Let's Get Trained

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Great little snippet on training and also driving on this article (Learning from a 4×4 Master: Bill Burke), excerpt below:


"There’s no way I can cover everything the we did and learned in a single post, so I’ll share a couple of things that I learned:

  • Don’t look out the window at your tire: We all have bad habits; one of mine in technical off-road driving is that I like to look out of my window to check my front-driver tire placement. Bill was quick and early in the training to point out that relying on that tactic creates some “tunnel vision” that causes me to lose spacial awareness of the rest of the vehicle. Instead, I was encouraged (forcefully…) to trust my spacial awareness and line choice, feeling my line versus relying on that distinct visual confirmation unless I absolutely needed it. Not surprisingly, when I started giving up that crutch, nothing bad happened, and I actually drove tough obstacles more smoothly.
  • Left Foot Braking-do it: This was probably my biggest technical take-away, and something I have not historically used enough. I did a whole post on it a while back (link), the basics of left foot braking are that you are able to better control the load on your suspension and drive “less jerky” when driving up and over obstacles, helping to maintain traction and prevent striking the undercarriage while compressing the suspension.
  • Forget the winch damper: This one was a surprise to me, but makes a ton of sense. Winch dampeners typically only cover a small % of the exposed line in a winch pull, and are going to be completely ineffective in many instances where the line breaks on an area not covered. I expect someone is going to want to argue on this one
  • Driving Bill’s Truck is AWESOME: Yeah, we like to poke fun at Land Rovers and their owners sometimes (mostly just Hosford). However, Bill’s ARB-locked 1995 SWB Range Rover is the real deal. I had the pleasure (and anxiety) of driving it through some fairly heinous terrain. The truck handled it extremely well, and once I got used to it, I found it to be a was a very confidence inspiring rig.
  • Nearly Stock Toyota’s are still insanely capable: The corporate training group brought a mix of late-model Toyota 4×4’s mostly equipped with basic lifts, bumpers, and 31-33” tires. Despite some serious “stuck” situations and beating and banging on rocks, those trucks took all of the abuse, with only a couple of flat tires and one CV axle giving way over the course of the 4 days (the CV axle was a non-OEM replacement, by the way…). So for all of you guys with similarly equipped rigs, don’t be afraid of the tough stuff – if you can stomach some pin striping and a touch of body damage risk, your truck can go almost anywhere.
  • There’s a Reason Bill’s Reputation Precedes him: Watching Bill work with a group of students, molding them through a mix of situational coaching, teaching, and skills-focused practice over the course of two days was illuminating. While Alex and I improved significantly in our own driving, the students getting 100% of Bill’s attention progressed leaps and bounds over the course of 4 days."
 
Great article on how to use sand ladders. Warning, this is in Australia where they take responsibilities for their actions. Use at your own risk.

Recovery boards comparison
 
HighLift Jack! There are winching classes at the UORTC that focus on proper use of the jack in many situations. I was a recipient of that knowledge last weekend as my CDL decided to go on vacation and I was on one-wheel-drive. Of course the wheel in the air is the one getting traction with open center differential
So a lift and cast was the solution to get going when my baby got beached on a big rock. The rest of the day was great training for me to drive all throughout on 4L with no CDL. I had to adjust, but still the LC got through some amazing stuff.
At one time time I was taking the bypass, and these great guys said "why you doing that, you can get through this no problem", so they helped me back up, and ride through the main obstacle without a hiccup. Amazing.....

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Great instructing makes a world of difference. Lets Get Trained!

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See below for anyone interested.

Uwharrie Off-Road Training Center will be having a 6 hour Winch & Recovery Class/Workshop November 12th from 10 AM till 4 PM. Cost will be $95 with a maximum of 24 students. No vehicle, just gloves required! Bring your want and willingness to learn! If you haven't bought a winch WAIT till after this class!

Topics and Practical lessons: A very detailed class on winching!

Stuck Assessment – Vehicle 360 – Vehicle Recovery Points
•Winch Types: Drives
1. PTO
2. Hydraulic
3. Electric: Permanent Magnet vs. Series Wound
Planetary Gear
Worm Gear
Spur Gear
•Winch Advantage – ‘Power Zone’


•Winch Gear – descriptions for each and common uses


•Winch Rope – Cable vs. Synthetic (Repairing Line)


•Hand Signals for winching
•Pre-Rigging your winch
•Single Line Pull and Winching safety
•Proper use of ‘Tree Trunk Protector’
•Winch Advantage (1:1, 2:1, 3:1), (1.4:1 – 1.9:1)
•Winch Redirects
•Anchors (Dead Man): Pull Pal, Rocks, Vehicles, Stumps
•Hands–On winch routing and spooling
•Rollover recovery with winch(s)


•After Action
*We will also be providing a vehicle roll over demonstration using winches. How to properly recover a 4WD vehicle from a rollover, in the woods!

Bottled water, 3 ring Binder (with lots of take home winching information), laminated UORTC 'Go To' cards, Superwinch Gloves and a Superwinch 'Winching Handbook' will be included.

A guest 8 to 13 years of age may ride for free. No one under the age of 8 years of age allowed.

To Pre-Register: You must prepay via check, credit card or PayPal. Preferred payment is by check. Please mail to: UORTC, 4026 NC Highway 109 North, Uwharrie, NC 27371. Put on memo line -class and date your paying for. I will mail you a receipt/thank you letter with more information. One week prior to your class you will receive a detailed informational email. If paying by PayPal, please use my email address scott@UORTC.com to pay. If paying by credit card call me. Contact Scott Fields at 336-906-1644 or scott@UORTC.com , with any questions. I will need your email, telephone number and mailing address. Be sure to state which class and date you are paying for . Thank you!

We ask for you to arrive at UORTC by 0945 so we can be ready to go by 1000.
 
Another great training video, and scenery from Africa. Halfway is the driving in the sand for those going to Portsmouth and wanting some insight.

 
Its like a snake eating a snake eating itself, while eating the other snake... with a fat rabbit towel in between...
 
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