Good afternoon everybody
We did the Luderitz to Walvis Baai trip during September of last year (
http://patrol4x4.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=6523).
Based on my experience I would recommend to use a ground based tent and
not the RTT. We had an enormous amount of very strong winds last year and the kite for a RTT will simply not fly if you come across the same. With a ground based tent you can hide behind your vehicle but with RTT your are just exposed to especially strong winds.
Then when you hit those big play holes, the less you carry on top of your vehicle the better. When doing calculations for fuel planning, use 2.5km/l as a starting point through the desert. And remember, the 550km on the web site is the indicative distance for a "normal" touring group. When you start playing, the distance increases and the consumption significantly increases - but, the 2.5km/l caters for the latter as well.
I would recommend catering for 650km from Solitaire to Walvis Baai. Thus, 650/2.5 == 260 liters on board will be a safe margin. With my 4.8 that will be 135 in the tanks and 100 in Jerries.
Then, if you go with URI, the food is so good and so much you don't need to take a lot of snacks - just adequate liquid things....
Bottom line is - there is very little else that can "hou kers vas" with these desert trips - just go and enjoy - and remember, there is always someone with spare juice around...
Finally - have your shocks and especially your viscous fan checked before you depart - pap skokbrekers en 'n Patrol wat limp agv overheating is nie grappies in die sand nie....
Finally finally - when you have driven your big petrol machine into the rev limiter up those enormous dunes and you end up on top, bonnet open and let the machine run for at least 5 minutes to cool those big horses down adequately.
