When you are off the beaten track, you won’t cross the path of other travelers very often, this means that it is especially important to maintain a helpful and friendly attitude to other 4WDers and campers you come across. One of the most common things you find in the outback and more remote areas, is the wave we give drivers that are approaching. The sense of mate ship is deeply rooted in Australian culture and is one of the reasons many people head out travelling through the vast countryside.

So, these are our top tips to making sure you have the best good fortune on your side when you hit the tracks!

#1 If you see someone having a tough time, don’t just watch them!

What goes around comes around, so if you see someone having a tough time, slow down and offer some assistance. You may have a good chuckle at the misfortune of other people who had trouble navigating the tough section of track you just tackled.

You should always bring a full complement of Hercules 4WD recovery gear no matter where you are heading, it can always come in handy and could save yours or someone else’s vehicle on the tracks or even more importantly a life!

A small gesture like this can take some of the panic and stress out of a new 4WDers experience and you never know, you make a friend for life.

You never know, that may be you one day, and after all, the other person is just like you, they picked the same awesome track to hit, on the same day to get away from the fuss of town, so you probably have more in common than you imagined!

#2 Be prepared
No matter where you are going it is extremely important to bring extra fuel, water, food, spare parts, and tools. There is nothing worse than getting yourself into trouble through lack of preparation, and nothing more embarrassing than having to call for help, as someone will have to come and get you out of trouble.

Most of the tools you need to get out of trouble can be found in an Adventure Kings Bush Mechanic toolkit. But using creativity and initiative can save you from a situation becoming much worse than it needs to be.

#3 Be Aware of Others in the area

By fitting a UHF CB radio to your 4WD you can monitor other vehicles in the area. Many think that these devices are only really useful when you have a convoy, but you can find out a lot about the tracks ahead and whether or not sections of track are navigable.

We’ve even heard of people using other groups UHF radio chatter to calculate how close oncoming 4WD’s by monitoring the strength and static interference of transmissions whilst travelling through the Simpson desert and with a properly setup system you will have a good clear 25km heads up or situations where head on crashes whilst cresting dunes could potentially occur.

#4 Watch your dust!

Most tracks in Australia are dusty, we are famous world wide for our fine red dusty desert sands, but even in our wetter districts like in Cape York or Tassie we have extremely dusty tracks through the dry seasons, which can blind other drivers and yourself.

Make sure your wiper bottles are topped up, and your wiper blades are fresh as a light coat of dust will stick to nearly any surface and make its way into every crack and crevice in your vehicle including a fine covering on your windshield and there is nothing worse than driving blind particularly heading into the sun across the Nullarbor.

So keep that in mind when you blast past oncoming vehicles at 110km/h in dusty environments, if you are throwing a dust trail. Slow down when you have someone oncoming, otherwise you might be smoke screening them to all the hazards ahead they now cannot see!

This point leads us to our next bit of advice…..

#5 Don’t tailgate

Tailgating on the road (intentionally or not) contributes to over 1 third of traffic accidents, and according to studies our reaction times whilst at the wheel is approximately 0.5 seconds but with a more complex situation the time between recognizing a hazard and a reaction taking place can be up to 5 or 6 seconds.

At a speed of 80km you travel 22m every second, so you may potentially travel over 130m which is 1.3 football fields before you react to a hazard, so being 1 car length behind your mate on a dirt track may not give you enough time to avoid rear ending his vehicle.

Tailgating can also cause stone chips and window cracks when on dusty dirt tracks and during steep hill climbs the person in front can roll backwards a couple of meters on a failed attempt, so good advice is to give plenty of room for the person in front to mess up the section of track and miss hitting the front of your 4WD.

#6 Don’t wreck the tracks

As 4WDers we face a terrible amount of critisicm from the outside world through lack of understanding and irresponsible behavior from a small minority.

So when you are hitting hard sections of track, avoid ripping them up by spinning tyres unnecessarily, this can be prevented by dropping your tyre pressures down to an appropriate level using a Kwiky Tyre Deflator or other purpose made tyre deflation tool.

This rule also applies to garbage… if you pack something in, it is important that you bring it out with you as well. The tracks are our last touch with a pristine and natural environment, and by making sure you don’t leave rubbish behind, you will maintain that pristine environment for the next group to come through.

A Dirty gear bag from Adventure Kings, gives you a great place to chuck rubbish so that the smell doesn’t penetrate through your whole vehicle cab.
 

These are just a handful of tips to help you to contribute the kind and friendly nature of people who enjoy getting out and about in the bush. In our opinion there frankly isn’t much in the world better than getting to some remote spots. And making sure that ourselves and others are always welcomed back