Going to the beach is as Australian as lamingtons and Vegemite sandwiches. Unfortunately this can also mean fighting the crowds when trying to get a little spot to enjoy.

Finding your own slice of secluded Aussie beach is easier than you think. Follow these 10 easy steps to learn how to 4wd on the beach and you’ll be enjoying your own little beach paradise in no time.

Tips for driving on the beach

While driving on the beach is not difficult, if you think sand driving is the same as on the road you will be in for a big surprise. These tips for driving on the beach will help you to avoid getting bogged or worse, rolling your 4wd.

1. Air pressure

Having the right psi for beach driving will be the difference in having a good time or not. We normally start on 15 psi however if we know the sand is soft and fluffy, we will drop it to 12 psi. Don’t be scared to go lower if your 4wd is struggling.
Make sure you drop your tyre pressure well before the beach entrance, nobody wants to be that guy that’s bogged and blocking the entrance.

Read the Full Article: https://happygotravel.com.au/how-to-4wd-on-the-beach-in-10-easy-steps/

Source/Credit: Happy Go Travel

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Thank you, Charlene, for asking me to write for your influential Ladies Offroad Network. As I begin with the posed question, “What is the difference in prepping for this year’s Rebelle Rally versus last year’s prepping?” My brain feels like exploding seeing as this year’s Rebelle Rally will be in a few short days! 2017 has proven to be the fastest year of my life.  That being said, this year is definitely different.   

For the majority of 2016, our team spent a lot of time building ourselves as a brand. Omada Adventure became active on social media as the Land Rover team to watch in the first Rebelle Rally.  Both Julia Pickslay and I reached out to existing friends, family and businesses to join us and support our team in terms of sponsorship, social media outreach, and charitable donations.  Our extensive work paid off, and we were able to align ourselves with: Jaguar Land Rover of Anaheim Hills (part of the Rusnak Auto Group, the leading chain of luxury auto dealers in Southern California) and Alloy + Grit a new North American Land Rover magazine came on early for support. While Alloy + Grit was gearing up for the launch of their first issue we were building and prepping for our first automotive rally. Editor Bryan Joslin assisted with our deck presentation. When Mr. Joslin informed us that we would be the cover of the second issue we were beyond excited. We also found mentors in Bond Gilmer, owner of Rebel Offroad and in Tim Sanchez, of Xplore Baja. Both of these off road experts coached from different perspectives and shared their own experiences and tremendous insight to the off road industry, the world of competition and sponsorship.  We drew on my husband, Nizar Najm’s extensive experience with automotive commercial campaigns and delivered exceptional photography of our Land Rover LR4 to our social media followers.

By the end of last year’s first ever Rebelle Rally I had numerous takeaways.  However the following two were ones that rose to the top as areas to focus on.  One, I had no idea how hard it would be to compete for 7 days.  A 15-18 hour work day is nothing new to me. COMPETING and having every second of your PERFORMANCE broadcasted to your family, friends and sponsors for that long is much different. Two, I had greatly underappreciated that we would need every minute of the 10-12 hour day we were given to complete all of the checkpoints.  Knowing how and when to move on is a big part of Rebelle Rally strategy and something we will take into 2017’s rally.   

This year has been a dramatically different prep year.  With our support team in place, and the addition of Smarty Social Media and California Bliss as sponsors, we had more time to explore ourselves as competitors.  My experience in the first Rebelle Rally allows us visualize the future.   My teammate, Amy Martinez is new to the Rebelle, and we have spent a lot time training and sharing my real experiences.  I have been able to share with her what we did well and what we need to work on.  What proved to be difficult and where we found success.  We also understand that there were be some inevitable curveballs!  Undeniably I have had to put confidence in-check.

Living in close proximity to Amy has given us the advantage of more time behind the wheel and in the truck together.  We have set aside Fridays as Rebelle Training days.  We have spent a lot of time with map training and that has improved our driving abilities.  Working closely together on our elementary school’s PTA,  Amy serving as President and me serving as Vice President has given us great insight to each other’s personalities and insight as to how the 7 days together will be.  As owner of Off the Grid Rentals, our adventures have taken us to many remote places where I have honed my off road driving skills and tested my recovery techniques!

Our 2012 Land Rover LR4 is completely built out with a new set of Falken WildPeak AT tires, Rhino Rack backbone system, Goose Gear and a new set of Tred Pro recovery boards. Outer Limit Supply has provided us with their dust proof, crush proof and waterproof first aid kit so we will be prepared in case of an emergency.  With more hours and miles of off road experience some fears of my driving abilities have been reduced.  

One thing that has remained the same between last year and this is that we have held true to Omada Adventure’s tenant, that adventure doesn’t come easily for everyone and there is need to recognize and support others less fortunate than ourselves. This year we have partnered with Global G.L.O.W. a charity that is dedicated to amplifying girls’ voices on a global stage.  Amy has served as a leader within this charity teaching nutrition and fitness to young girls at the G.L.O.W. house which serves our neighboring city at risk girls in Santa Ana. We hope to help the HerStory Campaign for Global G.L.O.W.  

These last few days will be spent packing, double checking lists, and finding a kick ass outfit for the Gala! Thank you for listening, and if you are a fellow 2017 Rebelle, we look forward to seeing you soon!

Author: Deborah Najm

Source: 

http://bowermedia.com/2017/10/omada-adventure-prepares-for-2017-rebelle-rally/

Last year the guys at TRED Pro gave me a set of their Total Recovery Extraction Devices to evaluate and write about in Outdoor UAE.  We received them just after the summer, in early September and the biggest challenge was to try them out in daylight, in the hottest part of the month to meet my publisher’s deadline! Here’s what appeared in the magazine.

The weather was hot and in no time at all I managed to get myself stuck, deliberately I hasten to add.  The most difficult stucks to recover are those on the flat, where gravity cannot lend a hand, so we chose a soft, flat area to test the TRED Pro recovery ramps from Evolve.

It is always a good thing to check the product before you head to the desert whether it be a winch, a pair of gloves or even a solo-extraction device and as I unpacked these recovery ramps I could instantly see that they were made of a high quality, strong material and quite different to competitors products.  Evolve have been selling TRED recovery tracks for over 5 years now and with the knowledge they have gained and some in-depth research to see how offroaders use their traction boards they have developed a new product. EXOTRED™, a composite which has good flexibility and superior durability and strength.

TRED Pro have been developed and manufactured in Australia by Evolve, an award-winning collective which specialises in bringing innovative designs to market.

The set of TRED pros come with a useful set of instructions which gives sound advice to make your recoveries and easy and effective as possible.

Firstly, once you know you are stuck, stop trying to accelerate out of it.  Power rarely wins when you are stuck in sand and putting the pedal to the metal will only make the eventual recovery more difficult to achieve.

Decide whether you are going to go forwards or backwards once you get moving, and clear the sand away from either the front or the back of the tyres.  You can do this without even reaching for your spade as TRED Pros come with an integral shovel, designed to clear sand quickly.  The smooth grips on each side of the tracks were comfortable to hold for both small and large hands and although unwieldy at first, I soon got the hang of it.

Having never dug out a car with a rectangular green board before I was surprised just how much sand it could shift in a very short time, testament to the TRED Pro’s advanced design.  Of course the job got done even quicker when my husband joined in!

Once the sand was adequately cleared the contour ramp slipped easily into position under the rear tyres ..

and then it was only a matter of selecting 4LOW and gently pressing the accelerator and I was out.

Unlike their competitors, these come with a lifetime warranty

Having tried these out in Liwa in the summer I find myself wondering how many tricky self recoveries over the last 7 years could have been made so much easier with these.  Whether carried on a roofrack or in the car, they take up little space and only add a few kgs to the payload so they are well worth carrying, either as your primary recovery device or as added “insurance” if you have a winch.

The name says it all TRED Pro® – Total Recovery and Extraction Device.  From now on you will see my carrying a set whenever my journey takes me off the tarmac!

Update May 2017

The car was not terribly stuck for the test but we have since used them frequently in extremely deep, soft sand, the kind you sink up to your ankles in and they have never let us down.   I keep them on the car permanently and we have even taken them out a couple of times to assist random strangers caught in soft sand by the side of the road.  Umpteen recoveries later they are still serviceable.  There is some black tyre rub on the green portion and a few of the little black treads have some wear but they still make easy work of self recoveries on sand and still have a long life ahead of them.  There was one time we nearly lost one – the sand was so soft it well and truly buried and we had to poke around in the sand with a bit of rebar for ages until we found it – so we have now tied some line on to each one as a “tell tail”, just in case it happens again. I really don’t know what I did without these!

TRED Pros are available for 1100aed per pair from AAA and Mebar Auto in Dubai.  If you go and buy a set please tell them the Desert Diva sent ya!

Further info

TRED website

These were brought to the market via Kickstarter – there is a great video charting the research and development of this product.

Footnote

We have found an additional use for them – they make great shade for Rahhal!

*tredpro *selfrecovery #offroading #desertdriving #outdooruae

Source: 

http://www.desertdivaevents.com/tred-pro-total-recovery-and-extraction-device-review/