EarthRoamer XV-JP "Northwest Edition"

[mhiscox]

The wood veneer (zebrawood) is the indeed the same species as Paul put into my first #003 interior. Then, when he did his own interior, he decided to honor tradition by using zebrawood again. Then when I did my interior, I thought hard about changing to something more mainstream, but decided who was I to change it after all these years? I'm glad you like it, since it's not exactly in widespread overlanding use.

 

[mhiscox]

It occured to me that my interior photos might be more helpful if I showed what lurked behing the zebrawood . . .

Three water Rotopaxs, 5-gallon bucket with a gamma seal lid that serves as the loo, and a black plastic "toilet seat" that kinda works.




Here's the genuine Aspenora fridge. Never heard of them? Me neither, but I had a heck of a problem finding a fridge that was squat enough to put in the drawer. It's here in place of the 35 liter Dometic that was in the first interior. But besides it being old, the Dometic's lid hinged sideway, which wasn't nearly as handy. So far,this fridge is working great, and the fancy controls are more upscale than the one knob of its predecessor. It cost me something less than one-fifth the price of the 40-liter National Luna equivalent, so expectations are modest. But it slides in and out (with about a nanometer of clearance) and that's what had to happen.





College-dorm level microwave . . .





Toiletry/Kitchen stuff. Most of it mini, travel-size, collapsible or with some other attribute to help cope with a limited drawer depth . . .




The upper drawer. Smaller and no deeper, unfortunately . . .




A flop-down door covering the thin amount of space left in front of the streetside wheel well . . .




And (though temporarily covered with a map rather than zebrawood) this is the flop-down door/cutting board in front of the rear compartment. The green case is inflate/deflate stuff, the black case is outdoorsy bits like sunscreen, bug spray, and other stuff you might get at quickly without having to open up the cabin. The compressor rests on snap pins so it's locked in place but can easily be pulled up and off. The compressor is a backup/alternative to the CO2 Powertank on the exterior. The plug on the compressor is a snap-in trolling motor connector that goes into a matching exterior outlet on either side. The hatch was added into the compartment so I can get this stuff out without opening the rear door.



As always, ask if the photos prompt questions.

Mike

 

[mk216v]

<finally logged back in>

Seeing how much thought and effort you put into the revision of the XV-JP for your own use Mike, it's surely a damn cozy and efficient space for 1. Lots of useful light pouring in more than before; airy and refreshing to relax and travel in. Highly commendable!

 

[mhiscox]

Thanks. It's working out very well. I'm going to add a hinged section to the front of the bench so that tall guys like you can fit better.

 

[GR8ADV]

Just in case Mr, Hiscox has been up to some shenanigans I will bump this thread.

 

[mhiscox]

Just in case Mr, Hiscox has been up to some shenanigans I will bump this thread.

Shenanigans!? Not me, Ken. Or at least not the older, wiser me. These days it was big news when I got a flashlight engraved with “Earthroamer XV-JP” to keep close at hand . . . and when the cabin is under 30 sq. ft., it’s all close at hand.

Seriously—and thanks for asking—there’s not much going on here. I often think about starting a new build, but the fact is that I don’t do anything with the XV-JP as it is. I got it really well suited for a lengthy solo expedition to someplace rugged, but that ain’t ever going to happen under my watch.

There is still stuff to mess around with, though. I’m upgrading some electrical system components to the latest options, and I replaced the Jeep driver seat padding with parts from a Sprinter and added a driver’s seat armrest, etc. This poor Jeep has been optimized and farkled to within an inch of its life, with no one except me having a clue about all of the trick stuff and why things are the way they are. All in all, I’m very pleased with how Rev. 5.0 turned out, which is pretty much all that counts.

Interestingly, it clearly works better than ever. As has been noted, I was pretty skeptical of the results of Paul’s Resurrection Rebuild, which arguably left it looking less sleek and rugged and expeditiony. But now I can’t overstate how great it turned out from a form-follows-function point of view. Having made the roof so you have all the space, including standing room, with ZERO setup and hard walls is amazingly useful, and the long nose cone lets me carry gear and supplies I couldn’t begin to fit into the previous lifting roof versions.

And it’s running the best it every has. The 3.8 is still merely adequate, but the 5.13 gears make up for it and I keep up with traffic and go any highway speed I'm willing to buy fuel for. And the way Paul raised the cab roof combined with my long seat tracks makes this about as luxurious as a ’07 JK is going to get. Plus the reconfiguration and the move to sleeping only one has even further reduced the weight, with the result that it left Earthroamer in ‘08 at about 7K pounds and now it’s under 6K. (As a result, one of the projects left is to see about changing out the heavy duty rear coils for something not so stiff, as the weight loss has left the rear less compliant than it should be.)

In summary, no hint of anything exciting these days. I often think I should build a new rig to use all of the fridges, toilets, electrical parts, and so on left over from the previous dozen builds, but I wouldn’t use that one either. Fortunately the shop has space for the Jeep and the Sprinter and their insurance isn’t bad, so I’m content.

P.S. for Ken--I have, after near six decades, had to give up riding two-wheelers (left knee) and said goodbye in the past week to my ADV Tiger and the BMW Megascooter. I still have the WeeStrom outfit and I’ve so far kept the 690 Duke, mostly because it’s light enough to carry on the rear of the XV-JP (which I’m, of course, unlikely to do). I hope you guys are doing well with the Fuso and your bikes.)

 

[mk216v]

I can attest to XV-JP-NW Rev5.0 being splendid, for 1 human, or 1 human + 1 dog. Perhaps 2 humans if they're patient. Mikey has done an excellent job with re-crafting it during the resurrection into a true Mikey Special.

 

[mhiscox]

Thanks for the kind words, Jer. There can't be too many left who've been in on so much of the project. It has, in fact, now been 17 years since I got the ER. There sure is a lot that's changed with overlanding, the Portal and the XV-JP since then.

 

[mk216v]

I've said it before but I'll say it again--you're an ExPo OG! And the original "Habitat" tent was not so useful for Oregon rain.

 

[mhiscox]

I've said it before but I'll say it again--you're an ExPo OG! And the original "Habitat" tent was not so useful for Oregon rain.

Aw, shucks.

But you are inarguably right about the limitations of Version 1.0 of the tent. It was an evil thing in the rain, snow or ice, as folding it back up left the wet tent to drip down on pretty much the entire area of the cabin. It wasn't any treat in high winds, either, as it put you nice and high so you could catch all of the noise-producing howl.

That said, it always looks great in the lit-from-the-inside photos:




But it's perhaps important to note (for the three or four non-affciandos who showed up here) that later XV-JP tents were more tent and less gossamer, and some also had a rain fly, so if you were later in the production run, you got a somewhat more practical item.

 

[mk216v]

Gossamer was an apt term to use; well said! (and for the record, I didn't know this fact about later run XV-JPs).