Crossing the Simpson Desert - Looking for travel partner

Shane, Coyote, thanks for response. Spoke to another bloke today who also said shouldnt have any probs crossing as one car.

hi russnic and every one else thanks for some very good feed back

With my limited experience crossing sand dunes a flag is a great safety item.
Mount it as far forward as possible as the first thing you will see of an approaching vehicle cresting a dune is the front diff followed by bull bars than a flag mounted to the bars, flags flown from roof racks are a way back past the front of a vehicle on a crest. Still better than nothing at least you can see oncoming traffic out across the flat bits.
Last trip I had accidentally bumped a button and when I thought I was on 10 the UHF had gone back to 40 , got a barrel from the leader of an oncoming tag along group for not being on 10, and goodness me I did not have a flag, anyway I had pulled over and let there entourage of Towny trucks pass, BMWs VW Lexus etc...., (Remuera Tractors in NZ) driven by the type of people that don't even wind the window down and say GIDDAY.
Next trip I will fly a flag, I have old CB aerials ,fishing rods etc. here at home but not so easy getting them in a plane to Brisbane.
Anybody got some ideas for a flag pole that I could pick up somewhere on the way.
If I wasn't so honest I could nick one off a Mines Toyota, but with my luck I would get caught anyway.
Just another thing to plan!
Cheers
Russ

Russ,

I think that a flag is just if not more important than a radio. Unless you are on the radio all the time a vehicle could approach with any radio transmission.

This is a photo of the Hay River Trip I did last year, I think that we stood out a bit.

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Wayne

No arguments at all there Wayne
But I would still try to stay on Ch10 next time, all it takes is for an approaching vehicle to be stopped before / behind the dune and you both approach at the same time, hear cresting dune coming loud and strong on the UHF, caution bells start ringing.
IMHO a lot is related to inexperience driving a 4WD, you don't have to be airborne at the crest, enough momentum to get up the slope and keep just enough momentum to get over the Ramp Over angle, get it right and cross the crest at about walking speed.
As I said I may have not have a lot of experience in the Simpson but I have been driving 4WD for almost 50 years, the first one was a 1956 series one Landrover, series 2 then 3, saw the light and bought a brand new 3 speed Landcruiser, been driving Landcruiser ever since.
Did my National Service as a Driver/Operator and still learning.
Cheers
Russ

Russ,

Crossing a sand dune is an art in it self. Having the right tyre pressure and speed only comes with experience.

I would normally drive up the face of a dune in 1st high and almost stop or stop on the top of the dune to have a good look around.

With the UHF radios I have one radio on my convey channel and the other radio on scan. This way I should be able to pick up most vehicles in the area.

One other thing that I do is to run little fog lights. It is amazing how easy it is to pick up another vehicle that has lights on.

Wayne