Interesting how this forum and overlanding has changed over the years...

[jays0n]

I built my trailer about 5 years ago now and I can't help but notice how this forum and overlanding in general has changed in as many years. When I was building my trailer this was a great resource for sharing ideas and solutions to problems that may come up during a build. At that time building was really your only option for getting a capable offroad trailer (with a few very expensive exceptions) which meant you could really only have one if you had handfuls of extra cash, the skills to build one or maybe a friend/relative to do it for you. Looking at this forum today and seeing that so many of the threads are about either buying or outfitting or problems with commercially available expedition trailers and that you can buy a RTT at REI, Costco and Cabela's now, I can't help but worry a bit that Overlanding in the US will be another one of those things that dies from becoming too popular. In the last 5 years we have seen a huge increase in trash left on trails, vandalism, camp fires where they are illegal to have and just way too crowded places that used to be deserted. Perhaps it's just because the Seattle area has grown exponentially and many of the people that have moved here have more money than brains or maybe I'm imagining the whole thing. Opinions?

 

[Superduty]

You are not imagining it.

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[ohanacrusader]

Hipsters won't leave trash in the wilderness cause they are outfitting their rigs to go too shows and shopping at REI, majority of them never even make it to a trail. But I do agree it has definitely changed.

 

[FireMedic82]

I completely agree. Not seeing too many builds like you mention anymore. Not that I've seen anyway.

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[Brianj5600]

I have a build started and will start s thread soon. The box is 80"x48"x31" and topped with a Smittybuilt XL. It willl evolve over time using it along the way.

 

[jays0n]

Hipsters not getting dirty reminds me of a funny story...

I had my FJ Cruiser and trailer at an employee car show where I worked a few years ago. They had a few cars/trucks spread over the campus and the bulk of them on a floor of the parking garage. They put me outside near a few Jeeps. I got all set up, solar deployed, tent and all and was grilling lunch for my team and answering a million questions about the setup. As for the Jeeps they were completely done up, this was years ago when there were not knockoff LEDs from China, just Rigid Industries. They each had at least $10k of lighting, tons of recover gear, King suspension, sand ramps, hi-lifts, winches, on board air, etc. They easily dropped $20-$30k on accessories. After speaking with them it was very clear that they didn't do any of the work themselves and barely understood what the upgrades they had were even for. The Jeeps were black and spotless, I mean spotless top to bottom. I had washed the FJ but that doesn't hide the trail damage, scratches, dirty suspension, etc. I asked how they were able to get them so clean and they were confused. I said, you know, how did you get all the dirt and mud off and their answer was, "what dirt?" and walked away insulted that I would suggest they go offroad with their probably $75k Jeeps.

I built a fiberglass dinoot tub based trailer with lots of outfitting (solar, water, hot water, propane, etc) and used to get lots of PMs with questions about how i did this or do you think this other idea would work but haven't gotten any in a while. I was always happy to help as everyone else was when I asked questions. There is a spot we used to go on a mountain peak not far from here, fire road access. Last time i tried to go there was a Subaru parked in the spot and trash all over that was never there. I hope people get bored with it so it can go back to the way it was before

 

[s.e.charles]

bro, you gotta love the 'gram.

 

[old_CWO]

Well, I am old enough to remember when we just called it "camping..."

Honestly I don't begrudge anyone for how they spend their money or free time, more power to you.

However:
After attending Overland Expo 2018, I doubled down on getting back to basics a little more like I did with my Grandpa and my scout troop when I was a kid. I was taught that simple, reliable multipurpose gear (some of which you might make yourself) and your wits were all you really needed to have an outdoor adventure. As a matter of fact I had a lot of them like that.

You know what trailer we used? My great-uncle's stone stock MBT that he got after coming home from the war. Reliable as an anvil and rock simple.

I just personally get a little overwhelmed by drones, giant solar systems, Instagramming, titanium sporks, $3K Chinese nylon taffeta tents, and washing down Wagyu beef with Chateau Lafite while out in the woods.

 

[Christian P.]

Maybe it is the Harley Davidson crowd that has moved on to Overlanding?

 

[Spanna 53]

Boys and girls it's the same here in Australia as a Scout I camped and hiked for years with next to nothing my first 4wd was an old 55 Cruiser wagon no fancy accessorys 1 bloke in our mob had a Warn winch most of us had a snatch strap but that was all when I built my first camper based on a Cubcamper with independent suspension 34 years ago people said why not go in to production hu to many on the market I said no look at them all now good camping Ross

 

[FosterWV]

The 90s Honda guys w big spoiler wings have grown up and have become Toyota guys w big LED bars.......

We still call it camping....

 

[09Busaman]

I cant see that from my perspective as this will be new to me and my wife and the our dog Homer. I can tell you that we have finally reached a point in our life where we can get away and only worry about us, camping has always been a love, travel has always been a love, and we want to combine the two. We purchased our truck to eventually pull a toy hauler with our Harley. But for now, we want to explore the back roads in Colorado, Utah, and wherever else we can find. I used to love to hit the back roads in my old Dodge Ram.
Moving on, I have looked at a variety of options, the trailer didnt seem to work for me, so we are going the camper shell route. I hope I can be of assistance to anyone on this board as I will be doing most of the work myself to get the truck outfitted and organized.
Thanks for having me and I hope to share what I can and learn as much as I can.

 

[dwh]

bro, you gotta love the 'gram.

Gotta love it when they have rack bars running across over the solar panels...

Guess HandyBob was TL;DR...






(POS forum software...doesn't matter if I use asterisk before/after the word over, or underscore - the frigging crap software "auto-corrects" it to italic. If I freaking wanted italic, I'd USE italic. What I don't need, nor at all want, is a wannabe pseudo-AI grammar nanny. ESPECIALLY a retarded grammar nanny.

But of course, retarded programs exist because retarded programmers always think their "gee whiz" doohickey is so nifty.

RAH wrote about the epic battles he had to fight with editors to get them to stop "fixing" things that he had done deliberately...)

 

[s.e.charles]

Maybe it is the Harley Davidson crowd that has moved on to Overlanding?

loud snow peak saves dinners?

 

[s.e.charles]

I cant see that from my perspective as this will be new.... I will be doing most of the work myself to get the truck outfitted and organized. ….

pitchas! we like lotsa pitchas!!