Almost There
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- Nov 3, 2014
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Duck, I've driven all over the Ehrenberg, Quartzite, Cottonwood, Holtville, Yuma, Parker, etc. etc. etc. roads for 2 winters now without any of the gear you are trying to pack.
When I say roads, these are not your regular city roads, these are single lane, 2 tire track trails.
I have never had to air down my tires.
I do not, however, go off the roads except in to campsites that are never more than a couple of hundred yards off the trail.
The roads are harder than concrete - that's the nature of desert sand.
As long as you're not going down that #5 road, you'll be fine. Or going 10 miles out Road #4, bypassing a bunch of good campsites to get to the end of the road.
When people get stuck it's because they get adventurous and start trying to make their own trails or they try driving in washes or up the sides of washes where there is loose rock. I'd suggest that your sense of gut instinct 'ain't going there' will work better than all the tools in the world.
The other way they get stuck is in mud. The desert can become a quagmire after a torrential rain which is usually summertime winters are the dry season there. That's why the best advice is to always have at least 3 or 4 days worth of extra supplies on hand so that if the roads become impassible you can stay put. If it rains that hard and you're short on water, collect rain water and boil it.
The only thing you'll really need out of that list is the levelers and that's so that you can sleep without falling out of bed if you can't find a level spot to park. The cheap carpet runner comes in handy for at the side door of your vehicle as a door mat.
I do recommend that you have good tires with strong sidewalls (E rating) because there is more danger of damaging a sidewall when you sideswipe a sharp rock than anything else. OTOH, the only tire damage I've had is because of a screw embedding itself in a tire. That could very well have happened in a parking lot.
When I say roads, these are not your regular city roads, these are single lane, 2 tire track trails.
I have never had to air down my tires.
I do not, however, go off the roads except in to campsites that are never more than a couple of hundred yards off the trail.
The roads are harder than concrete - that's the nature of desert sand.
As long as you're not going down that #5 road, you'll be fine. Or going 10 miles out Road #4, bypassing a bunch of good campsites to get to the end of the road.
When people get stuck it's because they get adventurous and start trying to make their own trails or they try driving in washes or up the sides of washes where there is loose rock. I'd suggest that your sense of gut instinct 'ain't going there' will work better than all the tools in the world.
The other way they get stuck is in mud. The desert can become a quagmire after a torrential rain which is usually summertime winters are the dry season there. That's why the best advice is to always have at least 3 or 4 days worth of extra supplies on hand so that if the roads become impassible you can stay put. If it rains that hard and you're short on water, collect rain water and boil it.
The only thing you'll really need out of that list is the levelers and that's so that you can sleep without falling out of bed if you can't find a level spot to park. The cheap carpet runner comes in handy for at the side door of your vehicle as a door mat.
I do recommend that you have good tires with strong sidewalls (E rating) because there is more danger of damaging a sidewall when you sideswipe a sharp rock than anything else. OTOH, the only tire damage I've had is because of a screw embedding itself in a tire. That could very well have happened in a parking lot.
The only thing I took out of it for the weigh in were the water jugs and the hitch hauler wasn't on at the time so add a couple of hundred pounds to that max.
