Land Rover Ideas for Grenadiers

[jscherb]

A few weeks ago I did several posts about cargo nets from Rock n Road (starting at: https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/land-rover-ideas-for-grenadiers.248833/post-3234800), ones for roof racks, bonnets (hood in U.S. English) and other locations on Land Rovers. In an issue of Land Rover Owner, editor John Pearson writes about a bespoke ("custom" in U.S. English) net he had Rock n Road make for him; it's an overhead luggage net.

He's got "lock 'n' load fixing" (as he calls it) already mounted inside the roof of his Defender, so he had the custom net made with those attachments:

In use, he says "it's really useful for stashing lightweight items like jackets, waterproofs and bedding".

Back when that article first appeared, I was inspired to DIY a similar net for my LJ Wrangler(https://expeditionportal.com/forum/...fit-this-custom-lj.46300/page-62#post-2973659), but I used ratchet straps instead of the "fixings" he used.

Like his, mine has mesh so smaller items can be stored up there:

Unlike his, I was able to store heavier items like my half door uppers up there because the ratchet straps can really put a good amount of tension on the webbing.

According to John, the Rock n Road nets start at 225 GBP ($300), but if you can do some simple sewing you can make one like mine for just over $20.

DIY instructions for the net I made for the Wrangler are at the link above, I'll probably do one for the Grenadier to hang on the overhead L-tracks I installed.

 

[jscherb]

I've gotten a lot of inspiration from some of the "soft goods" for camping and overlanding shown in Land Rover magazines. Here are some examples:

A "pockety-hangy-downy thing"? Is that Brit for hanging organizer? "Bivvi Organizer" is short for Bivouac Organizer BTW. What's different about this one is that it hangs with magnets.

Canvas Kitchen - If all you need is a simple place to hold some utensils and a work surface, maybe this would be useful.

A bunch of toiletry bags have been covered in the magazines.

Same thing from the other magazine:

Another one:

And some first aid bags:

Next post: some of what these have inspired me to design and sew.

 

[jscherb]

Based on inspiration from the ideas in the previous post, here are some of the things I've sewed for my Jeeps and Grenadier...

I like one that provides a little more organization for the medical supplies. I've got this one in my Grenadier:





Many people have mounted tables on their rear doors, so this one can also can hang on the seat back:





Here's another one from the magazines, this one's well suited to first responders - the way it opens all of the medical supplies are laid out next to the patient:

Here's another one well suited to first reponders and other advanced needs:





It also can hang on the seat back:



Both of the above bags are available from Overland Outfitters: https://tinyurl.com/2jv2jk7d

 

[jscherb]

First Overland

I've posted a bit before about the "First Overland" trip in two Land Rovers from London to Singapore. Here's a post from earlier in this thread: https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/land-rover-ideas-for-grenadiers.248833/post-3228370

A few videos about the First Overland expedition:





There's an excellent book about the journey, I highly recommend it:

The book has been in print for many years and copies are available starting at about $11.00.

Maybe that trip was a Land Rover idea for Jeeps because a few years later two English Colonial Police officers made the reverse trip in a pair of war-surplus Willys Jeeps. They also wrote a book about it:

This book is a bit harder to find because it's been out of print for a long time and copies typically retail for over $100 but I managed to score a copy on eBay for twenty bucks. Having read the Land Rover version of the expedition, I'm looking forward to reading about the Jeep version of the trip.

Here's a scan from the Jeep book. Check the post I linked to above, the Land Rover expedition took a very similar photo.

I'd like to see the trip done in Grenadiers...

 

[jscherb]

More inspiration from products I came across in the Land Rover magazines...

I like the idea of the organizers that hang from someplace on the vehicle or perhaps on a tree. I also liked the work surface/table that was part of the "Canvas Kitchen" in the earlier post although I don't like the design because the angle isn't adjustable in case it isn't hanging level. I wanted to use those features but also have a convenient way to store and carry the organizer, something like a tote bag that could zip open and hang, so I came up with one basic design that I used to make three different organizers.

I did a toiletry bag. Zipped, it looks like this:

I did a work surface/table in this one, it's got a good size glass mirror, places to hold TSA-sized toiletry bottles plus a number of pockets on the inside and on both sides of the outside to hold whatever you might need. Here it is hanging from the hardtop and from a tree:

Handing from the roof bars on my Grenadier:





It's available at Overland Outfitters: https://www.overland-outfitters.com/store/p51/Camp_Cabinet_Bag.html#/

 

[jscherb]

This photo was an of Land Rover Owner:

I noticed the spare cover has a pocket on it so I looked it up: https://escapegear.com/product/spare-wheel-cover/. It's not expensive - $41-$74 USD, although I'm sure it's not worth the shipping cost from South Africa even if they would ship it here.

Here's another one with a pocket:

That one is from The Overland Co.: https://theoverland.co/products/copy-of-spare-wheel-cover-with-pocket-khaki. I couldn't figure out which country they're from, the photos on their web site show Land Rovers but they say they ship product from Istanbul or Texas.

I don't think I've ever seen a Jeep on the road or trail with a tire cover that has a pocket so I guess they're not too popular here, but there are at least two companies in the U.S. that make them. This one from Boomerang Enterprises is called the Joey (https://boomco.com/shop-by-accessory/spare-tire-covers/joey-pack-cargo-tire-cover/):

And this one is called the Rugged Tire Cover and it's from a company in Florida called SewDope Upholstery (https://www.ruggedtirecover.com/shop/p/scb3vhde56921jcxqhu2rbmqsezo2x):

Pockets in spare tire covers seem useful to me.

 

[jscherb]

As long as I'm on the subject of spare covers with pockets... I do like the pocket idea and a few years ago (long before I had seen any of the ones above) I designed a spare cover with a pocket; the pocket fits things like a recovery strap nicely:



They're easy to sew, so I made 4 different colors to try out.

I used the tan one on my Wrangler for quite a while.

Overland Outfitters picked up this design: https://www.overland-outfitters.com/store/p69/Tactical_Spare_Cover.html#/

 

[jscherb]

I've gone through most of the ideas in my Land Rover magazine collection that might apply to Grenadiers and after posting about 300 ideas I think I'll stop now. I welcome anyone who has other ideas from Land Rovers that might apply to Grenadiers to post them here and if I come across any other Land Rover ideas that might be useful I'll post them but I won't be posting every day anymore. I hope this thread has given you at least one useful idea for your Grenadier, thanks for following.

 

[jscherb]

I came across this today and had to post it - it's a Grenadier idea for a Jeep... this hardtop has existed in the Jeep world for about five years, first brought to market by Smittybilt, it never sold well so apparently they sold the mold to this company. It came with plastic (not sure if plexiglass or lexan) Alpine windows in the roof and now this company is offering it with "Grenadier-style handle inserts". No word on whether they're load bearing enough to support a roof rack like those on the Grenadier (I doubt it). So now the Grenadier is a trend-setter for the Jeep market...