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An interesting thought, I don't think I need side protection sliders in the Simpson though plus I don't fancy having to climb in through the window!Quote:
Originally Posted by dobbo
The Australian Armed Forces also used PAP's (pierced aluminium planks) for certain applications.
Roger
Sounds ideal but possibly a tad expensive for something I may not even need to use.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reads90
Are they commercially available and if so at what sort of cost?
Also what size were they?
Roger
Milk crates gentlemen, each milk crate yeilds 4-5 usable pads, tie them together with rope hinges and you can make em as long as you like, they stack, they double as shower mats, theyre light and if you know where to look, you can get em free.
But you are carrying a lot of air around in relation to the distance they will cover. Broken down milk crates are low mass, high volume. You have to put them somewhere. Coir mats can be rolled up into tight, low mass, cylinders, and hung wherever. In sand country, off the side posts of your bull bar or brush guard would be ideal. Remember, before the fifities no-one in the bush had 4wd's. They got the job done with skill, knowledge, & patience. No-one in my family had a 4wd on a mail run until 1992. I asked the person if he found it easier with the 4wd ( a second-hand Nissan), and he replied that he "put the hubs in once last year, but probably didn't need to".Quote:
Originally Posted by Blknight.aus
I use them for driver training purposes. But to be honest, it's not very often that I require them. I know when I did the Simpson run last year, I only carried a very basic recovery kit. With all the weight of everything that you have to take, I backed of on stuff that was "nice to have". My recovery kit did include a sand anchor though so I could winch myself out if required.
To me it is the type of item that you'd carry for competitions etc more so than really long distance travelling. Even though you are thinking of doing madigans line, I don't envisage you getting stuck too many times. And even then you'd be doing it with another vehicle??? If so then you'll be using your snatch strap 99 times out of 100.
Just a couple of thoughts anyway
Chris
Yeah the milk crate is a little bit space consuming, thats why you cut them up :)
But you cant beat the cost and the fact that they can be sperated and made into a a vertical stack instead of something 5 foot long and a foot wide ( guestimate). And if you uncoulple them you can lay them around corners mind you I would not want to try bridging with them
I found out the milk crates thing off of an old timer one day when I was tractionally disadvantaged on a beach who explained it to me and then lent me the ones he had in the bottom of his ummm not landrovers tray space.
as for storage of them or any other sand ladder/mat I know someone with umm a non landrover who keeps them on the floor under the rear passangers feet. I can see it doing 2 things, 1, stops foot scuffing on the floor and 2, it means the passangers HAVE to get out to help.
Good idea Reads. But bugger, I had access to this stuff by the sheet up until a month ago. Wish I had thought of that then. Will have to keep an eye out for some.Did not really think it would be strong enough.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reads90
Well said and some good thoughts.Quote:
Originally Posted by cewilson
We will be travelling exclusively with Defenders - probably two 130's, three Xtremes and one Isuzu County. Although each vehicle will be self sufficient, we will be load sharing with emergency items such as spares, special tools, and specialised recovery equipment.
The reason I have started to consider the long sand ladders is that I have read reports on another forum about extreme difficulty crossing some dunes after one vehicle had failed to proceed and was being towed - more than 4hrs to cross one dune. We will be carrying two solid tow bars as we don't intend leaving anyone stranded in the unfortunate event of a major, non repairable breakdown. Madigans Line traverses some pretty remote country and if you could get a third party to tow you out of there, it would be frightfully exxy.
My idea, to keep weight down (which I realise is very important) was to incorporate some type of lightweight but strong sand ladder into a roofrack - thereby serving a double purpose. And if we don't need to use the sand ladders at least we've been able to carry a few spare tyre cases up top.
Roger
IF you only keep them there while you are off road and dont intend to night travel, mod the bull bar and store them between the bar and the fenders, along with the snatch bag, winch extention strap and long handled shovel I made a set of clamps from cheapy bunnings ubolts to hold everything but the sand ladders. The gear blocks the lights but dont make enough difference to the air flow to the radiator to be troublesome, Not sure if the sand ladders or desert heat will be enough to make it a problem tho.
I have used a variety of stuff here in the Middle East for sand
1. Rubber mats (door mat material) absolute cr@p
2. Aluminium track (TrakMat) flexible multiple plates with good grip works well but not 100%, tends to wrap around the wheel (of jeeps in particular) but not had this problem with the Degender and Disco, probably a matter of driving attitude.
3. Sand Shoes - made from some fibre + plastic material. Curved shape works well in lifting the vehicle up out of the sand, pointed end good for pushing inder the wheel
Some pics of a self recovery of my 90 in really soft stuff. Will post some clearer pics of 2 and 3