Excellent crawl spot with kids... For campers only.

Last weekend we set off on a short camping trip to try out our new caravan. It turned out that taking along our crawlers was a good idea.We didn't want to go far from home, as it was only a test run for the caravan. So we ended up at campsite "D'n Mastendol" in Rijen, the Netherlands.

RC Dork Jr.s Carisma SCA-1E Lynx ORV in action

As autumn is finally starting to set in here in the Netherlands, there weren't a lot of people at the campsite. So there were very few kids playing at the playground, which turned out to be an excellent crawl spot. A few grassy hills, with a couple of steep climbs, some cut down trees, loose sand, a little stream with clean water and a whole bunch of rocks in different sizes.

Green Man (My SCX10-II based Axial Deadbolt RTR) getting its wheels wet

It was the perfect spot for beginning drivers. Plenty of challenges, varied surfaces and not a lot of distance in between so no whining about being tired from walking 😁 And if the next generation needs a bit of variation in their activities, there's a whole playground available.

The only downside is that it is located on the grounds of the campsite. This means that it is only accessible to campers most of the time. For others, a small entry fee is asked, this is ok if you plan to spend the day there and use all of the facilities, but as an adult crawler, don't expect to be entertained there for more than an hour, maybe 2. Also, I recommend visiting outside the holiday periods, otherwise the playground might be swamped with kids and as they are the primary target audience of this place, they shouldn't be bothered by a bunch of adults playing with their expensive toys.

RC Dork: The RC history Part 9

Crawling into a new discipline of RC.

Yes, we saw a crawler video on youtube. It looked like fun to the both of us, it was slow enough for the offspring and I figured it would teach him a thing or 2 about steering and throttle control. So I bought a couple of FTX Outback Mini 1:24 scale micro crawlers. And it was an instant hit.

FTX Outback Mini, finally, my own pic :)

Now we weren't ripping up the livingroom, we were tearing it apart to create obstacles and try to get our little crawlers over them. We had finally found *our* RC hobby. My RC hobby had always been about the thrill of the speed, but this crawling, it was so relaxing. The crawler bug bit, and it bit hard. Soon I bought an Axial SCX10-II kit for myself followed by a second SCX10-II (Deadbolt RTR) a few months later. I also joined a local RC club, who have a off-road circuit and a crawler track.

My 2 Axial SCX10-IIs

And hey, whaddaya know, the kid liked crawling too. But I told him, that I wasn't going to buy him anymore RC vehicles for him. He had to want it enough to save up for it himself. He was reluctant at first, because the bar was set pretty high for him. But he stuck with it. To motivate him and to give him some more options to choose from, I told him I'd double his savings if he found the crawler he was going for and stuck with it. And he did it. One day I saw the Carisma SCA-1E Lynx ORV online. I knew my kid would like the styling and the chassis was quite affordable and got decent reviews.

My kids Carisma SCA-1E ORV (after I added some lights)

I showed him some pictures and he fell in love. He would have had to save up all of his allowance to be able to buy it in December, but as there is at least a chance of nice weather now, my better half decided to lend him the money, so he could still enjoy his very own crawler before the weather turns all nasty.

So, that's just about it for my RC story so far. I may have left out a few vehicles, but I'm sure they'll pop up in future posts at some point. I hope you will join me on my (and my kids) further RC journeys.


Greetings,

    RC Dork

Quick Crawl session with RC Dork Jr.

It's always nice when your local shops stop carrying a specific product you need and therefore have to drive to another town to get it. It's even more fun if your kid isn't old enough to stay home alone and you have to interrupt his Zelda-session and drag him along.
But RC Dork Jr. recently bought a RC crawler of his own, so we decided to take along our RCs and stop at a nice spot to drive them on the way back home.

Sorry for the poor image quality, still figuring out why it looks like this.

And that we did. We made a stop near "Uitkijkpunt Drunense Duinen" (Lookout point Drunense Duinen), at the south side of Dutch national park Loonse en Drunense Duinen. This side of the national park combines pine forest and the edge of the sand dunes that give the park its name.
At this spot the dunes are rather flat, but we stayed in the forest area, where we found some bare tree roots that made nice obstacles. Nothing spectacular, but great for teaching RC Dork Jr. some techniques. He's starting to get the hang of how to approach obstacles, but is still a bit... digital... on the trigger of his remote. When hung up on an obstacle, he tends to try maximum wheel speed as a first solution, digging him in even further and making it even harder to find the grip he needs to clear the obstacle.
But hey, he's 8 years old and has only had his Carisma SCA-1E Lynx ORV for a week, so I think he's doing great. His ride has already been modified with a Team DC 50t motor, which gives it a bit more torque and makes it run a bit more calm. But I did notice a few things about his rig that we will have to improve, but that's something for the future.

Carisma SCA-1E Lynx ORV & Axial SCX10-II Deadbolt

For myself, I brought my Axial SCX10-II Deadbolt RTR, which is completely stock other than the addition of some LEDs. I chose the Deadbolt to make sure the difference between our rigs wouldn't be too big. I can imagine the difference in performance between a stock SCA-1E and a SCX10-II with a ton of upgrades would have been a bit demotivating. Nonetheless the Deadbolt performed a bit better with its bigger, grippier tires and the Deadbolt body allowing for a bit more flex (especially with its narrow rear end).

We only had about 30 minutes before we had to go home again, but we had fun, RC Dork Jr. learned a few things, I got some ideas for improving his rig and we got to spend some time in nature with awesome early-autumn weather, so it was worth the detour.