BDR on my new Land Rover..maybe!

I wasn't sure what to expect of the day really,or what the Army would think of us and our expedition. Only Will was missing from the team and after the recent dissapointment of postponing our drive until the end of the year, it was good to be together again. For the newest member, Steve, it was a chance to gel, not that he lacks any confidence in that department! I'd met him before and enjoyed 3 days with him on Mac's Ecosalvage venture, so I was looking forward to seeing him again.

We were welcomed like long lost brothers into the BDR hangar and briefing room. The interest in our project and enthusiasm was amazing and it would not wain all day. The tea flowed and questions thrown. We were made to feel very special.

Our first left-hand drive Discovery was driven up the ramp outside and the guys were all over it, immediately picking up a broken front coil spring but more importantly familiarising themselves with a Land Rover variant they were unacustomed to. We asked a lot of questions and got some very practical answers. It would seem that the 7 P's was where we needed to concentrate - Prior Preperation & Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance!

We swapped expedition stories for war stories and before we knew it, it was lunch time.

Having to pass through the hangar with Land Rovers in varying states of repair, albeit battle damaged repair and seeing Haaglands and the new Oshkosh fuel tanker was awesome and only raised more questions.

We were ushered into a classroom for demonstrations by 3M and later Loctite. Metaltech and Flexitech were demonstrated whilst the Army interjected with their own experiences with the products. We were shown how to repair radiators, gashed tyres, split pipes and hoses and we discussed all imaginable scenarios. I was amazed at how many different uses these products could be used for. The Loctite guys had even more bottles, tubes and sachets of glue and sealant, each one named by number which was a bit confusing but they had a great little guide book which clearly stated what product could be used for what purposes. Absolutely excellent.

The day ended all too quickly and we could have spent a week here. We left full of admiration for the BDR instructors and more importantly full of ideas and the confidence that, come what may, we could at least limp our vehicles to somewhere where a more robust repair could take place.

Obviously a job very well done by the BDR instructors. The Max Adventure team all learned a lot and look forward to another visit.

Having just bought a new Lightweight Land Rover, which is ex military, my new found Battle Damage Repair Skills might prove useful!

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