Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2012 i Overland Journal

Alight breeze drifted through camp, arousing my senses and carrying the tenor of an oncoming freight train. I’d seen its bazillion-candlepower light some 20 minutes earlier, but sound travels more slowly, and is absorbed by its surroundings. Three hours earlier, as the sun was setting on Northern Nevada, I’d parked my steed, a Jack Pine Triumph, in the middle of a vast alkali flat. Dead calm lay over the desert as I set up my stove to prepare a meal of powdered onion soup and reconstituted beef jerky. Now, a waxing moon illuminated the desert. In all compass points, the moonlit alkali jumped from the desert floor in brilliant contrast to the inky volcanic ramparts that have stood sentinel over this region for 100 millennia. To the north, the great…

Dusk was rising from the steaming baked earth, casting an aura of calm. The scent of the sea air was so delicious I wanted to lick it. It came on a light breeze that tickled the fronds of verdant foliage and wafted over my tired and achy body, renewing my spirits after being held captive in a seatbelt for more than 16 hours. I was a week and a half into a nearly 2,000-mile-long drive from Singapore to Bangkok. I had been on new-vehicle test drives around America, on 4WD adventures around the globe, and had even raced in famed and exhausting desert races, however this drive from the mouth of “Lion’s Head” to Thai’s “City of Angels” had challenged my sensibilities. Our journey had been crammed with places to…

Ros Woodman Ros Woodham is a freelance designer and photographer from London. She now resides in Spain where making music has become a large part of her life. Regular expeditions to the Pyrénées and Northern Norway with U.K. based adventure company, Mudrut, satisfies her need for adventure. A Series III Spanish Land Rover, rescued from a scrap yard in Andalucía, has been her daily driver since moving to Spain in 2006. Stephen Gross When not flying Boeing 737s for USAir, Steve worked for Land Rover as a consultant at their Global Testing Services facility in Phoenix, Arizona. Steve is also a licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic. He currently works for Rover Techs, a Land Rover service facility located in Scottsdale, Arizona, and drives a beautiful 300Tdi-powered 110 built to the…

The Military Jacket by Aether is a fine example of form following function. As a field jacket it truly has everything you need and nothing you don’t. Its design is one of timeless elegance that also incorporates proven organic technology with Etaproof® fabric. Developed by the Royal Air Force during WWII, it was incorporated into the immersion suits used by Hurricane Pilots. This may have some thinking the material must be a synthetic; instead, the fabric is comprised of cotton that is tightly spun and woven into a very dense plain weave cloth. The cotton gives it a soft natural feel while the technology that goes into the weave allows it to be waterproof and breathable without any synthetics. My real world test included a blustery 10-day October trip on…

Tracking fuel consumption and miles traveled is a good idea; for taxes for your business, future trip planning, and now, with new smartphone apps, you can also determine your carbon footprint. I queried appitalism.com to find the best mileage-tracking apps, and ended up downloading and testing Gas Manager by KiWi Objects. I’ve always been bad about keeping track of miles and fuel; invariably every tax season I vow to do a better job. But inevitably my good intentions degrade to jotting down mileage on gas receipts, which get lost. I was curious if an app would be something I would use, or just another shiny-fun gadget. Gas Manager worked great. First, it was surprisingly easy to set up; add a vehicle, mileage, license, and even a photo. I added my…

Control Contamination Individuals traveling to remote areas should coordinate with their personal physician and consider carrying prescription-only, oral antibiotics such as doxycycline or cephalexin. Anyone who knows his/her way around an automobile knows that hand injuries come in many shapes and sizes. While techniques used to definitively treat some hand injuries are beyond the scope of this article, quality on-scene first aid can drastically improve the outcome of even the most seriously injured hand. This is the second in a two-part series on hand and eye injuries, and will focus on basic first aid for the hand and indications to seek immediate medical assistance. Lacerations and wounds Lacerations and wounds vary from merely irritating to life threatening. The most important step in wound care is hemorrhage control, a concept so…

Serves: 2 | Cook time: 15-20 minutes | Equipment: Medium frying pan, saucepan, tongs 2 steaks 2 tbsp olive oil 6 oz brandy 4 oz heavy cream 3 cloves garlic, minced Cracked peppercorns and salt, to taste Let the steaks come to room temperature and sprinkle salt over both sides. Heat oil in a large pan over high heat; cast iron or anodized aluminum is preferred. When the oil begins to smoke, remove from heat and place the steaks in pan, taking caution not to splatter the hot oil. Return to heat, reduce to medium-high, and sear for approximately four minutes (depending upon thickness). Using tongs, flip the steak over and reduce heat to medium. If the steak sticks to the pan, wait an additional minute before turning. Cook for…

Since my earliest memories, I’ve always been intrigued by adventure travel. As a kid I remember my father turning the television on each Sunday. He’d turn the dial (yes, you had to physically get up and change channels back then) to a show called Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Donning proper safari attire and trekking through distant lands, zoologist Marlin Perkins would confidently describe the deadly prowess of a lion, crocodile, or anaconda, while his sidekick Jim Fowler (also a world-class zoologist) wrestled it into submission. These were my first introductions to the world outside the bubble in which most of us lived. I dreamed of one day pitching my tent on an African savanna or in the Australian Outback, and falling asleep under the swirling constellations of another hemisphere.…

If you were to thumb through the catalog of All Things Australian, not to say there is such a thing, somewhere between didgeridoos and vegemite you would surely find Blundstone boots. Affectionately referred to as “Blunnies,” these unique boots with their signature elastic ankle panels and lace-free uppers, are time-honored legends of footwear and iconic boots of the outback. If Australia had an official boot, this would likely be it. Blundstone, as it is known today, began in Hobart, Tasmania, more than a century and a half ago. That’s a long time to perfect what is now a modern classic. It also explains the boot’s ubiquitous usage in the outback as well as its growing popularity around the globe. Although Blundstone offers a complete line of work and safety boots,…

Ingetje Tadros left her home in the Netherlands at age 17 to travel the globe with her camera. Her first book, Tribal Ethiopia, reveals her passion and respect for the people of the region. Her approach with the camera is engaging, compositions compelling, sharing a beautifully insightful view into the lives of the indigenous tribes of the Omo Valley, face and body painting of the Karo tribe, arm and leg rings adorning the women of the Hamar, scarification of Mursi warriors, and child herdsmen of the Ari. You can become lost for hours in this 350-page work of coffee table art. (CC) ISBN 978 0 9870841 1 8, amazon.com.…

“Where is James?” The question came to me while sitting on the side of the Pan-American Highway in northern Costa Rica. We had just broken camp, reached the highway, and turned north. Our second Defender had been right on my tail, but then had vanished. Getting out, I saw it pulled over about a quarter of a mile back. Traffic was pretty heavy, so I walked back down the road to find out what was up. I found James holding a strangely misshapen table bag in his hand. Apparently we had failed to tie it down on the roof rack, the wind caught it, and it sailed out of the back of the truck and into the road. The following truck had ground it into the tarmac. Aluminum table, plus…

Calling overlanders: looking for new projects and travelers In 2009 we reported on Jay Shapiro and Alice Gugelev, avid global travelers who were so moved by the poverty they encountered that they founded the Muskoka Foundation. Using their business and global development skills, their vision was “to create a fleet of modern-day explorers, who are traveling overland in developing countries around the world, leaving a wake of positive change.” How are they doing, three years out? They now have some 300 supporters, communicators, and volunteers working from various locations; 60 who are actively traveling or about to, doing work-on-the-ground, and 30 who have completed Muskoka projects. Their “change agents” have touched over a dozen communities around the world, including Latin America, the U.S., Canada, and Africa. One of their most…

The firefighters stressed prevention first, safety, and finally, extinguishing the fire. Though the subject may not be one that we sit around camp chatting about, fire should be a constant concern for the overland traveler. It is the elephant in the tent that no one acknowledges. Everyone knows it could show up at the party… but we hope it doesn’t. Whether you are involved in an accident in an urban area, or you find yourself on a remote two-track where the nearest help is 50 miles away, there are things you need to know and understand about vehicle fires…specifically, how to put them out. To learn more about vehicle fires, Overland Journal purchased a rolled Land Rover to use as a test platform. We contacted the City of Tempe Fire…

It was in the Congo when my wife Connie finally asked the question. This was after passing hundreds (literally) of people along the roads. In typical African fashion, the women were loaded up with firewood, water, and babies (often all three), in huge backbreaking loads. The men invariably sauntered along idly swinging a machete, nothing on their backs, and with little regard for the packhorse aspect of their partners. “What…” Connie asked me one day after we passed a lady carrying a firewood stack twice as tall as she, while her husband (we supposed) followed along, requisite machete his only burden, “The machete is important so the man gets to carry it?” I had also been wondering this, so my answer included a lot of miles of offhand contemplation and…