Innehållsförteckning för Winter 2012 från Overland Journal

Touratech 38L Zega Pro Top Case $571 If you’ve ever wanted secure storage for your full-face helmet, Touratech’s new 38L Zega Pro might be the answer. This waterproof, dustproof top case is crafted from 1.5 mm aluminum and measures 12.4 x 15.75 x 12 inches (L x W x H). Bolt on, easily replaceable plastic cups protect the corners and bottom, and the single rear-facing lock will accept an integral lock cylinder. Incorporating Touratech’s RAPID TRAP system, the Zega Pro can be removed with a turn of the lock, and snaps back in place with a click. Available in anodized black or silver. (CC) touratech-usa.com, 800-491-2926 Noren Films UTBDR and Butler Map $25 and $15 Grab a coldy, pop in the Noren Films UT Backcountry Discovery Route (UTBDR) DVD, and…

I’m not sure why, but full-sized pickups haven’t received much attention in Overland Journal in past years. Though I’ve never owned one, I’ve long envisioned having a rig that could tow my sailboat, haul a full-size camper, and not protest the burden of 20 60-pound bags of asphalt (I’m often repairing my long, non-county-maintained road). There are several reasons for my absence from the full-size market: the fuel economy of a big-block V8, the entry price points of the diesel variants, and quite honestly, the V6 options have been less than impressive. This fall I spent a day driving the 2013 lineup of Ram 1500 trucks. Though the economy of the V8 versions has greatly improved, I was more interested in the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine and Torqueflite transmission. When…

The Quickie Tie-Down is unlike any other product in this review. Advertised as the only military-certified rope tie-down on the market, the Quickie uses solid braid rope rather than flat webbing and is designed to fill a niche between bungee cords and ratchet straps. The rope passes through a nylon ratchet mechanism that is used to tension and hold it. Tension is applied by just pulling the rope through the mechanism, and unlike a ratchet strap, it has no lever to add tension. A small lever is used to release the ratchet. Tensioning and release are both easy. Quickies come in two sizes, for 1/4-inch rope and 3/8-inch rope, and ends terminate in a rubber-coated hook. The working load limit (WLL) is clearly marked on the side of the units…

MasterCraft has two standard offerings that represent the most common strapping options: a cam strap and a ratchet strap. The cam strap is the traditional type, used for years on motorcycles, and already maligned by me in this article. A 1-inch webbing strap terminates in two fully-coated S hooks. The cam is cast with a single return spring and is predictably difficult to tension on an incompressible load. The ratchet strap is also a 1-inch webbing strap with coated wire hooks, but with a standard ratchet tensioner. As with most ratchets, the mechanism can lock open for easy release. MasterCraft’s ratchets have a nice roller on the handle for comfort and an easy-to-operate lock for the handle. Stitching is very high quality on the straps and Nyloc nuts are used…

Two products clearly rose to the top in this test. The L-track mounting system, from AT Overland, because of its strength and fantastic versatility, and the Rollercam straps that defied my cam strap hate and were the only straps to go head-to-head with a ratchet strap and do as well, if not better. After we had completed all of our planned testing, we wanted to fling the rack out of the truck sideways so it would cartwheel. Ostensibly, this was for pictures. However, when you are throwing things out of the back of a moving truck, there’s an inborn urge to up the ante. The two cases were loaded; one was secured with a ratchet strap tensioned as tight as possible, the other secured with a Rollercam, also tensioned as…

I first met Mark Smith in 1995. I’d walked into the offices of Jeep Jamboree USA (JJUSA), in Georgetown, California, with a large package under my arm. I was their new UPS guy. Mark pulled into the parking lot, energetically climbed out of his Jeep Grand Cherokee, made a beeline for the building, and swung open the rustic office door… “Good morning, everyone.” From my rookie-adventurer standpoint, Mark was a legend in the four-wheel drive world. He was one of the founding fathers of the famed Jeepers Jamboree on the Rubicon Trail, and had led the first unsupported expedition through the Darien Gap—Colombia to Panama in 1979—part of Expedition de las Americas, a six-month trek from Ushuaia, Argentina to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Mark is the type of man whose reputation…

When BMW Motorrad expanded the GS family with two new dual-sport offerings in 2007—the F650 GS and F800GS parallel twins—the riding public embraced the newest members of the BMW lineup. Both provided plenty of power, a comfortable ride on long trips, and positive control on uneven surfaces. This year, BMW continues this chapter in the GS success story by updating a number of features and adding several others. Enter the F700GS and F800GS. Beginning with the front wheel, both variants are now fitted with dual 300 mm disk brakes and twin-piston floating calipers. The rear retains the single, 265 mm single-piston configuration. In keeping with the BMW Motorrad principle “Safety 360°,” the latest generation, two-channel ABS—which is lighter, more compact, and with self-adjusting sensors—will be standard equipment for the first…

On a cool morning in late July, I turned my trusty old Toyota Hilux onto Main Street, Georgetown, California. In front of the 19th century Georgetown Hotel and Worton’s Market, a few dozen four-wheel drives sat waiting for their drivers. It was 0530 and on this day we’d be heading “upcountry,” passing sleepy burgs like Camp Verner and Camp Chiquita, Quintet, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Somewhere around the 6,300-foot elevation line, beneath the spillway of Loon Lake, we’d picked up a bag lunch of home-fried chicken and fixins. In the distance, a long procession of Jeeps crept slowly across the Granite Bowl, progressing with the Slinky-like movement of an inchworm. This was the entry point of the famed Rubicon Trail in the Northern Sierra Nevada, and the Granddaddy of four-wheel…

The Black+Gray CamSure strap caught my eye during a quest for a better cam strap. The mechanism includes a thumbscrew lock to ensure that the strap doesn’t slip. These straps are specifically designed for securing motorcycles, but certainly looked applicable for other loads as well. The 1.5-inch webbing terminates at coated wire hooks. The hooks include safety catches and the adjustment end of the strap has a loop for easy pulling. The cam lock is a traditional design with a single spring, but it adds a locking plate that can be tightened down on the strap once adjustment is complete, preventing the strap from slipping. Because of the extra friction added by the locking plate, I found the Cam-Sure even harder to adjust than a traditional cam strap. Significant force…

In many cases, beauty comes from simplicity. The Transport Loop from Expeditionware (Expedition Exchange) is a perfect example: a bent piece of stainless steel with a large hole for a hook and a smaller hole for mounting, all in a package a little over an inch square and able to fit in the tightest locations in your vehicle. In the interest of full disclosure, I took some of this information from Jonathan Hanson’s excellent article about the Transport Loop on the Overland Expo website, where he uses one to lift his FJ40. Originally designed to tie down motorcycles for transport, the loops were good enough to be pressed into service for tying down everything from road flares to water tanks. The mounting hole accommodates an M8 bolt, perfect for Land…

Hi-Lift took a cue from L-track and designed their own Slide-N-Lock adjustable load point system. Crafted from 6061-T6 aluminum, the rail accepts a rectangular-base stainless steel lashing stud. A spring-loaded collar on the stud allows it to be adjusted between locking circles machined in the rail on five-inch centers. Rails come in 22-, 68- and 93-inch lengths. The advantage of this system over L-track is strength. The drawback is that the studs can only be inserted from the end of the rail and you are limited to the Slide-N-Lock studs (L-track has many stud options). The only load stud Hi-Lift offers is a single-ring unit. Adjustment is easy; lift the spring-loaded lock and slide the stud to the next locking circle. Studs are chrome plated for protection and the spring…

The Abenteuer and Allrad show continues to impress the overland world with its annual celebration. It has become a mecca for overland and 4WD enthusiasts, who migrate to Bad Kissingen, Germany, to pay homage to the deities of expedition travel. It is easily the largest event of its type in Europe and likely the world. This year’s festivities hosted 240 exhibitors and attracted 52,000 visitors from more than 30 countries. Walking through the gate was like walking into an “amusement park for overlanders.” Expedition vehicles lined the dozens of “city blocks” between vendor booths, training displays, and product demonstrations. For the history buff, the show was peppered with an array of perfectly restored Defenders, Land Cruisers, Jeeps, Unimogs, and G-Wagons. For the kid in all of us, there was an…

The evening glow of the setting sun faded across the western horizon, its blue hue slowly replaced by the soft light and flicker of the fire we had built in the shadow of a crescent dune. We were completely alone, worlds away from our busy lives north of the border. Not a sound could be heard in this remote, forbidding place, deep in the largest sand sea in North America, yet less than a day’s drive from the Hollywood sign. We had entered the Altar Desert, a stunningly beautiful, yet shockingly inhospitable place. El Gran Desierto de Altar is the only active erg dune system in all of North America, and it is huge: 5,700 square kilometers stretching from Yuma, Arizona all the way to the Gulf of California. The…

Front Runner is well known for overlanding gear, and their entry into the strap market is the Stratchit. Alone among the tested straps, the Stratchit has an elastic section designed to keep tension on the load at all times. The strap webbing is one inch wide and includes a safety sheath over the elastic portion, which is a nice feature should the elastic give way. However, the load will likely escape before the safety sheath steps in. The Stratchit ends terminate in loops that hold removable carabiners, allowing the strap to be used as a loop back on itself or as a single span. Using carabiners also keeps the strap ends attached no matter the slack in the elastic portion. The adjustment mechanism is a plastic ladder lock buckle, and…

Nothing beats using physics to your advantage, and that’s what a ratchet strap does. Using a lever to tension a strap routed through a slot, coupled with a ratchet to retain that tension, is a system that has become the standard by which everything else is measured. Just about all ratchet straps use a similar mechanism and vary only by size and the quality of build, a place where the US Cargo straps excel. What is also extraordinary is the sheer variety they come in. Options include double stud ends for L-track, flat safety hoods, and wire hooks. They come in 1-inch to 4-inch widths (we tested the 1- and 2-inch versions) and in lengths from 10 feet to the absurdly long 50-foot versions. The ratchets are all treated for…

Few, if any, modern vehicles come with sufficient tie-down points. Those that do will invariably have them in the wrong location for your overlanding needs. This is where additional lashing points come in. US Cargo offers numerous options to go along with their variety of straps. Familiar to most long-time readers of Overland Journal will be their L-track style, single, round mounts that take single-stud L-track points (be sure to see the caveat in the AT Overland Equipment L-track review to the right). The single L-track mounting points are ingenious for those who know how their load will be set. There is no adjustability, but the ease of removing the rings and remounting them is fantastic. The low profile and domed shape of the mounts makes them unobtrusive when not…

Getting There, Maps, and GPS NMW is accessed through Quebec, New Brunswick, or route I-95, Southern Maine. The Maine Gazetteer is a must for navigation. National Geographic/Trails Illustrated, Allagash Wilderness Waterway, is an excellent guide. Some logging roads are on GPS navigation systems, some are not. Information and maps are available on the North Maine Woods website: northmainewoods.org Border Crossings, Fees, and Permits The primary border crossing from Canada is into Fort Kent, Maine. Crossings such as the one near Saint-Pamphile, Quebec, may or may not be staffed on the weekends. NMW fees of $14/$20 (resident/non-resident) per day are paid at entry checkpoints. A valid State of Maine fishing license is required. maine.gov/ifw Vehicle and Gear Most logging roads are not difficult and our Jeep JK was more than sufficient.…

Route Campos de Cima da Serra is the coldest place in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, much sought after in winter by Brazilians who want to see snow. It is a region of contrasting natural beauty, such as the many waterfalls and green canyons of Parque dos Aparados Serra and Parque da Serra Geral. In the midst of mountains, lakes, forests, and snow is the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (the Glaciers). It contains two of the most renowned peaks in South America, Fitz Roy and Cerro Torres, which attract climbers worldwide. We found that a simple walk through the park was rewarding enough. (Opening spread) Panoramic views of Chilean Patagonia reward the traveler on the Carretera Austral. As Brazilian architects, we were not unlike thousands of other people around the…