Bob Cooke – contributor

EVEN the most cautious and careful driver can have an ‘incident’ when driving off-road. It’s one of those activities that you shouldn’t do, if you are not prepared for the consequences that might involve some damaged metal (or plastic), since it’s not always just your pride that gets dented.

That would be a good way of introducing, or indeed excusing, the dent that now appears on the Suzuki’s front bumper. I could regale you with stories of derring-do, on how the little Suzuki had been ploughing through the rough stuff, embarrassing vehicles more suited to serious mud-plugging, when one of those nasty mobile rocks ‘jumped out’ in front of me and caught the valance. I could say that, if it was true. Sadly, I have to admit that the damage was done… in a car park. Now it was the muddy, slippery car park at a small wildlife nature reserve somewhere in Surrey, and not a tarmac covered Tesco’s car park, but that still doesn’t quite excuse it.

Stupid thing was, when I drove in and parked I noticed the small wooden fence, less than a foot high, low down on the passenger’s side. It would be easy to miss that I thought to myself. Of course, some time later when I came to reverse out of the space, putting the wheel to full lock and looking over my shoulder to see all was clear behind and easing back, the resulting graunching noise told me that, basically, I was an idiot.

Robert Pepper

Just got back from a camping trip of about three weeks. Our trips are somewhat unplanned; we pretty much decide where to stay late each afternoon, and typically move on after one or two nights. Everything our family of four needs is carried by the D3, either inside or on the roof rack. Fully loaded, the D3 might surprise many, as it looks a lot less ‘loaded’ than many other 4x4s, yet has everything a family needs for four days of remote bush camping. There are a few tricks to the packing, and I’ll share some here.

First up is buy all your gear from hiking shops, because that’s where you’ll find the lightest, smallest and best quality kit as every gram counts when on foot, whereas car people tend not to care. But you should, because weight and bulk add up. For example, down sleeping bags are warmer and compress more tightly than polyester bags, and quality inflatable mats pack down smaller than cheap self-inflators. Two, or even three small hiking stoves work very well and give you more space, better than lugging around a huge gas BBQ with a heavy gas pot. You probably don’t really need that big, heavy director’s camp chair – a smaller, simpler, lighter one often works well. Modern LED battery-powered camp lights are small and light, so ditch the big, bulky 12v electrics. Hikers also have collapsible buckets and dual-purpose cutlery, again cutting the weight and bulk. Take this minimisation approach throughout your gear and it’s amazing how you can cut the bulk and the weight.