Hi Everyone,
I would like to give a more detailed information about the tools and equipment’s that you will require during off-roading as well to gain your first badge. We have no commitment or allegiance to any shop so feel free to buy from anywhere you want. The provided list below is not required if you are first time driving with us or the way we called it Club Member drive, you can simply just show up and have fun while organisers have to take care of everything else. Once you finish with Club Member drive and you want to get your first badge than you will have to pass the tool inspection that can be done visually on your next drive or even via WhatsApp by one of the organisers - grace period three drives. I have seen many people turn up to the Drivers with many tools and recovery equipment even above the list. However, there are many different types and kinds, and some work better than others and some doesn’t work at all. In our list we are considering your confront and Safety to ensure the tool or equipment doesn’t fail you when you need it the most. Here is a list of recommendations based upon actual experience:
Minimum Recovery Equipment:
Rated (approved) "Kinetic" recovery rope - not a strap and look for the amount of "stretch" in the
rope. The more stretch you can find, the better as it will make recovery much easier on your car!
In our Club majority of us using Extreme Duty Kinetic Energy Rope by FACTOR 55 (Precision
Engineering), having personally used other kinetic ropes, I find this rope one of the best by far.
The rope can be bought in different off-road shops for around 450SAR - I brought mine in 4Wheel Station.
- Rope
- 1. rope.PNG (311.63 KiB) Viewed 19960 times
Straight forward, I believe these are generally 4.25T or above, the more T the better you can’t go wrong with it. These types can be bought from most offroad shops, or hardware stores.
They are also called ‘’Bow Shackles” and "Soft Shackles" – Bow Shackles we recommend if winching is required – Soft Shackles are for majority of recoveries and we use them as they are most safe in case of any snaping while recovering, it is less likely to fly and hit the drivers or people nearby.
‘’RATED’ - SOFT SHACKLES (SAFE RECOVERY) – BOW SHACKLES (WINCHING) – HOOK (WINCHING)
- Soft Shackle
- 2. soft shackle.PNG (244.77 KiB) Viewed 19960 times
Car jack - The Jack that comes with your car is not suitable when off-roading. Hi-Lift Jack is not suitable as these are not stable enough on the sand due to their base being too small and that can compromise the Safety of the user, also keep in mind it takes very long time to lift the
vehicle with this Lift Jack. Most suitable is a Trolley Hydraulic Jack. For a standard sized 4WD vehicle a 2T trolley Jack is sufficient. For a larger vehicle such as Trucks, Pickups, then you should possibly look to buy a 3T to 4T Trolley Jack. These can be bought in various off-road
shops or even online platforms such as Amazon or Noon.
- Hydraulic Jack
- Hydraulic Jack.PNG (263.11 KiB) Viewed 19960 times
Tire deflator - They are very important piece of kit, do not over-complicate it by buying electronic ones, auto deflators etc. The one recommended by the majority of the Club is the E-Z Deflator by ARB. It has been tried and tested over years, it is accurate and reliable. I would also recommend a 'Push On" gauge, which can be used alongside a Pin remover for fast deflation, and also to double check the pressure during the drive and make minor adjustments as tires heat up during the drive which changes the pressure. Tire Valve Core Remover Repair Tool is also necessary when there is a tire popout, when fixing a tire the valve shall be removed to fit tire back while pumping air in.
- Tire Deflator
- Difletor.PNG (281.96 KiB) Viewed 19959 times
Shovel
Speaking from experience - Do not buy a tri-fold, or foldable shovel, they are too small, often too easy to break, and you will be digging for a long time with almost no results. I recommend a telescopic shovel as per the photograph attached below and this shovel can be brought in
various hardware stores or even online such as Amazon, Noon etc...
- Shovel
- Shovel.PNG (105.5 KiB) Viewed 19960 times
Try to avoid flags with suction cups as they tempt to fell and lose during the drives. Many times, I witness people lose them without even realizing it fell off. Keep in mind they don’t come for free. Most recommended one is the one that you fit onto the bracket or railing of your car and tie up
with nuts, we haven’t witness one loos of this type.
- Flag Pole
- Flag Pole.PNG (117.4 KiB) Viewed 19960 times
Air compressor - This is important - We not only need the compressor to inflate tires at the end of the drive, but we need them to fix what is called a Pop-out. Pop outs are when the tire comes off the rim and it is fixed by using compressed air to pop it back onto the rim. Obviously the
bigger and stronger the better. We recommend anything 150l/min or above. These compressors can be brought in various hardware, off-road and online stores such as Amazon or Noon etc…
- Air Compressor
- Air Compresor.PNG (135.69 KiB) Viewed 19960 times
Do not buy a pre-programmed Radio, this is not suitable, we do not use those channels so will be a total waste of money. We require you to have a radio that you can manually type in and set the frequency. Check that you can type in frequencies in the range of 440.000 to 450.000. Walkie Talkies can only be bought in in different shops around Riyadh or even online platforms such as Amazon, Noon, and I personally recommend AliExpress as they sale Baofeng 8W for around 150SAR that comes with high frequency antenna and grated range than the 5W from Noon that’s available in KSA. Bear in mind sometime customs might hold onto the shipment so the risk is yours.
- Walkie Talkie
- Walkie Talkie.PNG (257.29 KiB) Viewed 19960 times
• Spare tire - in good shape as you might encounter popout on your existing driving tire and sometimes it results in tire cut, or even general tire puncture so the spare will be crucial at the time.
• Front & rear towing points - These towing points need to be suitable placed, attached to the chassis, and sufficient to attach a shackle to when you are stuck. Stacks can happen at any angle with any corner of the car buried in sand. So, ideally have one towing point on each side, front and back. As a minimum have one on the front and one on the back. For the majority of 4wd vehicles, these can be found in off-road shops.
• Base plate for jacking vehicle as showed in the photo where Hydraulic Jack is - A solid piece of wood, that is big enough to fit the whole of the jack on, and thick enough to take the weight of the car and jack. Chopping boards are not suitable! Something solid wood that is 24" long, 18" wide and around 2" thick should do the job (Plank).
• Mechanical tools - Recommend as a minimum to have the following:
- Screwdrivers - Star and Flat
- Spanner Set/Socket Set
- Spark Plug tool
- Ducting Type
- Cable Ties
• Fire extinguisher (Dry Powder) - Can be bought in most petrol stations - Needs to be mounted or stored so that it is immediately available in the case of an emergency, it will do no good if it is stored badly and you cannot reach it in time to put a fire out - Fires in cars spread very quickly!
• Torch light – I believe this is self-explanatory as it is one of the most needed item in almost every situation at night such as, car repair, camping, looking for something that you have dropped etc etc…
• First Aid Kit – Apart from traffic regulation the First Aid Kit must be always available in your car and you never know when it might become handy to yourself, your passengers or even other crew members.
• First Aid Training – Having the First Aid Kit and not knowing how to use it properly might cause more damage to the person in need than you would help him. It is always good to understand what each piece of equipment within the Kit is used for and hot to properly apply over wounds.
• GPS – GPS is one of the most crucial item when 4Wheeling, off-roading - it is very important to know your direction on the way back home at any point of time as even some of the most experienced off-roaders who knows the trails get lost and eventually leads to unwanted events.
• Water – You need to ensure you have enough water when going for off-roading – in worst case scenario if you are 4Wheeling alone which is never recommended you must keep your body hydrated as most man could survive without water for not more than 3 days – Bear in mind we live in dry weather condition where body requires much more fluids than most geographic areas, without sufficient water it could lead to death or irreversible damage to your body.
• Reached Straps – It is always important to secure the material that you are keeping in your vehicle while off-roading. When you start smashing the dunes last thing you want is Hydraulic Jack flying over your head – So yes secure all items in your vehicle at all times.
• Enough Fuel – Commonsense you must ensure you never enter desert or any trail with half or less empty fuel tank, make sure you have enough fuel for the planed trip and always add that extra mile. Again, you are off-roading not driving on highway anything can happen.
• Tire Plug in Kit – This can be very handy if you have puncture your tire rather than just jumping on spare tire – Ensure you have the steel handle as the plastic one sometime pushes trough the handle due to the high force and that could badly result in injury of the handler.
• Satellite Phone – Again this is if you are going to extremely remote areas where anything can go wrong at any point of time, or its just you alone, or you and your friend with two cars. This piece of equipment can be Life Saving, we all know many people have died in very remote areas where they couldn’t get hold of SOS services when they were in need of them. This item can be brought in various stores around Riyadh, they are all licensed and you can recharge it 50SAR yearly just to have enough credit to contact needed services. Prices are between 2k SAR to extremely high prices, different modes with different options, again you need to decide what you need.
• Garmin Mini InReach – If you are using one of Garmin GPS Devices you can buy additionally Garmin Mini InReach and link to the GPS device or even Mobile Phone Garmin Program where you can connect directly to satellite and send up to 10 messages a month to any mobile number in the world. Keep in mind there is subscription in order to use this service but if going to extremely isolated areas it would be wise to have it.
• Car in Good Condition – We all experienced once in a lifetime when people come to off-road with you and their car breaks before you even know – Lets be honest this can happen to anyone even with brand new car but again it is less like to occur than a bad condition car anyway. Always have your vehicle check, see if there are any indications on dashboard that might worry you, in this case it is better to return and go to mechanic rather than further damaging your car and making a bad day to everyone else around you.
I have made list above based on my experience, experience of most advanced off-roaders and I try to simplify it for you to have good tolls and equipment’s that will last long and to save you money and time on unnecessary stuff. However, you are free to buy whatever you like or anything that you feel is more important or appropriate.
