Off-road people like to play, have played in mountains, water, snow, and mud, but those who have not played in sand are really not a real off-road person. I have always heard the veterans talk about the wildness, danger and beauty of the desert. Last year when I participated in the Alxa Heroes Meeting, I also played in the Tengger Desert. I experienced the excitement, thrills and sense of accomplishment of playing with sand. So he committed a desert disease, which must be cured. In early September, I heard from brothers in the circle that the Xiangpu Brigade would organize a crossing of the Badain Jaran Desert during the National Day. With the support and encouragement of my wife, I hurried to find the captain of the brigade, Jin Wei. The army signed up.
Across the barren desert, why? Many people don’t understand these thoughts and actions of off-road people. After watching the “Journey to the Wilderness” by the second brother Xiong, the gold medal leader of the Tule family, he led 4 vehicles, 9 days, 12 people, 32 car traps, 87 rivers, 158 bridges, and 1,374 kilometers challenged the most dangerous road in the world – the Bea Highway. It can be said that the brothers have experienced life and death together, and finally became the first Chinese team to break out of BEA and won the “Golden Second Award”. Those about off-road people are sad, joyful, painful, hard, quarreling, crying, or about life and death, all these bits and pieces are condensed in the days of getting along with brothers, and they are all precipitated in this long time. in the journey.
The original intention of writing this post was just to give a description of the four major desert crossing activities, but when writing the post, I recalled many novices I saw during the desert crossing these days (because I am a player I’m a rookie in the sand, so I have a deep feeling) Some of the situations in my body, I feel that some knowledge about desert crossing should be popularized to novices, the purpose is just to warn brothers who have never experienced desert crossing, and avoid Some unnecessary risks can better experience and enjoy the fun of desert crossing. Here I would like to thank all the veteran sand players for their posts about desert crossing in various forums and circles of friends, so that I can summarize them and share them with more brothers.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, depart from Changsha, Hunan Province at 3:00 pm on September 25th, and the departure mileage
Gathered with the Guards and the Sunflowers, they headed west all night in the heavy rain
A total of 1,845 kilometers traveled and arrived safely in Ordos at 7:30 p.m. on the 26th to meet up with the brothers
At 8:30 am on the 27th, headed towards the Kubuqi Desert under the heavy rain
The police uncle is carefully checking the signboard, and he sees more than a dozen cars waiting to let go
Entering Dugui Tara is already sunny
The co-pilot Feng Qingyang is helping to prepare the sand flag
Teammates are making preparations before entering the desert
Captain of the Xiangpu Brigade Guards
Enter the Kubuqi Desert. Be prepared for rollovers when you start driving in the desert! So you must do three things: fasten your seat belt, close the windows, and close the sunroof. There is only one common purpose of these three points – to prevent you from being thrown out of the car when the car rolls over and then being run over by your own car.
The Kubuqi Desert is the sixth largest desert in China. It is located on the south bank of the Yellow River in the “Ji” bend of the Yellow River in the Hetao Plain (some people call it the Hetao Desert), and to the north is the Langshan area in the western section of Yinshan Mountain. “Kubqi” is Mongolian, which means the string on the bow, because it is like a string hanging on the Yellow River under the Yellow River. It was called “Kujiesha” and “Ponasha” in ancient times, and it was also called “Punasha”. The Kubuqi Desert is the closest desert to Beijing, located in the northern part of the ridgeline of the Ordos Plateau, part of Hangjin Banner, Dalat Banner and Jungar Banner of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The total area is about 13,900 square kilometers, of which mobile sand dunes account for about 61%. The length is 400 kilometers, the width is 50 kilometers, and the height of the sand dunes is 10 to 60 meters. It looks like a yellow dragon lying across the northern part of the Ordos Plateau, across the three banners of Inner Mongolia. The main form is dune chain and lattice dune.
I am just a rookie in playing with sand. After crossing the four major deserts with the Xiangpu Brothers this time, as a newcomer, I have some superficial experience, experience and feelings about playing with sand. I would like to remind those who have never played with sand but want to play with sand. Brother: “The desert is risky, and you need to be cautious when playing in the sand.” The rule of going into the desert is to be obedient, to obey the command of veterans and team leaders is to be responsible for one’s own life, don’t think that Lao Tzu is the best in the world, you can and I can too, the ignorant is fearless, this is linked to your life and the lives of others.
Before the trip, I also learned a lot of posts about sand playing, desert off-road knowledge and desert off-road driving skills from the off-road e-family forum, various public accounts and circle of friends. Everyone shares, learns and communicates. Please correct me if you don’t know anything.
The necessary work before entering the desert – deflation, the temperature in the desert is high, the tire pressure will be reduced after the tire is deflated to reduce the risk of tire blowout, and at the same time increase the contact area between the tire and the sand and increase the adhesion of the tire, so as to obtain For larger power, it is generally put at 1.2 atmospheres, depending on the softness of the local desert sand.
The sign flag (fishing rod) should not be lower than 5 meters from the ground. This is very important. It not only makes it easier for you to be found and rescued when you fall into the desert, but more importantly, it allows other cars to fly on slopes or cross sand beams. It is one of the necessary guarantees for safe driving in the desert to detect your presence in advance to prevent collisions. Try to buy high-strength fishing rods. If the base of the steel pipe is short, it will be easily broken by strong winds. When fixing the small flag, wrap it with tape a few more times.
Adjust the height and straightness of the seat, the headrest is higher than the top of the head, so that the line of sight is kept at a high point, and it is common sense to wear a seat belt, so I won’t emphasize it too much. Before entering the sand, put the four-wheel drive lock on the middle differential (4HLC), and turn off the side slip (note that you must turn it off again every time you restart the vehicle). The high four-hand gear is 123 (or the low four is 345, which is actually mastered according to different models), and the speed is 2500-4000. Try to keep the speed in the optimal range of torque. At 1:30 in the afternoon, the convoy drove into the Kubuqi Desert one by one.
The Kubuqi Desert has a small structure and many chicken coops. It is a good place for beginners to learn desert driving. Veterans call it a desert primary school.
No matter how many theories there are in the desert, it is not as good as accumulating miles in the desert. Quantitative change to qualitative change is an unchanging truth. Generally, the desert mileage is about 300 kilometers to get started, and people with good understanding can basically keep up with playing high sand. But the real masters have accumulated tens of thousands of kilometers or even tens of thousands of kilometers. It is normal for novices to walk less than ten kilometers a day, so novices will naturally learn to keep a low profile when they enter the desert.
Learn to control the car instead of saving it. Many of the driving characteristics in the desert are contrary to road driving, and it is necessary to experience and master it from scratch. The sand resistance is high, and the pine oil car will be slow. Use the accelerator as much as possible to control the vehicle, use the brake sparingly, and use the brake when necessary. Tight sand and slow water, only by maintaining speed can the vehicle be effectively controlled.
It is very normal for the body to roll 30 to 40 degrees in the desert, but this situation is a precursor to a rollover when driving on the road. The right foot will habitually step on the brake and turn up the direction. The novice hangs on the side slope and the knife beam like this. Relatively dangerous. You should steer downwards and refuel to get out of trouble.
When entering the sand beam for the first time, you have to go from low to high, and the angle of the side slope is small to large. You don’t need to deliberately roll the slope and roll the beam. The mileage car feels it, and it will happen naturally.
