Nashville, Tennessee

[Merlin2111]

On another note, I was looking at the fire pit that OverlandBound started selling and got interested. I like the idea of a relatively no trace fire pit so I started looking into other options and found something called the Fire Flower. Its stainless steel which I liked so I emailed the owners to find out more and found out that it is made over in East Nashville. I was wondering if anyone on here has any experience with it? I like the form factor and design a lot.

Here is a link if you are not familiar with it:


https://www.wanderwithfire.com/

 

[TNDeadHead]

No but I want one!!

Sent from my SM-G955U using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Merlin2111]

I just emailed the owner to see if we could have our OB numbers added because why not! I like that name too, Wander with Fire. It describes "overlanding" pretty damn well!

BTW he said that if we are local we can just pick it up and avoid the shipping fee.

Edit: Just noticed that this thread is 30% bigger than any other thread in the South East. It is awesome to be a part of such a growing community in TN!

 

[Merlin2111]

I don't think anyone can get the route from this with all the little back roads so I don't think this violates anything but here is the DD from the combination of my maps and Cully's. I don't have the paper one in front of me but it looks like it covers the northern and southern sections. For those of you who may be more familiar than I am, does this look complete?

 

[Dave_brez]

I don't think anyone can get the route from this with all the little back roads so I don't think this violates anything but here is the DD from the combination of my maps and Cully's. I don't have the paper one in front of me but it looks like it covers the northern and southern sections. For those of you who may be more familiar than I am, does this look complete?

Everything looks good, but at the northwest corner loop, make sure you go up Cavender rd, cross brown hollow, and come back down thru willow springs rd.

ALSO, do not go on south Tatum creek. The road is closed and washed out pretty bad.

 

[Dave_brez]

I printed a ghetto screenshots of google maps and highlighted my way lol.

 

[Merlin2111]

Everything looks good, but at the northwest corner loop, make sure you go up Cavender rd, cross brown hollow, and come back down thru willow springs rd.

ALSO, do not go on south Tatum creek. The road is closed and washed out pretty bad.

I will see if I can add that manually. Gaia uses mapquest maps (what year is this!) rather than google so its a little difficult but I can probably figure it out.

 

[Merlin2111]

View attachment 50020 I printed a ghetto screenshots of google maps and highlighted my way lol.

That's awesome!

Edit: It's also useful as I build out this other map so thanks! Attached are the public Gaia maps that cover that area. BTW if you guys dont have Gaia its a great resource.

 

[Cully74]

You can see on my track at S Tatum Creek where I had to turn around. You can take it until you have to turn right on McAdoo Branch Road. Some of my driving was on pavement trying to search out other roads...but not much.

 

[Cully74]

I'd love to get my hands on this Dirt Devil gpx file once its done. I'm going to be taking my girl friends son out there with his new Jeep sometime. Usually I would prefer to just explore, but he is itching to take his Jeep somewhere, and this would help me keep paved roads to a minimum for him.

 

[Merlin2111]

I'd love to get my hands on this Dirt Devil gpx file once its done. I'm going to be taking my girl friends son out there with his new Jeep sometime. Usually I would prefer to just explore, but he is itching to take his Jeep somewhere, and this would help me keep paved roads to a minimum for him.

If you want all dirt then the Cheatham WMA is a fun little area. Its close and is mild like the DD. There are a lot of out and backs to explore and some nice little spots to stop and eat lunch. If it has rained recently it gets a little muddy but most 4x4's can handle it easily. Just thought I would throw that out there for you!

Also, I have been emailing with the Fire Flower guys and they said that they don't mind adding the OB number to the pit if that is something that anyone is interested in. They are also local and might come to Tailgate on Monday. He just joined the site so he will probably chime in soon!

 

[Cully74]

Nice! Thanks for the info. You can bet I'll be checking that out.

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[Merlin2111]

I was browsing craigslist and came across this cool van. I know, if you are already on the site you dont need a rig but I figure I would share it anyway. Not really for offroading but cool for exploring the country. https://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/d/ford-adventure-van-camper/6519569464.html

 

[Cully74]

That thing is pretty awesome!!!!!!

 

[Merlin2111]

What communication radio system are you guys using? I am looking at getting a system of some sort as cell service is not always great. I like the idea of gmrs as the distance is about the same as cb but the sound quality is better.

Any suggestions? I don't think I am in need of HAM yet, it seems a little intense but maybe I am wrong.

This little guy seems easy to tuck away but its not out yet. https://midlandusa.com/product/mxt275-micromobile-two-way-radio/

 

[EisenYota]

I had a good conversation with @bval about this very topic. He has more experience with overlanding than most of us and he claims that simple 2 way radio work best for trail rides. Is it a good idea to have a more powerful communication set up in a rig? Of course, but I only see that being utilized as an emergency communication line. HAM might be a little overkill, unless we find our self in a Red Dawn situation. Wolverines!!!

Sent from my VS988 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[GhostWanderer]

What communication radio system are you guys using? I am looking at getting a system of some sort as cell service is not always great. I like the idea of gmrs as the distance is about the same as cb but the sound quality is better.

Any suggestions? I don't think I am in need of HAM yet, it seems a little intense but maybe I am wrong.

This little guy seems easy to tuck away but its not out yet. https://midlandusa.com/product/mxt275-micromobile-two-way-radio/

Ham callsign here is KG4AOI. [emoji16]

Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

 

[Merlin2111]

I had a good conversation with @bval about this very topic. He has more experience with overlanding than most of us and he claims that simple 2 way radio work best for trail rides. Is it a good idea to have a more powerful communication set up in a rig? Of course, but I only see that being utilized as an emergency communication line. HAM might be a little overkill, unless we find our self in a Red Dawn situation. Wolverines!!!

Sent from my VS988 using OB Talk mobile app

From what I understand, GMRS is like a long distance walkie talkie and can talk to FRS walkie-talkies so if someone else has GMRS and so do you then you have walkie-talkies (which is a really dumb term) on steriods. If I am wrong please correct me but thats my current understanding.

 

[bval]

I had a good conversation with @bval about this very topic. He has more experience with overlanding than most of us and he claims that simple 2 way radio work best for trail rides. Is it a good idea to have a more powerful communication set up in a rig? Of course, but I only see that being utilized as an emergency communication line. HAM might be a little overkill, unless we find our self in a Red Dawn situation. Wolverines!!!

Handheld FRS/GMRS radios are great for convoy communications and nice because when you get out of the rig to spot for someone the radio can come with you. I've got a CB as well but I only use it when I'm at big events. It'll be getting a lot of use when I'm out at EJS in a few weeks. Jeep and other off-road clubs standardized on the CB long ago, and there's too much inertia for folks to switch to GMRS at this point.

If you do decide you want a CB, I highly recommend this one. It's compact and easy to hide under a seat or in a console. All of the controls are on the mic and easy to operate. And it receives weather radio as a bonus.

Definitely recommend the Delorme/Garmin InReach system if you're going to be so far off-grid you're worried about calling in emergency services. It uses sat phone technology to send out an SOS with your GPS coordinates if you get into trouble. Even HAM radio w/ repeaters won't have coverage in lots of places.

 

[Merlin2111]

I have the link open for that CB right now! I think I am going to go with the MXT275 and then also that CB soon down the road. Would interference between the two be a concern? They seem to have similar boxes off the handheld units and I would probably mount them close together if I can.

Edit: If I go crazy down the road and manage to get further away than the Dirt Devil then I will probably invest in one of those emergency beacons like the SPOT.