Overland Journal Gear Guide 2014

Cobbler Cuisine I never imagined that I would actually enjoy something like cooking in your magazine (my cooking abilities are limited to boiling water), but undoubtedly I do. The reason I’m writing is not because of that, but because of the Classic Kit article on Dutch ovens (Spring 2013). Having read it, I have no doubts what cobbler Christophe Noel is fond of. However, whatever item it is that he is to cook, there seems to be a guarantee of it being sprinkled with a good dose of humor…so I’m for it! Romek Mikuliszyn 1997 80 Series Land Cruiser A Mere 129 ° F My wife and I were in the mountains near Death Valley on June 30 this year and we knew that near-record-breaking heat was predicted. The world…

Lois Pryce Weary of the daily grind in jargon-infested London media-land, Lois Pryce jacked in her job at the BBC to ride from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego astride her Yamaha XT225. Upon her return she wrote the book of this trip, Lois on the Loose, which was published in the U.S. and U.K., as well as being translated into German and Dutch. Itchy wheels struck again and it wasn’t long before she was poring over maps of Africa, plotting another adventure. In October 2006 she set off on a Yamaha TTR250 to ride from London to Cape Town, crossing the Sahara through Algeria and Niger, and continuing down the west coast through the Congo and Angola to South Africa. The tale of this trip is captured in her book…

A few years ago I was standing on a platform affixed to the edge of the Batoka Canyon (which spans between Zimbabwe and Zambia) with my heels hanging over the abyss below. Beneath me the cliff wall fell away several hundred feet before being absorbed by a precipitous field of boulders and acacia trees. I was working on a story about African adrenaline sports, and this “ride” was called the Gorge Swing. The operator, a local from a nearby village, checked my harness and the two carbineers that attached me to a cable that stretched across the expanse behind me. Then, in a heavily accented voice he began a countdown: “five…four…three…two…tuck your chin, whiplash…one.” I leaned back. As I began the 100-foot free fall my mind was hurled into a…

The PIAAs have come in contact with objects much more dense than bugs, have been submerged in creek crossings more than once, and have the scars to prove it. In the 2013 Gear issue we undertook one of the most exhaustive gear tests in the history of the magazine. The subject was LED driving lights, which were divided into two categories: “compact” and “large round.” The nine units selected were then subjected to every test in the book. Or at least, every test we could muster. We compared beam pattern, intensity, and range. We measured color temperature and luminous output with a Sphere Optics integrating sphere and spectrometer, subjected them to IP68 submersion tests, and analyzed thermal degradation during extended use. It was rough and several entrants didn’t make the…

Part mountain bike, part touring rig, the titanium Fargo is a witch’s brew of exotic ingredients borrowed from other platforms to create an adventure bicycle without peer. If you could have just one bicycle, what would it be? If you’re an avid rider you know that question is moot, as one bike is never enough. However, I do have my own personal answer, and it is the 2014 Salsa Fargo Ti. Part mountain bike, part touring rig, the titanium Fargo is a witch’s brew of exotic ingredients borrowed from other platforms to create an adventure bicycle without peer. At its core it is a 29er hardtail mountain bike, giving it enough brawn to tackle moderate singletrack without complaint, even when loaded with a full complement of bikepacking bags. The slightly…

Using their intuitive website we entered our vehicle model, the configuration that would suit our needs, and the depth of the drawers. Truck Vault has a long history of providing cargo management systems for the military, law enforcement, fire, and search and rescue professionals. There are a number of reasons for this: the first is quality of construction and the second is security (thus the name). With a wide range of systems available, from single drawers to elaborate first-responder command centers, choosing the right unit for my family’s 2000 4Runner was easy. Using their intuitive website we entered our vehicle model, the configuration that would suit our needs, and the depth of the drawers. Options were 6- or 10-inch depths, single or double drawers, foldout tables, lighting, locks, color, and…