Innehållsförteckning för Gear Guide 2022 från Overland Journal

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN With reluctance, I will not be renewing my subscription this year. I have been a devoted reader of your magazine since 2010 and have enjoyed each and every issue. My family and I are about to embark on our own overland adventure, a one-year driving circumnavigation of North America, and won’t be here to receive new issues in the mail. I’ll look for the latest [ones] on magazine racks along the way to get my fix. Thanks for all of the great stories over the years. Robert Coates 1981 Toyota Land Cruiser, HJ47 Troopy KEEP IT UP I love what you guys are doing and have been following Expedition Portal for 10 years now. Your book and site are literally the only reasons why I got…

Confession: I don’t actually want to be Brad Pitt, but after my friend’s father handed me a fly rod and I felt the rush of my first catch, I wanted to embody his character, Paul, inA River Runs Through It, and spend every day casting. The initial problem of bringing that dream to reality was equipment. Flooded by advice from seasoned anglers who convinced me success only arrived when I invested serious capital in high-end gear, I see-sawed dozens of times between borrowed hand-me-downs and rentals, believing an entry-level rod and reel would result in an empty net. Now that I’ve debunked those myths over the last decade, do yourself a favor and pick up the Orvis Clearwater, which I’ve nicknamed “Goldilocks” because its action is not too slow, not…

There’s nothing like sliding into a cozy sleeping bag at the end of a long day in the wild. Whether you’re ensconced in a tent, tucked away inside your vehicle, or dirt camping under the stars, a comfortable bag is essential to a restful night. For motorcycle camping, where weight and space are important, my criteria for a personal cocoon are warmth, comfort, lightweight, and small packed size. That’s a tall order, but Western Mountaineering has hit the sweet spot with their 25-degree, semi-rectangular Sycamore MF bag. I’ve had mine for over seven years, and of the five bags in my closet, it’s my first choice for all threeseason camping. My regular-size Sycamore MF fits campers up to 6 feet tall, weighs 2 pounds, and boasts 5 inches of loft…

Many of us don’t leave details of our trips to the backcountry with trusted contacts: Where are we going? When do we plan to return home? Who are we with? What colour and type of outdoor gear will we be wearing? What safety gear have we got with us that is essential for the kind of adventure we’re on? Even if you have a satellite communicator device to act as a safety net, a trip plan is critical should search and rescue need to locate you. Satellite communicators can fail and may not work where a direct line of sight to the satellites is not possible. The Overdue trip planning and safety app is a new kid on the block, the creation of Canadian cartographer and search and rescue volunteer…

I was excited like a schoolboy in late June on the verge of a wild I summer. It was a feeling I’ve had so many times, on so many big adventures, but oddly, different. For most of my adult life, my outdoor aspirations have been focused on something to stand on top of. Whether following aesthetic lines to a summit or frozen waterfalls to the top of a cliff, the goal was always palpable, right in front of you, teasing progress forward. Over the last decade or so, I’d fallen in love with a different kind of adventure: the misanthropic art of escaping. Not behind locked doors or to shopping malls, but places far off the beaten track, hoofing it with just a friend or two, tracing unknown paths through…

I have a secret to share with you: I’ve been drinking instant coffee for the last few weeks and have been enjoying it. I know this may come as a surprise to some of you, especially after past articles where I have no doubt portrayed myself as some sort of coffee aficionado, but hear me out. Life gets busy, and sometimes instead of going through a lengthy morning routine of grinding beans, measuring water, determining ratios, and steeping my beloved black gold through a variety of contraptions, I’d rather just boil water and get on to savoring my warm beverage. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t care about flavor. Lucky for me, I’m not alone in my desire to simplify the brewing routine while retaining the high-quality coffee that…

Despite becoming more materially affluent over the past four decades, those living in industrialized countries have not experienced the happiness boost expected from modern materialism. Since the 1940s, we’ve upgraded significantly, installing showers and bathtubs, microwaves, dishwashers, and big-screen color televisions—purchasing twice as many vehicles per person, and adding boats and campers, iPads, and laptops galore. Yet, as psychologist David Myers, authorof The Funds, Friends and Faith of Happy People, explains, “Compared with their grandparents, today’s young adults have grown up with much more affluence, slightly less happiness, and much greater risk of depression and assorted social pathologies.” Fortunately, much research has been done on the subject, clarifying what makes human beings happy. It just so happens that as overlanders, we’ve had a head start. WE PRIORITIZE EXPERIENCES OVER STUFF…

JIM MEYERS Jim Meyers is a bi-coastal adventure photographer, writer, and adrenaline junkie based in Seattle, Washington, and Burlington, Vermont. He cut his teeth wandering the creeks of Appalachia, ultimately falling in love with bigger adventures such as climbing, fishing, biking, and skiing throughout the high and wild places of North America. Combining the experience of backcountry travel with way better food and less exertion has resulted in his current obsession with “faux-verlanding,” and he’s looking forward to some proper overlanding in a distant land. His 1996 4x4 E-350 project is teaching him how to be a better mechanic, while his wife, two kids, and dog teach him to be a better person. MATHIEU GODIN Born and raised on the east coast of Atlantic Canada and now located in Ottawa, Mathieu…

Suffering a medical emergency while traveling is a scary experience, especially when far from home and definitive medical care. For those who travel remotely, I recommend taking a Wilderness First Aid course and bringing an activity-specific first aid kit capable of handling the first 24 hours of an accident or illness. But, what if your travels take you far from medical care? Or perhaps through a region that does not have any medical care at all? In these instances, traveling with a medical kit that contains lifesaving prescription pharmaceuticals may be the fine line between life and death. Knowing what to include, however, can be confusing and logistically difficult. Unless your family physician has advanced training or experience in travel, wilderness, and emergency medicine, prescribing medications for this type of…

Kate Schade started her own energy bar company back in 2010 to feed her active lifestyle in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and her Tram Bar became an instant hit on the slopes. Today, tantalizing flavors such as Dark Chocolate Mint, Mango Coconut, Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond, and Lemon Coconut woo consumers—along with the promise of being organic and sweetened with honey instead of the ever-prevalent dates used in the industry. My first taste was not on the trail, but after a long day of work in front of the screen; I’d skipped dinner and needed something small. My initial bite of the Dark Chocolate Mint tasted deliciously like ice cream, with the perfect combo of mint andsweetness to override the peanuts (I’m generally not a big fan). Each DCM bar has…

IT SOON BECAME APPARENT that every unassuming blue or yellow sign we drove past—in a language we couldn’t remotely fathom—signalled another place we’d never heard of, accessible via a marked road, track, or trail. What did we miss? Granted, we were as far from the local knowledge on the natural wonders of Iceland as one could get on arrival. Usually, we would be fervent about knowing where we wanted to head, consulting local intel while strapping a GPS tracker on a raven and keeping a watchful eye on its flight. Alas, not on this occasion. As outdoor-impassioned Brits with no more knowledge than being able to profess that Reykjavík wasn’t Iceland, we set our sights inland to seek and find. We soon had to reconcile that absorbing the island’s wild…

TIP When researching shoes, travelers should contemplate all intentions for the footwear, including anticipated conditions, ability to repair, adaptability to different sock thicknesses, if they’ll have professional/meeting obligations, backpack weight, and technical capabilities. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Three people assisted with the field test and evaluation. RS is a retired US Navy SEAL combat veteran with over 20 years of service. He’s an avid hiker, outdoor enthusiast, and knife maker. TH is a current law enforcement sergeant, public safety dive team leader, and outdoor enthusiast. He’s a former ANGLICO Marine combat veteran, SWAT team member, and detective. ME has a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration and a master’s in education. He is the outdoor recreation coordinator for a university in California and is a dedicated hiker and traveler. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates,…

Dogs are an integral part of the family. We are quite literally their pack, and they’re, in turn, our adventurously optimistic children who need guidance, nurturing, and fortunately, don’t mind helping you clear the table of scraps. Naturally, they copilot when we hit the road. I work with a miraculous dog trainer named Melissa Jackson, owner of Juniper Trails (junipertrailsdogtraining.com), who taught me that there are four crucial pillars of providing a happy life for your dog: Pack: Their role and your trust in their position within the hierarchy Purpose: Their desire to feel productive Play: When we let loose for fun Nutrition: Duh Much like a table with four legs, our relationship with our dogs is balanced when we have all pillars in place, but we see issues when…

Sometimes we all wonder if the engineers who design vehicles have ever actually worked on a vehicle. It seems not. I wish I could ask the team of highly skilled and experienced engineers who designed my Land Rover Defender why, for the love of Pete, why, does the bell housing have four different size and length bolts holding it to the gearbox? Why are the glow plugs (a maintenance part) recessed into the block at such an obscure angle? One that requires the tiny powerful hands of a baby Superman to be able to slide in the expensive, used-once-every-two-years special tool, only to strip the glow plug and give up after three days of sweat and bloody knuckles? Why is the rotary filter encased in a recycled tinfoil housing? Why…

When it comes to running shoes, I’ve found considerable success and comfort with modern zero-drop designs. Because of that, I was a little hesitant to swap out my trusted trail runners for the Salewa Dropline, a neon-green trail option that looks like it was sent to me straight from the future. These super-cushioned above-the-ankle shoes have a 6-millimeter drop from heel to toe and are designed for speed hiking in alpine terrain. Upon lacing up the Dropline for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised by the width of the shoe, which despite being labeled as standard, felt a bit wider than average. The knitted upper felt comfortable and sufficiently flexible. And despite looking overly complicated, the lacing system with speed hooks did a great job securing the shoes to…

I found Sans when searching for backpacking edibles to munch on while hiking. They had great reviews, a clean ingredient list, and appealing flavors such as Mint Cacao and Coconut Almond Butter. They also have a social mission, “Buy Meals, Give Meals,” in Haiti, where founder Nathan has spent considerable time. For every pack of bars sold, they provide a meal in need. So, onscreen, all looked good. Delivered to my doorstep, I immediately retrieved my package on a 75˚F day, only to find the wrappers leaching oil; there were even grease spots on the cardboard box. I threw them in the fridge, deciding to give them a go later on. As it happens, I do not recommend storing these in a cooler or fridge as they become solid and…

Times change. What was old is new, what was smaller is now bigger, and the lines blur within every automotive category. Travelers are finding the benefits of a slightly larger vehicle that is designed to carry heavy loads day in and day out. This is particularly true with full-size trucks, where a GMC Sierra gets better gas mileage than any mid-size truck, and a new Tacoma’s fuel consumption is nearly the same size as a first-generation Tundra. When we first started Overland Journal, the compact pickup was by far the most popular choice for overlanding, but that gap is quickly narrowing with full-size variants. The reason is simple—big trucks are more capable than ever before, and they have the payload to haul more than a few passengers and a basket…

Many of you have seen Charley Boorman in the Long Wayseries with his friend and fellow traveler, Ewan Mc-Gregor. Since that series started in the early 2000s, Charley has become a motorcycle influencer, professional speaker, and television presenter. To many, he lives the dream of being paid to live the life of fun and adventure. I recently had a chance to sit down and speak with him on travel, motorcycles, and some of the hard things that come with the job. How has expedition travel changed your life? I never thought as much about this being about travel as it was about friendship. Back when Ewan and I were sitting around thinking about doing a long ride, we never thought we’d do it. Of course, once it looked like it…

In Australia, a Sunday lamb roast is a bit of an institution, and generations of families have looked forward to it as the highlight of their eating week. That spilled over into camping, where lamb roasts cooked in a camp oven became de rigueur when we outdoors people wanted to prepare something special over the fire. But roasting in a camp oven is hard because you can’t easily control the temperature or see the progress, so I got a bit tired doing them that traditional Aussie way and tried something different. There is absolutely nothing standard about this, but it is much easier, so much tastier, and I can almost guarantee no one you feed it to will ever have had grilled watermelon before. I put my cutlets in the…

If you ride a motorcycle or have ever ridden one, you know there are a few unwritten and sometimes unspoken rules of the road. The first one is the most obvious: we wave to other riders. This may be a simple gesture that will often go unnoticed by people in automobiles (what some riders call “the cage”), but it is almost compulsory to those who ride. It does not matter if you ride a BMW and pass someone on a Harley Davidson—you wave (aside: I don’t wave to people riding scooters). There are times when that wave is a lifted peace sign—two fingers facing forward (not backward, which means something different in other parts of the world). Other times—I have noticed this more with Harley riders—they point to the road…