Benjamin

Pretty sure I heard they were going make three parts to finale of this movie. 

nothing like having Vin Diesel's cars run on the hopes and dreams of Family 😄

apart from that I think my favorite movie in the series has got to be either Tokyo drift or 2 Fast 2 Furious

perfect depiction of the gearbox in these cars  

Hey @Marketa Dobesova I was on last weeks drive with @M.Seidam

if i interpreted docs description correctly the drive should either end somewhere in Nahil this is approx coordinates of last weeks drive beginning position  (as this drive is doing that route but backwards) 

do still try and reach doc in case I’m wrong  

24.54535, 55.58100

please see this pic attached  

Congrats @Felix Obst enjoy IM looking forward to some drives together  

@Davie Chase Congratulations on your promotion! will look forward to more drives together  

@M.Seidam thanks for setting up this drive! As per usual they are always enjoyable at a great pace. Which brings me to my next point congrats @Davie Chase great leading today! Without your path finding skills the convoy wouldn’t have performed as well as they did! Massive distance covered with enjoyable speed Im sure everyone in FB enjoyed that aspect as well  

@Looper always great to see you out on the trail looking forward to the next one  

Congrats @Looper big achievement!  I’ll see you soon  

Congratulations @Pavel Pashkovskiy enjoy the faster paced rank  

8 minutes ago, Varun Mehndiratta said:

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

 

@Varun Mehndiratta The drive was incredible with plenty of vegetation and track finding. Our first obstacle was finding an entrance to start our adventure much like the beginning of Jurassic park, we saw wildlife such as camels... I mean raptors, and found our way through vegetation galore. 

My take of the drive I reckon it's perfect for FB or FB+ depending on the track due to softer sand. the drive in all was a nice for a scenic drive with a splash of excitement with some awesome dune heights. I recommend  

Thanks @Zed and @Srikumarlooking forward to it  

10 hours ago, Varun Mehndiratta said:

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. 
 

 

looking forward to it @Varun Mehndiratta  

10 hours 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 😊😊😊

@Mark B I have been wondering how gladiator guys store their gear. I guess this is one way of doing it! 
 

looks visually appealing and safe! 

Thanks @munkybizness! Will definitely enjoy the pace  

Confirmed @Varun Mehndiratta

1 hour ago, Mario Cornejo said:

There is a good old post about securing items in trunk. The post is in the X Terra forum, here is the link 

 

 

 

Cheers!

Thanks @Mario Cornejo X-terra users will be happy to see this one  

1 minute ago, Patrick said:

Ah okay!! Normally I pour the water straight from the bottle 😂 Interesting, is that to wash any sand away from the seal area with pressure?

Yep I’m pretty sure! Wash any sand away + create a seal 

18 minutes ago, Ishak said:

Good discussion @Benjamin

all my gears below

I put in two plastic boxes and tied them down. 

Thanks @Ishak for sharing! Looks nice  

do these ropes manage to hold gear in place? Looks like you have it nicely tightened! I found I always had to restrap gear down half way through a drive when I used one strap 😛 

@Patrick looks like gardening water pressure sprayer. We use them for fixing popouts in the desert  

@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.

1 minute ago, Frederic said:

Very good point, the higher on the Carnity ladder the heavier your 4x4 comes, and as a result the less higher you will climb   

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  

@Patrick Wow I’m actually surprised just how much you managed to fit in a large suitcase! Might be a good idea to do something similar myself maybe leading up to another camping trip! 

@Patrick it’s alright! This forum is for anyone looking “how to” or new ideas on strapping down gear. 
 

first time seeing a suitcase which is actually a pretty good idea! I for one use a tool-bag to hold any non commonly used items like tape, zip ties, basic tools, multi tools, shackles, and rope. 
 

really interested to see how your setup will change when more gear is needed as you climb the carnity ladder  thanks for sharing! 

Totally agree with you @Patrick the idea of tying down gear is to reduce or completely eliminate the movement of jacks or compressors in the case of a roll-over, no matter what drive level there is a risk of this happening but if drivers follow support crew and marshal instructions and most importantly listen to briefing the risks of a rollover severely decreases. But always plan for the unknown! Thats my idea of what this discussion is for 'planning for the unknown'

Hey @Carnity and everyone that stumbles along this post. I’ve been thinking about posting this as a general discussion or an advice page for good amount of time.

My goal for this page is to get every off-roader together to share how they store their off-road gear during a drive (potentially even sharing pictures) what I’m hoping this should do is show our fellow members with a little less experience how we store are gear in the back of our cars safely for drives above Newbie (because no one wants a flying compressor or shovel in their face during an intense drive) 

of course this page is really meant to highlight Safety. As every car is different I encourage people with different cars to show how they store their gear as for jeeps (like mine) it’s relatively straight forward 

I’ll start off with my current setup

So I use the advantage of the jeeps mount points on the surface of the flooring of the boot. We have 3 points per side totally 6. Personally after some time driving in the desert I notice two straps in a crisscross pattern holds down the gear the tightest while my shovel is held by a separate strap on the rear of the sports bar or (roll cage) this is a new setup to me so I’ll keep my fellow jeepers updated if I happen to change my setup or require two straps for the shovel (remember for the shovel location keep it tight but not too tight! We don’t want to damage the plastic exterior of the sports bar) 

Thanks everyone who happens to share  

Happy Birthday Sri! it's been a while but I'll never forget the Liwa trip with the engine heated Pizza 😁

have a good one mate 

Congrats @Marketa Dobesova enjoy the new challenge! 

@premindra rajaram congrats mate! Looking forward to seeing you in a drive soon  

Congrats @Jaro Tuzinsky looking forward to meeting again soon! Enjoy the new tank  

@Looper really interesting topic! Have you ever tried using Chatgbt to attempt to simplify code? I regularly use it when I can't figure out an issue with C# or C++, just an idea especially when trying to learn how to code 🙃