Leaderboard

It's been one year since I started a new chapter in desert driving hobby; leading drive with @Carnity, and last week it was my 50th when I took over @Islam Soliman's drive. It was also my 238th drive I have actually driven. These are some quick numbers to look into: Most of them as usual have been Fewbie drives but I find my sweet spot at FB+, I have been doing a lot of FB+ to balance overall ratios. -------------- These numbers below mean shared drives. Given means, I posted a drive but someone else also took a part of the convoy, taken means someone else posted a drive I took a part (or as in last week whole) of convoy. -------------- I really can't see in the dark. So, no night drives for me. I do not see any drives posted by me in the night. This chart also shows the number of drives I have done per month. Till December 2023 I was averaging 13 drives a quarter. This year however has been less due to my frequent travels. -------------- This list is the locations where I have driven. & following are some stats of those locations: Faqa'a (Includes both Dubai side and Abu Dhabi side) might seem to be my favorite location as most drives are done there. Actually, it is not, as I hate all the bushes. I have been doing this to find the best way of doing it. Now that finally have found the most optimal track, which is to start from Abu Dhabi side to go towards Little Sweihan and then to Solar Park. I might now do some drives on the reverse side. Qudra includes drives that started at Qudra Roundabout towards Lisaili, Bab al Shams and Solar Park. Liwa drive is my drive to Yellow Truck. It grouped in others to keep it up with the forum; the convoy was an Intermediate and I had spilt it for a FB+ convoy with @Kailas.

Dear desert warriors , You have all driven well and i personally enjoyed the company and the laughs with you all. As you may have noticed that this drive had several stages , starting with a slow easy pace followed by easy Technical terrain spiced up by straight down dune crossing to give you the ability to recognize better your car dynamics. Mid drive we have increased the drive pace with some side sloops followed by some ridge ridding and finally putting everything we have practiced into the test I thank you all for your discipline and punctuality for being on time . Great S/L @Emmanuel you have a good reflex and reaction @RiadJL, @Martin M you did really well for your first Fb keep it up 💪 @Jad Moussalli you really controlled that beast pretty smoothly well done 🚙 @Sandeep Nayar, @Faraz94, @Shiju Raju @Danny G, @Prithvi Raj,it was a pleasure driving with you guys keep it up @Sunil Mathew and @Cha thank you guys for the great support you helped me focus on the path . I hope you all enjoyed and learned something useful from this drive and looking forward to see you on the next drive

Dear Desertnauts I am looking forward to returning to the sand after a few days of absence and following the rains of the last weeks. It is in consideration of the latest heavy precipitations that I have not yet published the meeting and starting point for the drive. Considering its length, and the fact that I have been travelling for a while, I'd like to evaluate the situation of the various areas and terrains, before deciding where to drive. I will publish the final meeting point by Saturday afternoon. The choice will be between the souther part of Dubai's desert (Lisaili/Faqa and/or Solar Park/Qudra areas) or Sweihan's section closest to Dubai (say from Pac-Man dunes to Nagra/Nahil). In the meantime, the convoy order that I'd like to line-up will be the following: @Aser in Second Lead @Sviatoslav at #3 @RiadJL at #4 @Zak_ at #5 @Andrew John Melvill at #6 @Batuhan Kulac at Center @Johannes Roux at #8 @Mahmut at #9 @Hani Howeedy at #10 and @Luke K P in Sweep. Let's reconvene here on Saturday to share the meeting point. Enjoy the end of the week.

Dear Desert Drivers, Thank you you joining the drive today. As expected, the desert was still showing the effect of the rains of last week. Starting with the meeting point, still totally flooded. Once everyone reached, we drove on the tarmac a few km and entered a bit further. The sand was generally still very compact, offering a good grip beneficial for the high climbs. The crossings were also generally facilitated, but the edges were sharper than usual, requiring a perfect accuracy for the driving line. A few other traps in the form of steeper pockets than usual, salt crust remaining from evaporated water ponds in the flat areas, water or sludge on the flat sabkhas. All this did not prevent us to enjoy fully the area. We had our share of high climbs, steep descents, ridge riding and crossing and beautiful desert views. The first portion with bigger dunes, more thrills and sensations, the second portion more technical with totally virgin dunes. Very well driven all of you. @Shaun J, @Aser excellent focus and control for your first FB+, @Julien Recan @Deepak Eswar you had one crossing a bit hazardous, but well done for the rest, @Luke K P @msa @Robk @Frans M, excellent control in both portions. Special thanks to @Luke K P as Second Lead, and @Deepak Eswar for the Sweep, both of you very reliable today. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and see you soon!

Good afternoon all, hope you are excited for this drive/dive. do bring your fishing rods just in case. I hope to see some nice blue lakes 🤞. We will be swinging on looper's constant (Radio Ch 2). We will leave for the dunes at 6:45 sharp (latest) so don't be late; the convoy wont wait. @Marek, @Batuhan Kulac, @george charbel, @Julien Recan, @Mahesh_, @Gautam Banka, @msa, @Imran Asghar, @Dodi Syahdar, @Senthil Kumar, @Gary F, @Stumpy I expect the terrain to be rigid underneath a layer of soft sand; the tops of the dunes will be uneven due to those heavy rains. It will be a long drive as we have to cover a lot of distance, and expect to end the drive near Bab Al Shams.

Taking this opportunity to show more global charts: 1. Which day? This one shows from start on September 25, 2020. As our weekend used to be Friday and Saturday, I have a lot of Friday drives as well. Having said that I was always on a Monday to Friday week since I came to Dubai - now it makes me wonder how I managed so many of them Friday drives 😁 What time of the day? Clearly Moring and Afternoons. Number of drives by drive level - I drove a lot at Fewbie level. and very less Fewbie+; till April 2023. Now adding up those Fewbie+ & Intermediate drives to balance them. Drives by Driver level: I spent a very little time as Support Team member but a lot at the advisor level, a lot more than what others do or did from my observation. Expert is my current level. Drives by Participation role: Obviously a lot more drives as an attendee than in support or lead roles. Average drives per month: May seems to be my favorite month. Also happens to by my wife's birthday month - I don't know if it has anything to do with my excessive drives. August is my birthday month 🤣. number of drive a month. There are a couple of months when participated 10 drives in them and there are 3 months when i took sabbatical. A couple because I was off and one just because. Following two are my vehicle analysis: Car Brands of the participants (excludes my drives) Car Models by current participants (excludes my drives): Some analysis of leads (DISCLAIMER: this is my own personal experience and is not a good matrix) Number of drives by leads (obviously excludes mine) Average distance covered and speed. Ale is the king of both. Average drive time and moving ratio. (Obviously with those leads with whom I have supported a lot of (absolute) newbie drives are going to be slower on average than those with who I have done mostly Intermediate drives.

Dear team LMQ ! , @Zak_ @Wilfredo Perez @Prithvi Raj @lucas amat @Nizar Shawwa @Jad Moussalli @Faraz94 @Haneef Thayyil @Mahesh_ Thank you for showing your interest on tomorrow's drive ! I, @Islam Soliman and @Benjamin are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow ! Some points for tomorrow's drive ! - Be on time ! 6am ! Please dont be late - The briefing will be held inside the desert and not at meeting point - so if you are late , you will just end up with a short drive from home to meeting point and back home ! - Meeting point : https://goo.gl/maps/khH7pHF3DipEsapN9 - from this, just get inside the entry road. Please note the meeting point is just on the highway, so slow down as you approach about 500mts of meeting, once arrived take left. - Get your gas tanks full !! : There is Emarat and EPCO station Just about 12kms before meeting point while coming from Sharjah/Dubai😂 and EPCO on other side if coming from Abu Dhabi. - Please make sure your radios are fully charged ! and you dont forget the mandatory off-road gears ! - Please do carry sufficient water - Its getting hot and highly important that we keep ourselves hydrated. also do carry light snacks for yourselves ( for others also is not prohibited ) - And also fill up your patience tanks fully - It will be a drive of patience and resilience too - considering the recent heavy rains, hence mixture of exploration + technical and lot of vegetation too - which of course we will try to avoid Passengers are highly not recommended for this please , UNLESS the are used to long duration drives. Convoy order will be published in couple of hours ! See you all tomorrow !

@Luke K P @Julien Recan please read my prev article on this if you haven't >> https://carnity.com/forums/topic/16736-diff-lock-simplified-center-rear-front-explained/ The Standard Order is Central Diff Lock > Rear Diff Lock >> and last Front Diff Lock. Am sure there's a very technical reason for this, one involving blowing out diffs, but for shortcut let's just say this is how it's done in Mercedes G-Wagon and Toyota Land Cruiser 80, so let's follow Mercedes & Toyota engineers regarding this order of pressing the buttons Here's my take on your new orange Ford: 1. First check if your Center + Rear Diff Locks are automatically engaged when you switch to 4Lo. My Nissan Y62 Patrol did this, everytime I turned 4Lo, it automatically enganges Rear Diff Lock (thus also Center Diff Lock). My Jeep Grand Cherokee doesn't do this, so if I go 4Lo, it doesn't engage any diff locks. How to test? You can't test on sand. In your parking space, turn on 4Lo then move forward 3 steps so it fully engages 4Lo. Then turn your steering wheel full-left (or full-right) and accelerate. If your tires are slipping or you hear screeching sound, means your rear diff is locked. Remember the purpose of Differential is so that left tyre and right tyre can spin at different speeds (which is needed for turning full-left/full-right mechanism) 2. If #1 doesn't make any sound means you are in 4Lo but in open diffs mode (no center and no rear diffs locked). Great, you can drive in 4Lo at high-speed to get more torque. 3. Why would you ever want to drive with diff locks engaged at high speed ??? Read Point #1 above, the purpose of having differential is to allow left-tyre to spin faster/slower than right-tyre, which is needed for full-turn. Yes in low-traction platform like soft sand and water, the tires still slip but they will not screech and make sound like in your concrete car parking or highway asphalt. But still, do you want to risk it? Example: you're riding on a ridge with soft sand with Center + Rear Diffs locked, then suddenly you have to make 90-degrees left-turn to exit the ridge riding. If the sand is hard (due to rain), now you're turning on a non low-traction platform. The tires will slip to make the turn, but because you're no longer in soft sand, you will be turning like a Rally Driver, with that drifting effect, which is fine on horizontal levelled plain areas (sabkhas), but on a ridge? Only the braves will risk it.... I've asked some "crazy" drivers why they turn-on Center Diff Lock when driving, and these are their reasons: 3.1.They want to drive in a STRAIGHT LINE very fast. Rally drivers do this. You can also try when you're climbing up in a straight line, but not when you're going up then decided to make a loop. 3.2 They want to drift when they're side-sloping, only doable with beadlocks. I've seen this in front of my eyes: so the car looks like fighting gravity, but in fact they are SLIDING horizontally with the nose facing 45-degrees up. Very cool for videos, but even I don't want to try that 😂 PS: we can do a 30-mins "testing session" after an official drive to test the various modes of your mighty Raptor 😁

Hi @Looper and the entire convoy I just want to say that today was brilliant A mix of tech, dunes and speed. A really fun drive it was my birthday so my wife agreed to join me lol which was nice she enjoyed it too Anyway have a great week all and stay safe. I hear the weather could be iffy towards the end of the week

@Zak_ @Wilfredo Perez @Prithvi Raj @lucas amat @Nizar Shawwa @Jad Moussalli @Faraz94 @Haneef Thayyil @Mahesh_ + @Benjamin + @Islam Soliman - Please note the convoy order as below ! See you 6am or earlier . We will use Channel 2 : 446.031

@Emanuel, @Alphin Aloor, @Zulfikhar Naiyar, @Gurcharan Mehta, @Ranjan Das, @Anoop Nair, @Amir Amiri, @Mahmoud Taha, @Stumpy. I will be driving for the first time on an Intermediate drive with some of you. The drive plan is to march straight to the end of the desert as fast as we can safely and turn back. In between we will climb all the dunes we encounter. Hope the desert sand has dried up a bit in the meantime. We will plough on Channel 2 and following is the tentative convoy order:

No long til the weekend 😁🙏 see you all Sunday..

Normal shovel. This is basically our most useful tool in desert driving. In 95% of recovery situations in the desert, a sturdy shovel will get you out. I know in the US winches are used along with tree straps etc to self-recover. Winches aren't very prevalent here as a self-recovery tool since we very rarely have something to strap on to in the desert. Land anchors for sand tend to be large, heavy and impractical and I've only ever seen a handful of people with one There are quite a few people who have winches on their rigs here but they are mostly used to help recover someone else

Thanks everyone for a excellent drive. @JeromeFJgreat leading taking us into some exciting and new (for me) terrain. Really spectacular scenery. The FB+ debutantes @Aserand @Shaun J drove supremely well, and were very handy with the shovels digging my car or from the full body cresting on the ridge! I claimed first stuck of the drive 😎 Both myself and @Robk got to enjoy the full pleasure of long wheel base vehicles in technical dunes with some shovels and ropes. The big bowls were great fun, as were the back and forth crossing of ridges towards the end of the drive. Was great to see big combo of FJs, jeeps, the big patrol, and the retro livery LC71 dominating everything that Jerome put in our parh Here's a couple of captures videos of the convoy... I'll get some more of my camera tonight I hope. Cheers and see you all in the sand again soon. https://photos.app.goo.gl/gTS4rsRDK2pW3i1h7 Side sloping https://photos.app.goo.gl/nRtnjCE9gZAvxry5A Briefing sky time-lapse https://photos.app.goo.gl/6VsNe46o3uZczysdA Team loops https://photos.app.goo.gl/kJqXDdDDf7BrjSQAA Ridge crossing with refusal

@Deepak Eswar and @JeromeFJ's Blue Jeep Bowl

STATS 59.0 km Distance 2h 43m Moving Time 3:46 min/km Pace 3h 42m Total Time 58m 57s Stopped Time 21.6 kph Moving Speed 15.9 kph Avg Speed 400 m Ascent 318 m Descent

Welcome to your first Fewbie drive @Martin M and @RiadJL. You and the rest of the convoy drove well. Looking back every now and again we were mostly evenly spaced out and moving nicely. Here is a Relive video of our drive. https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOdXPeBAkO It was driving with you again @Simon D @Sunil Mathew and @Cha. See below drive stats

Dear Desert Drivers, @Mohit Gurnani @Shaun J @Stan @Mahmut @Julien Recan @msa @Mark B @Rk ram @Deepak Eswar @Cristian @Ishak @Zulfikhar Naiyar Last update for tomorrow Meeting at 6:30 am at https://maps.app.goo.gl/jJFZW3efvbMw73629 The convoy order will be We will use Carnity Radio Channel 5. Enjoy the evening, take a good rest and, and see you tomorrow morning!

My pleasure to be CF. See you all Sunday 💪

It’s going to be a muddy drive, but let’s try to drive through some seldom used tracks so that we have a bit of decent experience. We will also try to avoid cross tracks as much as possible. Climbing tall dunes should be slightly easier, due to better traction. Normally we come come via the service road but suggest we take a U turn from a bit ahead of the meeting point, will perhaps be tad bit quicker.

Congratulations @Sviatoslav 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 Self-recovery techniques Shoveling at right place Crawling out of difficult situations Blip Blip - Coordinate steering and gas control Basic side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Ability to manage stuck/refusals with radio Learn to control and avoid fishtailing Never fight or challenge gravity 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 Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Interested to see if recovery kits vary for the desert troopers... coming from a rock crawler background... we have trees and large boulders that give us an advantage to use our winches during recovery. What does your recovery kit include, and why? What are the most common recovery strategies you have found on the dunes? My Personal Recovery Gear includes: 3 snatch blocks with synthetic shackles light weight aluminum style pulleys 1 steel snatch block 2 aluminum shackles 4 soft shackles 1 long soft shackle 2 tree savers 2 chafe guards 2 line dampeners Kinetic recovery rope Tow straps Fast fid rope (rope splicing tool) Gloves (we use gloves at all times, I have had to recover someone's finger off a trail to the hospital/assist with a Member that accidentally spliced their finger too) Hand-held GMRS radio Well-functioning winch/winch controller/free pull available & synthetic line

Just a regular shovel. it is used to remove sand from under the car. Mine is AOR extendable shovel. I disassemble it into 3 pices and store it in the bag with ropes. I find it nice and tidy. While it is not large but it does work most of the times. Ideally you want to get one with a long handle so that you can reach underneath the car from all directions.

hi @RiadJL each scenario is different, tag me if you're joining next Iftar Bowl drive and will be happy to check your various configuration. But please go through these first before jumping to diff lock: 1. Lower your psi. I had trouble climbing some parts of Lady Dune, but was able to climb after deflating all tires to 10 psi. Of course if you don't have thick sidewalls, safest is to stick to 12 psi (now you have a reason to get taller tires that have "70" or "75" in the middle like 265/70/17) 2. Try in 4Lo but higher gears (e.g. 4Lo + 3rd gear or 4Lo + 4th gear). This will give you lots of torque but also some speed. 3. If you're tires are jumping in the air and the terrain is bumpy, you need firmer shocks (which is perfect for offroad and bumps but too stiff for daily driving). 4. If 1+2+3 above are done but still "no power", you can try Center Diff Lock only 5. If 1+2+3+4 above are done and still "no power", allow me to drive your car. 6. If 1-5 are done and still "no power", let's discuss buying another car

Thanks @Zed. Indeed I have checked that sand mode (4H) does engage rear difflock right away. Can turn it off and keep it off. 4L does not automatically switch it on.. 4L becomes manual on and off. Given your descriptions above.. think maybe the 'sand mode' ( 4H + diff lock ) is aimed at american baja type flat sand desert driving rather than up and over of dunes.... ie lots of drifting on fairly level ground. yeah the cresting whilst turning over it @Julien Recan left me thinking about this all weekend.

Thank you @Gaurav and @Vijay Vaidya, looking forward to it. One of the reasons they close certain terrains or trails is due to the public not being aware of Tread Lightly principles. Happy to pass on knowledge I've learned over the years. We conduct 9 hours of guide work in the mountains to teach Members to grow and develop leadership skills under pressure. I have found it's the best way to grow the offroad community, and keep Members safe. Until then... I'll keep roaming around this forum, just got full access. Thanks for the warm welcome.

Dear Jerome, Thank you for organising such an exhilarating & safe drive on Saturday. While crossing the 'blue Jeep' bowl brought back fond memories of my old blue Jeep Wrangler. I'm also grateful for giving me the opportunity to sweep the convoy. It was an interesting experience. Looking forward to our next drive. Thank you to all the fellow drivers for the support. Thank you for capturing and sharing the exciting moments.

Cool videos man! I'm downloading these Frans.. hope no copyright

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yoPwGEYVgBNZwNt66 Whole crew doing some more sidies with a lot of sand splash at the end

Thanks @Simon D @Sunil Mathew & @Cha for a great drive. Lots of technical terrain and some side sloping practice while avoiding the abnormal vegetation caused by the recent rain The whole convoy did very well with only a few minor refusals. Great to meet you all Great S/L again @Emanuel See you all again soon

Hello everyone .. quick update for tomorrow .. I have bad news and good news My car was going through suspension service and was supposed to be done on Thursday.. due to multiple factors this got extended and it’s unlikely that they will be able to finish and test it today. The good news is the drive is still on thanks to @Looper who will be taking the lead for this drive. Wish you all a fun and safe drive and looking forward for driving with you soon.

I have that too.. may be I will do it next in a couple of days.

to be fair, @Looper was often replying to you guys while my baofeng (with antenna) was only receiving static. And I was in 2nd position: - [somebody]: shhh shhs shhs - [Looper]: copy that, slowing down - [somebody]: shhh shhs shhs - [Looper]: it's OK, standing by

Great. This is what I was looking for. Thanks for the insight!

I have following. Bag 1 - 1 kinetic rope, 2 soft shackles and an extendable shovel that I keep in one toolbag. Bag 2. It’s a Amazon Basics tool back pack. In this I have sets of compbination spanner’s, screw drivers, wrench set, adjustable wrench, ratcheting wrench different types of tapes, epoxy etc. a mechanics kit if you will. Bag 3. with air hose, air nozzle blow gun, air pressure gauge. Gloves. Bag 4 This is used for long duration drives, (where I go for overnight camping + drives) this kit is not a camping kit but has ancillary items I would need for emergencies or general purpose use, This kit includes garbage bags, heavy duty zip ties of different sizes, some paper towels, flag suction cup. Portable air pressure kit. Fluids (wd40, coolant, some engine oil), vacuum and some other items. 2.5 ton Jack, Jack Board and water bottle. one flag, 2 rechargeable radios. One torch light. a cool bag with water and energy drinks and some cool drinks. Action camera kit + mounts & dslr

Thank you @Gaurav for the technical and fun drive - we touched so many types of dunes and terrains, it was a great learning experience. Special shoutout to @Benjamin for his patience and skills, I learnt a lot just by watching him and listening to his instructions on the radio, and to @Sviatoslav for the amazing pictures!

Hi @TheGuardianJLU welcome to Carnity and its off-road club, I am sure you will enjoy it here in Dubai, as it offers great outdoor exploration with varied terrain around the country. Desert and sand experience is a lot less intense than rock-crawling but equally exciting and filled with adrenaline and a lot more forgiving than mountains. UAE has more sand and less of mountains now, as most rocky-terrains are either restricted or converted to sedan-friendly drive. We do host overlanding and mountain scenic drives occasionally, where you can enjoy the home-like feel and also we can learn more from your vast experience heading the Nova Jeepers (nicely organized club).

Intense drive, thank you all! @Looper, awesome mix of tech and fast driving!

It looks will be very interesting drive.

Hey mate. Just recently changed from pajero to ranger raptor. It's definately ready to go out of the box. Rated very good on the @Gauravscale of power to weight for desert play. Great clearance. Suspension is unbelievable when off road (and on) My only issues at the moment are trying to find most comfortable driving mode in sand. I find that the baja mode holds the throttle a bit longer than you would expect when you take the foot off (to keep the turbos spooled).... Might just take more getting used to. Rear end can feel a little loose as there is very little weight over the rear wheels. So I've noticed a bit of changes to my driving style. Using Baja suspension mode, 4H, sand mode with full time rear diff lock enaganed, ESC turned off seems to be the sweet spot for me. 'Off-road cruise' set to 2kph with front and rear diff lock engaged will automatically crawl you out of any refusals allowing you to focusing on just getting wheel angles right and turning left right to clear sand. Let the truck handle the blip blip. Spent a weekend just making stucks to play recovery and was greatly impressed. Only upgrades required is a thicker bash plate to cover the engine and trans as the factory one is like 2.5mm aluminium. Price point to power and features I think U get a very compelling package compared to the offerings in other truck brands and the jeeps. let me know if you want more info or anything cheers mate.