One of the many great aspects of working at Club 4X4 is the fact that everyone receives accredited 4WD training with Getabout Training; a couple of weeks ago it was my turn. Man, what a great way to spend a Friday! We spent the morning nailing the theory, and in the afternoon the real fun started where we got to put all that theory into practice.
No avid 4-wheel drive enthusiast should miss this course, no matter how experienced you think you may be, I can guarantee there will always something new to learn. I myself have always had a love for the outdoors which means I have had to do plenty of off-road driving to get to epic places that you just can’t reach without getting off the blacktop. As such I thought I knew a fair bit about 4-wheel driving already, but this course gave me some good tips and tricks to launch into all those gnarly bits , safely and with more confidence.
Should you be interested in undertaking one of their off-road driver training courses, simply get in touch with the team at Getabout or Tow Ed and give them your policy number when making a booking to receive a discount on the course! What’s more, for those who have completed an accredited 4WD or towing course, Club 4X4 also offers a saving on their premium! Too easy.
Alright, enough chatter lets get into the details of the course.
I was sent a pre-reading 4WD guidebook to read before the course started, it was very informative and ensured that everyone had the same basic knowledge. I personally found the pre-reading 4WD guidebook excellent, and even at the pre-reading stage, I learnt a lot about topics that I didn’t even know that I didn’t know about.
A group of 6 of us and our instructor Tim met at 8:30 am in Marrangaroo on the day of the course. (It was very cold if I may add). We jumped straight into the theory, addressing topics covered in the pre-reading 4wd guidebook. It was evident that Tim knew 4wding inside and out and he was very passionate about what he imparted to us. Tim answered all our burning questions during this session and explained topics in more detail where we weren’t 100% confident or sure on.
The theoretical element of the course was split into 4 main areas:
- Explaining how 4-wheel drives work,
- Driving techniques for various off-road conditions (dirt road driving, mud driving, rock driving, sand driving, water crossings, hill driving)
- Recovery techniques – Getting yourself out of trouble when things go wrong
- Trip management – Trip preparation, managing the trip, people fatigue & the environment, navigation, tyre repair, in an emergency.
The theory is an essential part of any course, but for me (and I’m sure most others), I mostly enjoyed putting all the theory into practice with some driving during the second half of the day. Some tracks seemed daunting to start with, but after some input from the instructor I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face, but most importantly I was equipped with the knowledge to tackle the tracks safely.
My only complaint is that the day was over too quickly. It would have been great to have one additional day to really solidify everything that I had learnt.
Overall the course was fantastic and provided a great blend of theory and practice. By the conclusion of the day, I was feeling much more confident driving off-road. If you are planning on doing some 4WD touring (or already doing lots of touring), I cannot recommend this course enough. All you need is a 4WD vehicle with lo-range capability.
Cheers!
Chantal
