Too much crap packed for such a short trip, nothing beats the Camel Trophy vids. Too many newbs, its obvious they never used a chainsaw or winch before this trip or ever attempted any bridge building, bracing, etc. I have seen their other vids about packing food for nutrition these fatties aren't in 1/2 the shape of the Camel Trophy guys were. A total joke with the "obstacles" they crossed. I have built up real deep river crossing before with drunk adults, with half the fuss. I guess Camel Trophy and real life experience ruined me in watching this reality TV stuff. Too much weight and gear for such a short trip.
Part of the reason i like it. Im not a super duper overlander 4 wheeler maniac. I like to do what i feel is fun and that about my speed. I like the scenery. I like that they show mistakes. I like the folks. I really like the vehicles. We will have to agree to disagree.
The one thing I have learned about the hardcore "overlanders" is they seem to have a cultish behavior, almost Hells Angels like. Noticed that at Overland Expo. I stayed all of 4 hours at OE and decided to call it a day. Wendy and I just like to get in the 4Runner and go where ever and carry as much or less gear as we want. Most of all we use our 4Runner to access remote pits and caves and haul all of our friends who cave with us and their gear. It's about the personal adventure to me. The vehicle is typically just a means to an end because I'd MUCH rather be accessing a trailhead for a hike or camping spot or dropping a pit than spending time riding in a vehicle. Sort of like AT hikers. Hike your own hike and don't worry whether your an official hardcore minimalist AT hiker. As for Camel Trophy, I enjoy watching some of the old footage and know a couple of guys who were part of it. When you have multi-millions supporting an event you can choose to get a little more rugged. Every dime that went into our 4Runner was paid for by us, so I have zero desire to do some of the stuff that these "hard core" off-roaders do. We get where we want to go and enjoy every minute of it. Spent a lot of miles this year on the Alpine Loop roads in Colorado and loved it, but also loved hiking up to Mt Sneffles equally as well as riding in the car. Yes, we have a winch, sliders, roof rack, etc. on the 4Runner but not for the cool factor. It's for the same reason I pack a fire starter and other survival gear in my backpack. In all honesty, I don't want to have to use the winch or build a damn bridge to get somewhere.
Excellent post. We love offroading. I have buddies who are hardcore that beat on vehicles like I do a knife or a Glock 17. Thing is, stuff breaks when you push it and most of us don't carry 10k around just to fix fun trauma to our vehicles. On foot is the most rewarding to me anyway. YMMV.
True, a mutual acquaintance of ours was part of the 91 Camel Trophy and he told me how many millions were spent putting it together. So, take the Camel Trophy videos for what they are: a bunch of fortunate folks who were chosen through a selection process then spent other people's and sponsor's money finishing the event. So, if you want real reality then take a look at folks who "overland" on their own dime and may not have been fortunate enough to be part of the exclusive CT club. Like i said, cool videos and I enjoy watching them but completely not real world for most off roaders. If being an every day person who spends their own money and protects their investment the best they can keeps me out of the "real overland" crowd, then I'm sort of proud of that.
The last overland group i went with we had a stock ford ranger 2wd that did everything we did and only got stuck once in a huge mud pit. There was talk at camp that night by how "there was no way that rig made it through all that." It did i was there the whole time. Slack jawed. There is another series we watched for a bit called "dirt every day" or something like that on netflix. Seemed that the goal was to prove that it doesnt take a lot of gear and money to make a good four wheeler. Good show if you all havent seen it. Funny as hell when they get jackets for their "club".
Same thing happened to us during our Mt Sneffles trip. 2WD ford pickup made it a helluva long ways past the closed trailheads. Never, ever underestimate a redneck in a ford pickup truck. Especially if there's beer involved. I would go as far to say if the CT would have had a bunch of southern rednecks driving then they would have been finished sooner and waiting for everyone at the end.
Don't take me too seriously Im just being a jealous asshole. I apologize if I offended anyone, I have no idea why I am so critical when it comes to the "overlanding" or " the expedition" crowd. I have also been to the Overland Expo in Flagstaff, its just a few hours north of me. Im also a gear nerd which makes me equally as guilty and possibly a hypocrite or at a minimum apart of the same hypocrisy. Those aluminum boxes that they keep all of their stuff in are probably worth more than my entire off road setup. I see a lot of expedition rigs here in AZ and on the road. In most cases they are way overkill for just driving on a forest service road that a stock subaru forester would do fine on. I have the new element ARB fridge sitting in my garage, and Im wiring up an ARB air compressor under the hood as I write this, overkill? You bet!
Chuy, we all like gear. That's not a bad thing at all. I also shake my head at some of the tricked our rigs I see but if that's what the folks want and have the money to do, I'm all for it. What I can't stand is folks who thinks someone doesn't fit into their club simply because they don't have what the cult mentality preaches. I saw this a lot out west but I'm sure Wendy and I had just as much fun doing our own thing with the gear we had as most of those guys did.
Expedition Overland Seasons 1-3 are on the Amazon Primes. For anyone interested. https://www.amazon.com/Expedition-Overland/dp/B07W3PGRWW
I'm about half way through the first season Alaska trip. Not bad to watch. I've never looked too deep into the overland crowd. My exposure is basically looking up a few things online when I get an idea for something. I can respect people who spend their own cash on their rigs and actually use it. Around NE Ohio I see a lot of trucks and Jeep "rigs" that are pavement princesses. All show and no go. If they want to spend their money for looks, that's cool if that's what they want. I wouldn't mind a few upgrades to my Tacoma. But nothing extreme, because for me and my uses, it wouldn't be worth it.
Some of us are into different things. To each our own!! I try to never hate on what someone else’s tastes are. I was probably one of those tools that I look at and say wtf is that. Everyone has different tastes and is in a different spot in life and age!! We all change
Well I could tell you were my age buy this post hahaha. We were so cool back then with our 60” pant legs