Can we now just go back to just calling it “car camping”?

  • HTML tutorial
DintDobbs

DintDobbs

Rank V

Advocate III

1,412
First Name
Daniel &
Last Name
the Vulture
Car camping. I thought the difference between "camping" and "backpacking" was that in "camping", you drove a car to where you wanted to set up your tent, and in "backpacking", you drove to where you wanted to hike, and hiked to where you wanted to set up your tent.

I thought "car camping" was sleeping in your car in stead of a tent.

All these terms seem to be adopted and adapted by people with little grasp of what is being done, trying to market stuff to people with little grasp of what is needed in order to do it.

But with a web site called "Gear Junkie", I guess that's sort of the idea.

I'm not sure which I hate worse, camping or tents, but I can tell you that when danger comes a-knockin', you can't jump over the seat and drive a tent away!
 
  • Like
Reactions: NMNomad, Matt Hixson, gtomike and 2 others
ThundahBeagle

ThundahBeagle

Rank V

Advocate I

1,548
Massachusetts
First Name
Andrew
Last Name
Beagle
Member #

0

Oh
My
God.

Columbia with an overlanding apparel line. Next thing you know, Jeeps will have a designation for those of thier vehicles that are more capable offroad and on trails...oops.

I mean, Jeep shouldn't have a Trail Rated badge because back in the day, Jeep MEANT Trail Rated.

Columbia doesnt need an overlanding line of apparel, because overlanders are already wearing that kind of stuff
 
  • Like
Reactions: Matt Hixson and RJ Howell
Jeb

Jeb

Rank III
Launch Member

Off-Road Ranger I

770
Nine Mile Falls, WA, USA
First Name
Jeb
Last Name
Mertz
Member #

9545

Ham/GMRS Callsign
WRJR893
I’m with you, I call it “wheeling” as well. My only problem with anything that caters to the “Overlander” crowd is that the word automatically attaches a hearty price tag to everything. I’m all for innovation and small business but there’s so much competition now over the last 10 years that it’s hard to find Reasonably Priced good quality “overlanding gear”. When I was young (teenage years) I followed the Wescot’s adventures (Turtle expeditions) through my monthly Four Wheeler magazines. They are the true lifetime OG overland couple and they were the ones who fostered my exploring desires. I’ll admit it I like the term “overland travel” there still is an aire of mystery to people who don’t camp or spend time outdoors when the word is spoken and that’s ok. Columbia jumping into the game is a bit late in coming and yea, it will be expensive to. How about some Carharts and flannels and dirty old boots for camping. Clothes do not an overlander make!! Let’s go do some wheelin and get off these silly techy things.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Matt Hixson, 86isuzu and North American Sojourner
DintDobbs

DintDobbs

Rank V

Advocate III

1,412
First Name
Daniel &
Last Name
the Vulture
@ThundahBeagle Let's be real here. The "Jeep", or "General Purpose" as it is held to have originated, was the combination tractor and pickup truck that the farmer needed. A jeep and a flat/stake bed truck were a great combo.

Modern SxS are as big as the old army jeeps, and serve the same purpose to farmers. The 1/2 ton truck replaces the stake bed.

GP's were designed small, lightweight, and four-wheel drive in order for the military to traverse places where there WEREN'T trails.

"Sport Utility Vehicle" replaced the term "GP/jeep" in the minds of the public around the time they started having four doors, but required differentiation from "station wagons", which were for family road use.

The modern American's "general purposes" means going on paved roads to and from work and the grocery store. This modern "GP/SUV" can be seen in the form of the RAV4, Escape, CR-V, etc. The AWD variants of these are all still plenty capable of more off-road use than the majority will ever see, but for real utility use, a RAV4 isn't needed and a SxS is.

SxS are designed to go where trails do not yet exist, just like the original GP.

So, how does car camping relate to all of this? You can't car camp in a SxS. You can't car camp in an army jeep. You can only car camp when your car is big enough to sleep in. And this size alone limits where your vehicle will take you.

Nevertheless, "car camping" doesn't sound "cool" or "adventurous" to the ignorant who don't know what it is, like "overlanding" does. So it doesn't sell.

Imagine selling an overpriced tarpaulin that hangs from the side of your car and you stab poles into the ground to hold it up, and you advertise it as helpful to car campers. You'd be laughed out of the industry. But "Fold-away awning! Great for overlanding!" sounds cool when you advertise it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gtomike and ThundahBeagle
MOAK

MOAK

Rank V
Launch Member

Off-Road Ranger I

2,865
Wherever we park it will be home !!
First Name
Donald
Last Name
Diehl
Member #

0745

Ham/GMRS Callsign
WRPN 506
I actually like Columbia clothing, it’s not nearly as overpriced as brands like The North Face or Patagonia and I find their clothing line to be comfortable & long lasting. But now with this marketing campaign? Jeeze- they’ve lost my respect. I avoid being trapped into using the term “ overlanding “ primarily because the term has been hijacked to the point of near death. Stuffing your car full of mostly useless gear, throwing the kids in the backseat and driving to the nearest state park is not overlanding. It is, car camping. Getting in your jeep with the bare minimum of gear, and going to an off road park is not overlanding, it’s going “wheelin”. Now, if in either of those scenarios a long road trip was involved, for the sake of touring, or exploring, and living out of the vehicle, then that changes everything, doesn’t it? So, what we have ended up with, thanks to brilliant marketing campaigns, is a very fluid definition of the term, overlanding. In todays terms, everyone can be an overlander! Yippee!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr_Mnml_Engnr, DintDobbs and ThundahBeagle
ThundahBeagle

ThundahBeagle

Rank V

Advocate I

1,548
Massachusetts
First Name
Andrew
Last Name
Beagle
Member #

0

[/QUOTE="MOAK, post: 665485, member: 1615"]
I actually like Columbia clothing, it’s not nearly as overpriced as brands like The North Face or Patagonia and I find their clothing line to be comfortable & long lasting. But now with this marketing campaign? Jeeze- they’ve lost my respect. I avoid being trapped into using the term “ overlanding “ primarily because the term has been hijacked to the point of near death. Stuffing your car full of mostly useless gear, throwing the kids in the backseat and driving to the nearest state park is not overlanding. It is, car camping. Getting in your jeep with the bare minimum of gear, and going to an off road park is not overlanding, it’s going “wheelin”. Now, if in either of those scenarios a long road trip was involved, for the sake of touring, or exploring, and living out of the vehicle, then that changes everything, doesn’t it? So, what we have ended up with, thanks to brilliant marketing campaigns, is a very fluid definition of the term, overlanding. In todays terms, everyone can be an overlander! Yippee!!
[/QUOTE]

I like thier stuff and wear some of it as well. I have a great raincoat that is actually a 3 in one with a zip in fleece, so becomes a warm winter coat. Love it. A buddy of mine swears by thier self-draining water shoes. I have a PFG longsleeve shirt of theirs which I great fishing or hiking or just wearing on a weekend...

Which brings me to playing devil's advocate: did anyone complain when they came out with the Performance Fishing Gear line, specifically designed for FISHING? They make HIKING boots, right? Yes they do. They werent near as good as my Oboz Bridgers are, but they do make hiking boots. And they make CAMPING gear.

Given we are excited over vehicles like the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon or GMC Canyon AT4X, which were put out there for the Overlanding crowd, should we be bothered by a clothing line by columbia specifically for overlanding?

I'm torn on it. (See what I did there? I'm here all week, tip your waitstaff)

I mean, the Cumbia fishing shirts have a definite fishing purpose right down to the button-up roll up sleeves, action vented back, the quick dry material and even the fishing rod holding strap on the chest. Did we complain the shirt was made for fishing? Nope. I bought one because I fish.

Columbia hiking boots are arguable designed for hiking, however good or not they may be.

Columbia does make zip off hiking pants-shorts...and all sorts of stuff specifically designed for each sport or adventure.

I would argue that if you make hiking gear and camping gear, and anything from swimming shorts to foul weather gear, then you effectively make overlanding gear

But if they could somehow design the clothing line specifically for driving and camping simultaneously, would that then make it OK? I mean like, short jackets like the bus drivers from the 50's would wear, with a breast pocket for quick access to $ or passports at border crossings...inside pockets the size of a properly folded tyvek map, pen pockets on the sleeve. Sewn in locator beacon... But make it a 3 in 1 for different weather? Maybe it could be a parka for when you are out in cold weather but the bottom 3rd could zip off for when you are driving.

If they could taylor fit each item of clothing (See? I did it again) to be easier to drive with but adapted for camp or hike, would we be ok with it then? I still think it would be hard to do and expensive, but...?
 
Last edited:
ThundahBeagle

ThundahBeagle

Rank V

Advocate I

1,548
Massachusetts
First Name
Andrew
Last Name
Beagle
Member #

0

Murphy Slaw said:
Follow the money.
Click to expand...
With an Outback WILDERNESS edition. Out of the box trail ready. Love those by the way, but people are buying things packaged a certain way, aren't they. Shouldn't be surprised I suppose that others in the outdoor realm packed stuff in the same way.
 
grubworm

grubworm

Rank V
Launch Member

Member III

2,358
louisiana
First Name
grub
Last Name
worm
Member #

17464

Service Branch
USN-Submarines
Murphy Slaw said:
Follow the money.
Click to expand...
YEP!
people only make stuff like this because other people are buying it
make people feel special, unique, edgy and in-the -know and they will gladly empty their wallets to purchase that feeling.
if i was a marketing pro...i would definitely be targeting these saps and getting every penny i could out of them :grinning:

i was a young kid when the "pet rock" was popular. THAT changed my view of society forever...
 
  • Like
Reactions: tsandershsa, ThundahBeagle, DintDobbs and 2 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom