To get the most out of overlanding, spec out your gear for backpacking and kayaking.
The best campsite is always going to be a mile+ from your parking spot. (Biggest negative of rtt's, so keep a ground tent handy)
My load out is a 55g Stanley tote for each person. And a couple coolers. The totes are stackable in my trucks bed. Everybody (smart) packs all their gear in a small backpack. We can grab it and go.
All of our gear is Gossemer Gear, Thermarest, Marmot, MSR etc. My base weight pack (no water or food) is less than 10 pounds, for months of backpacking. There is no reason for anyone to need more than 50# of gear per person including water and food.
There's no shame in renting a cabin. You don't have to rough it out, every night. And hauling a camper, when all you need is a fair weather tent, royally sucks.
Use a tent that has a rain fly that reaches the ground. Avoid tents with short rain flys and tall bathtubs. Consider one tent per person. I tossed, coughed, cramped, and scratched, all night, last night. Didn't wake a soul in another tent.
You're fat. Don't bother with the overlandy kitchen nonsense when you're already carrying a months food supply around under your skin. There's a restaraunt on every day of our travels in the US. Even kayaking down a river for a weekend, we spotted and smelled a diner from the rivers edge and stopped. Food ain't the issue everyone thinks it is.
If you go where there is water, carry a 2l hydration baggy and a filter. Not much weight.
Sleeping bags are obsolete. Use a down quilt instead. You might have an inflatable pillow in your pack, but keep a fullsize home pillow in your vehicle for near truck campsites. There's no shame in extra bedding as well. Car camping allows such.
Avoid overlandy bling. They don't even use it in Africa or Australia, any father than the magazine cameras can see. Snorkels, roof racks, and swing out tire carriers, just empty your wallet and make your ride heavier. I can make a case for winch bumpers, but a Hilift jack winches just fine.
Avoid shower tents and bathroom tents. Just moldy stinky dirty messes. Use the forest for bathroom. Use the darkness of night for showering. I just hang a shower bag in a tree. Use a bathing suit if you're shy.
Potassium in a multivitamin. Salt is good, not evil.
Mint attracts bears. Put it on someone else's tent. Use bear spray before a gun. The spray IS more effective. And you can use it without hesitation, because it won't kill. Bear cans are a deterent, not a solution. Don't sleep in midwest forests alone. It ain't happy good fun time, like Florida forests or the AT.
Burros and donkeys are good luck. Be nice to them.
Tires are always a trade off. Puncture resistant MT's are going to lose grip in snow due to stiff sidewalls. Flimsy MT's with fragile sidewalls will grip better, but fail too often. You can drive accordingly with each, and get by fine. Cooper RT's and Kenda RT's are goldilocks tires made specifically for us. Check them out.
Weight is the enemy.
If a fullsize fits, it's the best option.
Lockers are absolutely priceless. Even if you never, ever, wheel hard. I won't overland without at least one locker, ever again.
