Varun Mehndiratta

Drive Plan

An early morning adventure through the awesome long range dunes and beautiful ridges of Faqa. Followed by (hopefully) a chance to maneuver through some of the most amazing bowls one can find in Dubai Desert - just at the border of Solar Park and Faqa (or what is now well & rightly refered to as Little Sweihan). 

General Overview

We request every member that joins this drive to go through the below information and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquettes and responsibilities.

MUST READ AND COMPLY

• Environmental Policy
• Offroad Flag Guideline
• Two Way Radio Guideline
• Off road Driving Etiquette's
• Emergency details for all off-roaders
• Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities

Drive Details

Level: Fewbie & Above

When:  22nd July’23, Saturday

Meeting time: 5:00AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions).

Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/WbWFK5iwurzey1dF8

Type of Car: Any  4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance.

What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. 

Approximate finish time: 9:00 AM

THIS IS A COMPRESSOR ONLY DRIVE. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS DRIVE UNLESS YOU HAVE A COMPRESSOR. ANYONE ARRIVING AT THE DRIVE WITHOUT A COMPRESSOR, FLAG, PROPER SHOVEL AND DEFLATION KIT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE DRIVE. ALL TOW POINTS WILL BE CHECKED BEFORE DEPARTURE. 

Dear Sand Sailors.

Convoy Order is as below. 

1. Varun 

2. @Krishna Ras SL.

3. @Bashar Beasha

4.  @Looperas Platoon leader 1

5.  @Mark B

6.  @Simon D as Platoon Leader 2

7.   @Gary F 

8.  @Joseph Raju

9. @Benjamin as Sweep. 

We will be using Channel 3.  

See you there. 

 I will decide the convoy order after reaching the location.. too many last min dropouts. 
Welcome @Benjamin
 

See you all tomo 

38 minutes ago, DP1011 said:

14 members with 12 IM and Above and 2 members halfway through to their IM😉, Whats the plan @Varun Mehndiratta😎😁! 

Hahaha @DP1011 you have been on many of my drives to know - Real drive is usually agnostic to title of drive posted on mondays and names in convoy…. 😀 This one won’t be any diff. I will drive for my fun (it’s my weekend as well 😀😀), you can decide what level it was at the end of it. 😀😀 

In middle of upcoming holidays, lets join on 30th June, at Badayer/Area 53 for a fast paced fun drive - freeing ourselves and our mind of pending household chores/duties and just enjoying our time out in the desert - with no other thoughts but the view of lovely dunes that lie ahead. 

General Overview

Drive Details

Level: Fewbie Plus and Above 

When:  30th Jun'2023, Friday.

Meeting time: 5:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions).

Meeting Point:  https://goo.gl/maps/JkhE9hDwve8mkkU99

Type of Car: Any  4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance.

What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

Approximate finish time: 9:00 AM

THIS IS A COMPRESSOR ONLY DRIVE. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS DRIVE UNLESS YOU HAVE A COMPRESSOR. ANYONE ARRIVING AT THE DRIVE WITHOUT A COMPRESSOR, FLAG, PROPER SHOVEL AND DEFLATION KIT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE DRIVE. ALL TOW POINTS WILL BE CHECKED BEFORE DEPARTURE. 

On 6/21/2023 at 6:35 PM, Ale Vallecchi said:

Dear @FERNANDO SYRIO the meeting point maybe either one of the following:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/wMBpk9oN4kGbvbMe8

or

https://maps.app.goo.gl/vsXqojmtRA1hLcb97

Will decide by Friday PM. Thanks for waiting. 

Was planning to join, however being so close to police station is making me nervous… 😀😀

Dear Sand Sailors 

Thanks for joining in for the this unique exploration experience - was it a desert or a forest, I am still not sure . True to the theme it was one real Jumble, thanks to your company and the awesome adventure we had, I will remember it for a long time. As sticker on  @Benjamin Jeep said - a true Jurassic Park experience. 

We have all experienced steep climbs at Sweihan, have faced super soft sand in Liwa and have enjoyed those awesome @Frederic signature scenic drives through farms and vegetation - this drive combined it all togather and nature somehow zipped it all into a small area - just forgot that it meant no space to loop around for those steep climbs, crazy irregular ridges with vegetation on both sides (reminded me of Floor is lava 😀) and powder soft sand. 

It was wonderful to see how you all individually and as a convoy transversed through this terrain. We had our fair share of refusals (I stopped counting after 15) however nothing that took more than 5-10 min of collective effort to clear off. It was a busy morning however the camaraderie kept it free flowing fun. Usually we all focus on maintaining momentum, this drive was all about maintaining control through sudden shifts - a super tech challenge and the whole convoy did amazing. Bravo. 
 

In terms of data - we covered around 36Km in 4 hours, climbing up around 650mtr 😮- as @DP1011 mentioned during the drive as well, terraced shape of dunes meant while all climbs were super challenging it never felt that real cumulative ascent to be this high - this is usually a number we do in little sweihan and Faqa area - when we do climb a lot. So yeah quite a positive reflection on what we achieved. 
 

@Rajiv Sam couldn’t have asked for a better SL. It undoubtedly was the toughest terrain i have led through but with you as my wingman I was convinced that we will sail through and so we did. 

@Alexanderrr its not easy for a Pajero in this terrain - especially with sudden super steep climbs. Was really motivating to see your smile while managing the challenges. Brilliant work. 

 @Jaro Tuzinsky @Benjamin@Gok Krish apart from some minor refusals on those crazy ridges you all did amazingly well - always in control of your rides. 

Thanks to our sweep and platoon leaders @Fabien Monleau @DP1011 and @Sunil Mathew always there to support through all countless refusals despite all the heat and humidity - yup we are in summer and yesterday we all got a good flavor of it. 

Since this was an exploration drive, I look for your feedback on how you assess this terrain and drive - should we bring it as part of regular drives with @Carnity ? My take on it is as below

- In it’s present form I.e. as we experienced it - I would say a good overlanding experience for FB and perhaps even Nb level. Don’t get on the crazy climbs stay on and around  sabkas to maneuver through the vegetation. A one off Int challenging drive just to get a feel of something different than usual. 
 

- During summer hopefully the vegetation goes down - well expect sand to be softer than what we experienced. This might be a good area for Intermediate. But then also need to take into account that ridges were too irregular and in summer with wind might be a bit tricky. Perhaps a tech challenge drive for int. 
 

- Before the rains, early in winter  - might be a good area to explore for all levels. 
 

So a good addition to our treasure to be treaded with caution. 
 

Thanks again and looking forward to see you all sometime soon.

Refer below for  comparison of 2021 drive (the graph on top) with our drive this Saturday. Very similar route and overall elevation profile, just the vegetation made the diff in speed a bit. Low stop time a good reflection of the way you all managed the terrain. Cheers

1 hour ago, Rajiv Sam said:

confirm iam available 

Thanks @Rajiv Sam. 
All - updated the convoy order. 

2 minutes ago, Tareq Al Turq said:

Dear @Varun Mehndiratta. I am sorry that I have to drop out my name from the convoy as I have family commitments tomorrow. I will give chance to another member to enjoy the drive tomorrow. Difenitely I will missed it but the government at home has another priorities for tomorrow 😂

Thanks @Tareq Al Turq for sharing the same in time. @Rajiv Sam are you available to join, please confirm. 

For our WL drivers @Rajiv Sam @Chris Wing @Senthil Kumar @Sam K @Pacific @Simon D being an exploration drive couldn’t have extended the convoy size further. I noted that slot still available on FBPlus drive at Mahafiz at same time with Doc @M.Seidam- with Faya and Fossil rock to explore surely a drive to check. 
See you all sometime soon. 

Dear Sailors

Thanks for your confirmations. Here are the details of the drive.

Meeting Time : 5:45am sharp

Channel :3

Convoy Order : 

Varun in Maroon Rubicon

 @Rajiv Sam in his FJC will be SL

 @Jaro Tuzinsky on his fjc

 @Alexanderrr in his Pajero

 @Fabien Monleau our 1st platoon leader in his LC

 @Benjamin in his silver wrangler 

 @Gerrit Bus with his gladiator

 @DP1011 on grey Rubicon our 2nd leader

 @Joji varghese in his Xterra 

 @Gok Krish on his silver 392 crushing the dunes

 @Sunil Mathew will be sweeping the convoy. 
 

See you all tomo morning. 

Sailors in case I missed to share -  we will be crossing through the greenest of desert you have explored. At certain points bushes higher than your vehicles. 

So just a summary - Steep climbs through Slip face + terraced shaped irregular dunes + green bushes = let’s buckle up. 
 

Thanks all @Joji varghese @Gok Krish kindly confirm your availability. 

5 hours ago, Mark B said:

Haha cheeky!  I made it with my own two hands, it’s very dusty now and had a Jack strapped in front of it but it’s still there 

It’s just amazing and leaves lots of space for special camping trips or long drives needing Jerry cans etc 

For jlu riders also like the setup @Ranjan Das has with all the locked in drawers and @Juan R idea of locking shovel under rear seat (though not sure if it works with passengers in vehicle) - it’s not only being able to secure but also being able to keep it as is during the week, m too lazy to take out and keep thinks back. 

Dear Sand Sailors

With less than 48hours to go for this crazy expedition and still 7 WL drivers, let’s do a plan check to make sure we don’t have any last min surprises. 
 

Please review your plan and confirm your availability for the drive by EOD today. Thanks for your understanding. 
 

@Gerrit Bus @Benjamin @Gok Krish @Tareq Al Turq @Jaro Tuzinsky @Sunil Mathew @Joji varghese @Alexanderrr@DP1011 @Fabien Monleau

1 hour ago, Mark B said:

Always love to show off the back board, one of the first things I made for Gladis there is storage attached to the back too 😊😊😊

This is beautiful … looks awesome. 

1 hour ago, Gary F said:

Wow @Varun Mehndiratta a whole new world , in all my searching I never came  across these before .. look extremely useful.  
 

bet you could go overboard mounting these everywhere 😂 

Yeah come in very handy … this plus cable ties (to avoid drilling) can hold quite a bit of load. 

5 minutes ago, Ishak said:

Good discussion @Benjamin

all my gears below

I put in two plastic boxes and tied them down. 

Missing Fire Extinguisher .. very important 😀

10 minutes ago, Gary F said:

Love this topic , still trying to find the optimal tie down setup for the Jeep Gladiator,  now that I have moved up levels I find sometimes items become loose.

@Patrick the suitcase is elegance in its simplicity, @Benjamin we have a few taking up space at home.

 

@Varun Mehndiratta D Grip ? Not familiar with this.

1 hour ago, Benjamin said:

@Varun Mehndiratta Nice! I haven't tried this yet myself. 

Personally, I carry a spare Lug wrench with different sizes+ spare compressor hoses in that compartment.

So true. I just got my jack and the sheer weight of it surprised me. But nevertheless going for my first int drive this weekend  

 

Get couple of these - come in very handy for lots of stuff. 

https://www.amazon.ae/YOCTM-Under-Seat-Organizer-Wrangler/dp/B07T9D5LLF/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2MICTA1S82K8J&keywords=JLU+under+the+seat+storage&qid=1683115966&sprefix=jlu+under+the+seat+stora%2Caps%2C398&sr=8-5

Interesting — in Jeep I don’t have this issue at all. 
 

1. My rope, shackles, bungee cords, jump cable, wd40, duct tape etc fit in under mat compartment in the boot.

2. Shovel using d grip on sides of rolling cage

3. Compressor now I have on board one earlier it used to fit under the seat or between the seats (passenger side) during drive. 

4. First aid kid now I have a utility bag from TE that has spanners, first aid kid etc goes under the seat. Earlier was using a behind the seat Molle bag set with all these things - on the rear passenger seats.  

5. Jack and board tied to the floor in the boot using bungee cord. 
 

So car is usually neat and well organized

15 hours ago, Bashar Beasha said:

Hi Mark. I’m using an Insta360 X3.

There is an option to track objects during edit and playback yes, and you can manually change the view. It is cool and its fun to watch the footage 😁

Yeah it’s really nice..  would love to have it… just need to find someone to edit it for me. Have 100GB of raw videos from my action camera lying in my HDD waiting to be processed. Some day I will surely work on them 😀

Hi @Gary F Trading ent included it in some vehicles - not sure if it’s model specific. Usually it’s an additional accessories with Mopar compressor. 

1 hour ago, Mark B said:

Went to Iceland a few weeks back and these bad boys had air build in, you can see the hose going into the wheels! That would be sick but not sure how practical as a daily driver lol 

Have seen one LC in Carnity with this setup sometime back, not sure if we still have it… is pretty cool setup. 

2 hours ago, Patrick said:

I love the standard 2 wheel hose the FJ comes with, together with the built-in compressor.

If I were to upgrade to an on-board or even the suitcase ARB compressor, I would probably get a hose that can inflate 2 wheels at the same time. But not 4.

I find for 4 wheels there is "too much hose" and have to spend time dis-entangling it and getting knots out. I also like to wipe the sand/dust off the hose after inflating with a cloth, that would take me too long for the 4 tyre setup.

I think the guy selling the hose also sells the 2 wheel setup. But in any case this build-it-yourself projects sounds like fun and I might give it a try for a 2 hose setup. Thanks for sharing that! 

Just a thought,  believe this standard 2 hose arrangement that comes with FJ and Jeep should be possible to upgrade to 4 hose one easily. There is one brass Chuck which is used for deflation - connecting another 2 hose arrangement with that should do the trick (?) Something I believe might be worth the try. 

2 hours ago, Gary F said:

A 2 wheel setup sounds like a good compromise between hose length and time it takes to setup.

I’ll do some further research , I like the idea of building our own. 

After using two hose arrangement - am more and more inclined to go for 4 hose arrangement. Yes will take good amount of time to fill up - but then no need to stand next to car - can chit chat during winters and can be inside the car during summer. 
 

Wow @Ale Vallecchi that is super cool … I recall we did a drive sometime back on finding water but with a geologist on the drive, this is super awesome. 👍👍