Colfax Design Works is a soft goods designer that creates durable products for diverse environments. All their products are made in the USA to lessen the carbon footprint. They make products for adventure travel, and their primary offering is the Project TOAD (tactical operations amphibious drybags) 65-liter drybag. I’ve been testing the TOAD drybag for…
Category Archives: Four Wheel Drive
Is the New GFC Platform Topper the Strongest Ever Made?
GFC (Go Fast Campers) today released the all-new Platform Topper and to test this new product they decided to do something Mythbusters radical, they lowered an old Ford F250 onto it! My jaw dropped when they opened the rear door of the topper, how is that even possible? The company had to reinforce the bed…
Expedition Conservation – A Finnish couple touring Africa
I have great respect for women traveling the further reaches of Africa independently, more so when they are European (Finnish) women with the passion to tackle challenges of the African continent with determination. In my personal opinion, Europeans and more specifically Scandinavians do not frequently travel to the far reaches of Africa (we have not…
Overland News of the Week, September 16th, 2022
Prints for Wildlife Fundraiser Running for the third year, Prints for Wildlife will be raising funds for African Parks. This conservation non-profit currently manages 20 parks in 11 countries on behalf of governments in the hope of safeguarding and securing protected areas in Africa. Over 100 wildlife photographers will donate one fine art print each,…
The Airstream Rangeline Touring Coach Is European Inspired, and We Like It
During a recent tour of Central America, we dragged ourselves away from Antigua, Guatemala, to visit blissful Lake Atitlán. The access road to the lake is a steep suicide pass with 17 hairpin turns, the acrid smell of burnt brakes, and clutches lingering in the green jungle air. Relieved, hot, and bothered, we reached the…
Bearmach Land Rover Parts Placed Under Administration
Land Rover owners and mechanics, particularly those who own and work on older vehicles, were shocked to discover last week that the well-respected and popular aftermarket retailer, Bearmach, has thrown in the towel. The company was incorporated on 24 April 1958, originally trading as Bearings and Machinery before the name was changed to Bearmach in…
Feature Vehicle :: 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 V8
Once a year, I fall happily down the Top Gear rabbit hole and binge the “Specials,” where the chaps generally buy old vehicles within a genre and start the episode off by putting the vehicles under extreme pressure to expose the vehicles’ weaknesses, thereby making them unreliable. They will then modify the vehicles to be…
Nomadix Puffer Blanket: An Ultra-versatile Blanket For Minimalist Overlanders and Travelers
“Own Less. Do More” is more a manifesto than just a tagline for Nomadix. They call their first and most popular product The Only Towel You Need. In short, it’s designed to work for everything you could possibly use a towel for. Nomadix’s original towel is lightweight, super-absorbent, odor and sand-resistant, and dries quickly. And…
Expo Gear You Will Want to Explore: Savvy Creations for Outdoor Comfort
Amid massive builds with habitat boxes, larger-than-life bumpers, rooftop tents, and overlanding gear at this year’s Overland Expo Mountain West in Loveland, Colorado, the displays of homegrown and sustainable-minded companies punctuated the landscape. These are the companies and products that always garner my attention for their creative ability to meet industry demands and emerging markets….
The Caracat Floating Camper Trailer – The Sky is the Limit!
Many long-distance, long-term overlanders eventually become sailors, or cruisers as they are known, who choose to explore the planet by water once they have had their fill of exploring by land. Why? Well, living on the water has distinct advantages (and obvious disadvantages); you can fish for protein, do not have to pay for camping…
Feature Vehicle :: Overland Site’s 1998 Iveco TurboDaily 4×4
Photography by Richard Giordano Ferenc Elekes received email alerts from mobile.de for two years before a 1998 Iveco TurboDaily 4×4 classified ad showed up in his inbox. The vehicle was 1,000 kilometers away from Ferenc’s home base in Hungary, but he and partner Evelin Veisz decided to commit to it sight unseen. Sure, the owner…
Fly-and-Drive Kit: Universal Equipment That Works Anywhere in the World
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Summer 2022 Issue. Over the years, I have found myself stepping into rented or borrowed vehicles for a myriad of trips. These adventures include flying into a destination, borrowing a vehicle, and dry camping for multiple days. Last year I chased the Baja 1000 and needed…
Scosche Powerup 600 Torch Portable Emergency Car Jumpstarter: For The Time When Your Vehicle Needs A Jump
Headquartered in Ventura County, California, Scosche is a family-owned company of outdoor enthusiasts that creates consumer technology for adventurers. They make vehicle accessories, car audio products, and other electronics, testing them in real-world scenarios to see how they’ll fare. I’ve been testing the Scosche Powerup 600 Torch portable emergency jumpstarter for the past month. I…
Making it Out Alive: Learn to save your own life or the one you love
Fieldcraft Survival and TacMed Solutions, companies providing industry-leading medical, simulation, and protection solutions for combat military personnel and first responders, collaborated on this comprehensive trauma kit, the MTK (Mobility Trauma Kit), with everyday mobility, off-roading, and overlanding in mind. The kit includes everything you could need in a life-threatening emergency: a tourniquet, modular bandages, combat…
Stopping the Bleed: Yes, it Can Happen to You
Kevin Henson has been answering calls to horrific accident scenes for at least 34 years. The trained paramedic and retired fire chief still grimaces a little when thinking about the worst accidents he’s attended. Many of them involved motorcycles. But there’s one item he never reached for in a trauma event: a first-aid kit. When…
Overland News of the Week, September 2nd, 2022
Decked Traction Mat by SeaDek I’m a big fan of companies that look to further maximize the functionality of their existing products, and the Decked Traction Mat by SeaDek is one such example. The mat is made from marine-grade, self-adhesive foam padding router-cut to fit the top of the Decked Drawer System. This provides a…
Announcing the E7 200M Land Cruiser Camper :: The Ultimate Toyota Overlander?
There are many lessons learned in traveling around the world, and the same was true for Greg Miller of Expeditions 7. From 2011 to 2014, Greg Miller and I traveled to all seven continents with the same vehicle, a VDJ78 Toyota Land Cruiser Troopy. It was the perfect platform for the task, but resulted in…
Starlink and T-Mobile Team Up to Launch “Coverage Above and Beyond”
Due to the absence of a significant cellular tower network in rural and low-population areas in the USA, mobile connectivity is a challenge when traveling off the beaten track, but, eventually, we will look back on the good old days when you could pack the rig and leave the world, and the internet, behind while…
Go Fast Campers Introduces Maverick XL Hybrid Platform Camper
Overland vehicles are becoming increasingly intricate and expensive but, truth be told, overland travel is not so much about the vehicle as it is about the journey, and every dollar spent on the vehicle is a dollar less that can be invested in actual travel. What if we told you that you could have a…
Feature Vehicle :: Jeep Gladiator Rubicon
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Summer 2022 Issue When selecting a vehicle platform to explore Australia’s wild and remote corners, the list of iconic badges is staggering. Over the years, the Aussie market has been blessed with virtually every platform and model of serious 4×4 ever produced. After years of dreaming,…