We’re being told that this year’s Overland Expo West was the biggest ever in terms of attendance, but I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that it was the largest in terms of square footage as well. Food trucks filled the square, off-road test courses dotted the Arizona landscape, and over 360 exhibitors filled in…
Overland Expo West 2019: A First Look
Overland Expo West is back, under new management, and bigger than ever. After spending nearly all of day one walking across the Fort Tuthill fairgrounds, we have barely scratched the surface of the amazing vehicles, gear, and people spread throughout this event. There are innovative new campers, stunning restorations, and a heap of brand new…
Garmin’s Overlander GPS Can Replace All of Your Off-Road Apps
These days it seems like there’s nothing a smart phone can’t do. From listening to music and taking pictures, to answering emails and browsing the internet, they’ve become integrated into nearly every aspect of our daily lives. It’s no wonder why most of us have ditched the old GPS units for an array of navigation…
Field Tested: AMP Research PowerStep
The overland community certainly has its debates: Toyota versus Land Rover, wide tires versus tall skinny tires, roof tent versus ground tent and so much more, but there’s one thing that almost all of us can agree on, and that’s the removal of factory running boards. That’s because they significantly reduce the breakover angle and…
Field Tested: Baja Designs LP6 Pro
Whenever I’m lucky enough to spend time with experienced overlanders, I try to glean some knowledge from their travels. I’ve heard tips on packing, tricks to help win favor with border agents, and even recommendations on a leather hat selection for repairing engine gaskets, but there’s one piece of advice that seems to be universal,…
Overland for Baja
Photography by Ryan Resatka and Francis Fraioli It’s an expansive tract of land, roughly equivalent in length to the West Coast of the United States, but with countless roads that to this day remain unmapped and infrequently traveled. Like many deserts, it’s a place the earth wants for itself. The sense of isolation and beauty…
Initial Impressions: The General Grabber A/Tx
Crap was about the only word my brain could process as I felt the rock shift beneath the Excursion’s mass, letting the rear end slip from its precarious perch down into a ditch. The truck stopped with a thud, and I sighed in annoyance at the situation. Just a few hours earlier I had been…
James Baroud Tents Now Come in 250 Colors
The stereotypical overlander is supposed to be utilitarian, never choosing form over function, and always prioritizing the adventure, but I’d be lying if I said looks didn’t matter. We’re automotive enthusiasts after all, and each of us wants to build a vehicle that not only performs well on the trail, but represents our personal style…
Gear Bag: April
DayStar Cradles Airbags are a rather hotly debated subject in the overland space, and there are good arguments on both sides of the fence. Personally, I’m a firm believer that you should never rely on them for your regular driving conditions, as a vehicle’s suspension should be catered toward its most common operating weight, but…
Jeep JL ICON Suspension
It is easy to list the specs of a new product and publish the press release, but what is too often a secondary thought is how will a product perform in a month, four months, 7,000 miles and longer after installation. At Expedition Portal, we prefer to review and report on products after we have…
Yeti Hondo Base Camp Chair Review
Yeti is an impressive company, based on a simple ethos: “Build the cooler (i.e., product) you’d use every day if it existed.” They certainly made their name constructing extremely robust coolers that endure full-tilt adventure travel, but they have also extended their product line to include soft coolers, drinkware, bags, and now chairs. Pulling the…
Overlanding with Packboats
Packboat is my made-up word for easily portable boats that roll into a bag but deploy in minutes, in contrast with hardshell kayaks or canoes in aluminum, plastic, or composite. I’m here to suggest that if lugging a cumbersome hardshell on your overland rig isn’t for you, then a packboat weighing from 2 to 40…
Lightforce Genesis LED Driving Lights
Australia’s Lightforce has long been known as one of the kings in auxiliary vehicular lighting. They offer up superior LED driving lights, and their round 140W LED Genesis 8.3-inch diameter model is no exception. Our 4×4 needed secondary lights for dedicated off-road use. We’re constantly traversing uneven terrain at night (or in thick forests) and…
Expedition Portal and Cummins have partnered to help make your diesel dreams reality
You fall asleep at night thinking of your next vehicle project. You wake up in the morning to phantom smells of diesel fuel. You pull away from stop signs with a disappointing want for more torque. If you’ve given up hope and dismissed your ideas of having a diesel engine as unrealistic folly, or if…
Field Tested: DMOS Stealth Shovel
Jackson, Wyoming-based DMOS is a force to be reckoned with. Since their Kickstarter debut in the fall of 2015, this woman-owned company has taken the bull by its horns. DMOS exists to build tools that are purpose-built, portable, and engineered to outlast its customers. They make shovels. They make highly durable shovels. The Stealth is…
Field Tested: Lithium444 Power Pack by Flexopower
At events like Overland Expo, you can’t even throw your favorite collapsible spork without hitting at least one new portable power pack dealer. To be special in this market, you can’t just be good; you have to excel. When I was asked to review the new Flexopower Lithium444 I wasn’t all that excited until Chris…
Organizational Alchemy
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Fall 2018. “Junk show” were the words used to describe one camper’s vehicle, the back seat and storage area a cascading pile of sagging Rubbermaid containers and crisscrossed bungee cords. While the words were harsh, the Internet, and community forums in particular, often show little…
Locked and Loaded
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Spring 2018. I still remember my very first overland trip, a 4-day journey across El Camino Del Diablo, the infamous border road with Mexico that crosses the most remote region of the Sonoran Desert. The track has been in use for over 1,000 years, including…
The Modern Campaign Camp
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Fall 2017. In the ever-expanding lexicon of the backcountry traveler, a new word has emerged which, depending on your personal perspective, can register as a compliment or a pejorative. That term, glamping, is a clever portmanteau melding the word glamorous with camping. It is in…
My Favorite Free Travel Apps
I have been living on the road for just over a year now, and one of the more common questions I receive is What are the best apps for travel and overlanding? As you can imagine, this is a tough question to answer. There are so many useful applications out there these days that I…