This is something I've been thinking about lately and I was curious to get the input of fellow OB members since this feels more like a genuine group of overland enthusiasts instead of the "trendy" folks I'm talking about in this post.
I've noticed overland is becoming more and more mainstream, what used to be car camping and exploration has now become something huge with a much larger market, which is both a blessing and a curse. With more interest in the hobby comes more ideas, more stories, more aftermarket support, and hopefully a greater awareness of the outdoors and why they are important. However, with the good also come the bad, those who are looking down upon others because they can't (or don't want to) afford top of the line gear, those who destroy lands by doing "hold my beer and watch this" kind of antics, and those who are just all around jerks making the community look bad.
I almost feel like there's a large subset of people now who are merely doing this because it has become the in thing to do and have developed this holier than thou attitude towards others. To illustrate this point, over the past couple of days I've had various conversations on other forums about my truck and it's latest modification, a CBI bumper, and a whole slew of other overland related discussions. When I posted about my truck I was immediately called out for not having a winch, getting a bumper made of aluminium, and not buying an ARB, which made me a little confused. I have no need for a winch, to me it's an extra cost and weight that won't get used. Aluminium bumpers are significantly lighter and easier on the suspension components since they're about 100lbs lighter. An while I really like ARB bumpers, CBI is located 3 hours north of me and being able to support a smaller company and save on shipping seemed like a win-win for me.
I've also been called out for not having a RTT, something that I personally don't believe is worth the cost when I have a perfectly good ground tent and 6ft truck bed with a topper for if the weather gets unpleasant. I get that some people love them, and I'm all for people putting them on their rig, I'm sure they find immense value in having them. Same goes with a fridge, an awning, a massive drawer system, etc.
I also hear a lot is "oh you have light bars but no locker, must be a mall crawler". I personally see no need for a locker, I understand their usefulness and I'm sure many people do actually need them, but I haven't encountered many places where I even need 4WD, let alone a locker. I've always been under the impression that you should use what you got until it's not suited for what you're doing anymore then upgrade.
So this has lead me to believe that overlanding is becoming "trendy" and there's more and more people out there just buying gear for the sake of buying it and never actually using it except to assert some sort of "I am better than you" presence or win imaginary internet points, which I believe goes against the spirit of overlanding in general. To me overlanding is about running what you got, exploring the country, accumulating stories, and mostly just having fun whether you're in a clapped out Ford truck from the 80's held together with chewing gum or a full on expo fitted Land Rover that could probably make the Darien Gap look like child's play.
And this is also why I think Overland Bound is so great, it shows me that there are plenty of people still out there to have fun and don't care what you drive, where you drive it to, or how much gear you have. There are plenty of rigs on here that people obviously put a lot of time, money, and effort into to get them to where they are, however I've never seen anybody talking down to anyone else because they don't have the latest and greatest and it seems like everyone is always willing to lend a hand or at least lend some knowledge.
So I leave you with this, do you think overland has become trendy and do you think it's impacting the community negatively? I'm genuinely curious to see if it's just the folks I talk to, or if this is part of a larger issue brewing in the overland community as a whole.
