Here at Club 4X4, we’re all about doing things the right way. Following our Supplementary Product Disclosure Statement release, we had our product in the right place and now wanted to focus on the team, who over the last 6 months have put in a massive effort to get us where we are.
Even though we each possess varying degrees of off-road driving experience, as always we set the bar high. We thought that everyone could do with a touch up to ensure best practice and consistency. And really, who needs an excuse to swap tarmac for dirt anyway?
The decision was made, and we invested in having all of our team members accredited and certified in off-road driving. A few weekends ago, the entire team went out and spent the day with our friends at Getabout Training Services; a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) specialising in Off-Road Driver Training at their beautiful property in Marrangaroo, NSW.
“The decision was made, and we invested in have all of our team members accredited and certified in off-road driving…”
After a short orientation process and a classroom session to talk through the various advancements in 4WD technology, it was time to get out and check out the different vehicles on offer. The intent of the session was to get to best practice, but also to educate ourselves on the various kinds of vehicles currently on the market. We were lucky enough to have an interesting spread of rigs available to us too! Thanks to our friends at Unsealed 4X4 we had a standard manual Suzuki Jimny for those of us who wanted a bit more driving involvement. We also had the crew Amarok from the team at Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures (Pat wouldn’t let us have the hero Amarok!). These were complimented with a very tidy touring Prado, Getabout’s lightly modified Ranger and last but not least our very own Club 4X4 GU Patrol. A great session on pre-trip vehicle inspection ensued, after which we took the vehicles out on some tracks on Getabout’s property.
We quickly found that something a little more challenging was required, so Graham and Peter led us out to the Lidsdale State Forest where we were able to find a bit more of the rough stuff: plenty of reasonable gradients to crawl up and down and some iconic water crossings across the Cox’s river were well enjoyed.
When the sun started to sink into the horizon, we simulated (Patrols don’t get bogged otherwise :-)) a bogged situation in a mud hole, to demonstrate safe recovery techniques. Once Graham and Peter had run us through appropriate snatch strap and recovery ramp techniques, we packed up our gear and made the trek back up through the forest and out to Marrangaroo.
Some team bonding around a healthy fire rounded out the day with a fantastic campfire roast prepared by our hosts.
We also tested out the new gear we had installed on the truck; a Darche Hi-View Rooftop Tent and ARB Intesity 32 spotlights and a full compliment of REDARC electronic gear. These are going to come in very handy with our upcoming trip to the Big Red Bash and we’re happy to report a great night’s sleep was had, the lights surpassed our expectation and between the gauges to monitor EGT and the BCDC charger and amorphous solar blanket we were covered for self sufficiency.
And that completes part one of the training. We’ll look at completing the second component for full accreditation early in 2017 – maybe in a different location this time!
Stay tuned.
Happy Touring
Share this Post
