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-   -   Kolkata BHPians go offroading : An endless tale of experiences (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-excursions/212033-kolkata-bhpians-go-offroading-endless-tale-experiences.html)

I happened to see someone's facebook update a few days ago which said - "I am not a Cigarette that you will smoke and Butt me off, I am Drug and I bet that you will beg for me !" Interesting ! Can it be correlated to the people whom the Off-Roading bug has bitten ? Making Off-Roading a Part of Life is important as both have endless learning experiences to offer.

The Off Road Community in the Eastern Part of the country has been growing gradually but consistently. One would not see flamboyant modification on SUVs here, but the quality of Offroaders and the spirit to go Off-Roading that is breeding here is something to be cherished.

Sir Uday Bhan Singh founder of KOLKATA OFFROADERS along with his son Adhiraj Singh have knitted a wonderful community of Offroaders here in Kolkata and have inspired endless number of people to Join the Community and eventually also Own a 4x4 for all the good reasons.

However, a full day outing to enjoy some off-roading is not always possible for everyone; considering limitations of non working days and some pre-commitments to family. Someone or the other keeps planning impromptu off-roading outings by exploring nearby places which is attended by whoever can attend on that given date/ time.

So the Purpose of creating this thread is that everyone may share their experiences and escapades here making this thread a Guide Book for many which can be used as a referral. Moreover, the activities can be logged in a beautiful way one after the other.

Expecting contributions from everyone :thumbs up

11th of August 2019 : On a Sunday Morning, a handful of explorers leave with the plan to go off the road without having a plan in mind. However, the experience of Anirban Mukherjee was what we were depending and to our delight, we ended the quest by reaching the banks of the Damodar River in the Hooghly District of West Bengal. The place just mesmerized us and it could be an ideal Picnic Spot with some off-roading fun in the Winter months. Sharing a few pics of the fun filled day :

Asking the locals whether the road ahead leads to the river bed :


The SUVs taking a break :




Posing with Black Diamond (My Teenage Endy) :


Lovely place to spend some time, scenic :


Some more exploring and getting deeper into the trail :




Catching up with the River :




When there is not much company, a boat will also do :




So far so good ! The fun was yet to begin.

And The quest continues !! Have we come fishing ? The track did not have much to offer so far apart from sand and a lot of scenic beauty.

Black Diamond posing with the parked boats :




Spotting and escorting the Scorpio which had taken the wrong track :


And finally some interesting deep slush awaited us :


Wading through the Slush, filled with all the muck, just the way a Hippo is out of a mud bath :


On the other side, the story was even more interesting. Debdeep's Pajero had got bellied and the Pajero's Wheels were rolling freely :


It was difficult for us to get off out SUVs due to the slush, but somehow we managed and the Scorpio prepped to pull back the Pajero using a tow strap :


Anirban Da sugesting us to avoid the same track and spotting us to cut across the track into thebsandy pasture :


The Scorpio and the Endy resting :


Bidding adieu to the lovely place :


Taking a break at Samrat Hotel for some food on our way back :




Lesson Learnt : I seriously need to put the fender flares back on Black Diamond stupid:

Nice fun filled outing!

To tackle ruts, never follow the depressions if you think you will get beached. Try to straddle the ruts on either side!

I hope every car got a thorough under body wash after that session!

Wow, you guys had loads of fun. clap: The place looks beautiful too. A bad miss for me.

Feeling tempted to unleash my Duster AWD soon on such a slush track. :D

Can you please share the details or the route to reach this place? In next one month, am sure these places will be white with Kash flowers (Saccharum spontaneum). So i may try to give a visit.
A single visit can serve two purposes- Photography & off-roading!

The Pajero made a casual approach and got bellied thinking it will make it. Fortunately we had plenty of back up to rescue us. All SUVs did have a good high pressure all around wash after the mud bathing :D

The Duster will Sail Through the Sand and Slush with ease as it is known for countering the same with ease due to it's light weight. On the other hand, heavy SUVs have to be on the correct gear and the correct momentum to tackle the given conditions. Not sharing the route as will compel you to go with us so that we are well clicked :)

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In the meanwhile, sharing some videos of the day :

The Scorpio helping out the Pajero :

Black Diamond cutting across the slushy track :

What is the tyre size on Black Diamond? Looks very apt for the truck this size. My endy is due for tyre upgrade. Inputs will help.

Couple of points after seeing the video:

Don't snatch! With the straps you are using. Never snatch! These are not kinetic straps. They don't store energy. All the energy gets transmitted to the chassis and is not good. Snatching with these straps would also be dangerous because they are not designed for that and therefore, may fail.

econdly, don't use the centre point of the Pajero for recovery. That point is for pulling small trailers. Use the points mounted lower onto the chassis.

I'm sorry to keep pointing out stuff but I'd rather same mistakes are not made again with a bad consequence.

I have the Yokohama Geolander A/T 31x10.5xR15 on my Endeavour. Have been pretty happy and content with it's overall performance.

Agreed to that ! Our winchmen dropped out at the last minute and we had to manage with whatever we had. Since the Pajero was not that badly stuck, this strap did the job. Had it been immovable, the story might not have been the same.

Well neither was I aware of any other points which existed lower onto the chassis nor was the Pajero owner himself aware of that. As I mounted one end of the Strap with the help of a D Shackle to the tow hook of the Scorpio, Debdeep latched the other end to the centre point of the Pajero mentioning that it was the best thing about the Pajero. In case u have any pictures of the points, do share so that in future we avoid repeating the mistake.

As the thread name suggests "an endless tale of experiences", I must say that we are all here to learn and gain experience from such outings. It's all in good spirits !

I'll click pics of my pajero tomorrow.

The pajero has two points at the back and front on either side. So if badly stuck, use two straps. One strap acts as a bridle to connect both recovery points and the second strap's eye passes through this bridle. This way the force is equally distributed on the recovery points. I'll click pics and do a mock setup tomorrow to explain.

18th of August 2019 : Again a Sunday well utilized and a good turn out too. Sharing some pictures of the day :

Some clicks from today's action clicked by others. Giving due credits to them and sharing :

Clicked by Shomak :








Clicked by Smaresh Das :








Clicked by Sushil Panigrahi :


Clicked by BHPian CloudMobile :

Lovely write up Arav ! You are putting your Endy to good use. Missing these sort of events over here. Apparently BloomingFlower will be the first Bhpian to own a Thar in Pune :uncontrol

Just curious, how did the Ecosport perform ? :D

The Endy has been doing well on and off the road. I am glad that a lot of hard work on it has been paying off.

BHPian BloomingFlower will be setting the trend in Pune for sure clap: Although Did not know that he has migrated to Pune. That's news for me !

"That Ecosport" is of a different breed in comparison to any other. It is a London Return and usually anything that goes and comes back from there, has a different value :D