Indholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2018 i Overland Journal

Certain things stand the test of time. They endure the passage of fads and generations to become a classic. Beyond what may make them fashionable is often true functionality, that thoughtful blend of form and usefulness. With those considerations in mind, the designers from TAD embraced the Talisman, sewing it in the USA from genuine Halley Stevenson’s waxed cotton fabric imported from Dundee, Scotland. I found that the jacket, tightly woven in the doek (duck) fashion with a stowable Ventile hood and snap-down pockets, easily endured extended downpours along the coast of Tasmania. It is styled like the early motorcycle jackets with a relaxed fit, a YKK metal zipper, and a drop-tail hem that makes for comfort in the saddle. One of the challenges with waxed canvas is breathability, which…

Triple Aught Design Axis Expedition Duffel Organizing the back of our vehicles can often result in everything being neatly stored in drawers and boxes, often stacked to the ceiling. I prefer to use three layers of storage, starting with drawers at the bottom, then a layer of hard cases, followed by soft luggage on the top and sides, even seatbelted to the second row of seats. These bags contain clothing, bedding, and other soft items. The luggage for this is best when combined with a durable shell, dust and water resistance, multiple lashing points, and compression straps to reduce shifting and increase compaction. Triple Aught Designs nailed all of the above with their Axis Expedition duffel. Constructed of long-life and water-resistant sailcloth laminated to rip-stop nylon, the shell is durable…

The yak caravan creaked its way over the narrow rope bridge a thousand feet below us, as our column of three Land Rovers paused for a brew-up, clinging to a narrow trail blasted into the flank of a Himalayan peak. We were finally eastbound, heading for the base in Kathmandu after a two-week trail through the northern mountains of Nepal. Our exploration had taken us through the Kali Gandaki Gorge, deep into the tiger-haunted jungles of Chitwan. From there, our path led to one of the most remote lakes in the Himalayas, and then to a little-known and isolated Buddhist temple high in the mountains known as the Temple of the Eternal Fire. Along the way, we visited retired veterans from the fabled Gurkha regiments of the British Army to…

Whenever you click the shutter of your camera, you are selling the viewer a story, concept, or idea. As a photographer, this allows me to think about developing a language that I can use to talk about my work, as well as how I can approach taking photographs that stir the soul. As a result, I have come up with my own method for refining my visual style which allows me to maintain a consistent look and feel to my images over a long period of time. Photographs that I captured in 2002 look similar to those that I am capturing today. People are led to believe that good camera gear will yield better images and that being at the right place at the right time will get you to…

This South African recipe is proof that anything can be wrapped in bacon. It’s a bit surprising, but it works, as any true bacon aficionado knew it would. When it comes to kebabs, South Africans know what they are doing. Every butcher has a proud selection of pre-made sosaties, from lamb to kudu meat in more variations of marinades than you could imagine. We first made this recipe at a hostel in Lima, craving something salty, sweet, and filling after a long day in notoriously bad traffic. We got a few strange looks in the kitchen, but nobody complained after they had a bite. The key is to have not-quite-ripe bananas. If you try to grill a ripe banana on a skewer you won’t have much left on the stick…

In 1980, BFGoodrich introduced a tire that would forever change the way we viewed off-pavement traction, the T/A mud terrain. It was the first tire with an aggressive tread design and radial construction. At low pressure, it deformed like a marshmallow, but was susceptible to tearing and punctures. After several revisions, it ultimately appeared as the KM2 in 2007. Pushing the tire technology envelope further, the company went back to the drawing board and spent six years developing the fifth-generation mud terrain, the KM3. We recently tested the KM3 in Australia on everything from hard-pack two-tracks and dry granite to soft sand, moderate mud, and twisty mountain tarmac. ON THE ROAD Because most of our miles are spent driving to and from the trail, noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) should…

Goose Gear Drawers When I went full time on the road, I knew I’d need some serious organization to tame my gear, but I’d also need more: a place to sleep, work, and live my life. Goose Gear answered the call with a sleeping platform and drawer system that included everything I wanted. Like all of their products, it’s vehicle specific and built by hand in Southern California, so the fit and finish is perfect with no adaptor plates, squeaks, or rattles. The top deck is coated with Bullet Liner to make it durable and easy to clean, and all hardware is stainless steel to ensure longevity. Storage is provided via two sliding drawers, two large center compartments, and one huge forward compartment. All five can be accessed from the…

ARB Outback Solutions Drawers We love the cargo capacity of our BJ74, but to take full advantage of it, you need to give its cavernous interior a little dose of compartmentalization. We chose to do so with an Outback Solutions drawer system, which is available in a range of sizes and designed to be stacked or paired in several combinations to fit your needs. Our BJ74 has a two-drawer setup with optional side panels which fill in the gaps between the drawers and the Land Cruiser’s interior to prevent gear from falling into the abyss. The left drawer is equipped with a roller-top for easy fridge access, while the right sports UV-resistant carpet and tie-downs for additional gear. The lockable push-pull slam latches are comfortable to grab and always feel…

Luka was found during the spring of 2011. Upon our return home, she joined the Quiñones family: my (now) wife, Meghan, stepdaughter, Olivia, and two German shepherds, Guy and Jones. Within a few days of acclimating to her new surroundings, Luka was running the desert with Guy and Jones by day and sleeping on a plush couch by night. Astounding was her ability to hear food packaging being opened from distances far away. Her palate was diverse and unapologetic: she savored smoked sausage just as much as a captured mouse. Barking at an empty food bowl and peeing with excitement are habits that never let go. Because she was found during the pursuit of adventure, Luka became our primary travel dog. Her small size and road-ready manners made her a…

Back in 2010, in the face of tough economic times, twenty-something Clay Croft turned his attention to his own backyard, literally. He found both the inspiration he was seeking and a means to support his family in the two vehicles he had outfitted for exploring the wild places of Montana. His realization was that these vehicles could do more than travel his home state, they could carry him around the world. In a hot minute, the reality-based web series Expedition Overland was born. The idea was simple, but one that has since attracted the attention of over 150,000 subscribers: gather a team made up of a handful of friends and document “the respectful pursuit of trouble,”aka adventure, in some of the most remote places of the globe. The squared part…

Every February, my friend Tron and I head south and spend a week on the big bikes touring Baja California. It’s a great time to leave the city behind, trading an otherwise gray and depressing winter for the sunny shores of the peninsula. Sure, taking other overland-type vehicles will get you through the Mexican state, but there’s an additional element that you’ll only understand from the cockpit of a motorcycle. This element is difficult to define since it’s not a finite concept—not a known quantity. If I had to convince you of this reality, I would simply tell you Baja is one part magical and one part Wild, Wild West, and a motorcycle puts you in the unprotected thick of it. Aside from seeing mind-blowing (and sometimes bewildering) places of…

We’ve all been there: turn the key, and a faint click click click is heard from the engine bay, the result of a flat battery. If you are fortunate enough to be parked at the mall or with friends, you are golden. But if it happens while traveling alone in the backcountry, you will pat yourself on the back for having added an alternate starting power source to your kit. The Weego JS12 is a one-stop source for not only jump-starting a vehicle (up to a 6.4-liter petrol or 3.2-liter diesel engine) but also charging the plethora of energy-hungry gadgets we have come to depend on. With a reserve capacity of 12,000 mAh, its lithium-polymer cell can be stored for months and still be up for most jobs. Topping it…

“So you wanted to kill Russians, yes?” I considered this unexpected statement as I maneuvered around a hairpin turn, a steep wall of stone to my left and a sheer cliff to the right. I glanced at Vsevolod, my co-driver, whom I had informed that I wanted to be an Air Force fighter pilot during my younger days as a nascent aviator. He was a lanky and energetic guy about my age who was rumored to have a past as checkered as a New York taxi. I knew little of this man except that he had been a soldier in the Soviet Socialist Republic Army and served in Cuba. For all I knew, he was a sniper, sights trained on Uncle Sam’s best just across a razor-wire fence in Guantánamo…

SnugTop Truck Cap I always thought truck caps were for old guys until I tried one. The SnugTop can be ordered in multiple configurations and styles; mine is painted to match and has the Sportsman’s package with a reinforced roof spec’d to handle a 500-pound static load, a Thule rack system on top, and a fishing rod holder on the ceiling. It was installed by the dealer and has never leaked. Any dust that has entered surely came from around the truck’s tailgate and truck box drain holes; these were easily sealed up with weatherstripping foam tape and some oil-impregnated foam to prevent rusting. My cap has a front window which tilts inward to allow for cleaning and slides open to allow the passing of cords and wires to the…

Out of the companionable silence, the same refrain occasionally drifted across the sands, “Now this trail would be fun on a dirt bike.”It was inevitable, I suppose, when you drop five seasoned adventure motorcyclists into one of the world’s most stunning deserts—with no bikes. It was something of an experiment. My husband, Austin, and I, along with three friends, were spending the Christmas holiday trekking across Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, the jagged tooth of mountainous desert that links Africa and Asia. Austin is, of course, well-known for his round-the-world motorcycle trips and films, and I’ve also clocked up a few continents on two wheels. The friends accompanying us on this journey had pretty much covered the globe on their bikes: Suzi spent three years riding her Honda Transalp around the world;…

Overlanding the USA made me a jealous man. Often, we would camp surrounded by massive RVs, vehicles complete with granite countertops, fake fireplaces, and full bathrooms. Their comfort made me feel uncomfortable, squished with my family in a very large but relatively small rooftop tent. We would labor to cook outside, while the RV people would whip something up in their full kitchens before settling down in plump leather chairs to eat while watching a football game. We sat in ill-fitting camping chairs trying to gulp down our food served on a plastic plate, before the wind blew all the heat out. When we left camp, I would cram my family into the Defender while the RV people would pilot their massive beasts from the comfort of a cockpit which…

In emergency situations, the most obvious human needs are food, water, and shelter. But when architecture graduate students Anna Stork and Andrea Sreshta sought to create an item to help post-earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, they directed their focus to the basic need of light. Displaced people may stay several months in tent cities, and darkness may hide hazards or make it harder to carry out everyday life tasks. Aside from disaster situations, 1.6 billion people around the world lack proper access to electricity, and many are forced to rely upon dangerous, toxic, and expensive kerosene lanterns as their primary source of light. Andrea and Anna patented their inflatable LED technology under the name LuminAid. Their invention is a lightweight, portable lantern that packs down flat for easy storage, and…