Editor’s note: Back in 2010, our “Rendezvous Conspiracy” of like minded Adventurists sat around a campfire in the Southern California desert dreaming up ideas to get out and explore more often. That quiet conversation resulted in the first Desert Rendezvous. Fast forward ten years and American Adventurist grew to tens of thousands of followers across the social media spectrum with members in all 50 states. Early on we made it our business to promote responsible outdoor recreation, 4WD education, and Tread Lightly principles and we’re still doing it today – I honestly never imagined that so many other people had similar dreams and interests, or that this would grow to be what it is. We’ve held Rendezvous events in California, North Carolina and now Arizona and partnered with dozens of amazing brands and events like Overland Expo along the way. So this year’s theme is gratitude – we’re grateful for those who believed in us and what we’re about, and for all of you who chose to be a part of this journey. In the end, it’s the people, the family and friends that made this all possible, and you are why we do what we do. THANK YOU for making these last 10 years, and this Community that we’ve built, something that we can all be extremely proud of.
Dave Bennett, Founder
Since this was our 10-year anniversary of Rendezvous events, we wanted to give this event a special touch. After bouncing around several desert locations in SoCal over the last decade, the consensus was to change it up a bit and shift the event to just north of the KOFA Wildlife Refuge on BLM land near Quartzsite, Arizona. Luckily, we had a good man there to do some reconnaissance and boots on the ground coordination, our fellow Adventurist and staff member John Rhoades. Many, many thanks to John for putting in the legwork and finding this wonderful spot for the 10th Annual Desert Rendezvous.
With the Rendezvous site finally nailed down, and the planning and coordination completed, it all came down to how we were going to get there. For most of us, we’d either take a few dirt roads in our 4WD vehicles, or just hardball it straight from home direct to the coordinates. For myself, I decided to take on a slightly different adventure for most people here, and that was to get there by motorcycle a few days earlier. I had coordinated with another member and friend here at American Adventurist, Tim S. and we had decided to take a portion of the Nevada Backcountry Discovery Route from Pahrump, NV to Oatman, AZ and from there we’d hard slab it down to Quartzsite, AZ. Now, this would be my first big trip on a motorcycle, and not only that, but the longest ever in the saddle, and my first time on dirt, and on a Back Country Discovery Route no less… this would truly be an adventure for me!
You can read about my short Moto Adventure on the way to Desert Rendezvous [here]
Our arrival at the Desert Rendezvous was fairly late in the day on Friday afternoon, but we were just in time for the start of the festivities. There were already a good number of Adventurists there and all set up, which made for a very welcoming sight. Just as we finished unloading our bikes and setting up camp, the BBQ social was about to begin as a large group of 4WD’s was just returning from their days’ planned trail run out to the KOFA Wilderness area led by the fine folks at Canyon State Overland. Thank you for putting the trail run together!
With everyone back in camp, the smell of cooking burgers and dogs drew the hungry folks toward the main camp area. Many props to Mountain Hatch for sponsoring the BBQ social, as we sourced the beef for the burgers and dogs, and the freshly made buns from a local butcher and bakery nearby. Skottles were lined up and even chili was being cooked over the fire as everyone gathered around.
We love travelling and visiting the towns and cities that we pass through, and we love to support local mom and pop businesses whenever we can. The local beef made for the most delicious burgers we’ve had in a long time and those freshly baked old west style buns were incredible. The campfire was set, bellies were full, beverages in hand, and the social continued throughout the night with another spectacular sunset.
A small rain storm passed through in the night so it made a bit of pitter patter on the ground tent. It had been very a long time since I’ve camped in a ground tent, and especially when it was raining. But it was sublime after a long three day ride to get here.
We awakened Saturday morning to a break in the rain, damp ground, and nice rainbow off to the West. While the coffee was brewing and breakfast was being cooked around camp, we could see dark looming clouds off in the distance and the wind constantly changing directions. A small swirl just off camp began forming and the next thing we knew, it began raining pretty hard. This rain continued for the next couple hours so many folks took shelter under awnings or in their tents until the storm passed through, brewing lots of hot coffee and making sure all the Bailey’s Irish Creme in camp was accounted for. Small rivers began to form through the many satellite camps spread around but luckily the ground was hard and dry enough to allow the water to absorb quickly.
As the clouds parted and clear skies were just off in the distance, the rain let up and folks began coming out from their covers. Kids were launched in every direction on our Scavenger Hunt, and it was just about time for Dave’s 4WD Recovery Basic Course. Dave is a Certified Trainer with the International 4WD Trainers Association, and his class covered a 202 Level class based off his previous 101 Level class presented at the last Rendezvous. These events are great to attend, as not only do they help you brush up on current knowledge and new ideas, but they also give you an edge on doing things right. The devil is in the details… especially with people’s safety and lives at stake.
At the same time of the 4WD Recovery Course, a few of the other adventure moto riders had formed up to go for a trail run off to the East of camp. Even though I could have joined them with my bike, I figured it would be too technical considering my setup, plus I had to shoot photos for the event. When they returned, it was a good choice as Tim had mentioned it was not ideal for my bike and I probably would not have had a good time, but the guys who went out had a great time of course!
As Dave’s period of instruction came to an end, the Kid’s Scavenger Hunt was wrapping up and the many kids began lining up at Stuart’s camp to collect their prizes. This part of the Rendezvous is always a big hit with the children and the parents. To keep the kids interested and challenged, this particular scavenger hunt was an evolution from the previous years’ and it turned out great!
The rest of the day was left to your own devices and whatever you’d like to do. Naps are authorized and even encouraged at a Rendezvous. With a good break midday, the only event left for the day was the Camp Cooking Competition and Potluck. Even by just after lunch, folks were already prepping around the main camp fire and getting their meals ready to go. It wasn’t long before the entire area was infused with the various aromas of special dishes and secret recipes.
As the time for the Camp Cooking Competition/Potluck started closing in, more dishes began showing up on the table whether they were main dishes, side dishes, or even contributions to the potluck for all to share. There was a great variety of dishes from the numerous competitors, from several varieties of excellent chili to Korean tacos, ramen salad, and even apple cobbler. All the dishes were mouth watering as the Adventurists cast their votes, dropping their tickets into their chosen dishes. A massive thank you to all those who participated as this one really brings the community together. The prizes for this competition were sponsored by L.T. Wright Knives and the competitors were itching to reach the top three and win one of their amazing, handcrafted made in USA blades.
Through community vote, the winners of this years 2020 Desert Rendezvous Camp Cooking Competition are:
Third Place: @aherrera with his Lazy Lasagna, winning a Kitchen/Boning Knife from L.T. Wright Knives
Second Place: @ TACMEDIC with his Dutch Oven Apple Cobbler, winning the Machete from L.T,Wright Knives
And First Place: @Bald_taco and their Korean BBQ Beef Tacos, winning the Grand Prize pack of a Boning Knife, Machete and Hat from L.T. Wright Knives.
Congratulations to the winners! And again, a HUGE thank you to those who participated in this very important part of every Rendezvous event. It’s always fun to try new things but also even more fun to one-up the last winner’s dish. Don’t forget that you can use whatever means you’d like to use to cook with (dutch oven, camp stove, smoker, open flame etc), but we always encourage you to bring the cooking over to the main fire pit so as to bring the competitors together to see what others are doing and to possibly stir up fun and new ideas for next time. And don’t forget to bring your own plate – no one goes hungry at a Rendezvous!
With half a cord of wood left for Saturday night, locally sourced and graciously brought to camp by the Mr. John Rhoades, we needed to burn the rest of it as this would be our last night before we needed to pack up and head home the next day. We all gathered around the main camp fire, while others gathered around satellite campfires, and with beverages in hand and full bellies, the socializing continued into the night.
With a clear and crisp morning, eventually all the Adventurists were ready for the raffle after their breakfast and social meanderings. But first we had to take our traditional group photo taken by our good friend and fellow Adventurist Brent Haywood of Brent Haywood Photography. With the group wrangled, group photos/videos taken, and folks back in their seats, the raffle began. We want to massively thank our many, many sponsors for contributing to the American Adventurist raffle for the many years we’ve held these Rendezvous events. Thank you!!
As everyone packed up and left (some with MAJOR new loot!), the staff started breaking camp as well, but first making sure to police the area for cleanliness to abide by our Tread Lightly! principles. No trace of our Rendezvous was left behind, fires were out, doused, stirred and scraped. You could not tell that hundreds of people had spent four days there in the Arizona desert.
Thank you to our wonderful Community for supporting American Adventurist for the 10 years we’ve had thus far, and to the many more years to come!
My buddy didn’t make it through the snowbank. With the sound of wet snow sliding and then returning to its resting state of semi-cured concrete, my buddy’s truck came to a stop high-centered on the snowbank. And people were watching. Moments ago, we had assured these onlookers that we knew what we were doing, and that we weren’t some YOLO-seeking idiots out to go further than anyone else had down a road blocked with snowbanks for the ‘Gram. (Full disclosure: My buddy owns land at the end of this road. No road closures or other regulations were violated).
With a bit of shoveling and his Maxsas in place, my buddy tried to move his truck forward, but his tires couldn’t grip the non-existent teeth featured on Amazon’s Choice for recovery boards. More shoveling ensued to provide better placement for the Maxsas and less drag on the vehicle. Speedy recovery wasn’t happening, so I took more photos..
While my buddy’s tires are admittedly tired (see what I did there) and not aired down as far as they could be, they were still completely unable to grab any sort of meaningful traction from the Maxsa traction boards. When we placed a pair of MAXTRAX XTREME’s in the snow for both of the rear tires to grab, the difference in performance couldn’t have been more drastic. The truck’s tires grabbed the alloy teeth like they were magnetically attracted to each other and my buddy’s truck was instantly able to move forward onto dry ground and freedom.
We passed all three of our vehicles over this first snowbank and made it all of 60 yards down the road before we had to negotiate our next snowbank. Again, we employed the XTREME’s to help us quickly negotiate successive snowbanks as we continued to make progress down the road. On larger snowbanks and snowdrifts, progress was limited to the length of road we could make with all of our vehicle recovery boards, which provided a great opportunity to compare all of the different recovery boards back to back. To put it bluntly, the difference in performance is night and day.
After a full day of MAXTRAX-ing our way through snowbanks, I felt the need to reset my baseline for traction board performance, and so I saved one of the larger snowbanks on our drive out to only use my Mark II’s. With one on each tire, I was able easily climb up and over a large, rutted snowbank. Mark IIs are still great vehicle recovery boards, and after a full day of use, my set looked no worse for wear. The same can’t be said for the Maxsas, which were all showing serious stress-lightening of the plastic. On a scale of 1-10 in super-wet spring snow, the XTREME’s provide traction performance at 10, with Mark II’s a solid 9. We’ll just say that Amazon’s choice may not be the best choice here.
With the new XTREME’s proven in the extreme of constant use in the snow, it was time to take them to another extreme, and put them to work in the sand dunes of Southern Nevada in the middle of summer. With triple digit air temps and the sand considerably warmer, both human and machine were put to the test during a multi-day sand dune driving course. In these conditions, each time a vehicle would get stuck the recovery was an absolute exercise in making an accurate stuck assessment and efficient recovery.
In the time that I’ve had the XTREME’s, they’ve proven to be exactly what I hoped they would be – a burlier version of the Mark II’s that retain everything that makes earlier versions great. At every chance I’ve had or created for a vehicle recovery, they have performed flawlessly and are no worse for the wear. Since I’m the guy in my group of local friends who has MAXTRAX, I’m constantly supplying them for recovery situations, and it’s great to have the peace of mind that when I’m helping someone out who isn’t dialed in on proper MAXTRAX usage, or is just a little to high-strung at the moment, accidental wheelspin isn’t going to roast my traction boards. Do I still use and carry my Mark IIs? Absolutely. They’re awesome and the ace up my sleeve for when stuck happens to me. Yet, when I’m heading out knowing that I’m going to be the guy providing the MAXTRAX for any recoveries that may occur, I’ll toss in the XTREME’s.
If you’re trying to decide between the XTREME’s and Mark II’s, know that you can’t go wrong with either. But, let me offer a few hypothetical questions to help you identify which MAXTRAX are right for you. If you’re the type of person who isn’t getting stuck every time out, or when you do get stuck you’re not prone to using panic throttle, Mark II’s are a great option that will last you a very long time.
The additional performance of the XTREME’s comes with additional costs in several areas. A single XTREME weighs a couple pounds more than a Mark II (10 pounds vs. 8), and a set of XTREME’s doesn’t stack as tightly as a set of Mark II’s (4x Mark II’s are ~ 4 inches tall, where 4x XTREME’s are ~ 5.5 inches tall). But the biggest pain point of all is the cost – a pair of them cost $500 whereas a pair of Mark II’s costs $300. Yet for the folks who truly need the performance of an XTREME, these factors are hardly a consideration when weighed against the benefits.
I’m sure by now someone is getting ready to fire off a smart comment to the effect of “but I can buy X sets of <insert cheap brand vehicle recovery board here> for the price of one set of MAXTRAX” Well that may be true – but everyone who makes that argument always seems to assume that they’re going to have data coverage and instant Amazon Prime delivery wherever in the world they are when they break their first set of cheapo traction boards trying to get unstuck or get home. I know Amazon delivers in cool Sprinter vans, but I sure haven’t seen many off-road. My suggestion would be to do it right the first time and get a product that isn’t going to let you down when it counts.
In summary, you can’t go wrong with MAXTRAX. Yeah, you’re going to pay for them up front, but the first time you use them in a recovery and get to fully appreciate what a powerful tool they are you’ll find yourself saying “worth it” when your mobility is restored. In my experience, the difference between cheap alternatives and the genuine article has been night and day, and there’s plenty of good videos on the internet that corroborate my experience. I certainly don’t want to roll the dice on my family’s well being just to save a couple bucks. You can’t put a price on the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have quality tools with you to see the world and then see your friends and family back home safely.