Hey noobs get involed in events.

[Ditchrat]

Hello to all newly involved in crawling. In short, as I don’t want to make this about me, I started scale crawling Dec 25 2015 and attended my first Recon G6 in May of 2016. In the past I have been involved in slot car competitions and had expectation of the same self-righteous azzhats.

Well I was wrong.

I participated in the Recon G6 with my seven year old boy this weekend and It was one of the best experiences I have ever had in my 42 years living.

Don’t be intimidated, don’t feel uncomfortable, don’t worry about fitting in.

Let me give you some positives.

The staff was great, I lot of people say they treat you like family, these guys and gals really do. Everyone there treated my son like he was part of the event, vendors answered his questions and participant treated him as a full fledge G6er.
My son had some break downs on the trail. Since most where minor I fixed them on the trail and let me tell you every single person that past us asked if we needed help.Many of them offered up parts if we needed.

There was always a winch, tow strap or push available when needed. One of my biggest concerns with running the G6 with a kid was holding people up or causing delays.That concern turned out to be a non-issue.Turns out that one of the most fun parts of the event is recoveries.I had as much fun recovering fellow G6ers as I did going through gates.This goes for assisting each other through gates. Some of the gates where just about impossible without a winch, push or pull. Getting two or more rigs through was so much fun. Figuring out angles, anchor positions, entrance and exists was a blast. The whole time learning from each other by watching.

Major failures: Yep the Deadbolt didn’t finish. Just 15 gates shy of completion and with 45 mins left my son nuked his trans. But that wasn’t the end of it. People offered up parts, and offered to lend us a rig to finish.

My son made a new friend who lives not so far away in NJ. We ran the first day/night stage with him and his father, Jeff. It was great fun and we plan on getting the kids together at a later date. Jeff,if you’re reading this you have a great kid, and I appreciate all the help and guidance you offered up.

Giving was as much a part of the event as receiving help. The first night I was talking to a gentleman who broke his winch line. I had an extra to give him and get him 100% for the next day. One of the best things that could have happened to us. Midmorning of the second day at the start of stage 3 the same gentleman entered the starting gate just behind us. After winching, towing and spinning tires Paul and I made it up the hill climb. We quickly decided that my twosome was to become a threesome.
Two people was fun, three was even more so. We spent the rest of the day running together.

Last thing I will say is get involved, “Do the Work” as they say. If there are recommended but not mandatory events/items do them/it. It all adds to the fun. We brought a 2 rig barge to the Float your rig challenge. Not only did it make it, another G6er used their fanboat as a barge and pushed us across the pond. Then we offered up the barge to others and he ferried another 5 or six rigs across. Watching all this unfold was as much fun as actually doing the event. At one point it was starting to list hard, Kilt and all Parker was in the drink doing the HAND of POSEIDON.

We all like pictures, so when I get home tonight I'll get some up on this thread.

I can’t say it enough. Go do it. Don’t worry about anything and have a blast.

[new2rocks]

I had a blast and loved seeing you and the other dads out there with the kids. To a person, all of the fathers out there with their kids were fantastic and exceptionally patient. Those times are priceless, and it pained me that I couldn't bring Roo this time. He'll definitely make the next one. Keep it up!


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[rstekeur]

I can't even find a RC track anywhere near me. I must live in a RC deprived area.

[MCW24]

wish we had these where I live, no dice. ill subscribe to this and live through you guys I suppose

[mikebecher]

Originally Posted by rstekeur

I can't even find a RC track anywhere near me. I must live in a RC deprived area.

Originally Posted by MCW24

wish we had these where I live, no dice. ill subscribe to this and live through you guys I suppose

Get out there and make your own events!!!

It's a major undertaking for me to get to a RECON G6 or even a regular event so I'm working on organizing something myself. I started with just a few contacts and I invite everyone interested to come out every weekend and crawl with me. Sometimes there are other drivers, sometimes I'm all alone, but I'm out there regardless. Interest is slowly building and hopefully we'll have enough drivers to hold an event in the near future.

This is a catch-22 situation - people get disinterested because there's no events and there's no events because there aren't enough people involved. If you get two or three drivers to get together on a regular basis in high-traffic areas (parks, beaches, public trails) people will notice and the bug will bite some of them. I saved a couple guys off craigslist who were selling their crawlers because it seemed nobody else was active.

This hobby is what you make it, both in what you build and who you include. Share the joy with others and it becomes even that much more fun

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by MCW24

wish we had these where I live, no dice. ill subscribe to this and live through you guys I suppose

Let me see if I can help some. Here is the flyer for the event. Ill do smaller pics after this one.

[MCW24]

we do big group crawls all the time. just no events like this. I have zero time to start or organize an event as i'm already coaching two sports and have three boys who play in different sports

[Ditchrat]

So the start of the show was the rock field. No scaler or comp crawler could tackle this beast, but I'd like to see one try.



As soon as we arrived my son found a big kid to play with.


If you don't know the big kid is the event organizer, who somehow found time for everyone and still got everything started. Albeit on Parker time. You know 8 means ok we ready lets go its 830.

[Ditchrat]

Ok I lied about smaller pics, photobucket is fighting me. It's either larger and a PIA or nothing. Sorry.

So off to the drivers meeting where we learned the rules. Well that and there really isn't any rules. No hand of god, hit a gate mark it, and if you have to use your tow strap to right yourself its a penalty winch. Honor system, ect. In all reality if you play by the rules it is much more fun.

[Ditchrat]

So stage 1 was my baptism in fire. I my case I had to watch my son, look for hidden items and somehow drive through gates. Here are some banners we had to find and pose for a picture.

That's my boy Aidan, his deadbolt and my Dingo.


Like I said its easy to find company, these two found each other and I was glad they did. Really its what its all about.

[Ditchrat]

Lots of challenging gates, which I have no pictures of because I was focused on getting two rigs through, but also lots of fun gates using what was available.
Here is our stage 3/4 running buddy, Paul. He was brave enough to follow my son down the rabbit hole. I thought for sure my son was going to flip half way though and get stuck.



Here is another easy one, lets face it who doesn't like driving through stuff.

[Chief64]

Love it! I got started when my son was 8 yo, we went racing every Sunday for about a year, Together we broke so many parts that the wallet went dry and we had to hang it up. Soon after that my lhs went belly up. But while we had that shop we sure had a lot of fun, it's been 10 yrs and I still miss it. So now I want to get into crawling, but still no lhs so it's difficult. I have to lean on this site from which to learn.

[Ditchrat]

The easy ones make it accessible to everyone. My son made it through all the same lines as the veterans G6er's the only difference is that he needed a winch to make it through, or needed righting afterward. I'm not saying it was easy, but it was as hard as you wanted to make it.

I'll leave you with this one. My son getting Driver of the Day for his age group. If you don't tell him he was the only one in that group I wont tell him. I'm still proud as I could be.

[Habanero]

The crawler crowd in my area is TOO enthusiastic, the club I was running with all but shut down because it was getting so popular.

The gatherings became so large that they would quickly get the attention of the Rangers when they showed up at the local parks- just to get thrown out.

Now the guy does it completely legit, with reserving spaces and getting vendor sponsorships and so now I really make sure to participate and contribute funds to try and make sure this hobby continues.

[mikebecher]

Originally Posted by Ditchrat

Nice photo timing with that bubble, makes Parker look like this guy...

[Natedog]

DitchRat, welcome and glad that you and your son are having so much fun! I love 1/24 scale slotcars, but after years in the faster motor classes, I prefer and only run in the Parma FCR stock car class, way more fun for the money and entrants are more relaxed and about the fun of it. Every hobby has some azzhats, try to steer clear and keep having fun. Pics are great!

Originally Posted by mikebecher

Nice photo timing with that bubble, makes Parker look like this guy...

Attachment 342744

Or Colonel Klink lol!

[inertia]

Great to hear such a positive experience. My son and daughter enjoy watching in my own rock garden, just gotta find the free time to get my rig to a local event! And it does seem to be a Crawling trait of being very friendly!

[ROLANDROCKSHOP]

Awesome!!

Glad you guys had a blast and truly GET what a Recon G6 is all about...FUN!

Diving into the scale adventure..truly putting yourself in the drivers seat..immersing yourself within the adventure. Thats what got me hooked!

You dont get that with comps or races...because your on the clock=pressure.

Pressure isnt fun for me,when im supposed to be having fun with my Rc.

Trailing with my friends and laughing as we have our own adventure on stage..thats FUN!

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by ROLANDROCKSHOP

Awesome!!

Glad you guys had a blast and truly GET what a Recon G6 is all about...FUN!

Diving into the scale adventure..truly putting yourself in the drivers seat..immersing yourself within the adventure. Thats what got me hooked!
!

Right on! I am currently working on a rig with a full interior, not because I need to but because I want to. My sons rig is getting training wheels, not because I want to but because I need to.

I can definitely see myself showing up with a 1.9 rig set up with no compromises in scale crawling, and a 1.9 rig set up more compromised so that it looks the way I want it to do.

[Col_Sanders]

Honestly I thought winching and pulling people out was kind of dorky until I did my first Recon G6. Then I realized how fun it was to not only get yourself up a tough obstacle, but to get other people over it. That event was a blast.

I really like the G6 atmosphere. Its mostly laid back and people are helping one another when needed.