AnswerID: 9250 Submitted: Tuesday, Dec 03, 2002 at 00:00
ExplorOz Team - Michelle
replied:
For some reason, every trip we go on we stumble across a "flag" lying in the middle of the road. Last time it was the remains of a road workers fluro
orange and yellow site flag - see recents pic of our vehicle in
Simpson Desert. It even had the heavy rubber thingy to attach and a hook. We just strapped one of our extension tent poles to the bumper bar and the flag to that and didn't drive fast (you don't in the Simpson anyhow) so there was little force on it. The time before that we found a red "flag" lying in the middle of the road. Again it was something discarded from a road workers site, and I think again we used a tent pole. Works for us, and comes at the right price. Being "ingenius" and finding stuff is what its all about I reckon. But I realise that the trip up from
Sydney to
Stockton isn't exactly going to present the same sort of opportunties, but keep your eyes out from now on.
Plexus, you also state you're going to mount the flag pole on your roof rack - do you realise that it is less likely to be seen there when you are cresting a steep dune than if you put it on your bumper bar? The idea is to get the maximum height to give the longest period of notice to the oncoming vehicle to avoid the unfortunate "head on". I've been in the situation a few times, where the only warning was the tip of the flag just wiggling its way over the dune providing just enough time to hit the brakes. It's the fraction of seconds that really count.
The Whip antenna is a fine idea but usually doesn't handle the weight of the flag. Even the smallest kerchief catches a lot of wind force!
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