Lakshmi Narasimhan

9 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

Congratulations @Lakshmi Narasimhan 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 Advance 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 And Fewbie Plus, after 5 drives at Fewbie level only
Forum participation	Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Thanks to all the leads, seniors for providing such a great learning opportunity, extended support and all friends for the wonderful drives. I look forward for the learning opportunity and take the journey to next level with all your support. I will take it slow and steady to make sure I learn all the basics to enjoy the drive safely.

I have placed order for lights and winch on Alibaba, and waiting for shipment. If orders can be clubbed shipping cost will reduce and can negotiate as well. Let me test these and give the feedback.

1 minute ago, Chinthaka Ruwan said:

@RahimdadThanks. Ill go to Dragon Mart and get one today.  

You can call this guy to check before going +971 58 890 7900

@Chinthaka Ruwanif possible you can get it from dragon mall or any other place, you still have time to get it before tomorrow, don’t miss the first drive, that too fossil rock. 

@Niki Patel there nothing to apologize, bcs of this I got some good advises and more clarity.

@RahimdadI have added myself again, I will join the drive with family.

1 minute ago, Rahimdad said:

HI @Lakshmi Narasimhan hope you have a good rest and catch up with you in the coming weeks.

We are very close to announcing the convoy numbering and radio frequency for this drive. Will get back shortly with the details. Stay tuned.

@RahimdadI am asking my home ministry to join the drive rather than spending time somewhere else as my son is interested in drives. If we succeed I will let you know shortly before you finalize.

7 minutes ago, Thomas Varghese said:

Dear @Lakshmi Narasimhan,

I started to like you so much as you have the same traits as mine. Yes I had these wishes when I joined for drives and started to climb iftar bowl, super bowl, fossil rock, big red etc. As per convoy we can do the climb once but once you climb we get the urge to climb more higher and we leave the dunes like leaving a long lost love. We have to move on. After some time you will get used to it. 

Leads give opportunity for 2nd chance and I even got 3rd chance to correct myself, then only I realized I need to practice more. I am not shy of taking more drives at newbie level. Some terrain don’t offer certain maneuver for working out the week areas, hence I have requested for focused drive, probably my topic heading was wrong, now I want to slow down my pace and give it the time required till I am satisfied and confident as I am looking to learn properly and be safe when I am around with other friends.

I do understand drives in convoy are for fun and to learn along the way, there is platform and time available to learn advanced skills. When I reach to that level I would be taking appropriate course for learning advance skills. 
If I am not enjoying my drive or not having fun in convoy I would not be here signing for more drives.
Not every one has same vehicle, same abilities, skill sets. Considering I am new to 4x4, my vehicle, my abilities and my areas of improvement, I have placed a simple request for more practice that too only if it is feasible or if its ok.           
I would like to clarify that I have never requested for advanced skills or learning everything in short span of time.
Gauvrav has cleared that my request is fewbie territory, I understood and totally agreed and as Richard explained I am open to take more newbie level drives.
But my simple request for practicing more on what I was exposed at newbie level was misunderstood and never meant to be complicated to this level.

However, I have got many advises, few take away from this discussion and my expectations are set right!!!
Thank you all for your advises and concerns.🙏

@Rahimdad I would like to slow down my pace and take a much needed break for this week, hence I would like to withdraw my RSVP. Would join your drives in the following weeks.

On 4/6/2021 at 12:35 PM, Lakshmi Narasimhan said:

@Vanessa8580 just now saw whatsapp msg saying that we can do RSVP from Tuesday onwards for second drive, so i have done the RSVP. Hope its fine.

@Vanessa8580 I wanted to slow down my learning pace, I would like to withdraw my RSVP, I would join your drive in the following weeks. Hope its ok with you.

 @Wrangeld, wow good to know that. Lots to learn from you. I have been observing all the AB Newbie drives and Newbie drives where the most senior leaders spend their time, which is the very reason why Carnity is doing well and why I have chosen to associate with.
 

You have given me good reasons to do more drives at Newbie level which was in my consideration for few days.

22 minutes ago, Thomas Varghese said:

@Lakshmi Narasimhan I can understand your enthusiasm and eagerness to learn. I'm like you. But what is the fun if you learn everything very fast? Very soon you will run out of things to learn as you progress through the drives at a fast pace. You should drive under all the marshals and you will learn more. Each Marshal and his style is different. There is no perfect learning. Its that you perfect your skill with experience. For that you need patience. I'm an Intermediate. Do you think I know everything? Absolutely not. Keep driving and you will slowly gain the confidence & experience. I need to drive with for eg @Gaurav which I did only one till now. With @Rahimdad, with all the marshals. DON'T TRY TO VENTURE OUT IN THE DESERT ALONE. 

@Thomas Varghese As you rightly mentioned, I also try to take drives with every Marshall possible and also on every terrain. Also same terrain with other marshall has different pathways which is unique. Every drive is experience, learning and fun. I don’t see that practicing more will diminish that xfactor. If so all the leads should have retired by now considering their number of drives. But we can still hear them saying I am still learning and every drive is unique and the enthusiasm shown by them at their respective age levels. Take your self how enthusiastic you are in going for drives. 
Even though I would love to go alone in desert, I wont do that even if I drive for ages. Thats the reason I was looking to have more practice with leads to guide. My point was not to learn advance driving at newbie level. I thought if we have repeated more practice would help. As Gaurav mentioned thats exactly we will do at fewbie level my point is cleared and I totally agree with all of you.

10 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

Because all trip leads know the exact fine line to limit before it become scary or risky for newbies.

2 minutes ago, Niki Patel said:

@Lakshmi Narasimhan i want to reinforce @Gaurav point having been on a recent Fewbie Ridge Riding trip (3+ hours of ridge riding which means 3+hours of criss crossing  with @Ale Vallecchi)

As a fewbie+ on that ride i massively leveraged what i learnt as a newbie & fewbie with regards throttle control and especially momentum (not speed).  without that prior experience the risks on ridge riding would have been far greater as momentum (not speed) ensured we were able to enter a ridge vs jump onto it and also the ability to exit safely as we didnt ride ridges at excessive speeds!  The time spent as a newbie and fewbie on the foundations is essential as it ensured when we did the dedicated ridge riding or technical drives - our natural throttle/momentum management was instinctive. 

everyone  learns at their own pace - you appetite is awesome and all i want to pass on as more of a cautious driver is that enjoy learning the basics as mastering momentum and throttle and steering in the sand makes everything more fun (and less risky) when you move onto the fewbie/fewbie+

 

No doubt about our leads and their expertise and the amount of safety measures they undertake before, during and after drives. We trust them and enjoy the drives with every one of them, thats the reason we could see many looking forward for many more drives. Totally agree on that.

1 minute ago, Gaurav said:

This is the exact territory of Fewbie drives.

Doing these at Newbie level will be very risky and scare lot of drivers. What you already got a taste of these specific skills (in moderation) at newbie level is just enough for you to qualify to FB. As all trip lead pay extra attention to people who are unsafe in these maneuvers and advise them to practice more.

In almost all the drives I have been I could see only every one eager to learn more and want more, never saw any one scared. What I thought was newbie level slopes, criss cross if we practice repeatedly will help us, if this what we will do in fewbie level I am looking forward to that.

All the Marshalls and leads are providing tips feedbacks to improve. To put use of all the feedback we need more drives to practice, We all are trying the best to take more drives possible along with work load. With relaxed rules for second drive it would definitely give every opportunity to put in extra efforts.  Once we are out of sands theres no way to practice these skills. 
 

I am loudly thinking having one or two drives specifically focusing only on side slopes, technical dunes and criss cross and to practice these repeatedly in turns would help a lot in learning by watching and driving at Newbie level itself. Probably I might be looking to learn faster others might like to take it gradually, this is my view point only. Hope some drives can be arranged if its feasible and if it is welcomed by many.

Thanks @Chaitanya D for the feedback and for correcting the flaws while driving and providing chance to make sure it is corrected. 

2 minutes ago, Rahul kumar said:

Hi Everyone, 

hope to meet you all on my first off-road drive.

one question though, am I good to go with my ford explorer 2017 4WD?

Rahul

I have been following explorer in front of me on couple of drives and saw that performing well, at this level definitely more than enough.

3 minutes ago, Ahmed Mostafa said:

Hi @Wrangeld

Thanks for the welcoming!

I've got 2016 Mitsubishi Gold Pajero. I did come several times with my friends here in Carnity. but as I passenger. 

So, this time I want to be the driver

Thanks. and see you all. 

Start enjoying driving in the sand!!!

27 minutes ago, Warren Flay said:

If you have the Al Hosn app with the yellow 'E' can you access Abu Dhabi without need for test?

Yes

1 hour ago, Zed said:

@Lakshmi Narasimhan you don't need to wait for second dose, you can do DPI (blood test) in exit after LegoLand. The trick is you have to alternate DPI-then-PCR for your second trip to Abu Dhabi. You can't do DPI-then-DPI again. 

I am aware of dpi and pcr tests, I already travel for projects again if i have to go thru the pcr test for drives will be too much load on me. Planning that would be a challenge for me, let me wait for a month get vaccinated and join Abudhabi drives without any need for planning and struggle. 

On 4/4/2021 at 10:16 PM, Lakshmi Narasimhan said:

@Vanessa8580 can you please keep me in waiting list for second drive.

@Vanessa8580 just now saw whatsapp msg saying that we can do RSVP from Tuesday onwards for second drive, so i have done the RSVP. Hope its fine.

3 hours ago, Wadepat2 said:

@Wrangeld quick question about radio freq. Is the Freq setting listed some where for this drive and I'm missing it or will it be sent before meet-up? I have them pre-programmed from the FAQ and looking forward to learning how they are used in a convoy.

6 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said:

Join in if you can, Sweihan is a beautiful area with vast clean dunes for any level. We miss going there terribly due to the border restrictions as of now.

I was about to ask how you are managing drives in Abudhabi, I am waiting to get my second dose to join drives in Abudhabi.

Congrats @Thomas Varghese