How many times have you bought something and rushed right in to use it before reading the instructions?  Maybe you've been lucky and got away with it, or maybe right now you're thinking of an example where the "something" in question was so damned easy to use an instruction booklet seemed just like wasted paper.  What if your very life, or a lot of your own money (thousands of dollars), depended upon reading those instructions?  Going 4WDing unprepared is a lot like dashing in without reading the instruction booklet.  I should know - it cost me $1,800 in damage to a new car!

The very nature of true 4WDing takes you into places, and situations, in which people may never have before found themselves - especially for novice 4WDers.  It's true that quite a few places you'll go in a 4WD you'll also be able to traverse in a standard 2WD car, but I'm referring to those places that only a 4WD vehicle can negotiate - those "out of the way" places down rock strewn tracks, through river crossings, up muddied gullies and over fallen trees.  If you venture into that type of territory ill-prepared then you're just courting danger and expensive bills.

So, if you've just bought a 4WD, are thinking of buying one, maybe have had one and never really used it for what it's made, or then again have already done some "real" 4WDing, then read on to learn some useful things.  But remember - this is not just reading - it's to be taken seriously and acted upon!

Some Background (please don't laugh)
We bought our first 4WD vehicle, a new Land Rover Discovery, in June 1999.  We had previously enjoyed camping for many years and owned a Camper Trailer for 3 years, but also wanted to be able to go to those "out of the way" places.  So, in January 1999 we sold the Camper Trailer and started to relive the tenting life.  In June of that year we bought the 4WD.  In October we went on our first 4WD training course, at a Land Rover training day at Anglesea, Victoria.  On January 2nd, 2000 we got bogged, on our own, in the Yarra State Forest, and suffered $1,800 damage as a result.  After 20-30 minutes of futile attempts to extricate ourselves along came another lone traveler who rescued us.

How come we found ourselves in such a predicament?  Well, we broke every rule in the 4WD book and had ignored advice we had received on the training day.  What had we done wrong?  For starters:

• We went 4WDing in an unfamiliar area, alone.
• We left our basic recovery gear at home - I forgot to pack it, but only 15 minutes from home remembered it but then failed to return to get it.  (My wife used the phrase, "I told you so!!" many times that day and since.)
• We were gung-ho.  When we came to the series of bog holes I should have sized them up more seriously and made a decision to turn around rather than proceed.
• I half-heartedly employed techniques we were taught.  I jabbed about the bog holes with a stick to check depth, but failed to check the egress point and failed to find the large log in the bog (which caused the $1,800 damage).
• Once we were well and truly bogged, I used the wrong techniques to try to get us out, and so made matters worse.  (We were not taught the correct recovery procedure at the training day if you didn't have a winch, however a subsequent VAFWDC training day in February did just that.)
• We went without any form of winch.  At least if you go with someone else, even if neither of you have a winch, you should be able to be towed by the other vehicle (if you have a recovery pack in one of the vehicles).
• When the lone rescuer arrived, we had to rely on three pieces of old rope, tied together, as a rescue rope (because our recovery pack was back at home, and the other traveler was equally ill-prepared).  I did a lot of praying for the ropes to cope as the vehicles strained.

So, what lessons did we learn?  The same lessons we had been taught, but chose to ignore!

Please don't go bush on your own
I put in the "please" because I know we will do it again, and so will you.  However, we're going to curtail our lone travels to not-so-inaccessible areas from now on, and if in doubt, we're going to turn back.  We also will be doubly cautious until we get at least a hand winch.  I also won't be so "afraid" to get in and get dirty, so if it comes to having just to winch us out of trouble then I'll look on it as a bit of exercise and hopefully be able to laugh about it later.

However, we are not going to tackle the Simpson Desert, for example, on our own - we will only attempt journeys of that nature with AT LEAST one other vehicle, and we'll be totally prepared for a journey like that - if we can't afford to prepare ourselves, we won't be going.

Carry the basics and do your homework
Basic mandatory, must-take, gear on any 4WD outing is:

A 4WD Recovery Kit, which consists of at least a Snatch 'em Strap, Tow Strap, Tree Trunk Protector, snatch block, and two rated shackles, all in a neat (if not heavy) carry bag.

A small shovel and a small axe (tomahawk).  The shovel is used to dig away mud from around the wheels, or to dig away sand, or for any number of recovery uses where digging is involved.   The axe is used to fell small trees to clear a path around a bog, or whatever.

A good tyre pump and tyre pressure gauge.    If negotiating slippery conditions the tyres should be deflated to about 20-25 PSI.  Deflating the tyres allows more tread on the surface and therefore more traction.  Once you're out of the situation you'll need the pump and gauge to re-inflate the tyres to the correct pressure.  Don't buy a cheap pump that's more suited to inflating footballs - you'll spend hours inflating a 4X4 tyre.  A good tyre pump should be about $400, but a double-cylinder hand-pump will work as well if you're energetic enough to re-inflate four tyres with it (I'm not).

A winch.  We don't expect to need a winch too often so we're not prepared to fork out $3,000+ on a bull-bar and electric winch.  A well-known brand hand winch will suit us, plus cable of course.  Two compulsory items to be used when winching are some form of rug to drape over the center of the cable to stop the cable whipping if it breaks, and a pair of leather gloves to protect your hands from the cable wire.  Another item worth buying is a second snatch block (one should already be in your Recovery Kit).  The second snatch block is used to double your winching capability.  A hi-lift jack can be used as a winch.

A detailed survey map of the area, and current knowledge.  For our Bog Day Afternoon trip mentioned above, we had a good 4WD trip book that contained trip notes, but these trip notes were wrong in some respects.  We didn't enquire of Parks Victoria about track closures before we left, so when we came upon a track that we had to follow in our trip notes but had been closed for some months, we were stumped.  Without a detailed map of the area which showed how we could get to the other end of the closed track via another track we simply had to end our trip and head home.  A simple phone call to Parks Victoria, or the required authority for your neck of the woods, gets up to date information about tracks which you'll use.

A CB radio.  An AM set is all that is required for "day trippers".  If you get hopelessly stuck, a call on the CB just may find another 4WDer in your vicinity.  Mobile phone's have limited use in remote areas where they may be no reception.

Be prepared to come unstuck
Probably the best thing to do is to put yourself in the frame of mind that you WILL come unstuck on a trip.  If you make it back home without any incident then you can feel smug.  Before you head off on a trip, think to yourself, "Am I prepared to get bogged, or have a flat tyre, or require to do a river crossing, etc."  Not many people are prepared enough to fix a broken axle or some other catastrophic mishap - but we need to be prepared for the more likely incidents in which we may find ourselves.

On extensive trips, like the Simpson Desert, you'll naturally have to take more precautions.  Extra water, spare hoses and fan belts, etc. will be a necessity on such a trip rather than being options.  However, let's learn to crawl before we attempt running.

Be prepared to get dirty.  I mean real muddy!  On our ill-fated trip above I wore my best sneakers and jeans.  I was tip-toeing about the mud, doing a balancing act trying not to get dirty.  What I should have done was wear the right clothes or have them on-hand, and then when we became bogged I should have been in shorts and bare feet.  In fact, before we drove into the "bog of all bogs", instead of prodding about with a stick I should have been in the bog feeling around with my feet (thongs or sandals may be the best bet when in the water in case you step on something nasty) - I would have found then that submerged log and would have felt that the egress was steeper under the water than it looked.

Get trained
We thought we were covered after doing our first course.  We weren't!  Only a certain amount of things can be covered on a general course.  When it came to question time at the end of our first course we could not think of any questions to ask.  The problem was that we hadn't experienced any 4WDing to be able to think of any incidents.  Now that we've been on a few trips, we know that there was a hell of a lot that was not explained on the courses.

A prime example is training concerning bogs.  Only on the VAFWDC course, a month and half after our incident, did we learn about what to look for and how to get out of them.  Standing beside a few really nasty bogs in the bush near Narbethong, the VAFWDC instructor pointed out the signs to look for - a lot of muddy branches lying about which previous unfortunates had used and copious winching marks on surrounding trees, all pointed to a bog to avoid at all costs.  Also, my use of packing branches into the bog to aid traction (so I thought) was one of the worst things to do.

Another useful tip, for vehicles with the removable tow ball setup - if you do remove the tow ball setup, leave the large pin in place in the tow bar.  It's this pin that you use as a tow point, either for you towing a vehicle, or you being towed backward.  If you leave the pin at home, or back at your camp, along with the tow ball setup, you may not have any tow point at the rear of your vehicle.  Handy tips like this can only come from good training courses, or from talking to experienced 4WDers.

On our second course we did not shy away from the fact that we had been idiots and got bogged (the $1,800 damage which had not yet been repaired was evidence enough), and therefore we asked a lot of questions.  We came away from that course very much wiser, more cautious and better prepared mentally.

Join a Club
We are fortunate enough to have our two sons go to a school which has a 4WD Club.  We've been to the Grampians with nine other Club cars for the November long-weekend, and also to the school camp down at East Gippsland mid-January with 15 other Club cars.  Various 4WD trips are planned throughout the year, some on weekends over one night and then there's the obligatory Simpsons Desert trip later in the year.

We've learnt a lot from sitting around the camp fire and listening to the experiences of the other families (some of whom have been 4WDing for donkey's years), and picked up many a good tip and hint - from pure 4WD topics to tips concerning camping - "Hey, that's a neat gadget, where'd you get it?".  People have already shopped around for their own things and can generally tell you where the best prices can be found and why they chose this brand/model over that.  We've saved a lot of money this way, for buying a shovel, air pump, tyre gauge, etc.

As I mentioned in the opening paragraphs, we used to have a camper trailer.  I did not mind staying in caravan parks in the caravan (loved it actually), however I don't like camping (in a tent) in a caravan park amongst strangers - it's purely a personal thing.  However, I don't find it a problem to go camping with Club members.  It's the camaraderie thing, being amongst people who have something in common.

So, join a club and get 4WDing with experienced members.

Visit an exhibition at least once
At least once a year most States have a 4X4 exhibition somewhere (just at the Exhibition Centre last year in Victoria there were two Shows for 4X4s).  As for the Victorian shows, they usually combine caravanning, camping, 4X4, and holidays themes in the one show.  Here you'll find a mass of information to whet your appetite.  The larger 4WD Clubs (such as the Land Rover Club) are represented, as well as a number of 4X4 accessory shops and "gadget" suppliers.  You can pick up some good ideas by wandering around, talking to the Club representatives and seeing what's on offer.

Be careful what you buy at these shows.  We were tempted to buy a hand winch that was being sold at a number of outlets at the show last year, but decided not to buy it.  Lucky we didn't - we have since been told by "nearly everyone" that that particular brand is a "piece of junk".  So don't be hooked into seemingly cheap prices - you do get what you pay for.