[Tejas@perioimpl]

We were made to do a few group exercises. Here's one of them.



First get the car on an obstacle:



Then they gave us the equipment that we could use. Objective was to remove one front tyre (front right tyre as seen on left on the pic above)







We go and discuss our strategy:





Start work on the tirfor to first secure the vehicle:









Examiners observing us closely:







Vehicle secure from front:



Then we shovel mud and sand (as well as logs) at the back to secure the rear wheels:





The examiners then decide to take away our jack. So we wander off into the woodland and find a log to lever it lift the vehicle:




It works and we remove the tyre:



And have a quick tyre discussion as well:

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Some random pics of the vehicles.

Parking lot at hotel:



Nice shot of the vehicles at testing area:



Like eager beavers we're checking out the vehicles on day 1:

[Tejas@perioimpl]

We head back from the field at dark which is quite late in summer. Usually 9pm and have dinner during which we discuss the days practicals.

We then drive off to the hotel which is approx 15 minutes away.

Once at the hotel, we get fresh and us four 'students' - Tim, Rob, Stephen and Me meet up at one of our rooms for studying. We've been given a huge folder of atleast 600 pages that includes some of our study material and we need to know that and prepare for the next day. We do this every night. Each one of us some strong points in particular modules and we explain those to the others and make special effort to anyone weak in those modules. Eg. My weak module was trail repairs.





This usually goes on till 3am till we retire for bed and are again up and about by 6 o'clock.

This was our routine for 5 days and really took a toll on us and this is exactly what the examiners wanted. We were fatigued, exhausted and were at our weakest mentally and that is when we would be tested on the last day. Well played I4WDTA! But, these six days made the four of us very united. We helped each other out, made jokes, shared stories and became a family. Again, well played I4WDTA.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Some miscellaneous things that we learnt:

Use of a paracord.

A paracord is a light weight and extremely strong piece of twine.

It should be used to secure shackles, kinetic energy ropes, etc. It will take away most of the energy (before breaking itself) during breakage of the main strap and assist the winch blanket. Extremely important when using snatch straps.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

You can also use the paracord while safely spooling the winch in and guiding the layers on the drum without worrying about your fingers getting caught:

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Some random miscellaneous pics:

[Tejas@perioimpl]

The last day was the examinations.

A four hour written exam with multiple choice questions and normal essay type Q&As as well.

After that we where taken for the field exams which lasted nearly 6+ hours.

We were graded constantly.

Unfortunately no pics of the exams.

There were many more exercises and things that we were made to do, but i cannot divulge those or the exact exam format since this is an open forum.

I was very glad that i topped the written exams. 

Exhausted after the day, we retire for refreshments while the examiners huddle and finally announce that we all have cleared! 

It's more of an achievement for our group since the examiners told us that this is the first time it's a 100% result. Usually they have a 40-50% passing rate only.

Here we are getting our certificates:











This is my certificate:



The happy bunch:



Next day morning we are given our certificates and we say our goodbyes and Stephen and i drive off to Dusseldorf airport and catch our flight back home.

Parting shots of the cars that served us well:

[Tejas@perioimpl]

This, my friends, is my journey towards the I4WDTA and nope, it doesn't end here. I still have miles to go before i sleep.

It's still a learning curve and i acknowledge that i still don't know everything and the learning never stops, but i will share what ever knowledge that i have gained.

I'd also like to thank team-bhp and people like Arka, DKG, GTO, Harjeev, Behram, Khan_Sultan, Allan, Trammway, etc who were the guys who initially guided me.

[vroom666]

This is awesome Tejas! Congrats !!

Clearly shows your enthusiasm and dedication in offroading. I have always read your threads and advice on the forum and this thread shows clearly proves that you are really an 'offroad Junkie'

[AVR]

That was quite some prep Tejas! I don't remember studying that hard even for my engineering degree!

I liked the idea of the paracord. There's always something yet to learn for everyone of us out there.

One reason I like the idea of an umbrella off-roading entity for India is that there is a Go-To repository for learning and sharing. My current sources are Google/Tbhp and Arka. In that particular order!

I think this thread also certifies you as quite the Offroad Junkie!

Cheers,
Adi

[Desmosedici]

Congrats Doc. This adds one more feather onto your cap. You were always the one with a lot of enthusiasm for Offroading and are eager to share your knowledge as well. We newbies have quite a lot to learn from you.

[mac187]

Fantastic achievement. Hat Tip

An awesome thread you have complied. Now that you are certified as a trainer, can you conduct official I4WDTA training sessions in India? Or just non-branded training?

[SS-Traveller]

Kudos to you, Tejas. It must have been an amazing experience!

Now that you are a certified trainer, it's time to start the Offroad Junkies' Academy!

Just curious - how much of your off-roading knowledge and experience (acquired back at home) did you have to consciously *UNlearn* while you went through this training programme?

[Sudarshan]

Big Congrats Tejas , that is some achievement to be.

Also my compliments for the hard field work you did for that.

Hope to learn more from your experience.

Sudarshan

[GTO]

Heck of a report, heck of an achievement! Congratulations Tejas

Immensely proud of you for taking your passion to an entirely different level altogether. Hard to believe you'd bought your first 4x4 merely a handful of years back.

I'm certain you have bigger things lined up for yourself in the field of offroading. You are talented, passionate, organised and an excellent orator; just what the doc asked for.

Heartfelt congrats again.