Tag: tent

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Overland Expo West 2017

 

Editor’s Note:  Enjoy the ride as we look back at last year’s event and remember what an incredible time everyone had at this great big “family reunion” in Arizona~ 2018 is shaping up to be even bigger so please stop by and say hi at the American Adventurist booth at site PS1.  We’ll have a cold beer ready for you courtesy of Historic Brewing in Flagstaff, bring your cup!

I’m talking to a couple of the driving instructors from Land Rover about the driving course for this year’s Overland Expo West, and I’m starting to get the impression that this year’s event is going to be different – in a good way.  You can hear it in their voices, and the way they talk about the classes that they’ll be teaching for the next few days.  It’s like someone just handed them the keys to a McLaren P1 and said “have fun.”  They’ve built driving and skills courses that are, thanks to the new venue, “the best yet.”  Consider me excited.

The sun seemed to be excited as well, considering that it decided to bless us with plenty of sunburn inducing radiation over the three days of Overland Expo West.  There’s so much that happens at this event that there is no way you can attend all of the classes, from world renown instructors, on topics ranging from bushcraft to battery-powered stick welding.  Likewise, you would be hard pressed to even make an appearance at all of the social events where you’ll find tons of free adult beverages, and in the case of a certain End of the World Party, tons of free gear.  All of these events are attended by some great folks, and the small talk in the beer line typically turns into a great conversation with good people.

Walk the vendor areas and you’ll find awesome products from some very big brands just down the aisle from a brand that’s launching on Kickstarter, working to get their first product to market.  A quick walk through the woods leads you to the moto village, where all kinds of gear and demo bikes from KTM, BMW, and Ural await.  Big budget is parked right next to big dreams, and everyone just seems stoked to be outside in sunny (and windy) Flagstaff.

Overland Expo has grown to be an event that’s hard to capture in a single article—there’s just that much going on.  If I had to try and wrap it up in a few dozen carefully crafted chosen words and images, I would say this:  It’s an outstanding event where you can meet real people who all share a common love of the outdoors and adventure travel.  It’s an event where you can learn so much, be it driving skills or what the options are for expanding the capabilities of your rig.  And it’s the place where the person in front of you in line could have just ridden around the world and have some awesome stories to share.

I know that what you’re really here for is the photos, so feel free to just work that scroll wheel.  If you’ve read this far, you’ve earned it.  What was your favorite part of Overland Expo West?  What did you think of the new venue?  Let us know in the comments!

A serious THANK YOU goes out to Expedition Overland and Equipt Expedition Outfitters for letting American Adventurist join in on the End of the World Party.  We also want to thanks all of the great brands that contributed gear to our raffle!

Though unobtanium for most of us, we couldn’t help but stop and drool over the flush rivets, branded leather, and all the little details on AeroContinental’s aluminum prototype. Follow @aerocontinental on Instagram for more gratuitous fabrication porn.

Treeline Outdoors made their US debut with their impressive Gen3 Roof Top Tent line. At a glance it may look like the same tried-and-true format with bold colors and a unique window awning added, but look deeper and you’ll find an innovative aluminum honeycomb deck, solar-friendly features, and a long list of little details that set these units apart from the sea of newcomers flooding the RTT market. Look for a detailed review in coming months.

Even more aluminum roof top tents entering the market, including these wedge-style tents from Alu-Cab. 

Adventure Tool Company sold completely out of their durable lineup of tool organization products (they even sold the 4-year-old demo model). If you missed out, track them down at http://adventuretoolcompany.com/

Warn Industries had a ton of cool new things to share at Expo.  Stay tuned for some content on new Warn goodies in the future.

Available in two sizes, the Fold-A-Flame firepit grills are clearly draw inspiration from the old Foldin’ Cooker your grandpa might have used. It’s great to see more practical and packable options on the market for wood-fired cooking.

The Kariba Ranger 4×4 is a compact hot shower system that doubles as a dual-burner cook top. New to the US market, they’ll be available soon from Equipt. 

Nissan was on site with their Cummins-powered (yep, a Diesel Nissan on US shores) Project Basecamp, what looks to be a solid entry into the severely option-lacking US overland market. We’ll report back in greater detail after we do  a more hands-on evaluation.

Off The Grid brought their good looking (and feeling) prototype adventure pants. They’re still working on a few details so we can’t share much just yet, but we’ll report back with a full review as soon as we get our hands on the production model.

It was great catching up with the folks at Jackcovers—I mean Step 22—and checking out their newly expanded line of durable, fairly priced bags and accessories. 

Oftentimes simple is best. The Tail Gater attaches to your vehicle’s tire, providing sturdy table or counter space while in camp. It straps to the spare tire for transport, though I suspect it might slip into or behind the ubiquitous Trash-a-roo as well. 

Thanks to the crew at  Tembo Tusk for hosting us during the Sunday breakfast.  We cooked a pig worth of bacon, more than 20-dozen eggs and a bunch of awesome South African food!

Spotted Tembo Tusk’s moto-friendly Adventure Skottle prototype, designed to run off the compact MSR multi-fuel stove. Rumor has it we’re going to see an even lighter production model very soon…

Tepui’s new Baja Series answers a problem that’s been around since the invention of the tent: dealing with multiple climates. With interchangeable canopies, you can go from screened summer tent to an aluminized harsh-weather tent by simply zipping-in the appropriate canopy. 

Two new models were on display from Turtleback: a large flatbed hybrid design, and a small crossover-friendly model. Both units are impressive, but we’re most excited about the low profile yet high ground clearance smaller unit.

Have some awesome photos from Overland Expo West 2017?  Post them in the comments!

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Roof or Ground?

Editor’s Note: We’re testing out a new series of Guest Articles—featuring articles from both up-and-coming and established adventure authors. Here’s a different take on the roof top tent debate from our friends at Overlanding USA. Like what you’re reading? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to visit OUSA’s social and give them some love (links in the author bio below). Have an article you’d like us to feature? Get in touch!

With the Roof Top Tent craze hitting an all time high, we made the conscious decision to leave our roof and firmly plant our feet back on solid ground. “Why would you do such a thing, don’t you know all true overlander’s use Roof Top Tents?”

Let me explain: while Roof Top Tents (or RTT as we will refer to it from now on) are great in concept, they sometimes don’t live up to their high held glory.

Let me explain further: yes it is true RTT’s get you off the ground, away from animals, the dirt, and unleveled ground. But you also get: poor MPG on your adventure rig, top heaviness, limited space, the inability to stand up in your tent, and most of all the ability to leave camp without breaking down your sleeping accommodations.

Now, taking all of these into consideration, we decided to give the humble ground tent a try. What we found was a much more fulfilling camp experience. Currently we are running a double awning system: one 270-degree Manta awing, one standard 8-foot awning, and our all important awning tent. This setup gives us maximum coverage while still giving us a quick and simple set up and break down.

This kept our already top heavy 4Runner from being even more top heavy. Oh, and we regained 3 MPG the RTT had taken away, adding almost 60 miles to our total vehicle range per tank of gas.

At the end of the day one of the biggest advantages is for our dogs. We are like many overlanders and outdoors individuals—we love taking our dogs with us on trips, and they love to go! The old routine would be the same every night: I would throw the dogs over my shoulder and carry them up the ladder, only to have them take up most of the room in the cramped tent. And don’t get me started on if they have to pee in the middle of the night. With our new set up, not only do they not have to be carried over the shoulder, but, they have their own beds in the tent. Why? Because we now have so much more room!

At the end of the day, you will always have those that say the RTT is the best way to go. But for us and so many others remember: there is always another option, you just have to step back and look at them all.