The Status of Overlanding Today

[AbleGuy]

“(Something younger people never think about, one vehicle alone and dead battery, you can push start a standard).”

I believe that trick unfortunately has fallen off the turnip truck as newer manual rigs have a safety limitation (unnecessarily) built in to them keep you from being able to push start them.

 

[Oscar Mike Gulf Yankee]

Speaking of personality traits, do narcists make the best overlanders?

 

[TheDesertRat]

It ain't that they are unhappy, it is because they cannot obtain so they complain. If they could afford without difficulty and it added comfort and enjoyment to their pursuit, they would get it. If they did not and want to be some kind of elitest minimalist, all the power to them, I won't begrudge them for their little masochistic personality traits. To me, vehicle-based living off grid is nothing more than a tool so that I can pursue the outdoors sports activities that led me there in as much comfort as is economically feasible for my income. Worrying about or doing ANYTHING other than admiring in a good way what others have is childish and a waste of time.

Summed up my thoughts exactly. I am not sure why there is such a high level of intolerance for variety here. To me "overlanding" is nothing more than driving and camping over land, however you choose to do it, period. I started with camping on a tarp with a sleeping bag and whatever I could fit into a backpack. Then it was tube tents, pop up tents, finally in a camper shell on a pickup. Now I have a RTT and plan on going with an AT Overland Atlas most likely on a new pickup in a few years. If I could afford a Maltec, GXV or similar, I would go that route, but I can't. But as I age, comfort increasingly creeps up the priority ladder. Went to Overland Expo West and was awestruck with the multitude of options. The market will decide which products survive and which fade away. To each his or her own and I am grateful for an expanding industry that provides many choices.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

From Google;
A quick overview;
Personality qualities include thinking very highly of oneself, needing admiration, believing others are inferior, and lacking empathy for others.

Treatments is seeking medical care;
Personality qualities include thinking very highly of oneself, needing admiration, believing others are inferior, and lacking empathy for others.

I do not know if they would make better overlander's, but they probably think that they do.

Wow, you just described 2 entire generations !

 

[Oscar Mike Gulf Yankee]

@Mickey Bitsko , absolutely, but actually 4 generations as Baby Boomers came out at Woodstock, created Gen X, who beget Gen Y who created Gen Z.

While the self-centered have always been with us, I blame my generation for planting the seeds of more selfish behavior, a bit of the Hippy ideology, before the Baby Boomers the Silent Generation were more subdued in their greedy, bigoted ways. They were "Silent" on many matters of those days.

I think Traditionalists or the Silent Generation began "overlanding" as we think of it as they brought the Willey's to fame during WWII. Ahhh, nothing like Overlanding with an M-60 machinegun bolted to the back of your Jeep and an M-1 strapped on your back with a steel pot bouncing on your head! Overlanding was honed to a science in Korean winters, warming your glove covered hands on a radiator or the engine block then putting your gloves to your face. Before them, the G.I. Generation, while they had motorized transport, WWI was about riding on a horse, or mule.

Frankly, all my heroes came from the Silent Generation, or before them. Since then, a psychopathy of narcissism has been cultivated from the 60's forward. Personality traits show up, for those even somewhat trained, in writings as people describe preferences, even about overlanding. Just an observation and must say, everyone has some degree of this personality trait, especially when survival mode kicks in. I could go on, but won't.

Why mention it? Overlanders must be self confident, at times more so than most especially traveling solo. Self confidence is just another name for ego, at times a higher opinion of self. Disregard for other's opinions may seem stubborn, or is it because one has greater knowledge, more experience and confidence about this undertaking? Personality has more to do with an environment than evolving physically.

So, are we nuts?

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

I was being a little short sighted on the number of generations. I remember the 60s, i participated, the first narcissistic generation I remember was then, couldn't stand to be around them and still feel the same way today watching those same people, from THAT generation, that are currently telling us what to do,say and think. I watch from afar and don't let it affect my daily life.
Are the current generations as narcissistic and self righteous and self centered,
Absolutely, and the grandparents from the 60s, not all, but many , are teaching the grandkids to be the same way.
The hippie generation is a raw nerve for me, I had to face them when
I came home from the VN police action.

I apologize for the rant.

 

[Jay61]

⬆ “(Something younger people never think about, one vehicle alone and dead battery, you can push start a standard).”

I believe that trick unfortunately has fallen off the turnip truck as newer manual rigs have a safety limitation (unnecessarily) built in to them keep you from being able to push start them.

What have they done to them? I do not believe I have run into that yet. I have a 2010 2500 Ram Cummins in Standard and I know I have push started it with another vehicle. I am trying to think if I have done it with my 2018 JKUR.

 

[Oscar Mike Gulf Yankee]

I was being a little short sighted on the number of generations. I remember the 60s, i participated, the first narcissistic generation I remember was then, couldn't stand to be around them and still feel the same way today watching those same people, from THAT generation, that are currently telling us what to do,say and think. I watch from afar and don't let it affect my daily life.
Are the current generations as narcissistic and self righteous and self centered,
Absolutely, and the grandparents from the 60s, not all, but many , are teaching the grandkids to be the same way.
The hippie generation is a raw nerve for me, I had to face them when
I came home from the VN police action.

I apologize for the rant.

Oh, by all means, don't stop, I understand. I was there too.

Not to get off on Nam, but I saw the reception for vets on the news, really pissed me off and I was in high school, toward the end of that Expedition, things may have changed, I'm not sure. All I know is, is that when I got back home, to San Fran, then to Dallas, then to Kansas City, no one in those airports gave me one ounce of crap, no one! It might have been my Greens bloused in my jump boots with a look that might bite heads off and spitting them up some azz, not sure, but I was never harassed by anyone. Everyone was pleasant on the Greyhound Bus from KC to Springfield, the driver even pulled over letting me out 4 blocks from home before going to the bus station. (as I walked home I thought, if I had asked he may have driven me to the front door!)

One of my claims to fame in the Army was in Heidelburg in '72, when I was on duty and put my right hand under Jane Fonda's butt to toss her in the back of a 2 1/2 ton truck arresting her during a demonstration, oh, she was ticked off! Nice butt! I still have a Jane Fonda urinal sticker.

While that hippy cultural has changed, matured we might say, they are still social maggots living off society, some more successful than others but still maggots, might say blood sucking leaches. Telling us what to do? I won't mention the political party best known for authoritarian rule, we don't do that here, that's just a natural tendency of human nature, some just need to be a top dog.

Which brings me to another aspect of overlanding. The thought of being mobile or running to the hills when SHTF!

Okay, we get it, we all love the outdoors, like to stay out, go camping, blah, blah, blah.

How many are getting into this overlanding as a survival means to get away from the you know who's?

In these times? Really! Many have to be thinking my go bag is packed, truck is topped off, ready to hit the trails in a moments notice when the balloon goes up!

There has to be more than three survivalist types in overlanding to learn the tricks of remote travels.

Tell me I'm wrong!

 

[Oscar Mike Gulf Yankee]

What have they done to them? I do not believe I have run into that yet. I have a 2010 2500 Ram Cummins in Standard and I know I have push started it with another vehicle. I am trying to think if I have done it with my 2018 JKUR.

That's because you have a Dodge, just say'n.
And stop thinking, Jeeps don't die, they just run out of gas.

 

[Jupiter58]

I wouldn’t say all the overlanders are narcissistic just seems like it because they are the ones with the channels.
There are many more than them that just do their thing.

 

[Jay61]

⬆ “(Something younger people never think about, one vehicle alone and dead battery, you can push start a standard).”

I believe that trick unfortunately has fallen off the turnip truck as newer manual rigs have a safety limitation (unnecessarily) built in to them keep you from being able to push start them.

Like anything else in the auto industry, I imagine if this is a fact, there is a delete, either legal or illegal, out there for this particular "safety" feature. I live in a state where auto inspections are not required so therefore deletes for every imaginable item are available, to include DEF fluid deletes and other emission deletes for diesels.

 

[Av8Chuck]

This guys does a great job expressing his thoughts about overlanding:

 

[edd M42]

⬆ “(Something younger people never think about, one vehicle alone and dead battery, you can push start a standard).”

I believe that trick unfortunately has fallen off the turnip truck as newer manual rigs have a safety limitation (unnecessarily) built in to them keep you from being able to push start them.

Both of my Toyotas (2007 and 2016) have a clutch start cancel switch and I have push started both of them a few times.

 

[Kevin108]

Seems the Forum doesn't like the first name of a gentleman from South Gate who was the first major purveyor of large, high flotation tires, and who coined the phrase "Baja Proven."

I guess you'll have to call him Richard around here.

More than once was I in defensive mode explaining the stock tires on my vehicle...

I've been on 29s, 31s, 33s, and 35s on a variety of rigs. I am again in a stock rig, albeit on the heavy side. I am running 32x10.50 MTs. At street pressure and with no rear locker, they have occasionally left me wanting. Aired down to a reasonable level, they have done everything I've needed.

While not as long as many of you, I've been into traveling to explore and have off-road adventures for about 25 years. I started off sleeping in the fetal position on the bench seat of my S-10. In comparison, the rooftop tent I've had since 2015 is like a mansion. Even now, I'm not above just reclining the passenger seat for a night or two.

Ease of access to trail info and primo camping, plus cell phone navigation and affordable satellite gadgetry has made this hobby grow exponentially. Noobs are essentially being hand-fed immediately what used to take us years or decades to discover. Throw in a 2-year-long overreaction that shut down everything people were doing indoors and this hobby has absolutely exploded.

On one hand,it is harder to reliably find good dispersed camping. Everyone on the internet now knows your favorite trail and possibly your favorite camp site. 2% of them or so have even left their trash behind for you.

On the other hand, the numbers of people doing this stuff now have created an impressive market for vendors to try to attract. We all enjoy easy access to more, better, and more affordable gear than ever - though I'm not sure that trade-off has been worth it.


How it started.



How it's going. (Not the same spot, but in the same area.)

 

[billiebob]

View attachment 691743

Dick Cepek - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As a child the Sears Wish Book was the gospel. Then this ^^^ became the gospel as a teenager to be replaced by the Sears Craftsman Tool Catalogue once children arrived. I honestly miss printed catalogues and rarely buy on-line.

I think marketers miss a lot of sales by not seeing us Seniors correctly.

I'm at the point of thinking I have everything I need.