(intro music begins)
- In today's video, we're going to go through with you guys,
a bunch of different trail riding procedures
and rules of thumb
when it comes to things we should be doing out on the trails
or things we shouldn't be doing out on the trails.
And remember guys, before even hitting the trail,
make sure all of your equipment is in proper working order,
including your tires being in good condition
and rated for the trails you're about to hit.
And if they're not and need to be replaced,
make sure and head on over to our website for a new set
from trailbuiltoffroad.com.
All right, guys.
So, first things first, communication and radios.
There's nothing more frustrating
than not being able to talk to your group
while you're out on the trail,
or even on your way to the trail head.
Being able to let everybody know what's going on
is crucial to having a smooth sailing day.
And even if it's not a smooth sailing day,
you can still call out in the radios
and at least let everybody know what's going on.
And another important do out on the trail
is to tread lightly, avoid the mud, avoid going off trail,
unless it's absolutely necessary.
For example, if you need to let other drivers come through,
you can pull off the trail slightly,
just don't go creating a whole new trail around in the woods
just to let some people pass through.
Also, make sure and bring spill kits with an absorbent mats
and oil dry socks
to absorb and clean up after any coolant or oil leaks.
Most of these kits can be purchased on Amazon
in reusable plastic buckets for about 35 to 40 bucks.
So then you have a place to dispose
of those oil soaked absorbents.
And then before hitting the trail
or while at the trail head,
make sure and have a drivers meeting
to communicate what exactly the plan is
for that trail ride or for the day.
Where are you going to be throughout the day,
where you're going to end up at the end of the day.
And then if anybody does get disconnected from the group,
at least you all know where everybody is going to be,
or where are you going to end up at the end of the day.
Nobody should get left behind without some sort of a plan.
But if anybody does get accidentally left behind
or disconnected from the group,
always make sure they are counted for as soon as possible
to make sure that everybody is okay
or not lost or not broke down,
or even worse, hurt or injured.
Also don't hit the trails
without the proper recovery equipment and proper tow points.
Can't stress this one enough.
I've seen it so many times where people go out in the trail
and they don't have the proper tow points
and they're stuck in a pretty bad situation.
Then you're wrapping straps around axles
and it does not make for a fun situation
or the equipment that you're using
isn't rated to the weight of the vehicles
you're trying to pull out.
You always got to remember
that if something heavy gets stuck in the mud,
it amplifies or multiplies that much more weight
that you're trying to pull out of the mud.
So, make sure that you have the proper tow points,
proper equipment to pull as much weight out as possible,
and it'll make the day a lot safer.
Now, this next one might sound minimal or minuscule
or not very important,
but it actually is very important,
is to make sure you guys are running with your headlights on
while you're out on the trail.
Even if it's the middle of the day,
if you do get dust or wind storm kicked up,
or you're getting into a forest
where there's not a lot of sun coming through the trees,
it's important to be able to see those oncoming vehicles.
Remember, it's not so much for you guys
to see where you're going,
it's for others to have visibility on you.
Make sure to have the headlights on
and not your bright ass light bars,
because then you just end up blinding everybody,
either coming at you or the guy in front of you.
So, I'll make sure and have your headlights on
for more visibility from others.
And another one,
something that we touched on briefly before
is when you park to get out to take pictures
or fly your drone or whatever it is that it may be,
take some lunch throughout the middle of the day.
It's very important to make sure
you're always parking off the side of the trail
as much as possible.
Even if there's nobody coming,
or if you don't think there's another group coming,
or anybody else coming,
you still want to pull over as far as possible
off the side of the trail
to make room for anybody that may be coming through,
even if you don't think there is.
This way it at least allow some additional room
and people don't have to fight with each other
to try to get around your vehicle.
And speaking of moving out of the way,
rule of thumb is when you're on a trail,
let's say it's kind of a tight trail.
And you know there's going to be more people coming at you,
more groups coming at you, whatever it may be,
the rule of thumb is the bigger vehicles
always have the right of way.
Reason being is because the smaller vehicles
it's much easier for them to pull off the side of the trail
than it is for the bigger vehicle.
So, when you have a group coming towards you,
if they have either more people
or bigger vehicles in their group,
make sure and pull off to the side of the road first.
Now, if your group has the bigger vehicles or more people,
obviously you have the right of way.
It's also important for the first person in that group
to call out on their radio
to let everybody else in the group
know what's coming down the trail.
For example, this last weekend,
we were up in the Upper Michigan
and we had a few different vehicles
in different situations coming at us.
And in every situation I would always call out to our group
and just let them know what types of vehicles were coming
and how many of them were there.
Because we did have a variation of size vehicles
in our group.
It was important for them to know
what size the vehicles were that were coming.
So they can already start to prepare to pull over
off the side of the trail if they needed to.
Also with that said, make sure and slow down for hills,
for corners, or in any situation
where there may be some sort of blind spots.
If you're coming over a hill, slow down, move over.
Same thing with coming up to a blind corner,
always slow down and move over just in case
that vehicle coming at you maybe going too fast,
or maybe they're not using proper trail etiquette.
So, just slow down for blind corners and blind hills.
But we want to hear back from you guys.
What are the things do you guys do while out on the trails
or other suggestions or recommendations
for what not to do out in the trails?
Make sure and let us know in the comments below.
And besides that guys, if you enjoyed today's video,
make sure and do us a huge favor,
hit that subscribe button and thumbs up to like the video.
Other than that, guys,
we definitely appreciate all of you for watching
and all of your support.
I'm Josh from TrailBuilt,
and we'll see you guys out on the trails.