is wayyy too early) but you get it, I am sure. These can be potentially used both digitally (social media) and physically (car stickers for example) for completed major expeditions for participants as marketing. All in all, the idea is to mix off-roading passion with the core of Carnity, which is the community building. Let's see what can be done when the weather gets cooler. Thanks Mike

Thanks @Mike. for coming up with such suggestions and wonderful ideas to diversify and grow. Every year wadi and mountain access in UAE is getting smaller and smaller with most of the area being fenced, army access, border control, privately commercialized, etc. Over 95% of the area that we use to venture into in the olden days now is under some sort of restriction. Nevertheless, it's good to have keen members like you who can help and support exploration drives to find those hidden gems, whenever possible.

Yo Freddy If I have holiday allowance from work I am mos def in for oman! Cheers! Imran

Very good topic. We have done 5-10 Full Day Drives in the last years, which can be considered light overlanding drives and where we can bring family along. We did coast to coast, sand to mountain, etc.. and these are indeed a good alternative to the shorter "bashing" drives. For me personally, real overlanding is more fun in Oman, but that would require sorting visas, and setting up multiple smaller convoys (you don't want to be on the highway covering long distances with more than 5-6 cars). In Oman you can cover the wadis, and camp in different places. When the season cools down you can definitely expect to see some of those activities emerging.

Thanks @Felix Obst

I totally agree and that's why I never miss shoveling and climbing dunes for quick cardio and physical exercise that we need the most.

Well done @Vaibhav! Get ready for shoveling!

Congrats TT well deserved