Ultimate Dune Experience

[grips]

Bold Statement.
If you have not done a Namib Dune trip you have not driven a true dune

[Mad Manny]

I agree.
I've done Brakkenduine
I've done AD
I've none Waterford in the NC.
But I haven't done Nam' so I don't feel I've done a real dune.
Not that Fearless will make it up a real dune.

[KurtG]

I can’t do dunes. I drive on BFG KO2’s. Neil can explain why

[grips]

In the Namib you can do a 600km dune drive from Luderitz to Walvis. Fully loaded 4x4 with tires at 0.6bar. You might come to love your BF`s

[XJ Junkie]

If you have BFGs & they don’t peel off the bead, then it means that the route is very vanilla.

[Mike Nel]

Oom Grips

I agree and also disagree

Agree in the sense that yes it's a great experience with very high dunes, tackled with great speed. I’ve done a few of these trips. But. Nothing really technical about them. I mean if a X5 can drive it, then it’s not really that WOW

The other dunes you refer to gets my heart racing. Because without skill, you are dead in the water.

Both will have their followers. I love both. But I prefer the more technical short dunes

[grips]

X5 will not be able to do Lüderitz Walvisbay.
All depends in which area of the Namib you play. Once you are forced to go the wrong way, that is doing the dunes from the slipface side it become almost impossible for any stock 4x4 to do.

XJ it is definitely not vinila. There are dunes that very few special vehicles can do. You really need some 300kw 4x4s to get op there. We have measured the hight of on dune with the GPS 200m from bottom to top.

We have two 4x4's shot with Maxxis tires. The Little Patrol and Yank Ranger. I have done a Namib trip on BF's and will be doing so again in April next year. But this is not a thread about tires but the Ultimate Dune drive.

Think the only dunes that I have not done in SA is Brakeduine and Atlantis. Superhasie have done Atlantis and the Namib. He has done more Namib dune trips than all of us together and he recons nothing compare to the Namib. There are Namib extrem outings where you do the dunes from a base camp. You need a wild supercharged 4x4 's to conquer them.

My plan is to do Brakeduine and Atlantis sometime next year and maybe I will then know where the ultimate dunes in Southern Africa are



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[Apocalypse]

I think there is an idea that the dunes between Walvis and Swakop is the dune field. north of Swakopmund the dunes disappear, and the easy to get to part (between the railway and the beach road) is only a couple of km wide. South of Walvis is a whole different ball game. I've never been as far as Luderitz sadly, but even sandwich harbour is a bit of a sweat if it's spring tide and you are forced up over the back of the beach dunes.

the difference really between the CT dunes is the sand - up in Namibia the sand is coarser and gives more traction compared to the more powdery stuff found down in the south.

What that means is that you simply spin in on the finer stuff. horsepower doesn't help if you can't apply it.

[Oppies3800]

BFG's are no good for dunes...

Maybe Nam as you cannot turn sharply.

Any other dunes, you will be left behind

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[grips]

Oppies I have said that this is a thread about Ultimate Dunes and not tires. Yes I driving dunes form almost the day I have opened my eyes. Learn dune driving along the West Coast in a Series Landy when only cross-ply tires with tubes were available.

Yes I have debeaded my share of tires in which BF`s played the leading roll. As said we run several 4x4`s on different tires. To date I could not get a Maxxis debeaded on the v8 Ranger. But have lost three Maxxis due to sidewall cuts.

If I do a Namib extreme trip were you only play I will not opt for BF`s. However doing a 600km trip with a fully laden 4x4 I feel safer with the BF`s
You need to take 100l of water and 200l of fuel along plus your other belongings in these conditions I have faith in BF`s. I have done it in the past on BF`s and will do so again in April next year. I do not promote BF tyers it is a personal choice for a specific trip.

[grips]

I think there is an idea that the dunes between Walvis and Swakop is the dune field. north of Swakopmund the dunes disappear, and the easy to get to part (between the railway and the beach road) is only a couple of km wide. South of Walvis is a whole different ball game. I've never been as far as Luderitz sadly, but even sandwich harbour is a bit of a sweat if it's spring tide and you are forced up over the back of the beach dunes.

the difference really between the CT dunes is the sand - up in Namibia the sand is coarser and gives more traction compared to the more powdery stuff found down in the south.

What that means is that you simply spin in on the finer stuff. horsepower doesn't help if you can't apply it.

Apoc I do agree Dunes get real nasty and big South of Walvis. I actually learned something from you today. i never went up North of Walvis and thought the dunes were mean up North.

[XJ Junkie]

I think that the Ultimate Dune experience will be very much user dependent. What one guy finds appealing won’t necessarily float the next guys boat.

The only dunes I’ve driven are Atlantis, Koeberg (basically the same as AD, minus the freedom) & Lambert’s Bay Dunes. I don’t think I’ll even bother with that EC one or the Vleisbaai one. They both look lame & not worth the effort.

Plenty of my mates have done Namibian dunes & the consensus is that they aren’t really comparable because the attraction is different, still enjoyable, but a very different experience.

I’d like to do Namibian dunes one day but it does sound like a pain in the arse. I don’t get excited over the prospect of loading up loads of kit, then driving 1500 km in order to basically overland another 600 km with a heavy vehicle that will prevent me from going to play due to the weight. It’s just not my thing, but I know plenty of guys that are into that sort of trip.

The obvious major differences are the sheer area of the Namibian Dunes in addition to the height & size of the dunes. At Atlantis you can probably drive the entire main dune-field perimeter in under an hour. It’s tiny in comparison. But the surrounding trails also add a different dynamic where even experienced drivers can get it tits up very quickly.

If I went to Namibia I’d probably also want to attempt big dunes because of their appeal. I get that. But at AD the dunes are much smaller. Once you’ve gone up the big dunes a few times, it gets boring. So we look for other ways to push the envelope.

Once you’ve got enough horsepower & traction, you’ll get up the dune. Then you can give the keys to the inexperienced person next to you & they’ll do the same. There’s really not much extreme driving skills involved.
A dune can be a grade 1 or a grade 5, depending on how you attack it. AD is more about technical routes & attempting tricky things, because it doesn’t have the big dunes as an attraction.

Some of those Namibian dunes are so big that you only ever see videos of Toyota’s driving down them, but never up them.

The other notable aspect is the approach angles. There won’t be any 120 kph entry speeds at an AD dune. That’s for sure. The vehicle will have to be taken away on a flatbed. The approaches angles are too extreme. Although all dunes are pretty much the same maximum angle, namely 35 degrees.

But I’m sure both will be fun, unless you’ve got a set of BFG’s.

[grips]

I think Manny and Apoc got it right

I made a bold statement in post one about Namib dunes.

Soon the thread get winded down to tire choices and buddy comments which I am also guilty of.

Purpose of this thread is to find the Ultimate Dune experience in Southern Africa.

My wish is to find comments and evaluation of people that have done these trips in person like in Manny`s post.

So forget about the vehicle, the tires and buddy tales.

I have hoped that that there where someone on the forum that have done ALL dune trips in our Southern Continent to give his personal experience.

Think the best way out is to list all the Dune drives you did with your own experience.

Doing some Namib dune driving is about the experience. Quite a memory to visit shipwrecks finding them hundreds of meters from the see. Also some lost towns, places and stuff limited only to those doing these trips. One felt quite lost hundreds of kilometers from civilization in a see of dunes.
Only to be understood while experiencing it in person. Sorry I steered off coarse but that is an experience of a life time.

Start you dune experience list with comments. I need to find that ultimate dune

[XJ Junkie]

What’s an ultimate dune?

[grips]

What’s an ultimate dune?

That is what the thread is all about. To find it You have your views about the Ultimate Dune the next Guy have his.
Waterford in the NC have a few dunes that very few can cry victor as an example.
So tell us about your Ultimate dune