Frederic

Brands/ Models to avoid: - X-cessories. These are just Chinese rebranded compressors that are being sold with a pretty big mark up. - Mini compressors to connect to cigarette lighter: Will last only a few drives. Not made to inflate from 15 to 35psi, unless you want to wait for 45mins or longer. Will overheat easily because of this. Acceptable / Good: Camel Brand compressors from Dragon Mart: Mixed reviews. Some last a few months, some easily last two years and longer. They are not expensive, fast, but very loud. But they get the job done. Same goes for Vitaly brand which is 99% the same but are being sold at a higher price. Premium Models: ( 1 to 5 year warranty) - TJM , Viair ( or Bushranger), MeanMother, Smittybilt, ARB What to look after when buying a compressor ? 1) Warranty. A premium brand should provide 4-5 years warranty which will make the higher price worthwhile. 2) Output in liters per minute (lpm). The more the better of course. Everything from 40lpm upwards should be fine. Some will show a rating in cfm (cubic feet per minute). 2.3 cfm = 65lpm. 3) Duty Cycle: Air compressors heat up when running so most have a limited consistent output before they need to stop and cool off. This run time in-between cycles is called a duty cycle. Manufacturers typically represent run time with a number, such as “20”, which means you can run the compressor for 20 minutes every hour. sometimes they show a percentage. 20 minutes would indicate a 33% duty cycle. Keep this in mind when you are using the compressor every week. Avoid exceeding the duty cycle time as in a short period of time it would overheat / destroy the compressor. 4) Quality of the coiled hose, pressure gauge. 5) inline fuse and thermal overload protection. Will come standard with premium models. Below a specs example of Bushranger Black Max: Duty cycle is 30 minutes @40psi at 24°C ambient temperature. Obviously the ambient temperature will be much higher for us here in the UAE, so you will need to take that into account. Keep the compressor in the shade while using (or even on the inside of the car if possible) and keep your engine running. These compressors are rated to work most efficiently at 13.8 Volts, so your alternator should be running.

DRIVE REPORT Murquab is a place of many surprises, some say they even heard ghosts whispering. I’d say we fought scorpions, crushed baby dunes, and towed behemoths 😉 We started off from the small settlement Murquab is, where it looks like time stood still and things just go their own way. The first landmark is the abandoned farm, where I normally take a left to enter the higher dunes. As i saw a herd of camels on that left side and didn’t want to scoop one up, I took a right turn to go around the farm. This altered my original track slightly and before we knew it we were in some seriously tricky baby dunes. @AnishS gave us a nice team work project, and the winch probably saved us 45mins of serious shoveling. A few others got some small refusals and the mighty F150 of @Melenany decided to take a rest on a crest, but excellent teamwork made it fun and rewarding. After dealing with that technical area I decided we had to pick up the pace a bit so we took some tracks that led us through easily and allowed us to rack up some miles. We headed into the playable dunes but as it was pitch dark by then our play time was running a bit short, and so we headed back to inflation point. All of you guys seriously impressed me today, not just with the driving but overall helping each other out and keeping the shovel nearby. A big thanks again to @Desert Dweller and @Foxtrot Oscar for the excellent recoveries and assistance, @Biju Abdul for the super sweeping, and @AnishS for the excellent second lead. @Dagdag Sofiane you’re really getting comfortable taking the Pajero through any terrain and you drove so well. Keep it up ! @Yousef Alimadadi as always with the smile and super attitude, always a pleasure to have you in the convoy ! @Islam Soliman taking your Yukon effortlessly through this kind of terrain says a lot about your skills, really well done ! the same goes for @Melenany that took the behemoth everywhere with hardly any struggles. @Nizam Deen took the Prado also without much effort through the dunes today. And @siddharth maheshwari brings white Jeep into its favorite terrain ! @Tamas Hoffmann you’re always paying attention, asking the right questions, and that signals someone who will grow fast. Well done ! @Mukundan Nair you and your Xterra did amazing today. You’ve impressed me every single time ! Rest assured we will be back in this terrain soon and will explore more areas to find more surprises 😉

Very well done Rizwan !

DRIVE REPORT As with many other Carnity convoys, the fog was making it a slight bit more difficult to reach the deflating point, but all made it on time, and that marks a good start of the day. With @Sinol in my second lead, the first part of the drive was quite easy and went smooth, maybe a bit too smooth as we reached the base of Pink Rock within one hour. The sand was churned up in the area and it was quite busy with many other clubs, motorcycles and whatnot doing their thing, just like us All made it up to Pink Rock easily, and I decided to play a bit on the backside, and then go around it. During our ascend on the backside @Senthil Kumar hit a rock that was a bit difficult to spot with a big vehicle and shredded his front right tyre. We had to google on how to remove the spare wheel from underneath the car, as the ingenuity of car manufacturers really has no end. I will save you the details but it was a very strange experience, and we had a good laugh at it. @Ajiesh George Kannankara helped us out to loosen up the wheel nuts and get the spare wheel in place. I knew we had a Superman in our club, but Ajiesh is a mighty Hulk, and without him we would probably have to be very creative. Well done buddy and thanks for the help ! As it was getting a bit late, we descended quickly from Pink Rock and passed some of the bowls that for Newbies might be a bit challenging it seemed. It didn't help that the whole are was really churned up, so making our way back to Second December Cafe came with quite a few refusals and stuck. All made it out in one piece, and I was really impressed with the skills all of you have shown. My initial fear of having @Abu Muhammad @Ammar Naji and @Malachy McGrogan in our convoy bringing in the heavy weights, showed that they can make it easily through this terrain and they did ! Also the Patrols @Ajiesh George Kannankara @Senthil Kumar were driving were sliding/slicing through the terrain easily ! The Pajero crew @Sinol @Baskaran P.R @Syed Raza Hussain @Rizwan Waheed @SyedObaid all drove well and are starting to feel really at home in their cars. Keep an eye on the pressure gauges, and in case you have offroad tyres, bring it down a notch to 11-12psi and see what works best for you. @Ali Abas Ali driving the mighty 4runner, you are doing a great job every single drive. Impressive ! @Ashy and @Brette with the Black Stallions at the back were the perfect end of any convoy, thanks Brette for the ever as always "super support". See you guys soon in the sand again ! PS For the people that have completed 5 Newbie drives, you can apply for a promotion to Fewbie by going through the following article, and clicking on the "apply for promotion" button. Once applied your application will be reviewed asap.

1) Are you using Tiptronic ? 2) Momentum is your friend, start early enough on each climb. 3) Check your tyre pressures. Reduce a bit more if needed before the climb. 4) Slighly steer left-right at the end of the climb (last few meters) and try to find the cleanest path. As you are still Newbie, you will learn all these tricks the coming drives/weeks and might be very surprised with the Pajero

Pajero has no climbing issues. @Mels Wolf and @Shiju Manuel are taking their stock 3.5 Pajeros everywhere. Same for @Vanessa8580 with 3.8 model.

Pajero has no climbing issues. @Mels Wolf and @Shiju Manuel are taking their stock 3.5 Pajeros everywhere.

Hi @siddharth maheshwari due to Ahmed withdrawing his RSVP, i have added you to the convoy.

Hi @siddharth maheshwari i will add you to the drive.

Well done @Sinol For your bumper (2011 upwards i think) you can indeed not make a straight cut as the bumper is slightly differrent in design. On the 2008 model this was possible.

Being the anal HSE guy now: shouldnt that guy be wearing an respirator ?

DRIVE RSVP IS NOW CLOSED With @Sinol as my second lead, @Ajiesh George Kannankara as my centre forward, and @Brette as sweep, i am looking forward to another lovely drive in the Pink rock dunes. We will be using Channel 1 (446.00625 Mhz). Please tune in when you start deflating. Quick reminder to all: double check your tyre pressures. We have seen members struggling and realizing after quite a few refusals that they are still on 18-20psi. This happens mostly because of faulty pressure gauges. A good pressure gauge will make all the difference, and double checking the pressure will give you the comfort that you'll make it through the terrain easily. See you guys tomorrow at 5:30AM !

One spot became availabe, so i have added your name.

Keep the original oil guys, i do not recommend stepping away from the original one. Just make sure it has been replaced as per its intended interval time, and there are no leaks.

RSVP IS NOW CLOSED This drive is a repeat from last week, where we got a bit unlucky and had to return back to the meeting point. I kept most convoy positions the same, and have full trust in all your abilities to manage this terrain. We will be on Channel 4 (446.08125 Mhz). Please make sure you have all your tools as per your drive level. AnishS will be second lead again, DesertDweller will be center-forward, and Biju Abdul will sweep the convoy. See you all on Friday evening !

Hi Nizam, as the previous members of the waitlist withdrew their request, and after adding @Islam Soliman, there was still one spot for you, so you have been added to the drive. Will send out the convoy list in a bit. See you on Friday !

No worries @Mohamed Seidam thanks for informing, see you soon in the sand again ! @Islam Soliman I have added you to the RSVP. Kindly confirm if you can make it.

Congrats @Rizwanm2 !!

now is not the time to sell a car in my opinion. Keep rolling it and take it easy on her, and give it the maintenance it needs/requires. You should be easily getting another 120kms out of it.

Having a basic compass in the car is also a recommended. In case you think you are lost in the desert, try to find the highest dune nearby and walk to the top. In Dubai or Sharjah MOSTPROBABLY you'll see a road or pylons nearby that you can use to navigate towards.

Congrats @Lorenzo Candelpergher!!

Congrats @Junaid Sayeed looking forward seeing you in one my convoys soon !

Oh yes, I’m a specialist in replacing the air freshener tree.

All shall be revealed in above tutorial 😜

Hi @Mohamed Seidam I have moved @Desert Dweller to manage as she will be supporting the drive, this has created an extra space so you have been added. See you on Friday !