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Getting un bogged on sand- no recovery gear

Good little vid. Some sound advice. If you know you're going to be driving on sand don't go on muddies! History shows that an AT pattern is much better as it doesn't dig so quickly.

I've had to do exactly what he did there but in snow. It's essential to see daylight all round.
 
Can't say i've ever driven on sand , but surely momentum plays a big part in not getting stuck to begin with ?
 
Indeed, as with snow momentum is your friend. The biggest single mistake people make on sand is not airing tyres down. The next big mistake is not digging out enough.

I don’t know if people remember about the U.K. couple that died in the Australian outback a few years ago after their vehicle got stuck.
When the rescue team arrived they did nothing more than air down the tyres and do a bit of digging to free the vehicle. Those 2 simple things would have saved their lives.

Mud terrains are actually used by lots of desert drivers (notably almost all Dakar teams), not least because most of the desert isn’t actually sand but rocks and stones and MTs tend to be more resilient to that environment but also they tend to take airing down better.

Contrary to myth, wide tyres do not offer any advantage in sand, in fact they are detrimental. A tall skinny tyre that can be aired down is much more effective.
 
Indeed, as with snow momentum is your friend. The biggest single mistake people make on sand is not airing tyres down. The next big mistake is not digging out enough.

I don’t know if people remember about the U.K. couple that died in the Australian outback a few years ago after their vehicle got stuck.
When the rescue team arrived they did nothing more than air down the tyres and do a bit of digging to free the vehicle. Those 2 simple things would have saved their lives.

Mud terrains are actually used by lots of desert drivers (notably almost all Dakar teams), not least because most of the desert isn’t actually sand but rocks and stones and MTs tend to be more resilient to that environment but also they tend to take airing down better.

Contrary to myth, wide tyres do not offer any advantage in sand, in fact they are detrimental. A tall skinny tyre that can be aired down is much more effective.
I remember watching a documentary about that.. Was it a Ray Mears thing... When the rescuers turned up they had the Truck out in 15 mins .... Sad, The girl set off walking in an attempt to find help. She didnt get far, Rescuers found her a little later.. Sad but sobering
 
There are probably as many types of sand as there are snow from hard packed sand to that stuff that acts like powdered graphite. I found wet beach sand particularly tough. The resistance to driving across it was incredible. It doesn't behave like sand it's more like mud - but then doesn't behave like mud either. The least tread the better on that stuff.
 
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There are probably as many types of sand as there are snow from hard packed sand to that stuff that acts like powdered graphite. I found wet beach sand particularly tough. The resistance to driving across it was incredible. It doesn't behave like sand it's more like mud - but then doesn't behave like mud either. The least tread the better on that stuff.
I wonder if Snow socks would help on that sort of thing Chris? I guess you’d have to try them to find out.
 
Quite possibly. I'd pay to see that
 
I wonder if Snow socks would help on that sort of thing Chris? I guess you’d have to try them to find out.
Just air down.
Wide tyres will work against you
I can’t imagine snow socks helping at all.
 
I remember watching a documentary about that.. Was it a Ray Mears thing... When the rescuers turned up they had the Truck out in 15 mins .... Sad, The girl set off walking in an attempt to find help. She didnt get far, Rescuers found her a little later.. Sad but sobering
Yeh that’s the one.
Death through ignorance :(
 
Just air down.
Wide tyres will work against you
I can’t imagine snow socks helping at all.
I was referring to Chris’s suggestion that less tread pattern was better. Purely thinking out loud really. I’ve no idea if they would or not but the fact that Snow socks help on Snow made me wonder if, with the comparison made to Snow, the Snow socks might also help on sand.
 
Running around in Moab you keep switching from boulders to slick rock to sand dunes and back again. 33/10.5/15s BFG ATs at 15 psi (Jeep TJ Unlimited) seemed to cope with pretty much anything.
 
Back in the day, we used to swear by the Continental RV180 all terrain tyre for beach/sand use, the tyre had rounded shoulders and a block pattern tread, they were excellent, when deflated they did not dig in and seemed to float over the sand.

Very important to remember that when driving on soft sand, you do not want a tyre that gets significantly wider when deflated, but rather one that gets longer.
A larger foot print is what you want, too much ballooning causes resistance and makes it more likely you will get stuck.
 
When you look at a specially designed sand tyre it is built like a slick but with scoops widely spaced. Lots of longitudinal contact and little ‘tread’ as such.

Now who’d have thought this thread would morph into another tyre discussion. :? :lol:
 
Interesting video and some good points made. Years ago I spent some time diving in a place called Sodwana in the north part of South Africa at the border with Mozambique, which also entailed driving on the beach. Lots of various models of 4x4's new and old, and inevitably you would see folk get stuck who lacked driving on sand experience. Tyres rock hard and way to liberal use of the right foot.

Most impressive however was a Parks Board Ranger who was part of our group who went everywhere in a two wheel drive Ford pickup. Only modification was slightly wider rims and aired down. I never saw him get stuck ever, and he regularly drove for miles along the beach as part of his job. He often used that rocking motion from standstill to get going.
 
I was referring to Chris’s suggestion that less tread pattern was better. Purely thinking out loud really. I’ve no idea if they would or not but the fact that Snow socks help on Snow made me wonder if, with the comparison made to Snow, the Snow socks might also help on sand.
Yeh, proper sand tyres used to be practically bald! Although the Michelin Xs has a bobbly type pattern, albeit closely spaced, as did the ones I used in the desert which I think were continentals.
Snow socks though are about grip rather than floatation. They are an alternative to chains.
 
Interesting video and some good points made. Years ago I spent some time diving in a place called Sodwana in the north part of South Africa at the border with Mozambique, which also entailed driving on the beach. Lots of various models of 4x4's new and old, and inevitably you would see folk get stuck who lacked driving on sand experience. Tyres rock hard and way to liberal use of the right foot.

Most impressive however was a Parks Board Ranger who was part of our group who went everywhere in a two wheel drive Ford pickup. Only modification was slightly wider rims and aired down. I never saw him get stuck ever, and he regularly drove for miles along the beach as part of his job. He often used that rocking motion from standstill to get going.

Of course it’s worth remembering that the long range desert group tipped about the desert in 2wd Chevy trucks.
 
I lived in the Middle East for 10 years. Always working in the desert with a 79 series. I tried many tyres the first few years. Actually it doesn’t really matter so much, the trick is the correct pressure. And when it gets hotter, the less pressure you require. Momentum is your friend and using common sense on approach angles. Sand trax (AKA max trax) are also helpful if you do get stuck, but nothing beats a shovel.
 
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