Hi OB,
new guy from VA here. Currently just researching stuff on overlanding and which vehicle I’m gonna buy.
new guy from VA here. Currently just researching stuff on overlanding and which vehicle I’m gonna buy.
New guy from VA here
- Thread starter Jaydoj
- Start date
Pathfinder I
Advocate III
- 5,584
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Rose
- Member #
-
20990
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- W7FSB
- Service Branch
- US ARMY Retired
Welcome to OB,
Oregon Here
Are you going to be going out solo, with family, other rigs? Are you wanting a Truck, SUV, Crossover? How long of journeys are you planning? What’s your budget like? What’s your outdoor experience?
below are some good threads to read for just starting out
vehicles
www.overlandbound.com
www.overlandbound.com
www.overlandbound.com
When I hear of people wanting to get into the hobby without any experience I always recommend getting a good solid running rig at the lower end of your budget, that needs very little to no work to make it a solid daily driver. This saves you money for cheap car camping gear to get started out. Don’t knock used gear. You can find lots of very good camping gear second hand. (Don’t worry, I will talk more about gear in a minute). Leave your rig stock for one full year, use it as your dedicated every day driver in the urban jungle as well as out on the trail. This gives you a really good idea of what you are going to need vs what you want. The exception to this is tires; make sure you have decent A/T or M/T tires in the correct size for the type of trails you will be encountering. Lastly on your new to you rig, as you are daily driving be thinking about what you love about it, what you hate about it, and what can you change to make the rig fit you.
Tires:
Tires are personal... almost as personal as your underwear. My best advice is talk to a tire shop or 4 and see what they recommend for your rig based on what type of driving you will be doing the most of vs the technical driving you will encounter on the trail. There isn’t a perfect tire. If there was we wouldn’t have so many choices. So you are going to have to make a trade off for highway use comfort, or off road performance. Sometimes the trade offs are very subtle, other times they can be drastic (TSL Boggers come to mind, a great Mud tire, but is very noisy and u less you have a heavy rig the ride isn’t very good). Once you have narrowed down your tire choice to 4 or under, then start reading reviews and asking questions here on the forums.
Gear:
We can break the gear down into four main categories
1: Camping
2: Kitchen
3:Recovery
4:vehicle accessories
1: Camping
Tent- you need a decent 3 season ground tent. I highly recommend your first tent getting used. Look for a good quality tent that sets up quickly and easily. You don’t want a tent like my 3 room cabin that takes 4 people an hour to set up when you are wanting to jump sights the next day. the big cabin tent is awesome when I am out for weeks at a time base camping in one location.
Sleeping Bag Or Quilt- A lot of people are getting a way from bags and going to quilts because they can pack better than a sleeping bag, they can be used as an emergency shelter from wind or the sun, and one rated bellow 0 degrees can be used as a blanket allowing you to regulate body temperatures while sleeping. I however prefer a mummy bag rated at -20 for my winter bag and no warmer than 30 degrees for summer. The temps get colder at night up I. The mountains compared to down in the valleys and flat lands.
Sleeping pad, mat, or mattress- a lot like tires, go to your local sporting good store to find out what you like best. Make sure it has a decent R factor for insulation from ground temps, while providing adequate comfort for a decent nights sleep.
headlamp
optional Camping gear:
hamock- can be used instead of tent and sleeping pad. Used with a quilt and a sleeping bag can be quite warm even in the middle of winter.
cot- gets you off the ground, while giving storage under for your cloths and other personal gear.
Lantern- gas, Propane, or battery, it’s up to you and what you find works for you.
2:Kitchen
Stove, skillet, pot, mixing bowl, knife, spoon, spatula, travel mug, paper plates, and plastic silverware is all you really need to start out. I highly recommend purchasing all of these at your local thrift store. You can get a decent used Colman Propane Stove for under $20.00 and then another $15-20 for the rest. The last thing is a tote or box to,put it all I. To keep it organized.
3:Recovery
This is the most important section, and one that buy new unless you know exactly what you are buying.
tow strap- rated for at least 2 times the maximum GVRW of the vehicle you buy.
Recovery Strap- these are designed to stretch then pull back like a rubber band aiding in soft pulls
jack and jack stand- lots of debate on the best type of jack to get. Get one you are comfortable using. I personally love farm jacks, with the right training they are an Overlanding Swiss Army knife. That being said, they are dangerous if not respected. A good bottle jack is the next best thing. Just make sure it is tall enough to get your tire off the ground, and carry blocks of wood to help raise the tire if terrain dictates this.
winch Of some kind- I started out years ago with a 2500 lb come along and a snatch block to pull out my Jeep with. It was under powered and Very dangerous to use, but knowing this along with common sense it got the job done to get me unstuck the few times I used it. Where a motor driven winch (electric, hydraulic, or PTO) costs more, it’s a lot more convenient as well as safer than a hand operated winch.
block and tackle-
heavy leather gloves
4:vehicle accessories
recovery points
communication device- think about getting your ham licence, but for now a CB or even FRMS two way radio is better than nothing. We have a whole sub forum dedicated to communication
Navigation- we have a whole sub forum on this topic. I highly recommend a tablet or smart phone running GAIA (it can be found in the App Store and in Google Play Store) get the subscription. The free version is ok, but the app really opens up when you purchase the subscription.
Air Compressor- used to air tires back up, aid in fixing a flat tire
for everything listed in the camping section, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, LetGo, and such are excellent places to look for good used gear. Facebook Backpacking Gear Fleamarket group has awesome deals and I personally have bought several items through Members there. Flee Markets, Yard Sales, and Second Hand stores are also excellent places to shop for used gear. REI and other outdoor outfitters stores also sell used gear. Buy used gear when you can, that way you aren’t out a lot of money if you don’t like the product. Just like the rig, this is a test run during the first year. After your first or second trip out you will have a pretty good idea of what you need.
lastly gear envy. Forums and stoical media induce gear envy. Gear envy is when you see some one else’s ride and think yours is now inadequate. I have fallen for this trap quite a few times. I am currently outfitting my 1989 Bronco to be my second to last ever Overlanding rig. I have had it just about a year. On my first day out on the trail I realized my seats,were worn out, so I replaced them a long with the addition of a center console scored out of a 2007 Ford F-150. I am in the process of adding a roof,rack to help add storage space (realized on a week long fishing trip with 6 people I didn’t have room for all my gear), and I will be building an overhead console to hold my radio head unit, Ham radio and my GRMS radios, along with switches and map pockets. Where the stock am/fm radio goes I have my cb mounted, and added a cubby hole for a factory looking install for my trailer brake controller, and adding an onboard air system. All of these upgrades minus the seats came from using my rig every day for almost a year. And other than my seats, winch, and tires, none of these other mods actually help me get out and explore.
Oregon Here
Are you going to be going out solo, with family, other rigs? Are you wanting a Truck, SUV, Crossover? How long of journeys are you planning? What’s your budget like? What’s your outdoor experience?
below are some good threads to read for just starting out
vehicles
Overlanding with "stock" 4X4
How about some discussion, or a YouTube, about overlanding in a stock 4X4? Seems most info is about mod rigs as if to say one can't go overlanding to adventure in a stock vehicle. It seems that the manufacturers of 4X4's wouldn't agree given that they have invested no small amount of effort in...
Confusion, looking for another rig, need advise.
I have a 90 Suburban right now and it works for going off road, but I mainly need it to tow my 30ft travel trailer. However it get 10mpg on a good day and is 30 years old. My position at my company is about to change and it will require me to drive 104 miles to the airport and then back each...
Thinking outloud, please interject.
I love my Mitsubishi. It's quirky, fun, not super common, and i think it looks great. But aftermarket support is virtually non-existent. It is easy to find engine parts since thr 6G72 was installed in a bunch of Chrysler vehicles, but the rest of the vehicle is all special order parts. That...
When I hear of people wanting to get into the hobby without any experience I always recommend getting a good solid running rig at the lower end of your budget, that needs very little to no work to make it a solid daily driver. This saves you money for cheap car camping gear to get started out. Don’t knock used gear. You can find lots of very good camping gear second hand. (Don’t worry, I will talk more about gear in a minute). Leave your rig stock for one full year, use it as your dedicated every day driver in the urban jungle as well as out on the trail. This gives you a really good idea of what you are going to need vs what you want. The exception to this is tires; make sure you have decent A/T or M/T tires in the correct size for the type of trails you will be encountering. Lastly on your new to you rig, as you are daily driving be thinking about what you love about it, what you hate about it, and what can you change to make the rig fit you.
Tires:
Tires are personal... almost as personal as your underwear. My best advice is talk to a tire shop or 4 and see what they recommend for your rig based on what type of driving you will be doing the most of vs the technical driving you will encounter on the trail. There isn’t a perfect tire. If there was we wouldn’t have so many choices. So you are going to have to make a trade off for highway use comfort, or off road performance. Sometimes the trade offs are very subtle, other times they can be drastic (TSL Boggers come to mind, a great Mud tire, but is very noisy and u less you have a heavy rig the ride isn’t very good). Once you have narrowed down your tire choice to 4 or under, then start reading reviews and asking questions here on the forums.
Gear:
We can break the gear down into four main categories
1: Camping
2: Kitchen
3:Recovery
4:vehicle accessories
1: Camping
Tent- you need a decent 3 season ground tent. I highly recommend your first tent getting used. Look for a good quality tent that sets up quickly and easily. You don’t want a tent like my 3 room cabin that takes 4 people an hour to set up when you are wanting to jump sights the next day. the big cabin tent is awesome when I am out for weeks at a time base camping in one location.
Sleeping Bag Or Quilt- A lot of people are getting a way from bags and going to quilts because they can pack better than a sleeping bag, they can be used as an emergency shelter from wind or the sun, and one rated bellow 0 degrees can be used as a blanket allowing you to regulate body temperatures while sleeping. I however prefer a mummy bag rated at -20 for my winter bag and no warmer than 30 degrees for summer. The temps get colder at night up I. The mountains compared to down in the valleys and flat lands.
Sleeping pad, mat, or mattress- a lot like tires, go to your local sporting good store to find out what you like best. Make sure it has a decent R factor for insulation from ground temps, while providing adequate comfort for a decent nights sleep.
headlamp
optional Camping gear:
hamock- can be used instead of tent and sleeping pad. Used with a quilt and a sleeping bag can be quite warm even in the middle of winter.
cot- gets you off the ground, while giving storage under for your cloths and other personal gear.
Lantern- gas, Propane, or battery, it’s up to you and what you find works for you.
2:Kitchen
Stove, skillet, pot, mixing bowl, knife, spoon, spatula, travel mug, paper plates, and plastic silverware is all you really need to start out. I highly recommend purchasing all of these at your local thrift store. You can get a decent used Colman Propane Stove for under $20.00 and then another $15-20 for the rest. The last thing is a tote or box to,put it all I. To keep it organized.
3:Recovery
This is the most important section, and one that buy new unless you know exactly what you are buying.
tow strap- rated for at least 2 times the maximum GVRW of the vehicle you buy.
Recovery Strap- these are designed to stretch then pull back like a rubber band aiding in soft pulls
jack and jack stand- lots of debate on the best type of jack to get. Get one you are comfortable using. I personally love farm jacks, with the right training they are an Overlanding Swiss Army knife. That being said, they are dangerous if not respected. A good bottle jack is the next best thing. Just make sure it is tall enough to get your tire off the ground, and carry blocks of wood to help raise the tire if terrain dictates this.
winch Of some kind- I started out years ago with a 2500 lb come along and a snatch block to pull out my Jeep with. It was under powered and Very dangerous to use, but knowing this along with common sense it got the job done to get me unstuck the few times I used it. Where a motor driven winch (electric, hydraulic, or PTO) costs more, it’s a lot more convenient as well as safer than a hand operated winch.
block and tackle-
heavy leather gloves
4:vehicle accessories
recovery points
communication device- think about getting your ham licence, but for now a CB or even FRMS two way radio is better than nothing. We have a whole sub forum dedicated to communication
Navigation- we have a whole sub forum on this topic. I highly recommend a tablet or smart phone running GAIA (it can be found in the App Store and in Google Play Store) get the subscription. The free version is ok, but the app really opens up when you purchase the subscription.
Air Compressor- used to air tires back up, aid in fixing a flat tire
for everything listed in the camping section, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, LetGo, and such are excellent places to look for good used gear. Facebook Backpacking Gear Fleamarket group has awesome deals and I personally have bought several items through Members there. Flee Markets, Yard Sales, and Second Hand stores are also excellent places to shop for used gear. REI and other outdoor outfitters stores also sell used gear. Buy used gear when you can, that way you aren’t out a lot of money if you don’t like the product. Just like the rig, this is a test run during the first year. After your first or second trip out you will have a pretty good idea of what you need.
lastly gear envy. Forums and stoical media induce gear envy. Gear envy is when you see some one else’s ride and think yours is now inadequate. I have fallen for this trap quite a few times. I am currently outfitting my 1989 Bronco to be my second to last ever Overlanding rig. I have had it just about a year. On my first day out on the trail I realized my seats,were worn out, so I replaced them a long with the addition of a center console scored out of a 2007 Ford F-150. I am in the process of adding a roof,rack to help add storage space (realized on a week long fishing trip with 6 people I didn’t have room for all my gear), and I will be building an overhead console to hold my radio head unit, Ham radio and my GRMS radios, along with switches and map pockets. Where the stock am/fm radio goes I have my cb mounted, and added a cubby hole for a factory looking install for my trailer brake controller, and adding an onboard air system. All of these upgrades minus the seats came from using my rig every day for almost a year. And other than my seats, winch, and tires, none of these other mods actually help me get out and explore.
Member III
Member II
