FNG in Lake Wylie, SC

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Thomas Hastings

Rank III
Member

Enthusiast III

646
Duncan, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States
First Name
Thomas
Last Name
Hastings
Member #

31127

Service Branch
Army
Greetings all, my name is Thomas Hastings, my wife is Kat. I was born and raised in Ohio, graduated high school in 1998, joined the Army in 1999, retired in 2020, reside in Lake Wylie, SC now with my wife, and that's my "job" now, being retired lol. My wife still serves in the SCANG and works for DPR Construction for her civilian job.

Retired life has been an interesting journey for me, but the one thing that has always been a constant is I love traveling. We were going to go the route of camping with a RTT and all the associated equipment that goes with that, but instead decided to go with an off road camper instead.

We recently traded in my 2019 F150 for a 2018 Ford Raptor. I've ordered a Decked drawer system and an RSI Smart Cap Adventure. I've also already place an order for a set of custom leaf springs from Alcan Spring for obvious reasons. I carried over my Krazy House Customs differential skid plate and hard folding bed cover which I'll sell once I get the cap. I've added an oil catch can and will be installing an upgraded differential cover to the rear and possibly the front. In the future I'd like to add a front bumper with a winch without having to change out the intercooler and I believe I can do that with Warn but I haven't looked to much into yet. This will probably be the extent of the modifications I do to the truck.

Our current camper is a 2022 Xplore X22 by Imperial Outdoors. We're looking into upgrading to a Roamer 1, also made by Imperial Outdoors but only available at ROA. Our most recent trip was to Ouray, CO for Christmas vacation. It was a great trip and we were able to test out the camper's cold weather capability. We experienced below freezing temps the majority of the time all the way down to around -20 and everything worked fine, including the water, and we stayed plenty warm.

I was finally able to get out west last year, NM, AZ, UT, CO and I loved it. That's my one regret during my military career, not PCSing more. This year is starting out a little slow, but I'm hoping to get out some more for longer. I was able to attend Expo East last year and that was a lot of fun and hope to get back out to that one again at least this year.
 

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JamesSmith

Rank IV
Member
Member
Investor

Advocate III

1,059
Columbia, SC
First Name
James
Last Name
Smith
Member #

19834

Service Branch
Army Infantry
Greetings all, my name is Thomas Hastings, my wife is Kat. I was born and raised in Ohio, graduated high school in 1998, joined the Army in 1999, retired in 2020 and that's my "job" now, being retired lol. My wife still serves in the SCANG and works for DPR Construction for her civilian job.

Retired life has been an interesting journey for me, but the one thing that has always been a constant is I love traveling. We were going to go the route of camping with a RTT and all the associated equipment that goes with that, but instead decided to go with an off road camper instead.

We recently traded in my 2019 F150 for a 2018 Ford Raptor. I've ordered a Decked drawer system and an RSI Smart Cap Adventure. I've also already place an order for a set of custom leaf springs from Alcan Spring for obvious reasons. I carried over my Krazy House Customs differential skid plate and hard folding bed cover which I'll sell once I get the cap. I've added an oil catch can and will be installing an upgraded differential cover to the rear and possibly the front. In the future I'd like to add a front bumper with a winch without having to change out the intercooler and I believe I can do that with Warn but I haven't looked to much into yet. This will probably be the extent of the modifications I do to the truck.

Our current camper is a 2022 Xplore X22 by Imperial Outdoors. We're looking into upgrading to a Roamer 1, also made by Imperial Outdoors but only available at ROA. Our most recent trip was to Ouray, CO for Christmas vacation. It was a great trip and we were able to test out the camper's cold weather capability. We experienced below freezing temps the majority of the time all the way down to around -20 and everything worked fine, including the water, and we stayed plenty warm.

I was finally able to get out west last year, NM, AZ, UT, CO and I loved it. That's my one regret during my military career, not PCSing more. This year is starting out a little slow, but I'm hoping to get out some more for longer. I was able to attend Expo East last year and that was a lot of fun and hope to get back out to that one again at least this year.
Welcome from Soda City, SC!
 
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Bumpass

Rank III
Launch Member

Contributor III

797
Hesperia
First Name
Bob
Last Name
Cooper
Member #

22449

Greetings all, my name is Thomas Hastings, my wife is Kat. I was born and raised in Ohio, graduated high school in 1998, joined the Army in 1999, retired in 2020 and that's my "job" now, being retired lol. My wife still serves in the SCANG and works for DPR Construction for her civilian job.

Retired life has been an interesting journey for me, but the one thing that has always been a constant is I love traveling. We were going to go the route of camping with a RTT and all the associated equipment that goes with that, but instead decided to go with an off road camper instead.

We recently traded in my 2019 F150 for a 2018 Ford Raptor. I've ordered a Decked drawer system and an RSI Smart Cap Adventure. I've also already place an order for a set of custom leaf springs from Alcan Spring for obvious reasons. I carried over my Krazy House Customs differential skid plate and hard folding bed cover which I'll sell once I get the cap. I've added an oil catch can and will be installing an upgraded differential cover to the rear and possibly the front. In the future I'd like to add a front bumper with a winch without having to change out the intercooler and I believe I can do that with Warn but I haven't looked to much into yet. This will probably be the extent of the modifications I do to the truck.

Our current camper is a 2022 Xplore X22 by Imperial Outdoors. We're looking into upgrading to a Roamer 1, also made by Imperial Outdoors but only available at ROA. Our most recent trip was to Ouray, CO for Christmas vacation. It was a great trip and we were able to test out the camper's cold weather capability. We experienced below freezing temps the majority of the time all the way down to around -20 and everything worked fine, including the water, and we stayed plenty warm.

I was finally able to get out west last year, NM, AZ, UT, CO and I loved it. That's my one regret during my military career, not PCSing more. This year is starting out a little slow, but I'm hoping to get out some more for longer. I was able to attend Expo East last year and that was a lot of fun and hope to get back out to that one again at least this year.
Good choice on the rear springs.. enjoy your adventures..
 

Kent R

Executive Director
Staff member
Mod Team
Moderator
Member

Pathfinder III

5,200
El Dorado, Ca
First Name
Kent
Last Name
Reynolds
Member #

1632

Ham/GMRS Callsign
K6KNT
Service Branch
Retired Firefighter
Greetings all, my name is Thomas Hastings, my wife is Kat. I was born and raised in Ohio, graduated high school in 1998, joined the Army in 1999, retired in 2020 and that's my "job" now, being retired lol. My wife still serves in the SCANG and works for DPR Construction for her civilian job.

Retired life has been an interesting journey for me, but the one thing that has always been a constant is I love traveling. We were going to go the route of camping with a RTT and all the associated equipment that goes with that, but instead decided to go with an off road camper instead.

We recently traded in my 2019 F150 for a 2018 Ford Raptor. I've ordered a Decked drawer system and an RSI Smart Cap Adventure. I've also already place an order for a set of custom leaf springs from Alcan Spring for obvious reasons. I carried over my Krazy House Customs differential skid plate and hard folding bed cover which I'll sell once I get the cap. I've added an oil catch can and will be installing an upgraded differential cover to the rear and possibly the front. In the future I'd like to add a front bumper with a winch without having to change out the intercooler and I believe I can do that with Warn but I haven't looked to much into yet. This will probably be the extent of the modifications I do to the truck.

Our current camper is a 2022 Xplore X22 by Imperial Outdoors. We're looking into upgrading to a Roamer 1, also made by Imperial Outdoors but only available at ROA. Our most recent trip was to Ouray, CO for Christmas vacation. It was a great trip and we were able to test out the camper's cold weather capability. We experienced below freezing temps the majority of the time all the way down to around -20 and everything worked fine, including the water, and we stayed plenty warm.

I was finally able to get out west last year, NM, AZ, UT, CO and I loved it. That's my one regret during my military career, not PCSing more. This year is starting out a little slow, but I'm hoping to get out some more for longer. I was able to attend Expo East last year and that was a lot of fun and hope to get back out to that one again at least this year.
Welcome to Overland Bound Thomas
A great resource in your area is @Ohio Valley Overland
You can use the Member Map to find other members and events in your area. You can also send a message directly from the map to other members.
RESOURCE MAP
App Tutorials
Overland Bound One App Adventure and Expedition Tutorials
Check the forum calendar and Meet-Up page for events, and the Trip Planning page for trips being planned by members. These pages can be filtered by region.
Overland Bound Meetups
Overland Trip Planning
You are in the Midwest Region, local information can also be found in the “Overland Bound by Region”
OVERLAND BOUND COMMUNITY
Quick adult & youthTread Lightly online awareness course.
Online Courses - Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! Youth Online Course
Check out Overland Expo https://www.OverlandExpo.com
Here is a Midwest expo in MO MOORE OVERLANDING AND OFF-ROAD EXPO // APRIL 21-22, 2023 // OZARK EMPIRE FAIRGROUNDS – SPRINGFIELD, MO
If you have any questions don't hesitate to message me, hopefully I can get you going in the right direction. @Kent R or Kent@OverlandBound.com
 
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Overland Omnivore

US MidWest Region Local Expert
Member
Member
Investor

Explorer I

4,440
New Albany, IN
First Name
Jason
Last Name
Price
Member #

6480

Greetings all, my name is Thomas Hastings, my wife is Kat. I was born and raised in Ohio, graduated high school in 1998, joined the Army in 1999, retired in 2020 and that's my "job" now, being retired lol. My wife still serves in the SCANG and works for DPR Construction for her civilian job.

Retired life has been an interesting journey for me, but the one thing that has always been a constant is I love traveling. We were going to go the route of camping with a RTT and all the associated equipment that goes with that, but instead decided to go with an off road camper instead.

We recently traded in my 2019 F150 for a 2018 Ford Raptor. I've ordered a Decked drawer system and an RSI Smart Cap Adventure. I've also already place an order for a set of custom leaf springs from Alcan Spring for obvious reasons. I carried over my Krazy House Customs differential skid plate and hard folding bed cover which I'll sell once I get the cap. I've added an oil catch can and will be installing an upgraded differential cover to the rear and possibly the front. In the future I'd like to add a front bumper with a winch without having to change out the intercooler and I believe I can do that with Warn but I haven't looked to much into yet. This will probably be the extent of the modifications I do to the truck.

Our current camper is a 2022 Xplore X22 by Imperial Outdoors. We're looking into upgrading to a Roamer 1, also made by Imperial Outdoors but only available at ROA. Our most recent trip was to Ouray, CO for Christmas vacation. It was a great trip and we were able to test out the camper's cold weather capability. We experienced below freezing temps the majority of the time all the way down to around -20 and everything worked fine, including the water, and we stayed plenty warm.

I was finally able to get out west last year, NM, AZ, UT, CO and I loved it. That's my one regret during my military career, not PCSing more. This year is starting out a little slow, but I'm hoping to get out some more for longer. I was able to attend Expo East last year and that was a lot of fun and hope to get back out to that one again at least this year.
Welcome!…SC is a very nice region for overlanding…make sure you check the Rally Points to stay up to date on what’s happening in the region…im in Louisville KY and we are hosting a series of monthly meet ups, roughly the first Thursday of the month…pop in if you find yourself in the area…we will be on a 7 week tour out west this summer, hope to run into you on the trails!
 
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OTH Overland

Local Expert Washington, USA
Member
Investor

Trail Blazer III

4,847
Camano Island, WA, USA
First Name
Dave
Last Name
Ballard
Member #

20527

Ham/GMRS Callsign
N7XQP
Service Branch
Fire/EMS/SAR
Thomas & Kat, welcome to Overland Bound from Washington State. Great looking rig and thank you for your service!
 
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Michael Golden

Rank VI
Member

Explorer I

4,240
Tampa Fl
First Name
Michael
Last Name
Golden
Member #

28987

Ham/GMRS Callsign
KG4BCN
Service Branch
U.S. Army
Greetings all, my name is Thomas Hastings, my wife is Kat. I was born and raised in Ohio, graduated high school in 1998, joined the Army in 1999, retired in 2020, reside in Lake Wylie, SC now with my wife, and that's my "job" now, being retired lol. My wife still serves in the SCANG and works for DPR Construction for her civilian job.

Retired life has been an interesting journey for me, but the one thing that has always been a constant is I love traveling. We were going to go the route of camping with a RTT and all the associated equipment that goes with that, but instead decided to go with an off road camper instead.

We recently traded in my 2019 F150 for a 2018 Ford Raptor. I've ordered a Decked drawer system and an RSI Smart Cap Adventure. I've also already place an order for a set of custom leaf springs from Alcan Spring for obvious reasons. I carried over my Krazy House Customs differential skid plate and hard folding bed cover which I'll sell once I get the cap. I've added an oil catch can and will be installing an upgraded differential cover to the rear and possibly the front. In the future I'd like to add a front bumper with a winch without having to change out the intercooler and I believe I can do that with Warn but I haven't looked to much into yet. This will probably be the extent of the modifications I do to the truck.

Our current camper is a 2022 Xplore X22 by Imperial Outdoors. We're looking into upgrading to a Roamer 1, also made by Imperial Outdoors but only available at ROA. Our most recent trip was to Ouray, CO for Christmas vacation. It was a great trip and we were able to test out the camper's cold weather capability. We experienced below freezing temps the majority of the time all the way down to around -20 and everything worked fine, including the water, and we stayed plenty warm.

I was finally able to get out west last year, NM, AZ, UT, CO and I loved it. That's my one regret during my military career, not PCSing more. This year is starting out a little slow, but I'm hoping to get out some more for longer. I was able to attend Expo East last year and that was a lot of fun and hope to get back out to that one again at least this year.
Welcome to the Overland Bound Community, and to retirement from the military. Glad to have you join us.
 
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