Pre event briefing.

[GeoCampers #4771]

This post comes as a result of our latest OB Europe Mid meeting in The Netherlands.

As the Europe group is growing, the amount of new people at an event also grows. That means that the unwritten rules of trailing together are no longer known by everyone.

So i was thinking of composing a document to do the briefing before the start of the trail. Explaining everyone the rules the do's and don'ts. Rules about communication, rules about the use of recovery gear (who has it who don't and what if you damage other people's gear)

But Since I'm not into inventing the hot water all over again my question is:

Is there already a document like that floating around in OB and second: what are the things that should be mentioned before the start of such an event or meetup?

The goal is to make sure everyone is on the same page before the drive and to stay best friends after the tour.



thanks for the help

 

[Anak]

I can't recall seeing such policies for Overland Bound, but another group I wheel with does have something along the lines of what you are looking for. Sort of...

You could look at this as a starting point.

Or you could look at it and thank your lucky stars you don't know such folks...

[As amended]

A. A typical run shall consist of the Trail Boss, Those Following the Trail Boss, and the Trail Butt.

...

[As amended]

A. The Trail Boss shall be responsible for the initial planning of the run, including but not limited to determining the routes to and from the run, places to stop for gas, ice, food, alcohol, ice cream and toilet paper while on the run, getting lost while on the trail, ensuring adequate potty stops and being blamed for unforeseen weather conditions. The Trail Boss shall also be assigned all verbal abuse from those following the Trail Boss, including but not limited to having his (or her) parentage status challenged, his (or her) sexual proclivities questioned, his (or her) fondness for barnyard animals suggested, his (or her) relative intelligence denigrated and his (or her) cognitive abilities questioned. The Trail Boss shall also alert Those Following the Trail Boss and the Trail Butt of incoming or outgoing traffic, divots / ruts / challenging road conditions and cattle guards as necessary. The Trail Boss shall have the exclusive authority at appointing the Trail Butt. Monetary gifts, other gratuities and outright bribery of the Trail Boss for the position of Trail Butt is encouraged.

B. Those Following the Trail Boss shall be responsible for all verbal abuse directed at the Trail Boss and continued whining for the duration of the run. Those Following the Trail Boss shall also ensure that those who have not made it on the run will be talked about.

C. The Trail Butt shall be responsible for alerting the Trail Boss and Those Following the Trail Boss of any mishap along the trail, any mechanical breakdown of Those Following the Trail Boss, unscheduled potty stops made by Those Following the Trail Boss and making choo-choo train noises when necessary.

 

[GeoCampers #4771]

@Michael is such a document avalable in OB?

 

[Polaris Overland]

A briefing is usually based on a risk assessment of the route or trip you are doing, the conditions and weather to be expected and the skills of the people taking part and is therefore a living document that can and will change as risks change so very difficult to create a one size fits all.
Rally Point if created fully gives all the main information including comms channel, terrain difficulty, start and finish points, route description etc so this would in my opinion be the basic start to your briefing which is then expanded to give more information on the day of the trip during the briefing.

 

[GeoCampers #4771]

A briefing is usually based on a risk assessment of the route or trip you are doing, the conditions and weather to be expected and the skills of the people taking part and is therefore a living document that can and will change as risks change so very difficult to create a one size fits all.
Rally Point if created fully gives all the main information including comms channel, terrain difficulty, start and finish points, route description etc so this would in my opinion be the basic start to your briefing which is then expanded to give more information on the day of the trip during the briefing.

Dave, ofcourse t is a result of the risk assesment.
My point was that in Mid europe we do not have that many experiance in organizing those things and have many new people, new to OB but also new to group trips and offroad driving.
For that i would like a document that can be a guidline to inform everyone in the group so "nothing" is forgotten and all drivers are on the same page.
Therefore my question, what to think of, what info to give, but also, what are the unspoken rules when traveling in group.
So please spill your brain and we will see what we can come up with.

 

[Michael]

This post comes as a result of our latest OB Europe Mid meeting in The Netherlands.

As the Europe group is growing, the amount of new people at an event also grows. That means that the unwritten rules of trailing together are no longer known by everyone.

So i was thinking of composing a document to do the briefing before the start of the trail. Explaining everyone the rules the do's and don'ts. Rules about communication, rules about the use of recovery gear (who has it who don't and what if you damage other people's gear)

But Since I'm not into inventing the hot water all over again my question is:

Is there already a document like that floating around in OB and second: what are the things that should be mentioned before the start of such an event or meetup?

The goal is to make sure everyone is on the same page before the drive and to stay best friends after the tour.



thanks for the help

Hi there!

I don't believe we have created a standard, though unofficially we do tend to go over the same topics. I'll list some of the things I cover:

1. Driver Meeting, have one.
2. Count rigs.
3. If anyone leaves the group - make sure you get confirmation from a group member that you are leaving. You don't want the group to spend hours looking for you.
4. Comms - Designate preferred method, and share/hand out radios for those who do not have one.
5. Designate a lead. Designate a Tail. Lead and Tail should be able to comm with each other reliably. Tail communicates when obstacles are passed by all, etc.
6. Always keep the person behind you in your rear view if on a trail.
7. If high speed you may not need to maintain visual sight, but execute stop-turns, meaning, wait at the turn until you are sure the person behind you sees which way to go.
8. During Obstacles, give some distance. One person on the obstacle at a time.
9. When in doubt, get out. Take a look.
10. No one is in a hurry. Take it slow.
11. Ask for a spotter if needed. Agree on hand signals.
    1. Only one spotter at a time.
    2. You may fire your spotter and do what you want, but spotters see what you cant. Keep that in mind.
12. Honking works. If you hear a horn, honk your own horn and stop.
13. No drinking and driving or drugging and driving.
14. Leave it better than you found it.
15. Always be courteous to others. If see hikers, bikers, or others off grid, ask if they have what they need.
16. Traffic traveling up has the right of way.
17. Have fun

I'm sure this is not comprehensive, but a start at least.

Great idea!

M

 

[GeoCampers #4771]

Ok, this is what I came up with for the moment.
This document is a life document and should not be seen as a "holy bible" but as an aid for everyone willing to set up an OB meet.
It is primeraly intended to use in Europe since we are a fast growing group with a lot of new people getting to know eachother and the overlanding community.
We see now many different people setting up different meetings. I hope this document can help us to educate the newcommers and make sure we all are on the same page.

Please have a look at it and give again your feedback below in the comments.

@Michael thanks for the input V0.3 is slightly updated with your info.

 

[smritte]

Nice. With the growing number of new people in the sport, going over the basic rules with a driver meeting is a must. I have been thinking of a handout given out and covered during driver meeting.
There are a few common issues I see with new people.

1. Communication issues. Either no radio, radio installed but doesn't work or don't understand how it works and change something making it useless. This is probably the most common. Handing out spare radios is fine if you have enough. I do find that the people who were given the spare, rarely pay attention to it.

2. Not keeping an occasional eye out for the vehicle behind them. This causes an issue at intersections when issue #1 happens.

During my driver meeting, I cover all the basics. I really emphasize, watching for the person behind you and possibly waiting at intersections. As long as the front and rear can communicate well, I've been pretty good as long as everyone in between watch's for the person behind them.

I have been leading large and small groups on trail rides during 4wd events for a few decades. The rides can be anything from hard core to sight seeing. The easier ones are where I have mostly new people. The issues I run into really haven't changed over the years. I do require recovery points, first aid kits, full size spare and fire extinguishers on my trips.