For this reason you should choose a tyre that is of a common size, so that replacements may be found if tyres are damaged beyond repair. Six tyres are essential – especially for desert excursions where support may be days away.

Alloy or Steel Rims?
Many modern 4x4s are fitted with alloy rims and tubeless tyres. Alloy rims offer performance advantages as they are light, and place less of a load on your suspension, but removing tyres is difficult once you leave behind the luxuries of hydraulic machinery. In Africa most tyres are repaired by hand, using crude tools that will inevitably damage rims.

Steel rims on the other hand are far easier when you need to “break the bead”, and when damaged can be hammered back into shape, unlike alloys which require specialist repairs.

Tubes or Tubeless?
Tubeless tyres are excellent at handling thorn punctures – you can continue for days with multiple punctures, as long as you can periodically inflate the tyres. The ideal combination would be tubeless tyres on steel rims, with tubes in reserve for damage that can’t be easily repaired. 

Technique
Off-road driving is a skill that has to be learned like any other – and sand driving is an art in itself. You will become expert at choosing the best line to protect your tyres, as well as selecting the correct tyre pressures for the conditions. 

Tyre pressures for sand driving can – in the worst conditions, be as low as 0.7 bar, but will normally be between 1-1.5 bar, depending upon your load. Returning to harder ground means that you should immediately re-inflate your tryes to prevent damage – and in the desert you really don’t want to be labouring over a foot or hand pump. A good compressor is an essential item; because you are running on large tyres and need to pump a lot of air quickly, and we stock pumps that are suited to the heavier work load required – you can buy cheaper pumps but they probably won’t be able to cope with the demands that desert diving will place on them. 

Puncture Repairs
The inevitable punctures can often be repaired locally, but remember that almost all repairs are still on tubes, so if you are using tubeless tyres you should take along your own patches, adhesives, and tools. Don’t expect the standards of expertise that we’re accustomed to in the first world – and keep a keen eye on the work in hand to ensure that you rims and wheels aren’t being abused. 

Plugs are a simple and easy way of repairing small punctures in tubeless tyres without removing the tyre from the rim – practice is the key, so ask you local tyre shop if they can let you hone your skills on a dead tyre before you start working on your own good ones. 

For tube repairs or more serous tubeless repairs you will need to remove the tyre from the rim. It is essential that you can do this yourself – in an emergency there may be nobody else who can help you, so again practice is the key. With steel rims breaking the bead will probably be easier than with alloys – a set of tyre irons are a must, but a hi-lift jack also makes an excellent bead breaker for the most stubborn of tyres. 

If you’re taking a hi-Lift, which is a remarkably flexible piece of equipment, then also take a small bottle jack which is far faster to assemble and use for the simpler repairs 

For more information the excellent ‘Sahara Overland’ and ‘Desert Driving’ by Chris Scott are useful travel companions - http://www.sahara-overland.com/