SootyCamper
Active member
Hey everyone, use this thread to post your reviews, recaps, and general discourse regarding the inaugural "The Big Thing".
The Big Thing 2025 recap and review
- Thread starter SootyCamper
- Start date
SootyCamper
Active member
Saving this post to edit later with my thoughts.
Quick post: It was fun, would I go again?: Yes
Edit:
Arrived a day late due to work schedule, check in was smoothe and fast. Basically left to my own devices to sort out the camp spot. 14hr drive south from northern Alberta was its own adventure.
Verdict on check in: Couldn't have been easier, one thing is they did move check in from the lab to the armory with no signage indicating so.
Camp: I stayed in "Trees", this was an additional fee on-top of the camping weekend ticket. I'd say if you value space and a bit of privacy and don't mind some road/train noise this may be the spot for you. The rural road beside camp is fairly busy and the trains do pass by throughout the night.
Verdict on Trees: hard side campers are best here due to noise. Also bike/ebikes are best for here as you're a bit of a walk away from everything. Also signage on the trails too and from the venue were non existent, so recon during daylight.
Food: I chose to purchase food insitu, and found the options available to be good value. Im in-between dedicated rigs so this trip was a Cabela's camping gear special and I packed light. Kept my cool drinks in the yeti and that was it.
Coffee/tea: Loved the coffee options and hope they bring back the folks again(Mrs.Croft is a coffee person so I knew they'd have good stuff) . An Iced Dirty chai mid afternoon hit the spot!
Sundowners/Bar: The bartender I frequented was an independent contractor not affiliated with XO, and she was fantastic, generous pours and made me great cocktails.
Programming: This is where XO can improve things a bit. The seminars on offer where top tier(Scott Brady, Yakoverland, Famagogo, Patty Upton), however the timing in-between them was non existent. One class ends at 2pm and the next starts at 2pm. So if you had to boogie across the venue you'd miss the first 10 mins of the following seminar. I hope next year they follow the Overland Expo example and have a 10-15min buffer in-between for bathroom breaks/coffee/hydration. The schedule for the seminar could have been released a bit earlier.
Offroad course: Ill admit I didn't go on the off-road course because I was too busy catching up with old friends, seminars, checking out the vendors. However I did stop and view the course for a few minutes and will definitely be testing it out next year.
Venue/vendors: Great venue, airconditioning in the lab was a nice break from the 35'C heat. The Big round house is rustic but offered an excellent space for larger seminars(plus the bar was housed here aswell). I found the vendors to be spaced out nicely, however the camper vendors where placed pretty far away from the smaller vendors so maybe they could condense that so more folks check out the campers on display?
Verdict on venue/vendors: I liked how there wasn't 1700 vendors, I could actually stop and speak with each vendor and not feel pushed off by hoards of people/high pressure sales tactics.
Entertainment: each night featured a great presentation, love music, and a fantastic movie screen under the stars. Definitely a highlight.
Overall: Great value for money. If they keep it this "small" and charged double the ticket price I would happily pay. Given it was the first year I was happy with the event, it was clean and well managed. No overflowing garbage cans or stinky toilets. This was a community focused event, and I hope/pray they continue this style, it was akin to the NWOR/BCOR rallies(but more polished).
Quick post: It was fun, would I go again?: Yes
Edit:
Arrived a day late due to work schedule, check in was smoothe and fast. Basically left to my own devices to sort out the camp spot. 14hr drive south from northern Alberta was its own adventure.
Verdict on check in: Couldn't have been easier, one thing is they did move check in from the lab to the armory with no signage indicating so.
Camp: I stayed in "Trees", this was an additional fee on-top of the camping weekend ticket. I'd say if you value space and a bit of privacy and don't mind some road/train noise this may be the spot for you. The rural road beside camp is fairly busy and the trains do pass by throughout the night.
Verdict on Trees: hard side campers are best here due to noise. Also bike/ebikes are best for here as you're a bit of a walk away from everything. Also signage on the trails too and from the venue were non existent, so recon during daylight.
Food: I chose to purchase food insitu, and found the options available to be good value. Im in-between dedicated rigs so this trip was a Cabela's camping gear special and I packed light. Kept my cool drinks in the yeti and that was it.
Coffee/tea: Loved the coffee options and hope they bring back the folks again(Mrs.Croft is a coffee person so I knew they'd have good stuff) . An Iced Dirty chai mid afternoon hit the spot!
Sundowners/Bar: The bartender I frequented was an independent contractor not affiliated with XO, and she was fantastic, generous pours and made me great cocktails.
Programming: This is where XO can improve things a bit. The seminars on offer where top tier(Scott Brady, Yakoverland, Famagogo, Patty Upton), however the timing in-between them was non existent. One class ends at 2pm and the next starts at 2pm. So if you had to boogie across the venue you'd miss the first 10 mins of the following seminar. I hope next year they follow the Overland Expo example and have a 10-15min buffer in-between for bathroom breaks/coffee/hydration. The schedule for the seminar could have been released a bit earlier.
Offroad course: Ill admit I didn't go on the off-road course because I was too busy catching up with old friends, seminars, checking out the vendors. However I did stop and view the course for a few minutes and will definitely be testing it out next year.
Venue/vendors: Great venue, airconditioning in the lab was a nice break from the 35'C heat. The Big round house is rustic but offered an excellent space for larger seminars(plus the bar was housed here aswell). I found the vendors to be spaced out nicely, however the camper vendors where placed pretty far away from the smaller vendors so maybe they could condense that so more folks check out the campers on display?
Verdict on venue/vendors: I liked how there wasn't 1700 vendors, I could actually stop and speak with each vendor and not feel pushed off by hoards of people/high pressure sales tactics.
Entertainment: each night featured a great presentation, love music, and a fantastic movie screen under the stars. Definitely a highlight.
Overall: Great value for money. If they keep it this "small" and charged double the ticket price I would happily pay. Given it was the first year I was happy with the event, it was clean and well managed. No overflowing garbage cans or stinky toilets. This was a community focused event, and I hope/pray they continue this style, it was akin to the NWOR/BCOR rallies(but more polished).
Last edited:
Pacific Northwest yetti
Expedition Medic
Looking forward to seeing the posts, thanks for starting this thread.
