C.M First Trail
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matts
- Intermediate
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 12:39 pm
Good Morning Everybody!
Firstly thank you to the the Founders and the Marshals for organising this drive for us. The drive started with an excellent explanation of the basic techniques of sand and convoy driving from [MENTION=44]alshamsi[/MENTION] most of which was picked up by the drivers in the convoy. The only thing I think might have been missed from the brief or mentioned in passing was that you should try and stop with your car on a downhill slope. There was a couple of times when the car in front of me stopped on an uphill slope making it awkward for me to find a good position to stop and also for them to set off. We mostly got away with it because the sand was hard in Lisaili but if the sand had been soft it would have meant quite a lot of reversing that could be easily avoided.
The convoy was quite slow but as this was a first timers drive this was to be expected. Thanks to @abujimmy for the kit inspection, i'm looking forward to coming out with you guys again soon :)
Lastly a special mention for what i'm now calling "The curse of @defragmentor" . Almost the last thing he said to me was "I bet you've never been crested" (my 2 dr jeep has a 4 inch lift) to which my reply was "not yet!". Later that day some where in Al Faqa'a...
[IMG]http://www.almost4x4.com/vb/attachment. ... 2276&stc=1[/IMG]
Side crested! Digging ensued! See you on the sand soon :)
Firstly thank you to the the Founders and the Marshals for organising this drive for us. The drive started with an excellent explanation of the basic techniques of sand and convoy driving from [MENTION=44]alshamsi[/MENTION] most of which was picked up by the drivers in the convoy. The only thing I think might have been missed from the brief or mentioned in passing was that you should try and stop with your car on a downhill slope. There was a couple of times when the car in front of me stopped on an uphill slope making it awkward for me to find a good position to stop and also for them to set off. We mostly got away with it because the sand was hard in Lisaili but if the sand had been soft it would have meant quite a lot of reversing that could be easily avoided.
The convoy was quite slow but as this was a first timers drive this was to be expected. Thanks to @abujimmy for the kit inspection, i'm looking forward to coming out with you guys again soon :)
Lastly a special mention for what i'm now calling "The curse of @defragmentor" . Almost the last thing he said to me was "I bet you've never been crested" (my 2 dr jeep has a 4 inch lift) to which my reply was "not yet!". Later that day some where in Al Faqa'a...
[IMG]http://www.almost4x4.com/vb/attachment. ... 2276&stc=1[/IMG]
Side crested! Digging ensued! See you on the sand soon :)
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Melfi
- Golden Member
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:47 am
We had the large group split up into 2 convoys. Although we did quite some stretch, the group I was into must remember to keep the appropriate distance - of course a minimum prudent one, but it's not good to leave huge gaps between cars as you lose the rest of the group.
This said, they all did really well! :like:
Good to meet all new members and thank you Al Khatib for the ride!
This said, they all did really well! :like:
Good to meet all new members and thank you Al Khatib for the ride!
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Sand Pit
- Newbie
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 7:13 am
The drive was a very very easy level (Marshals said so themselves). Even flat through a large portion of it. Yet still in the back of the convoy we had to sit there a couple of times while some 4x4s in the front managed to get stuck.
Abu Jimmy had come back around at the beg of the drive telling us to double check tire pressure. I had originally deflated to 15 psi (on my xterra) as that was how i had driven on sand before. When i checked tire pressure i surprisingly found my 15 psi was now 16 psi. deflated again and went through the drive at 12 psi from that point onwards.
Also that same night while doing some night desert driving in the warqa area in dubai i managed to successfully repeat two mistakes pointed out by alshamsi in the club member drive:
1. tried to stop in the middle of a steep decent. Very wrong as the car started to skid/slide against my intentions. I had done the exact same thing in the drive and alshamsi stopped me to point out my mistake.
2. went too fast over and down the crest of a dune. I already have a license plate bent to conform to the shape of the front bumper from a previous drive. Treat your car with care even if you think it is tough or capable. Treat it like a ferrari (as alshamsi put it) otherwise you are going to break it.
Yoghibear inspected my tools at the end of the drive. Very happy to be able to go on with future club trips after i get my first star.
Met two higher level xterras at the end of the drive (by the names of ginger and offroad ron). And now i know how to remove the fuse for the airbag on my car.
Amazing how much you can learn from a very easy drive. then again almost 4x4 turned out to be a very professional group. Until the next drive then.
Abu Jimmy had come back around at the beg of the drive telling us to double check tire pressure. I had originally deflated to 15 psi (on my xterra) as that was how i had driven on sand before. When i checked tire pressure i surprisingly found my 15 psi was now 16 psi. deflated again and went through the drive at 12 psi from that point onwards.
Also that same night while doing some night desert driving in the warqa area in dubai i managed to successfully repeat two mistakes pointed out by alshamsi in the club member drive:
1. tried to stop in the middle of a steep decent. Very wrong as the car started to skid/slide against my intentions. I had done the exact same thing in the drive and alshamsi stopped me to point out my mistake.
2. went too fast over and down the crest of a dune. I already have a license plate bent to conform to the shape of the front bumper from a previous drive. Treat your car with care even if you think it is tough or capable. Treat it like a ferrari (as alshamsi put it) otherwise you are going to break it.
Yoghibear inspected my tools at the end of the drive. Very happy to be able to go on with future club trips after i get my first star.
Met two higher level xterras at the end of the drive (by the names of ginger and offroad ron). And now i know how to remove the fuse for the airbag on my car.
Amazing how much you can learn from a very easy drive. then again almost 4x4 turned out to be a very professional group. Until the next drive then.
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YounisMaq
- Newbie
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2014 7:56 pm
Fantastic drive on Friday, I got my first taste of the Emirati desert and i loved it.
Great organization by the club and the marshals, Special thanks to @alshamsi for the awesome introduction and briefing, @Yoghybear for the tips and the multiple times i had to be pulled out of a stuck, and @Abu-Jimmy for inspecting my tools at the start of the trip.
Thanks again guys, Friday was fantastic, I am looking forward to more trips with the club.
Great organization by the club and the marshals, Special thanks to @alshamsi for the awesome introduction and briefing, @Yoghybear for the tips and the multiple times i had to be pulled out of a stuck, and @Abu-Jimmy for inspecting my tools at the start of the trip.
Thanks again guys, Friday was fantastic, I am looking forward to more trips with the club.
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D_OC
- Club Member
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Sun Nov 30, 2014 11:14 pm
Hi,
i have alot to say- I reached at the first meeting point at around 8:20am as there was a delay due to Marathon event in DownTown. Luckily i found every one almost ready to leave for meeting point -2. Loved the way i was handled and greeted by every one at the patrol station. Had my first intro with Alshamsi_m. We started deflating & flag fixing at the camp site stickers and logo flag was handed over to us. That's where my misunderstanding started due to my shy nature i dint ask the marshal/Alshamsi to help me with deflation and just watched and followed the other members. since i was confident on my builtin air compressor and due to lack of experience of reading gauges -I managed to deflate at level 15. Which was noted by Alshamsi_m at my first stuck. Then it was announced to every one to deflate tires that's where i found out that i was at 20 PSI. I loved the way AlShamsi responded to my sorry " why are you sorry you should not be sorry here" - no doubt why we call it a one large family :)
The drive overall went awesome i learned alot and still feel there is more for me to understand at theoretical level as well which includes learning how to set-up my FJ before this terrain. on my second stuck i was informed that i was not supposed to drive in D-4 it should be either 3 for flat & 2 or 2L. I highly appreciate the patience of other members and Marshals on briefing each and every thing from scratch. i don't have a experience of driving 4x4 before i have been using all German sports makes & still driving one as a family car. At my 3rd stuck i realized that I dint switch off A-Trac and i still have no idea why i have to switch off when i have switched off trac control. however we managed to use rest of features thanks Alshamsi_m, AlKhattib for getting in car and take it out by using Crawl control. After this i didn't had much of problem as I was informed how to use D3 during flat ground to catch up and 2 or 2L when on dune. Rest went pretty much smooth. I am confident it will be much better for next time. although i have alot of questions to ask and will do in my next CM trip.
I had btw my gear ready for inspection which was rejected by Youghybear my shovel, shackles and strap-Radio only was approved :) I will take it positive as i still need some time to stay in CM group.
I have got this video compiled- i didn't bring my camera & used my mobile instead -so quality may be bad but it has all what was worth mentioning and supporting it also includes some memorable moments. plz do spare some time to watch & comment:)
Once again thanks to every one and anxiously waiting for the next trip.
[video=youtube_share;aQ6S6WePH5U][/video]
i have alot to say- I reached at the first meeting point at around 8:20am as there was a delay due to Marathon event in DownTown. Luckily i found every one almost ready to leave for meeting point -2. Loved the way i was handled and greeted by every one at the patrol station. Had my first intro with Alshamsi_m. We started deflating & flag fixing at the camp site stickers and logo flag was handed over to us. That's where my misunderstanding started due to my shy nature i dint ask the marshal/Alshamsi to help me with deflation and just watched and followed the other members. since i was confident on my builtin air compressor and due to lack of experience of reading gauges -I managed to deflate at level 15. Which was noted by Alshamsi_m at my first stuck. Then it was announced to every one to deflate tires that's where i found out that i was at 20 PSI. I loved the way AlShamsi responded to my sorry " why are you sorry you should not be sorry here" - no doubt why we call it a one large family :)
The drive overall went awesome i learned alot and still feel there is more for me to understand at theoretical level as well which includes learning how to set-up my FJ before this terrain. on my second stuck i was informed that i was not supposed to drive in D-4 it should be either 3 for flat & 2 or 2L. I highly appreciate the patience of other members and Marshals on briefing each and every thing from scratch. i don't have a experience of driving 4x4 before i have been using all German sports makes & still driving one as a family car. At my 3rd stuck i realized that I dint switch off A-Trac and i still have no idea why i have to switch off when i have switched off trac control. however we managed to use rest of features thanks Alshamsi_m, AlKhattib for getting in car and take it out by using Crawl control. After this i didn't had much of problem as I was informed how to use D3 during flat ground to catch up and 2 or 2L when on dune. Rest went pretty much smooth. I am confident it will be much better for next time. although i have alot of questions to ask and will do in my next CM trip.
I had btw my gear ready for inspection which was rejected by Youghybear my shovel, shackles and strap-Radio only was approved :) I will take it positive as i still need some time to stay in CM group.
I have got this video compiled- i didn't bring my camera & used my mobile instead -so quality may be bad but it has all what was worth mentioning and supporting it also includes some memorable moments. plz do spare some time to watch & comment:)
Once again thanks to every one and anxiously waiting for the next trip.
[video=youtube_share;aQ6S6WePH5U][/video]
