Overland Expo West 2023

We are now 14 years into this Overland Expo thing, and based on the 2023 edition of Overland Expo West, enthusiasm for the event is as strong as ever. The original Overland Expo continues to be a gathering of community where folks from all over the world and all walks of life spend the weekend catching up, checking out the latest gear and vehicles, and attending classes on everything from Drones to Driving techniques.

As is tradition, I logged 10’s of thousands of steps walking around the vendor booths, moseying through the campgrounds, dropping in on classes in both the classrooms and driving area to try and capture a sampling of everything that is Overland Expo. In no particular order, here is a selection of cool stuff from Overland Expo West 2023.

Black Rhino / Axial – Booth engagement is a thing – how do you draw folks walking down the aisle into your booth? I think the Black Rhino crew figured this one out by partnering up with Axial RC to make a RC crawling course where the fastest time won a set of wheels. Scale RC cars are pretty neat, and this sixth scale Axial rig had my attention.

TRED – TRED Outdoors had a some properly burly screw-in stakes and their new line of vehicle leveling products on display. Hit their website for all of the details on their new leveling products which look well made and well thought out.

ARB – The folks at ARB have been busy working on everything from the new 2024 Tacoma to a host of other products for other platforms. The new summit bull bar pictured for the 3rd gen. Tacoma looks brilliant, as do the new Ford Bronco bits like the compressor mount and JACK mount. ARB is expanding their rack offerings with new platform and bed rack options.

74 Weld – Speaking of impressive Toyota parts, 74 Weld had their portal axle kit on display, which makes stuffing 37’s on a 3rd gen taco an easy thing. The kit uses OEM geometry, and provides the gear reduction to maintain factory ratios. Plus, you get disk brakes on all four corners.

LEXUS – It’s always interesting to see which OEMs are going to show up at Overland Expo on a given year, and 2023 marks Lexus’ first appearance at the show. GX / LX Overland builds are verymuch a thing, so it’s always good to see an OEM recognize what their customers are doing.

GMC – AT4X all of the things! GMC is applying the AT4X treatment to all of their truck platforms from the Canyon up to new new Silverado HD. In partnership with AEV, these rigs are turn key with fancy shocks, lockers, and real armor so you can just load them up and go have fun. A detail I appreciate is the ability to remove the steps from the rock rails shown on the Canyon AT4X.

EQUIPT – The Paul May isn’t scared of a little electronics work in the rain, and I happened to catch Paul in the middle of installing a new control board in a National Luna fridge. This retrofit control board adds Bluetooth control to most all National Luna fridges (check with Equipt for your specific model), so NL owners do not have to shell out for a new fridge to take advantage of the company’s latest wares. Equipt also had Eezi-Awns new sword hard shell root tent on display.

AT Overland – The Aterra Truck Topper and Aterra XL Camper we’ve had the opportunity to check out at Desert Rendezvous made it’s official debut at Overland Expo. The Aterra Topper is a particularly appealing option for anyone who is interested in a slide in camper.

GOOSE GEAR – The new Park Series from Goose Gear is a DIY interior system for Subarus and Toyota Rav4s – and it looks just as awesome as any other Goose Gear system. Goose Gear also had their new interior for the Scout Tuktut on display as well.

Dometic – Dometic is continuing to press headlong into the Overland-o-sphere with a new roof top tent and inflatable shelter system. The TRT 140 roof top tent uses air poles instead of aluminum to save a little weight up high on your vehicle and the HUB 2 is the inflatable version of an EZ-UP. Color me interested to see how these new products work.

Overland Kitted – The folks who have been the US importer for MAXTRAX have launched mounting systems for MAXTRAX recovery boards, and other externally mounted accessories (rotopax shown for example). They’ve also got the lastest from InDeFlate – a digital two hose unit.

Kakadu – New to the US market, this established Aussie brand has some great kit on display like their 1P and 2P sleep systems. They were also showing off a very interesting shower system and based on the specs and initial impressions it all looks very good.

Surefire – Piece of the sun in your pocket maker Surefire had a couple of their new Turbo EDC lights on display at Overland Expo. The EDC2 and EDC1 lights are specifically designed to project light to extreme distances and can be powered by 123s or rechargeable 18650 cells.

Kelty – It’s always interesting to see how established outdoor brands approach the overland industry, and Kelty had an appealing selection of gear on display. Their Backroad and Sideroad awnings are great options for affordable, packable shade that work with SUVs, trucks, or vans, and their multi-seat chairs are always a win.

Rollercam – The company that reinvented the cam strap now has a solution for anyone who can’t remember a trucker’s knot, or anyone who likes an easy to use solution for tying stuff down. The Roperoller works just like the Rollercam, and is a game changer for anyone who has struggled to guy something off.

Zero Breeze – A/C for Overlanding is officially a thing. It will be interesting to see how this segment of the market fares in the coming years.

Tembo Tusk – The company known for the Skottle actually started off as a fridge slide company, and their latest product is a tilting fridge slide. As always, the Tembo Tusk crew were throwing down on their Skottles all weekend serving up all sorts of food.

Total Chaos – If you’ve heard about how some older Toyotas had issues with their lower ball joints suffering a rapid unscheduled disassembly – here’s your fix.

Arctic Trucks – The legendary Icelandic manufacture of vehicles that have driven to both poles of the planet is now established in the United States. Having watched videos of these trucks in action for so many years, it was a treat to see one in person and nerd out with the folks from Arctic Trucks USA.

RUX – Bags are a dime a dozen – everyone makes them, so how do you stand out? You make bags like Rux. This Canadian manufacture uses RF welding to build some extremely well thought out bags that are absolutely worth checking out if you like well made, highly functional, durable gear.

Polaris – UTVs are officially overland vehicles. Polaris’ new line of Side-by-Side / UTVs have all the farkles, enclosed cabs, heat, A/C, and a price tag that makes some mid-sized trucks look like a deal.

Step 22 Gear – Step 22 gets a crisp high five for making custom laser etched patch labels which work great on all of their awesome bags or any other place you need a label. Their bags and mounting panels like the Reef shown here continue to impress with their design and attention to detail.

Deep Cycle Systems – Another example of more awesome from Aussieland are DCS batteries. Featuring shapes and sizes that can fit in the voids left in many vehicles and high charge / discharge ratings, these batteries look awesome.

2024 Tacoma – Toyota pulled the cover off of the all new 4th generation Tacoma at Overland Expo. Two models were on display – a PreRunner which initially had a gigantic snow plow of an air dam that mysteriously disappeared shortly after the launch, and the Trailhunter which is directly targeted at the overland crowd. Let us know in the comments what you think about the new Taco!

Classes – Overland Expo has classes on everything: From the expected offerings like driving, spotting, and recovery, to more wildcat offerings, there hundreds of hours of courses availible so the challenge becomes picking the courses that interest you the most.

Cool Rigs – It’s always a treat to get to take a walk through the campgrounds at Overland Expo. Here you’ll find a spectrum of setups as unique as the people that use them. To a person, everyone I chatted up about their camping setup was more than happy to talk to me and generally stoked to be out actually using their gear. It just goes to show – it doesn’t matter what you drive or where you sleep, but that you’re out there actually doing the the thing.

THE BIG PICTURE – Early in 2023, Lodestone Events announced that they had been acquired by Emerald Expositions – the company that puts on industry trade shows like Outdoor Retailer. Yet from a boots on the ground perspective, not much has changed. Overland Expo continues to be run by the same small crew of passionate folks, and many of the familiar faces can been seen making the event run. Time will tell how this new owner changes the heading of their latest acquisition. Despite some classic Flagstaff spring weather (it rained hard on Friday), the show saw plenty of attendees, and the venue seemed to be mostly full of vendors.

Speaking of vendors, most all of the familiar brands were there, and while there is a trend of new names continuing to sell the same Chineseium with their stickers on it (recovery gear and roof top tent cloners I’m looking at you.) there continues to be cool and new things coming market – you just have to seek out the quality kit. One thing that hasn’t changed is that there is no shortage of cool stuff on display. If you attended OXW 2023, let us know about your experience in the comments!

Building a Community in the Desert

Building a Community in the Desert

Desert Rendezvous began as a modest effort to build a community by creating opportunities around our shared interests and values. Building a community was a conscious choice back then, and today it requires continued dedication, vision, and consistency in order to remain successful and relevant. Most don’t realize it, but there’s a lot more to organizing these large-scale Rendezvous events than meets the eye. It takes many months of hard work behind the scenes with countless hours coordinating all the different moving parts that make the long weekend what it is. Thanks to our hard-working Crew, and our many good friends within the industry, our Community continues to exceed all expectations. Today, it has grown beyond anything we could have imagined at the campfire a dozen years ago when this was all a dream, a simple conspiracy to just get out and do more.

Initially, our stated goals were quite simple. We all suffer from wanderlust and a desire to Travel, Explore and Live, so enabling more of all three was the only goal initially. Today that focus has evolved and re-aligned with a desire not only to help others get out more, but to help them do it safer through curating knowledge, helping others make informed decisions on outfitting, and sharing destinations.

Our renewed focus as a Community now follows these three simple lines of effort:

Educate. Equip. Explore.

This Desert Rendezvous afforded us the opportunity to fully address these stated goals, with our signature Camp Cooking Competition and Potluck, outstanding educational opportunities provided by true experts, tons of exciting new gear and insane builds on display, trail runs and shenanigans, and a massive raffle supported by our amazing industry partners.

Our Rendezvous events are also unique in the 4WD and overland industry due to the fact that many big names and brands get to attend as regular people. No booths, no work, no pressure, and no exorbitant fees for companies. Just camping. Our events give these good people a much-needed vacation from the exhausting trade show and “fieldlanding” circuit, providing a rare chance to truly relax while re-connecting with why they got into the overland scene in the first place.

Pictures tell the story best, so let’s see what our 11th Annual Desert Rendezvous looked like on the ground this year in Arizona.

Big thanks to Justin Pitcairn, Greg Reynolds, Brian Ismay, Mike Block, Chad De Alva, and Greg Henle for the extra lenses out there capturing this event in photos for you!

The Friday Night BBQ sponsored by American Adventurist featured beef from a local butcher, and fresh baked buns from a nearby bakery. We also had a cord of good quality firewood brought in so folks could enjoy some big campfires. These efforts are part of our long-standing tradition of supporting the local community and we encourage travelers to always buy local when you can because it’s always better!

Our famous Camp Cooking Competition and Potluck on Saturday was a huge success.

People plan for months in advance with special recipes and presentation ideas to try to set themselves apart from the competition. Rules here are simple, cook it out here and try to feed as many people as you can in hopes of winning more votes for best dish. The competitive spirit and fun increases every event, and this was the best year to date for culinary creativity in the Desert!

BIG thanks to everyone who came out and cooked all this great food and shared it with us!

This year’s Camp Cooking Competition winners are:

1st Place: Korean Tacos – Mark aka exploroverland

2nd Place: Pickled Onions – Layne aka TACMEDIC

3rd Place: Discado Norteña – Tim aka Topcat9

Big thanks to Tembo Tusk for sponsoring the prizes for the Camp Cooking Competition!

The Korean Tacos were a big hit, and the presentation was on point. The more people you feed the more votes you’ll get!

The Pickled Onions were as pleasing to the eye as they were to the palate. And let there be no doubt, major style points were scored with attendees for the excellent portability and attention to detail!

Tim killed it with his Discado Norteña game, and the strategic positioning of his serving station in the chow line ensured that everybody could easily stop by on their way through and try his Camp Cooking Competition entry.

 

Doug and Inger’s Swedish Sushi could have been a contender, check out this immaculate presentation!

NOM NOM NOM

Offroad recovery education was provided by Chris Cole, I4WDTA President and the founder of SafeXtract along with I4WDTA Certified Trainer Mike Block of Backroad 4WD Training. These guys are the real deal and having them on deck to share their vast knowledge was a real blessing. We’re grateful that they were able to make the long journey out to join us in Arizona!

A Solar 101 course was provided by Tony Ellis of Adventure Power Solutions with a goal to educate everyone on the finer points of today’s solar power technology options. This was an excellent primer which answered many common misconceptions surrounding use and employment of 12V solar panel setups and mobile energy storage options during long range trips.

Education on Desert Medical Emergencies was provided by emergency medicine expert Tim Reynolds. He covered a wide range of useful first-aid topics for us in laymans terms. Everyone walked away smarter on heat stroke, dehydration, cactus, bites and stings, first aid kits, and how to stop bleeding.

Dogs are guaranteed to enjoy any Rendezvous, and we believe that the number of families with dogs (and kiddos) in attendance is directly related to a successful weekend. Dogs and kids love nothing more than to be outside in the sunshine!

Big thanks to our Crew who really stepped up at check in to make things smooth for those arriving from afar. OG conspiracy member Stuart McWilliams has been holding this down for us for many years, but he was detained elsewhere. We were in the hurt locker without him on duty at check in this year, but the ladies stepped up and made it happen. We could not have been successful at Desert Rendezvous without the administration and hospitality provided at check in by Erika, Paige and Inger.

A huge round of applause for these amazing lady Adventurists!

Every Rendezvous is a showcase of decked out campsites. You’ll also see virtually every type of overland rig and many different ways of modifying them. You can easily spend the whole weekend wandering from camp to camp just talking to people and looking at all the great builds and various gear that people choose to equip themselves and their vehicles with.

This is how you slam dunk the Best Campsite Competition!

The Raffle this year was incredible! Even with all the supply chain pain and other challenges of the past couple years, the industry support for our Rendezvous events never faltered. These companies understand who we are and what we do, and the importance of their support year after year cannot be overstated. Remember them the next time you’re in the market for something because they are Adventurists just like you!

BIG thanks to Badass Tents in San Diego! Not only did they come out with family and join us for the long weekend, but they also stepped up in a major way by providing the Grand Prize for the event – a new roof top tent! TOTALLY BADASS!

Every event we try to recognize one of our guys. John Rhoades is our MVP for Desert Rendezvous 2022 because this little guy outworked all of us. If you enjoyed the big campfires and fresh burgers we provided, John was the driving force behind all of those efforts. THANKS JOHN!

We also want to recognize Cris Mateski, we buried his garage in raffle prizes for several months and he made sure they got out to the desert for the event. Here’s a photo of Cris working, which is only possible because he didn’t see the camera coming around. THANKS CRIS!

This Community attracts the very best people. At the end of the day, it really is the people and the relationships here that make our group what it is. With so many great people bringing their passion and talents to the table, I’m always blown away by the creative content I see after our events. Check out 395jnky and Adrian Overlands on YouTube for their recap of this event and other great content! Maybe I’ll get our American Adenturist YouTube channel moving once I’m fully “retired”…

The gifted artists behind our beautifully painted rocks – thank you!

Many roads led to this spot in the desert, and people drive from all over America to attend our events each year. In 2022, we had attendees on the ground in Arizona from as far away as Maryland, Texas, the Midwest, and Washington. That in and of itself is pretty humbling.

This year I was moved by how many grateful people stopped by on Sunday to say thank you and shake my hand on the way out of our camp, applauding the professionalism and integrity of our organization. Their character was evident after everyone had left as we stayed behind to inspect the area before turning it back over to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Not a single piece of trash was found, and every campfire had been completely erased. It was as if they were never there.

Proceeds from this event will benefit the California Offroad Vehicle Association as American Adventurist becomes a Platinum Level Sponsor to help them fight the good fight to protect and preserve off-road recreation and access on public lands throughout California. Why? Because Closure isn’t the Answer, and they need our help. Because if California falls, there will be more Locked Gates Ahead nationwide. We’ll talk more about land use issues that affect all of us in a future article.

For now, the immediate task is to keep enriching lives through fellowship, education, Tread Lightly! ethics, and the resilience that comes with increased knowledge and confidence. We’re continuing to raise the bar to make this community of Adventurists stronger so thanks for joining us here and we hope to see you at Mountain Rendezvous in California!

Big thanks to all our partners!