Whaddon 27th December

B3aker said:

I was aiming to get there for about 10ish.

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that gives me about an hour to bugger about on my own to get stuck before you get there with your winch then dunnit

Indeed it does! Are you still after one the same?

you know - i really am not sure

i need to sit down in a pub and have a few pints with other land rover drivers to see what everyone reckons coz i dont know what i want to do to be honest with you at the moment! got a few options, at the moment i am certainly leaning more towards one

anyone around my way tomorrow and fancy a pint in one of the best pubs in england?

Sorry Carpy my xmas is tomorrow. As for the winch read Tom Sheppards vehicle dependant expedition guide. he has been there and done it no question he is regarded as THE expert in overland travel in a vehicle alone. Read the book its the best resource you will find for overland travel. BTW he has had RR's 110's, 90's, and discos. He now does it in a non LR but for some very good reasons and due to his own bad experience with his LR's.

If you've not got the book, i have a copy you can borrow.

jai_landrover said:

Sorry Carpy my xmas is tomorrow. As for the winch read Tom Sheppards vehicle dependant expedition guide. he has been there and done it no question he is regarded as THE expert in overland travel in a vehicle alone. Read the book its the best resource you will find for overland travel. BTW he has had RR's 110's, 90's, and discos. He now does it in a non LR but for some very good reasons and due to his own bad experience with his LR's.

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It is not for this reason that I am umming and arring. it is more what to do with which vehicle

If you are like me you will not like hearing what you read and dis believe alot of it but it all makes so much sense it really does Honest. not taking a high lift, not taking a roof rack no winch buying better Mitchelin XS Sand tyres (lighter than some equilevents with better on road and offroad manners). etc etc. If you saw his jack you would **** yourself (I did) but it works its functional it takes up minimal room and time to use same goes for sand ladders/ waffle boards (he would laugh if you turned up with GRP waffle boards) Its a whole new thing that I am trying to get my head around and am slowly appreciating what he states but its not easy!
Jai

carpy said:

It is not for this reason that I am umming and arring. it is more what to do with which vehicle

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Which vehicle for roading, playing, or expeditioning ???

Go with your gut, you already know the pro's and cons of all the vehicles, and you know your needs, you are best placed to decide on a vehicle.

I know sometimes it's helpful to hear other people opinions, so you can dismiss them , but you can also spend too much time researching stuff.

Would love to go for a drink, but have a very tall blonde woman coming for lunch, you are welcome to come over aswell, I have the Morroco Desert Pistes DVD to watch.

As for the book and the winch, Tom Sheppard says you don't need one, but then he also says you shouldn't go off roading by yourself on the steepest sand dune you can see, so while Tom Sheppard doesn't need a winch, Alex Carpenter definately does need a winch. Anyone whos says you don't either doesn't know Carpy, or they are an idiot

expedition driving was best described to me by a very wise man as a one man one car race. To win (complete the expedition) first you need to finish. Anyone can go out to the middle of nowhere and break somthing get help and get home with a good story.

to go somwhere like the middle of the sahara un aided with very little money to see, explore and overcome each and every problem alone is indeed very comendable with many a story to tell.

I myself get a buzz out of keeping a vehicle mobile or indeed do suitable field repairs or whatever is nessasary to keep on going. I get a kick out of the engineering required and the thinking period of what will last long enough and what is a total bodge and will ultimatly fail. Its somthing I do not get much to do of late but on the odd occasion like Whaddon getting people sorted so they can get home safe is just great. I think im not too bad at it and enjoy the challenge. I will one day put that into Practice either in Africa or in the eastern europe and beyond but for now I will keep learning and keep saving and keep preping my 90 till its at a stage where I think its reliable enough and comfortable enough to undertake such a trip. The simple truth is like Carpy is finding out, many are still to find out and some people will never learn is that you simply cannot have a single motor to screw about and have fun in and keep it reliable for such expedition trips without silly ammounts of money for a complete strip down or mechanical parts and a general going over it each and every time you do a play day and or half serious offroad stuff. Its one step forward two steps back and it will start to cost some serious dosh to keep it tip top even doing the work yourself.

Its the main reason many expedition vehicles are almost bog standard with HD springs and mabe a few thoughtout accesories just maintained to the hilt. A customer that took his 90 everywhere had a full going over and all oil changes every 5K hubs and bearings inspected every 5K and after every trip. He did no offroading except the odd bit of desert driving and many mountain passes. The best damn 90 I'd ever seen and it looked absolutly standard.

Jai an opinion is an opinion, people have differant approaches to the same situation. no one approach is necessarily correct or otherwise.

My issue is i have a requirement for 2 vehicles - an off roader and long run expedition vehicle in south america - but not the expedition that you guys think of - think more the rainforest challenge style expedition. cor that would be nice wouldnt it, compete in the rainforest challenge. so thats the 1st, the second is a road vehicle. I can then add a third expedition vehicle when funds allow. i have some half decent funds available right now, not least thanks to making a nice amount on the series. problem is in order to start really working on my 110 it needs to go off the road for a while as problems are addressed and modifications properly thought out. however that is my main vehicle, i need a vehicle that will take me long distances on the motorway, etc etc and whilst my defender hardly excels at it, it manages better than the series will. so if i am going to modify my 110 - however it may be, i need a second vehicle for the road to get me places.

thats the thing, what landy where almost!

i thought u lot were off to africa soon? Bit confused.

The sensible person in me thinks this isn't a bad combination:
110 for expedition tried and tested,
RR classic 4 speed strong and reliable for rain challenge vehicle, The ozzy boys won that malasian challenge no end of times in a sorted RR classic,
And a sensible smart diesel car passat, mazda 6 or somthing for motorways.
All your recovery work in winter can be done by the RR classic thats difflocked uped and has the decent tyres etc if the car breaks you have the 110 as a Trusty backup to jump in anytime and drive to spain or africa. The RR for play days, fun and to take with you for the rain forrest etc.

Thats one idea im sure there is many others booger is right tho somtimes you just gotta decide cos you can waist alot of time just trying to get everything perfect and somtimes its just easier to go with your gut feeling as it all comes down to you and how you feel about what you are doing.

has any one going tomorrow got a spare defender hazard light switch??

So the list so far

B3aker
Jai_landrover
Carpy
Spyderman
Stariont3
reeves_luke & thevengefulelephant
gibbo phil
Booger
Redwings - Maybe......
spitfiremk1uk - Maybe.......
Gilbo09?
Fielder?
nathan5346
matt phils mate
matts mate
rangie boy luke
rangie boy jamie
rangie boy alan
plus rangie boys mates


thats who i know is going so far so looks like its gonna be a good day

So the list so far

B3aker
Jai_landrover
Carpy
Spyderman
Stariont3
reeves_luke & thevengefulelephant
gibbo phil
Booger
Redwings - Maybe......
spitfiremk1uk - Maybe.......
Gilbo09?
Fielder?
nathan5346
matt phils mate
matts mate
rangie boy luke
rangie boy jamie
rangie boy alan
plus rangie boys mates
Mr_V is a possibility

thats a pretty decent list that!

looks good, is anyone meeting up for a mack shack breakfast beforehand?

dont know any close - i cant imagine so theres a half decent burger van there!

I'll be on Channel 16 on the CB.

And the burger van there is good.

hi im looking to join a day out in the yorkshire area tomorrow if anyone knows owt

Channel 16? BAH.

Us T*O*S*S*E*R*s only use channel 10.

Good thing its lukes cb then