Innehållsförteckning för Gear Guide 2013 från Overland Journal

The Las Vegas Strip...Sin City or Overlanding Mecca? The Las Vegas Strip isn’t considered an overlanding destination. There are no trails; it’s almost impossible to find a patch of dirt. The Strip lacks natural beauty or genuine culture—it is merely an elaborate facade intended to draw its prey in…to a casino. It may have its time and place, but I’d venture to say that the Strip holds little attraction to many overlanders. Yet for a short time each fall, virtually everyone in the automotive industry, has their eyes fixated on Sin City, including us overlanding addicts. The reason—the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show. SEMA, founded in 1963 as the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association, is primarily a performance car show. But this doesn’t mean 4WD vehicles and equipment aren’t significant…

This October, WARN Industries, best known for its extensive line of high-quality electric winches, added an impressive new lineup to its 12-volt vehicle-recovery fleet: the ZEON Series. Not to be confused with the VR (Vehicle Recovery) series, WARN’s entry into the lower price point market, the ZEON series takes the company’s portfolio in the other direction. This newest offering is stronger, faster, runs cooler, and sports a more robust platform than previous generations. The housing is all aluminum, satin-black powder-coated, and fitted with stainless steel fasteners and clutch lever. End caps, which cover the motor and planetary gears, have nine cooling fins each for enhanced heat dissipation, and the traditional connecting rods have been replaced with a solid aluminum plate. The control module caps the center plate and the entire…

The HELLA company, founded in 1899, has more than 100 years experience providing lighting options for four-wheeled modes of transportation—the first being kerosene lamps for horse-drawn carriages. The Rallye 4000 is a beautifully crafted work of art. Its large half-sphere, die-cast aluminum body is eclipsed by a solidly-built aluminum mount; both are powder-coated black. The mounting pad is broad and displayed no vibration when fitted to my bumper, but the style does limit it to horizontal surfaces. The heat sink array of fins on the back seemed rather small considering the size of the light. Units are sold individually, as is the wiring harness. The reflector is a proprietary Kartoval Optics design, and columnizes light from three rear-facing 10-watt LEDs. The lens is made of optics-free polycarbonate. In our desert…

It seems that anyone who knows a tail lamp from a headlamp has a personal tale of camping gone bad. Interestingly, a common thread to this tale involves inclement weather, being wet, and a tent. During the product-sourcing period for this review, Editor-in-Chief Chris Collard was working in Western Australia. At the end of his assignment, his wife Suzanne was to join him for an overland trek along the southern coast and into the Outback. It was a fly-in-and-go affair, and their camp gear needed to fit into two Action Packers. A tent was chosen from Chris’ garage assortment. The criteria…that it fit in the container. Unfortunately, the “it” was of the $50 big box store style, one that Chris had picked up out of necessity while traveling in South…

The Flying Diamond 4 was the only four-person and four-season tent in our review. It also had the largest floor area. However, due to the long but narrower dimensions, four people might be a little tight. The 16-step instructions, which are sewn into the storage bag, are mostly text with just two diagrams for reference. They were clear, and following them produced a properly pitched shelter. Similar to the Holler, there is a main tent pole structure with hubs on each end, and a second lateral pole. Once erected, the tent body clips onto the poles and your tent is up. There is also a short, curved, slightly awkward pole for the front vestibule. I liked the thick, webbed tie-downs, and the large hook on the simple aluminum stakes was…

If you need a tent for four people, or intend to do much more than sleep inside, then something larger than the MSR Holler may be preferred. If you want a tent that fits smaller campsites, pitches and packs quickly, and is very weather resistant, this tent might be perfect. I found myself thinking the Holler could easily fill the needs of a family of three, whether car camping or backpacking. With quality materials, a simple design, great tent stakes, and a retail price of only $300, the MSR Holler easily walked away with our Value Award. The Kelty Palisade 4 is a family-sized tent with a large vestibule integrated into the front of the rainfly. If you need this kind of space and plan to stay in one spot…

There are certain events you never forget. While some drift away on the winds of memory, those that stay with you define your attitudes and perceptions for life. Camping by the banks of the Boteti River in the Kalahari Desert, Botswana, when I was 10, is something that has stayed with me with lasting clarity. It was 1982, and the drive in had been long and dusty, on winding, soft desert tracks with not a soul to be seen, save thousands of wildebeest dying of thirst and stopped in their migration by the Trans-Kalahari veterinary fence. When we reached the Boteti it was just a trickle. The banks were steep and sandy and far from the water. Pulling the Range Rover off the track as the sun was getting low,…

During the Roman Empire, no general was allowed to bring his army into Rome. Crossing the Rubicon River, which was the Emperor’s line in the sand, instantly rendered a general and his legions outlaws. When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC, he passed the point of no return, committing himself and his men to a life or death gamble. Only by winning the resultant civil war could Caesar avoid the consequences of his actions. Though not a life or death scenario, the team who championed Jeep’s Rubicon project 10 years ago also took a huge risk. While corporate bean counters didn’t think consumers would embrace the pricier Rubicon, a small group of internal Jeeping enthusiasts pushed the project through. Early estimates determined that a scant 3,500 Rubicons would…

If your travels are anything like mine, the phrase, “Wow, would you look at that . . .” is often spoken in a hushed tone and with a palpable sense of amazement, and is perhaps one of the main reasons we travel. The splendor of the world as it unfolds before our eyes is sometimes so remarkable, we dare not believe what we are seeing. Sunsets, sprawling landscapes, and vibrant colors—these are the intangible treasures many of us seek. They are muse to our photographic endeavors, and elicit the colorful adjectives that fill our journals. When it comes to initial impressions of any experience, our sense of sight is perhaps the most important of the senses. It is unfortunate so many overland travelers filter those scenes through the clouded haze…

Rigid was one of the early leaders in high-output LED lighting technology and has forged a respected name in the industry. The Dually D2, a cubical compact, deviates from their traditional light bar style. Construction, as with the other units in the test, is of die-cast aluminum. The pressed-steel mount is simple and functional, though mounting for a forward projection is only possible on horizontal surfaces. It is also not preassembled and you’ll need nimble fingers to get the small Nyloc nuts in place. The Dually is sold as a single unit or in pairs with a wiring harness. Connections are first-rate waterproof Deustch, the harness is properly fussed, and switching is via a toggle button. The six LEDs are configured in a two-by-three arrangement, each sitting fairly deep in…

The KC HiLiTES 6-inch round was one of three pre-production lights we received. Its body is injection-molded acrylic, hailing from a different approach than any others in the test. Interestingly, the heat sink is internal and there is no apparent ventilation. The lens also varies from the others in that it is not optics free. Of the eight exterior LEDs in the circular pattern, every other one has a magnifying lens over it. Below is a primary lens, again with a clear semi-sphere magnifier. Both are crafted from polycarbonate. The combination gives each LED a fish-eye appearance. The mount is composite, and like its sibling the LZR 4-inch round, has a hefty .375-inch bolt. Wiring connections are MIL-SPEC, thread-on, and waterproof, though the lights we received still had butt-connector wire…

Compact Lights Rigid’s Dually D2 did well in the lab and field testing, providing even distribution of light and solid figures from the integrating sphere. Unfortunately, the unit we received was a wide-pattern model rather than their long-range driving light. Because we had no time for sourcing another unit prior to departing for our desert testing, we put the Dually into the mix with the others. This being said, it did come up short with regard to beam range but would make a solid choice if mounting a combination of lights. The Vision X Optimus did nothing less than impress me. The optical management of a single 10-watt bulb is phenomenal. With the lowest lumen output in the batch, it still outpaced all others in its class with regard to…

The extremes have such fantastic appeal, calling out to the explorer, prospector, and romantic to risk all in the pursuit of finding their limits. The Arctic north had that appeal for our small team of adventurers, bent on driving around the world. Our proposed route would take us across North America from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Cape Spear, Newfoundland, to Nordkapp, Norway, and ultimately across Siberia to Magadan. We traveled in a pair of Toyota Land Cruisers, a vehicle many consider to be the finest overland platform ever produced. We had the ultimate vehicle and the best equipment possible to achieve our goal, yet these modern solutions caused me to consider the methods and challenges faced by the first explorers to these lands. Early exploration into Arctic regions was fraught…

The rear tire of my 1200GS drifted in a slow arc, the stock Tourance rear tire sweeping over the loose gravel. My right foot modulated the brake, just off the threshold, regaining traction and bringing the 600-pound motorcycle into a momentary track-stand. My position was now 90 degrees from the original course of travel, the bike pivoting between two cones and aligned for the obstacle ahead. Feathering the clutch, I started the BMW rolling towards a 12-inch-tall log and a set of orange traffic cones lying on their sides. Building momentum, I began shifting my weight downward on the pegs, bending my knees while simultaneously compressing the front and rear suspension. Rolling on the throttle while pulling back on the handlebar brought the front wheel nearly a foot in the…

A torrential rain pounded on the doors, blowing horizontally in the near gale-force wind. We were close to the beach and clawing our way diagonally up a hillside of loose dirt and sand, which was rapidly turning to mud. The Atlantic Ocean, visible outside the passenger-side window, hammered the beach with rarely-seen intensity. Beyond the windscreen, the dirt road was literally crumbling and washing away before our eyes. I’d come to Morocco to test the new Range Rover, a vehicle known to swaddle its occupants in luxury and cocoon them from the world outside. When I think of Morocco, I envision baking heat, blowing dust, and endless, undulating sand dunes. I expected that the air-conditioning would be one of the most tested features in the vehicle. Instead, it was the…

I distinctly remember the moment I became aware of auxiliary lights. I was 15 years of age and sitting on the school bus. It was a fall morning and we rounded the corner of the local auto row near my high school. Sitting on a car lot in all its glory was a bright yellow Chevy Luv. It was lifted, fitted with chrome wheels and big tires, and had one of those cool double roll bars. Up top were four smiley faces staring back at me—KC Daylighters. I envisioned motoring down a distant two-track in the dead of night, my smiley-faced friends lighting the way, forewarning me of any hazards such as the stray jackrabbit or cow. In Graham Jackson’s driving light comparison two years ago (Overland Journal Gear 2010),…

KC HiLiTES is the granddaddy of off-highway auxiliary lighting, and we expected no less than a worthy competitor. What I immediately noticed was the turbine-style radial heat sink that allows air to flow through the edges of the light from the front. The housing is die-cast from aircraft-grade aluminum, and mounts and hardware are stainless steel. The mount has a rear nut lock, a nice feature, and by the size of the mounting bolt (.375 in), I wouldn’t expect this light to go anywhere. These units were shipped without packaging or a wiring harness, but the retail kit does include a MIL-SPEC harness. Wire loom access is via a thread-in compression fitting and is very sturdy. Lead ends are simple butt connectors. The injection-molded protective light guard is designed such…

ARB is Australia’s original manufacturer of high-quality four-wheel drive gear. Interestingly, they have never branded their own light…until now. Because of the time-sensitive nature of our testing, we were fortunate to receive two of only 10 pre-production units in existence. Opening the box revealed everything I expected from a company with ARB’s mantra. At nearly 10- inches in height, the Intensity is by far the largest and heaviest light in the test. The beautifully crafted stainless steel mount supports a pressure-cast A360 aluminum body. The exterior ring is ARB’s signature red, and the lens and thick lens cover are polycarbonate. A security measure is added with the use of Allen head cap screws and TORX® adjusting nuts. The company claims a 93 percent efficiency rating on its patented reflector design.…

Truck-Lite was born in the 1950s when founder George Baldwin, in need of a more reliable truck light, began tinkering with other companies’ products. The rather generically named #81711, a 7-inch round, is their offering in the high-output LED market. As with the other lights in this review, it has an aircraft-grade die-cast aluminum housing, anodized rather than powder-coated, and polycarbonate lens. It can be installed on a horizontal or vertical surface via a pressed-steel mount. Wiring is simple loose leads that are sealed at the housing. Units are sold individually and the harness is optional. The proprietary hybrid reflector has a wide flat base and a wide girth for each of its 10 LEDs. Out on the playa the #81711 projected a tightly concentrated round pattern with limited foreground…

While Kelty offers a wide range of tents, including low-cost, entry-level units, the Palisade 4 is one of their entrants into the mid-range basecamp sector. The tent is mostly no-see-um mesh that should provide good ventilation and bug protection in hot climates. There is a large door at the front, and a small, doggie-sized entrance to the rear. Like the NEMO Asashi and the Sierra Designs Meteor Light, this tent has a spacious, almost square floor plan capable of comfortably accommodating four people. The frame consists of two primary poles fed though sleeves at the top. Sides are then secured with clips and an overhead hoop pole, or halo, then slips over the top. I wasn’t particularly fond of the halo, as instructions suggest two people attach the ends together…

Sierra Design’s three-season Meteor Light 4 uses an unusual yet effective, patented Eye-Pole design for the main overhead frame. A second lateral pole completes the structure. The Jake’s Foot™ (a ball-and-socket receiver) accepts pole ends, and large DAC Twist Clips™ quickly attach the tent to the pole. They worked well, but if you don’t insert and remove the ends properly they can be a struggle to remove. Half-moon shaped rainfly clips, rather than buckles, provide positive hold but can be difficult to unclip. I like intentionally different designs that work, and these do. The fly has single-pull tension strings that are simple to use after staking, and stakes were robust and among my favorites. The Meteor Light 4 has large doors at the front and rear, and the three-zipper fly…

“Ooh, here’s another big one. Should I pull it out?” I asked. “Maybe we should leave it in; it might hold until the track,” replied Megan, hoping for the near impossible. We were in the deep south of Kazakhstan and heading deeper, into a summer furnace. It was late June. Since the beginning of the month, the long days had been at least 40°C and virtually cloudless. The oppressive heat had not caused us much trouble thus far, but at this point we would have appreciated a little shade. We’d removed two of the four wheels from “Quike,” our custom-made sociable tandem recumbent velomobile, and were in the process of assessing the damage. Behind us were three kilometres of sandy tyre marks, barely distinguishable from the surrounding Steppe. Ahead, an…

Step 1 Proficiency A rider must be autonomously proficient with the controls before they begin more difficult tasks. The first drills focus on rapid shifting and braking combined with acceleration, deceleration, skidding and turning exercises. Step 2 Finesse This concept focuses on competencies like “slipping the clutch” to ease through tough obstacles, a momentary skid to help initiate a turn or change direction quickly at the bottom of a hill. Finesse also means avoiding the problems created by a heavy hand on the throttle. Step 3 Accuracy Riding tight tracks in the backcountry leaves little room for maneuvering. Your ability to pick and hold a line is critical to becoming a better enduro rider. The path between two obstacles may only be inches, or a series of ruts may leave…