Abu Dhabi Off-Road Club Forums

What mindset do you approach the desert with?

Driving in the sand takes a very different way of thinking and navigating than being on-road. Acknowledging this will help to adapt your driving style, especially for beginners. There is lots of room in the desert, take full advantage of it. Make wide turns rather than sharp ones whenever possible to preserve momentum. Roll gently to a stop rather than using your brakes, you will be able to get moving again more easily. Think about how much up and down travel there is in the route you plan to take. Staying high gives you the option of using gravity to help keep your vehicle moving. Avoid sand cut up by the cars in front of you for better traction. How many sharp up and down angles are there on your route. Sharp up and down angles limit your speed increasing the chances of getting stuck. You are out there to have fun so don't go any faster than you need to. Don't follow the car in front too closely, give them room to enjoy the sand without worrying about you running into them. Take time to think about what you are doing or are about to do. A few seconds or even minutes of thought can save lots of work getting unstuck.

The mindset you have while driving in the sand has a lot to do with how often you get stuck, and how much damage you do to your car. In addition to the above principles you need to decide whether your driving style is more "conqueror of the dunes" or "sneaking past the sleeping dragon." Both are fun, make your choice consciously. The conqueror mindset involves lots of screaming engine noise, sand flying, being thrown about, ups and down, and finding the most difficult route to follow. This is loud outrageous adrenaline pumping fun. A mistake while having this type of fun can be serious.

The sleeping dragon mentality involves gentle acceleration, minimal sand displacement, a smooth ride, and finding a smooth route to follow, thus leaving the dragon still sleeping once you have passed. This is calculated, precise fun. A mistake while having this type of fun usually means only getting stuck. My advice to newbies is to adopt the sleeping dragon approach until you have enough skill to go where you want to safely. Once you have these skills you can choose to increase the adrenaline rush by turning up the speed, the volume and the risk. Until then build your skills and enjoy the show put on by the conquerors.

My own desert style tends to be on the quiet side, especially when out with my family. I enjoy seeing how slowly I can go and still make it over a crest, or how little sand can be thrown around while going up a dune or side sloping. I really enjoy not breaking my car. Finding especially smooth ways to get where I am going is a personal favorite. Showing passengers the desert without making them motion sick is a nice side effect of this approach. Every once in a while it is fun to let loose and go fast, but it is a choice taken hopefully with the skill to back it up.

What type of mindset do you approach the desert with?

Having Fun More fun when stuck

Nice analysis Tom

I think most of us offroaders, specialy the ones that used to deal with rocky mountains understand the exact meaning of "keeping the Daragon sleeping" , as mistakes there are severly punished.
So we usualy start in the desert with this mentality, but as the fun begin to build up, we seek to enjoy the relative softness of the sand. and as the time goes by we switch to the conqueror type, and there is where u discover your car and your own limits... and inevitably we will pay for our mistakes there.
But after a cerain time, i think we'll find a balance between the adrenaline fun and the safety of ourselves, our guests and our cars

To me the choice has always been on the quite side of things... 8) , and only to revert back to the primal urge of the "conqueror mindset" when absolutely necessary to get out of trouble (Liwa) . To me... its most enjoyable to use the least amount of energy and effort to conquer the route. Plus its cheaper on the bank balance.

Tom wrote:
What type of mindset do you approach the desert with?

Enjoying myself, testing my skills, learning from more experienced drivers. If that means kicking up a few sand grains, well......

Sleeping Dragon would apply to our Newbie and most of the Intermediate Level Trips. The other one to most of the Advance trips and most of our TJ drivers

I did both, still do both and will do both, however the sleeping one is the majority of my trips. For the others just follow for instance KerMitt

Hi Tom,

Thanks for some interesting thoughts about the driving in the desert. I think we all can relate to this - either being agressive or the more relaxed type. I must admit that I have been the more agressive type, to a certain point, but after the latest incident rolling the car I will come out with a more gentle approach

Some time I like to compare the desert driving with other experiences in the nature. In the mountains of Norway with minus 20 degrees you will easily die if you don't follow the rules of the nature. Turn around and return home is the only good solution when the weather and conditions get too tough. Same if you are out in a sailing boat and the wind pick up... seek shelter...

Well I am actually flying to Norway tonight for a week in the Norwegian mountains. Last I heard was sun and minus 30 deg!!! And I will enjoy it

Take care out there!!

Dune Conqueror

Ultramind:

I thought you were a secret sleeping dragon. Ultramind is only one letter away from Ultramild.

Tom

well , it depends on the mood and the group , going with peaceful company seeking a lovely day on the dunes is something and going out with a crazy punch of lunatics aiming to go as high and as fast as possible is Another thing , it's all about the group and the convoy general behavior that would determine the drive level and technique , keeping the dragon asleep is a good thing , however it's always fun to be a pain in the @$$ for him from time to time

ultramind wrote:well , it depends on the mood and the group , going with peaceful company seeking a lovely day on the dunes is something and going out with a crazy punch of lunatics aiming to go as high and as fast as possible is Another thing , it's all about the group and the convoy general behavior that would determine the drive level and technique , keeping the dragon asleep is a good thing , however it's always fun to be a pain in the @$$ for him from time to time

What do you mean ?????

Mood wrote:
What do you mean ?????

:nono: :nono: :nono: :nono: :nono: Bad Mood

Well this is an interesting topic 8O a very philosophical aproach to our days in the desert.

Can we be both or dose that go against the order of things, Maybe I could be a Sleepy Conqueror

Tom wrote:Ultramind:

I thought you were a secret sleeping dragon. Ultramind is only one letter away from Ultramild.

Tom

I think we all eventually have to be able to switch between the dune conqueror and sleeping dragon modes. The reason for my original post was to try and help newbies realise that it is not only ok, it is better to start out with a cautious approach to sand driving and work up to more aggressive driving later. There is no shame in being careful, especially when it comes to the desert. It is easy to underestimate the skill it takes to be able to find your way through the desert safely. It is also possible to damage expensive cars with just a little too much speed and not enough skill.

If we drove aggressively in the sand all the time our cars would fall apart. If we always drove gently there would be hundreds of people forever stuck in bowls in Liwa. The trick is to know what you are doing and why. The right approach at the right time makes all the difference. Until then our newer members should take it easy and enjoy the challenges.