One of the cornerstones of overland travel is self-reliance, a trait inspired by the remote locations we visit and the unpredictability of vehicle-based backcountry exploration. We may be parked for days on a secluded beach in Baja, needing to keep both the fresh fish and the Coronas cold. Or we might have accidentally left the…
Reviewed: Roofnest Sparrow Eye Roof Tent
From a not too distant past, the definition of “home” was as concrete as its foundation. It was a solidly built place with four walls, a roof, and was permanently placed onto a chosen piece of land. Fast forward to more recent times, and that definition has completely changed, taking on a much more metaphysical…
Reviewed: WARN Epic Trail Gear Bags
I’d say it’s a fair bet that nearly every person reading this story has at least heard of Warn. Their winches, locking hubs, and recovery gear are legendary amongst enthusiasts and have earned a reputation of bullet-proof reliability and unrelenting effectiveness the world over. Recently though, they’ve expanded past their usual bread and butter lines…
Roof Top Tent Comparison Test :: Who Takes the Prize?
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Spring 2019. I still remember how -57°F felt, a cold beyond description, as if all life had escaped along with my body heat. I recall fighting against the cover of the roof tent, the vinyl becoming hard as stone in the frigid temperatures of the northern Canadian…
15% Off Overland Expo East :: Promo Code
The Overland Expo is one of the most exciting events of the year, a chance to reconnect with friends, listen to stories of adventure, and explore the newest products for overlanding. While the west show has been huge in recent years, the east event is also growing, and now changing venues to Arrington, Virginia and…
Warn Launches the VR EVO Winch
There are few accessory brands with the legacy and customer loyalty of Warn. Producing a winch is a risky endeavor, manufacturing something that might literally become an overlander’s lifeline. Warn was the first to pioneer the electric vehicle winch nearly 70 years ago, and we have used their winches around the globe and have found…
Reviewed: The Omnia Oven We Never Knew We Needed
Cooking meals on the road is often defined by a “keep it simple” attitude. We gravitate toward dishes easily prepared on a camp stove like fajitas, tacos, brats, grilled meats, and vegetables, but sometimes we find ourselves craving more. That’s where the Omnia comes in. This lightweight stove-top oven has brought a variety of meals…
The Overland Photographer’s Camera Kit
Photography by Bruce Dorn and Stephanie Worstein You often hear “It’s the artist, not the tool,” that really matters. While that may be true in some cases, things definitely get more complicated when we’re talking about photographers and their choice of camera equipment. At its foundation, photography is both an art and a mechanical craft,…
Why COBB Might Be The Best Overland Grill
Food is a universal language shared around the world. It’s a way to experience each other’s cultures, broaden one another’s horizons, and break down barriers between strangers, so it should come as no surprise that cooking and overlanding go together like chimichurri and steak. Of course, preparing that steak on a camp stove would be…
Reviewed: LifeSaver Jerrycan Water Purifier
Every so often, we find a product that wildly exceeds our expectations. This is the case with the LifeSaver 18.5 liter water purifying jerrycan, a robust and easy to use solution for removing 99.9% of protozoa, 99.99% of viruses, and 99.9999% of bacteria from water, while also improving turbidity from silted sources like glacial rivers…
Reviewed: Kinsmen Hardware 270 Awning
I must’ve used my traditional-style car awning only a handful of times over the year or so that I owned it, mostly because of the difficulty it took to set it up. Whenever I wanted to use my awning while I was by myself, it was almost always a quick “Nope” as I laughed at…
Factor 55 Releases New Recovery Straps and Soft Shackles
Overland News :: Factor 55 Press Release (unedited as supplied by the manufacturer) Soft Shackles- The Factor 55 10 inch Standard Duty Soft Shackles are Made in the USA under the uncompromising Factor 55 quality standards. Like all Factor 55 rigging products, these shackles have been lab and field tested to assure consistent repeatable minimum…
First Look: DMOS Delta Shovel
There are some things overlanders shouldn’t leave home without: a jack, spare tire, lug wrench, and medical kit, for example. But out of all the tools you should be carrying, the shovel seems to receive the least consideration despite being one of the most used. That’s something DMOS set out to change with their line…
Reviewed: Nemo Roamer Sleeping Pad
It’s amazing just how much of overlanding revolves around sleep. People are willing to spend thousands of dollars on rooftop tents, install campers, and even convert the interiors of their vehicles for a good night’s rest, but who can blame them? When you’re fatigued your patience dwindles, enthusiasm burns low, and you wind up finding…
Reviewed: Yokohama’s Geolandar X-AT Tire
I’ve been using Yokohama Tire’s on my vehicles for over three years now, and have run both the Geolandar G015 A/T and Geolandar G003 M/T tire. I loved the performance of both tires but always wished for something between the less aggressive G015 A/T and knobby M/T. For me, the perfect tire is one that…
Field Tested: Sea To Summit Comfort Deluxe S.I. Sleeping Pad
It’s surprising how persistent our bad associations with air mattresses are. I can tell someone I’ve been living on the road for a year and a half, sleeping in my truck during rain and snow and they won’t even bat an eye. But add in that I’ve slept on an inflatable pad for most of…
Classic Kit: Tents
From Robert Scott to the sultans of the Sinai, the tent has always been home away from home.
Helinox Table Review
In the eternal march to find the gear that best fits our travel style and tastes, a table is a simultaneously easy and complicated piece of equipment. Size is one of the biggest limiting factors when deciding on how we will keep our plates, notebooks, stoves, and all other manner of gear from crashing to…
Made in the Shade – Overland Journal’s 270 Awning Head To Head Test
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Summer 2019. As I tightened the last bolt of the awning’s mounting bracket, I smiled, envisioning how the scene would unfold. Soon I would be sitting on some remote sandy beach, the waves lapping on the shore while I sipped a cold drink beneath the unfurled…
Overland News :: Warn Synthetic Rope and Soft Shackles
Over the past decade, significant improvements in winching component safety has become available to the overland traveler, mostly as a result of synthetic ropes and soft shackles. The primary advantage of these products is to reduce the total mass of the winching components under load, a soft shackle weighing a fraction of a steel screw…