Overland News January 2024: Events Roundup, Best Gear of 2023, and New Overland Products

Scott Brady

Scott Brady is an adventurer, author, and publisher, and the first person in history to cross all seven continents. Brady is executive publisher of the Overland Collective, home to Overland Journal, the Overland Journal Podcast, and expeditionportal.com—the world’s largest vehicle-dependent adventure community. Scott wrote Overlanding 101 (Simon & Schuster) and is currently riding around the world on his BMW GS. He also led Expeditions 7, the first expedition to drive the same vehicle on all seven continents. Brady’s polar crossings include Antarctica and a south–north crossing of the Greenland ice sheet. Scott is a fellow of the Explorers Club and lives in Prescott, Arizona.

Tune in Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Our No Compromise Clause: We do not accept advertorial content or allow advertising to influence our coverage, and our contributors are guaranteed editorial independence. Overland Collective may earn a small commission from affiliate links included in this article. We appreciate your support.

Transcript

Scott Brady: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to the OVERLAND JOURNAL podcast. I’m recording this introduction on a drizzly morning here in Marrakech, Morocco. About to spend some time testing out the new Ducati DesertX. But for today’s conversation, I’m joined by Brian McVickers, and we’re gonna go into some of the overland news for January, which is gonna include a deep dive into some of the overland events that we can expect for this year, for 2024, including a very cool new music

Brian McVickers: festival/overland event in Utah.

So please enjoy my conversation with Brian McVickers.

Scott Brady: So Brian, thanks for coming back for another round of overland news- You bet. It’s good to see you … for the Over- for the OVERLAND JOURNAL podcast.

Brian McVickers: You’ve been trekking across Africa

Scott Brady: over the past few months. I, yeah, I, yeah, I have been, flat out. And it’s been an interesting exercise for me because I’m realizing that The things that are w-where I’m at in [00:01:00] my life, the things that I wanna do are bigger projects.

Mm. So it’s, it’s really requiring me to triage, um, the, the minor things in life so that I can major in the majors.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: And that’s been an interesting challenge ’cause I’m looking for… At first, what I did was I looked for as many ways as I could be more productive as possible. So I went on this, like, tirade of reading productivity books and everything else like that.

And I found that a couple things worked. Most of them didn’t work or they weren’t sustainable for me, and that’s the challenge. It’s the same with dieting. It’s so individual what actually helps to drive change in your life

Brian McVickers: and- Sure, yeah. The, the, the best five things to do- Uh- … this book isn’t necessarily for everybody.

Scott Brady: Yeah. And there’s so many different principles out there around productivity, but the one thing that I did find was very helpful is to i-identify what the next most important thing was. Now, [00:02:00] this may not work for everyone ’cause maybe they have a boss or something like that, but for me, there’s, like, these bigger levers that I need to be able to pull in order to get things done, the imp-important things finished.

So there’s this whole idea around listing in the areas of your life that you have identified as most important, what is the next most important step?

Brian McVickers: Hmm.

Scott Brady: And I suspect, ’cause I know that this was true in my life, but in a lot of people’s lives, there’s these things that are really important that you think you can put off for one more day- Right

and then one more day, and then you miss out on these really big opportunities because you spent a bunch of time answering emails or text messages or maybe even scrolling on social media-

Brian McVickers: Yeah, it’s easy to get wrapped up in it all …

Scott Brady: in the minutiae, so then you’re never accomplishing anything significant that really moves the ball forward down the field.

So I found for me, I have a list of the top three next and most, next most important things that are related to my personal [00:03:00] life, which includes health- And that are related to my business. So, um, I know all the time what’s the next most important thing. Mm-hmm. And I wish that there was a way for me to, like, dangle a neon sign around my chest that just said, “I’m so sorry that I haven’t gotten back to you.”

But the reality is, is that if I got back to everyone who reached out to me in as timely a fashion as possible, I would never get anything done.

Brian McVickers: You can’t. There’s no, it’s, there’s no productivity. You’re stagnant.

Scott Brady: That’s right. Yeah. That’s right. So, and I realize that, like, working more, I mean, I already…

‘Cause I love what I do, I work seven days a week already. So like, I have to have other balance in my life. I have to be able to spend time with my girlfriend. I have to be able to spend time with my family. I have to be able to spend time on my health. Mm. And that means that if I wanna major in the majors and I wanna get big things done or do big trips or whatever else, I’ve gotta put a lot of that small stuff aside.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. It’s not easy to do. I’m not, I’ve [00:04:00] never considered myself a big, be a big, like, New Year’s resolution-

Scott Brady: Yeah …

Brian McVickers: type person, ’cause I don’t think that that has a long-lasting effect.

Scott Brady: They usually don’t.

Brian McVickers: Um, but I, I do appreciate the idea of there’s a, there’s a date on the calendar that kind of allows us all to reset.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: Right? And so probably the last two months as the year has turned over, I’ve gone through a lot of that as well, of like, what can you do better? How can you do better? What’s, what are the barriers in the way?

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And, and, and are they, are they really important barriers, right? So is it something that you should focus on and try to, you know, like smooth out that barrier or do you just push it aside, right?

Scott Brady: And so- What are you most proud of for what you did in 2023?

Brian McVickers: Oh, you know, I, I tell you what. For 2023, 2023 from the business world was not an easy world.

Scott Brady: Yeah, it was a hard year.

Brian McVickers: It was a hard year for a lot [00:05:00] of, a lot of companies, a lot of, a lot of consumers, right? Yeah. So it was difficult for a lot of consumers that I think-

Scott Brady: A lot of families were struggling with inflation

Brian McVickers: and, you know- Very much.

So I think everything that we’ve seen for the past couple of years has finally caught up, right? Yeah. I think, I remember at the end of 2022, you kinda had a lot of people screaming, “Hey, the sky is falling. There’s gonna be this major recession. We’re all doomed.” I don’t know that we necessarily hit that, you know, major catastrophe, but I do think that it, it kinda, it, that idea did impact 2023 in many ways.

Scott Brady: Yeah. By most standards, we had a fairly soft landing.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. A very, that’s a great

Scott Brady: way to put it. And the interest, the interest rate corrections are gonna help fuel some consumer demand because things will be less expensive from a monthly payment perspective. Yeah. Well, and, and also like, you know, just also as your friend, it’s just like I continue to be so impressed by you and your [00:06:00] kids.

I mean, like- Yeah … and Amy. It’s just like the, the things you guys have done as a family and just how incredible your son and daughter have turned out

Brian McVickers: Yeah, they’re both pretty amazing, and they’re doing- ‘

Scott Brady: Cause it’s, it’s hard to do that, Brian. I mean, like, like, it’s very, very difficult to not only still be married.

How long have you guys been married?

Brian McVickers: 23 years now.

Scott Brady: Okay. To still be with your same-

Brian McVickers: Going on 24, almost 24 years …

Scott Brady: to be with your spouse and to have healthy, happy kids-

Brian McVickers: Right …

Scott Brady: that are doing amazing things in the world, and are amazing to be around.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: Like, that’s gotta be the top 1% of 1% of outcomes for most people.

Brian McVickers: It-

Scott Brady: they’re just-

Brian McVickers: It’s nor- it’s normal to me. I mean, that, ’cause that’s our- Thankfully … uh, thankfully, it’s normal.

Scott Brady: Thankfully, it’s normal for you, but-

Brian McVickers: You know, I mean, the more people we hang out with and the more kids my… Uh, the, the, the more kids I meet the same age as our kids, everyone, I’m like, “Our kids are pretty, pretty special.”

You know, our son, Max, he’s just, you know, he’s shi- Rockstar … shining. Yeah, he’s doing-

Scott Brady: So he just had a mountain [00:07:00] bike race- Yeah … this last weekend.

Brian McVickers: Three days ago, on Saturday- Yeah … he had a mountain bike race. Those

Scott Brady: photos were so great.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, it’s cool. It’s a first. He, he races on the high school team, and then this is a, it’s called NBAA, so it’s, uh, it’s kind of the Arizona independent racing division, which is, like, an offse- off-season thing from the high school season, so.

Scott Brady: It looked like he was kind of sponsored by maybe one of the local bike shops or something. He is, yeah.

Brian McVickers: He’s with High Gear Bike Shop.

Scott Brady: Dude, that’s so cool.

Brian McVickers: He’s on their team, yeah. It’s, um-

Scott Brady: That’s incredible.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, it’s really neat.

Scott Brady: No, it’s absolutely-

Brian McVickers: He’s a 16-year-old, you know- Yeah … and he’s, and he’s doing great.

He’s got a great bike. He’s, he’s on a Niner Rocket, you know, and it’s just one, it’s one of those, you know, 23, 22-pound carbon fiber race bikes. And-

Scott Brady: Wow …

Brian McVickers: and he makes that thing so fast.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And he’s really doing well this year, so.

Scott Brady: Oh, man, that’s so

Brian McVickers: awesome. Yeah, he placed in state, and he, he did, he’s on the podium half of the year, so it was great.

Scott Brady: Oh, that, man, that’s incredible. So. Yeah. Yeah, you should be really pr- proud of that, Brian. So the next thing that we wanted to kind of touch on is what, looking back on 2023, what were some of [00:08:00] the gadgets, personal purchases- Oh … um, that you really found hit the mark for you?

Brian McVickers: Yeah. It’s funny when you look back at, at 12 months, I mean, kind of doing what we do, how many different vehicles have we driven this year, and how many different gadgets have come across our desk, you know, and things- Yeah

that we’ve used. Um, you know, from a productivity standpoint, um, I’d say the, the biggest change from a productivity standpoint of just, like, work management is, um, I went to that, that iPad.

Scott Brady: Yeah, the iPad Pro? Yeah,

Brian McVickers: you, yeah, the one I got from you.

Scott Brady: Yeah, the iPad Pro, yeah.

Brian McVickers: Right. And so the iPad Pro, ’cause I had been on, I had been on Mac laptop, everything Mac, except I was using, like, a, like, a PC Microsoft tablet.

Scott Brady: Right.

Brian McVickers: And it just didn’t, didn’t fit. It was, like, the odd thing out, right?

Scott Brady: Yeah, once you’re in the ecosystem, it kind of works.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, so going over to that, being completely Apple across the board, you know, whether you like Apple or not, it’s [00:09:00] just that idea of being in, have- One cohesive operating system

Scott Brady: Yep

Brian McVickers: You know, it, whe- whether it works all the time or not, at least you’re not trying to make, you know, it’s not the square peg in a round hole.

You know, everything’s working together. So that, that has really helped a lot ’cause I do all my notes with that little stylus.

Scott Brady: Sure.

Brian McVickers: And, um, so that, that does a lot. Um, and then, you know, vehicle-wise, I know we’ll probably dive deeper into it a lot more later, but I think there were a couple of vehicles that really stood out to me this year, and I drove- I probably drove more vehicles at product launches this year than any other year.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: Um, which- Yeah, ’cause

Scott Brady: I’ve been gone ‘

Brian McVickers: Cause you’ve been gone, so you’re welcome to stay away as long as you’d like. ‘Cause it’s a lot of fun to go to those vehicle launches.

Scott Brady: It is fun.

Brian McVickers: Um, and so I’m happy to do that. It’s, that’s a, that’s a great part of the job. But I would say one that I was, well, I mean, to begin with, you start the year At least I kind of started the year with, with Easter Jeep and Moab, which [00:10:00] was kind of April timing, right?

And actually before that, we did a Range Rover thing up in Park City.

Scott Brady: Yep.

Brian McVickers: Um, and that was really cool. It, it snowed like 27 inches in 12 hours.

Scott Brady: Great environment for a Land Rover. It

Brian McVickers: was amazing. Yeah.

Scott Brady: Yeah, they’re really well-suited to that.

Brian McVickers: And that- and we got to see the debut of their Range Rover house and a lot of different things there.

Um, not a lot of driving with that event, but then in, in Moab, we got to do the… You know, every year Jeep does the five to seven kind of Mopar Skunk Works projects.

Scott Brady: Concept vehicles. Yeah. And- Which one is your favorite of all the concepts?

Brian McVickers: Of the concepts, I think I really liked that, um, the Magneto- Oh, sure

Magneto 3, right? So it was- Yeah,

Scott Brady: yeah …

Brian McVickers: fully electric. I liked it as a proof of concept vehicle.

Scott Brady: Yeah, yeah.

Brian McVickers: Right? So it was fully electric, 900 foot-pounds of torque, 900 horsepower. I think it was on 44-inch tires.

Scott Brady: As it should be. Yeah.

Brian McVickers: It had- Yeah … you [00:11:00] know- Or at

Scott Brady: least 40s. Yeah …

Brian McVickers: it was a zero degree approach and departure angle.

I mean, the thing was insane.

Scott Brady: Wicked.

Brian McVickers: And, you know, when you get into the details of it, yeah, it probably had like a 50-mile range- Yeah … but that didn’t matter.

Scott Brady: No, it didn’t matter.

Brian McVickers: Like, it, it’s a proof of concept, right? Sure,

Scott Brady: sure.

Brian McVickers: And so a lot of people would look at it, and there was a lot of chatter about like, “Oh, it’s useless.”

It’s like, no, the thing’s amazing.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: You know? And so that was really neat to get to drive that. Um-

Scott Brady: And that’s the thing about innovation, is you have to have version 1.0 of anything. You

Brian McVickers: do.

Scott Brady: And if you… A- and unfortunately, people are so critical that they don’t even… They can’t see the future, ’cause they, all they know is what they have now.

Brian McVickers: Right.

Scott Brady: So- And if

Brian McVickers: it’s different than what they have now-

Scott Brady: Then it’s- …

Brian McVickers: somehow

Scott Brady: it’s wrong … it’s gotta be terrible. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Brian McVickers: No, so if you look at it from the innovative standpoint, I really thought that was a neat concept vehicle. Um-

Scott Brady: And then you got to spend some time with that Grand Wagoneer- I did

that we ended up getting to have here at the office. And-

Brian McVickers: Yeah, the Grand Wagoneer was a, was a great truck. It was a little big. Um, I think just from my- It’s…

Scott Brady: No, it’s very big. It’s a- It’s a Suburban.

Brian McVickers: [00:12:00] It’s a big car.

Scott Brady: It’s a Suburban. Yeah.

Brian McVickers: Um, and so it’s a, it’s a big truck. You know, it’s like you said, it’s the size of a Suburban.

And it’s not… You know, it, it has a suspension that I think- Yeah … lifts up a little bit.

Scott Brady: Air suspension, yeah.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, so I, I really, I really enjoyed driving that vehicle.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: Um, but it was big. It was big. Like, you had to… It’s one of those vehicles that every time you get in it, you walk around it- Yeah, sure

to remind you where the corners are. You know, it’s a big, big, big truck. And they had that, ooh, the RedTail Overland tent on top.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: You know, and so it was really well-

Scott Brady: Interesting … well

Brian McVickers: done on the inside.

Scott Brady: Yeah, interesting- Yeah … proof of concept. I really liked how they redid the fender flares that moved the belt line up at the tires, and they went with a much larger diameter tire.

And it, in my mind, it completely changed the look of the vehicle in a positive direction. I’ve always felt like that the small wheel wells, it, it, it- Underclasses the car. Yeah. Like, like premium vehicles like that need to have bigger wheel wells and [00:13:00] bigger wheels or tires.

Brian McVickers: It really didn’t look- So- If you look at a s- like a, a stock Wagoneer- Yeah

it doesn’t look like a Wagoneer.

Scott Brady: Yeah, it looks… Yeah, it was very cool. Very, very much like they showed up with the Overland edition. It worked.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: So yeah, pretty cool.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, and then from that same event coming home, I drove that, um… It was the, it was the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe, and that was a really…

I, I really enjoyed driving that vehicle. I drove it from Moab back to Prescott, and there was at one point I filled up, I filled up the fuel tank, and I had zero auxiliary battery left, right? I, you know, but it does this self-regenerating-

Scott Brady: Yeah, and it’s hybrid, so every time you s- put on the brakes or lift the throttle-

Brian McVickers: You’re regenerating.

Scott Brady: Yep.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. And we, I drove that back from, I filled up in Flagstaff, and I drove to Prescott, which was only 100 miles or so. Yeah. But I, I pulled into Prescott, and you know how it says the, your range?

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: So I [00:14:00] had two miles, I gained two miles in range- Yeah … over 100 miles- Yeah … uh, which was pretty neat. Yeah.

You know, the fuel gauge never, never really moved-

Scott Brady: Yep …

Brian McVickers: and the overall range increased in that 100 miles. So I think from a practicality standpoint, as a daily driver and adventure vehicle, I really liked that one.

Scott Brady: Well, that’s so interesting that you say that because it, it, for me it was one of the standout vehicles from 2023 for me.

Mm-hmm. Like, if I didn’t do this as a profession, like if I just, like, was sailing around- It’s just fun for something … was sailing around the world and I needed a car back in Arizona-

Brian McVickers: Yeah …

Scott Brady: that would be the car I would buy because it, I love the fact that you have that plug-in hybrid range. Like where we live in Prescott, you know, anytime I’m driving a 4xe here, I charge it at the office, and it, it’s the equivalent of 50 something cents a gallon.

Brian McVickers: Mm-hmm.

Scott Brady: Um, which is much less than-

Brian McVickers: Just to drive around town- Correct … back and forth commuting.

Scott Brady: Correct. Yeah. In electricity, and I also never have [00:15:00] to go to a gas station. I just, I don’t have to interrupt my day. Like, I pull up to the office and I plug it in. It takes no time at all to plug it in. Yeah. And then it’s always got a full fuel tank, so I never have to go to the gas station, and I’m always ready to go on a long trip.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, and you don’t think twice about trying to plan out recharging stations on a long trip.

Scott Brady: And it’s a- Yeah … pleasure to drive in all conditions, including fairly technical terrain. And I even towed, um, an Escapod teardrop trailer with it off-road.

Brian McVickers: Oh, yeah. Those are cool.

Scott Brady: And I was really… Yeah, very nice trailer.

Like, I mean, it’s- it’s gotta be one of the most premium teardrops made- Yeah … period.

Brian McVickers: It’s got, I think, the, it’s got the cleanest lines out of anybody.

Scott Brady: Yeah, it’s this injection- ‘Cause

Brian McVickers: you really can’t see the-

Scott Brady: Injection molded …

Brian McVickers: any seams.

Scott Brady: It’s very quiet. I mean, it’s, it is ultra premium and it’s also expensive.

I mean, that’s the… With everything comes a, comes a caveat. Sure. But, um, it is, uh, [00:16:00] extremely well made. Made in the United States, made in Utah. Um, but yeah, the 4xe Grand Cherokee, for those that are like, that need a daily driver, but let’s say your commute’s around 10 miles, like, it’s like the perfect vehicle.

Yeah. It’s just the perfect vehicle. Now,

Brian McVickers: I drove the, I drove the Wrangler. It was a Wrangler Rubicon 4xe. Yep,

Scott Brady: you did.

Brian McVickers: And I drove that up over… I, I drove that from Prescott up to Loveland and took it to the Overland Expo. And then I dr- uh, coming home, I went up over Engineer Pass, which is, personally, it’s one of my favorite passes in Colorado to do.

There’s a couple of campsites- Yeah … that are up, I’m not gonna say where because-

Scott Brady: Is that the one- … they’re some of my favorite … where you drive by this, like, remote cabin with the little stream and everything on- Yeah … on the tr-

Brian McVickers: They’re building more, they’re building more properties up there now. Oh, man. But there is a…

You kind of do this right turn and you’re gotten just up above tree line, and there’s a little cabin that has a green… It’s a, like a, a bridge. [00:17:00] Yes. Uh, it’s a bridge walkway.

Scott Brady: Yes.

Brian McVickers: And so the, the house, the cabin’s built on like a rock spire.

Scott Brady: Yes. Yeah. That’s the one.

Brian McVickers: And then it’s completely surrounded by just empty air.

It’s beautiful. Emptiness. Yeah, it’s beautiful. Right? It’s a really cool one. I stopped and took a picture of that one. And then, um, but I, what I really enjoyed about the f- the Wrangler 4xe in that environment is- You know, I think it’s got maybe 25- Yep … miles of range. Yep. So I couldn’t use it the entire time, but so I filled up down in Lake City.

Scott Brady: Mm-hmm. Is it?

Brian McVickers: And then, you know, I drove it in, in gas mode up until I got to tree line, and then when I got to the tree line, I switched over to electron- el- electric only. And- And

Scott Brady: the other advantage of that is electric power is not affected by altitude.

Brian McVickers: Right. Yeah. So you didn’t feel- So you

Scott Brady: make- … any of that altitude

the same power at altitude as you do at sea level- Yeah … with electric. And the

Brian McVickers: torque, the torque of the, of the- Yeah … electro, I mean-

Scott Brady: In low range, for sure.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. You just, the, all those little ledges up above tree line- [00:18:00] Effortless … it was, yeah, not a, not an issue at all. And so I, I drove it all the way up to the summit on electric power, and rolled down all the windows, turned the radio off, and just drove.

Scott Brady: So cool.

Brian McVickers: And it was a completely different experience to, to be able to do that and then have that, that quietness and that calm and the peace- Just the crunch

Scott Brady: of the tires- Yeah … is all you get.

Brian McVickers: And it was, and so the key, the trick that I do, is I get to, I, I think it’s Lake City or City of Lakes- Yeah … right there.

Scott Brady: Lake City. Yeah.

Brian McVickers: Lake City. And I get there about, and ’cause this is usually in the middle of the summer, right? So I’ll get there about 6:00 PM, fill up with gas. They got, like, one f- you know, gas pump in the town. And then- All the side-by-side traffic is off the trail, all the Jeep traffic is off the trail.

There’s, like, nobody up there. So then you can go from there to the summit, and you get to the summit just as the sun is setting.

Scott Brady: Wow.

Brian McVickers: And there’s nobody around.

Scott Brady: Wow.

Brian McVickers: It’s gotta be one of [00:19:00] my favorite little side trips to do. Hmm. Um, and then you-

Scott Brady: But now everybody knows.

Brian McVickers: Now everybody knows, so- … just don’t do it when I’m there.

And then you drop over the other side, and you go down into Telluride- Yeah … the next morning, grab a coffee, and then drive home. But-

Scott Brady: So good, man.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, so that was a lot of fun. That was a good trip. But-

Scott Brady: Yeah, I think for me, when I look back on the year, I mean, there’s been, like, a couple … I, I do continue to, like, reduce my kit, but there are some things that I’ve really leaned on.

I really have liked the Garmin watch.

Brian McVickers: Mm-hmm.

Scott Brady: Um, I’ve always been a analog watch guy, but for traveling, I’m finding it to be very useful. And I use it on a daily basis for also tracking health metrics, primarily my sleep. So that’s been really useful. And I, and I’m still wearing my Oura Ring, and it’s been interesting to kind of compare the outcomes.

They

Brian McVickers: track very similarly?

Scott Brady: Some days they do- Yeah … and some days they don’t. But also, like, the watch is on my right wrist and the ring [00:20:00] is on my left hand, so if while I’m sleeping, you know, I don’t know, like, maybe I’m laying on my right side and my left might be moving, you know- Sure … who knows? It, it- Yeah, little

Brian McVickers: tiny things.

Scott Brady: Yeah, that maybe is making a difference. But it isn’t, it isn’t always exactly the same, but they’re both very actionable, kind of… But I, what I like about the Garmin is it’s not constantly yelling at me to do something like an Apple Watch.

Brian McVickers: Well, you can tr- you can turn a lot of that off on the Garmin, and you might be able to on the Apple as well.

Scott Brady: You probably can, uh, but the, you know, the Apple is very much tr- trying to keep you informed. Right. Whereas the Garmin is trying to keep you, um, accountable- Yeah … I would say more than anything.

Brian McVickers: Well, I’ve been using a Garmin watch as well, and it’s, aside from the, you know, everything that you would expect it to do, it does great.

Scott Brady: Mm-hmm.

Brian McVickers: But I’ve been, I … A couple weeks ago, I did a bit of a dip- deep dive into the apps.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And the apps are endless. I think it’s the IQ store.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And, and you can just get so many different things onto the watch. Right. And [00:21:00] so I’ve been … I spent a good couple of days using it to track skiing.

Scott Brady: Oh, cool.

Brian McVickers: Right? So it’s got a ski app. It’ll tell you, you know, how many runs you’ve done, your altitude, speeds, heart rate- Oh, that’s clever … things like that. And then, um, just the other day I figured out how to actually store music onto it.

Scott Brady: You can do that? Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And so, like, yesterday I went for a run, and I was able to play music on my watch to my earbuds and just left my phone behind, uh, which is great.

The only thing I wish, I think it’d be amazing if Garmin came out with a way to turn the watch into a phone.

Scott Brady: Yeah. Kind of like- Which you can do on the Apple Watch …

Brian McVickers: the Apple Watch. And I’m, I’m torn a little bit because especially for travel And I, and I’ve, I’ve kind of stopped using the Apple Watch and just use the Garmin watch even for travel.

Scott Brady: Same for me. Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And the thing about it, it’s got the flashlight on it.

Scott Brady: I know. It’s game

Brian McVickers: changer. I don’t know what it is, but I love having the flashlight-

Scott Brady: No, it’s a g- … for travel. At first I thought it, this is gonna be the biggest gimmick-

Brian McVickers: Right …

Scott Brady: of, [00:22:00] of all time. And then, and I was talking to Gianni And, um, G- Gianni Donati, if you’re listening, thank you for the insights on- But he’s like, he’s like, “No, no, no, dude.”

He’s like, he’s like, “I’m telling you,” and this guy’s pretty switched on. Yeah. He’s pretty stylish, and he’s like, “No, no, dude.” He’s like, “The, the light’s amazing.”

Brian McVickers: It is.

Scott Brady: And it’s amazing.

Brian McVickers: It’s the reason, like, if I’ve got my… I look at the Apple Watch- I’m so glad you brought that up … well, I look at the Apple Watch, and I really like it for travel because it has a, it’s a phone.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: Right? I have mine, it’s a cellular one. It c- Yeah … hooked up. It’s got its own phone number, everything. So it’s a phone, and so if I was to lose my phone, now I’ve got my watch.

Scott Brady: Right.

Brian McVickers: Right? But in reality, like, the Garmin does so much more, and it has the flashlight-

Scott Brady: Yeah …

Brian McVickers: that I’ve been taking the Garmin more, and I, like-

Scott Brady: The flashlight is so- I’ll

Brian McVickers: wear the, I’ll wear the Apple Watch as, like, a daily something every once in a while

Scott Brady: the flashlight is brighter than the flashlight on an iPhone.

Brian McVickers: Oh, by far.

Scott Brady: Yeah. And it has four different levels, plus a red mode.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: [00:23:00] So if you wanna, if you don’t wanna smoke your night vision-

Brian McVickers: Look at that …

Scott Brady: bam. For those who are watching on YouTube. But it’s a- No,

Brian McVickers: it’ll light up a room. It’s pretty cool.

Scott Brady: Yeah. It’s, it’s, it’s very, very useful. If-

Brian McVickers: But if they, if they figured out a way to make it have cellular integration- I don’t know.

Scott Brady: Yeah …

Brian McVickers: that would be, like- I don’t know. I’m kind of glad it doesn’t … now you would have everything.

Scott Brady: I’m kind of, kind of glad it doesn’t.

Brian McVickers: It’s nice to check out.

Scott Brady: I’m kind of glad that it doesn’t.

Yeah. Yeah, there’s a lot that I like about it. So that one’s a pretty cool one. Um, and then it- coincidentally, I happen to be talking about, uh, an Apple product too, but these new AirTags- Hmm … they’ve been out for a couple years, and when I started the Africa trip, I decided that, okay, I’m gonna use these things, and I got four of them.

Brian McVickers: Okay.

Scott Brady: So on each set of keys for the Grenadier, I have an Apple AirTag.

Brian McVickers: Okay.

Scott Brady: And there’s these little, um, carabiner brackets that you can put on the keychain that keeps the AirTag with [00:24:00] it, and then I put one in my camera bag, and then I put one in my luggage. So, like, right now, I can monitor where this truck is…

It’s being stored securely and with-

Brian McVickers: Sure …

Scott Brady: great consider and care, consideration and care, I’m sure, by, uh, the dealership in Nairobi, but I can see if, if this thing is driving around.

Brian McVickers: Right. And- And it’ll probably send you an alert if it moves, right?

Scott Brady: It, it, maybe it does that, but I have not seen it do that.

Maybe you have to set that- Yeah … if it moves. Um, but for me, it, where, where it’s really been useful is there’s this, there’s this, like, frustration around travel when you check your bags, like, am I ever gonna see my luggage again? And there’s something about being able to see the little blue dot going into the plane-

Brian McVickers: Yeah

Scott Brady: that is so satisfying. It just, it changes- It’s

Brian McVickers: reassurance.

Scott Brady: Yeah, it changes the nature of the next leg of the journey.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: Because, like- If the thing doesn’t [00:25:00] make it on the plane and it’s still clearly… Then I, you know, usually you have Wi-Fi on a plane, you can start the process of getting the thing- Yeah

sorted to the next location. But if you see it go onto the plane and it’s, like, going with you down the taxiway, it’s so rewarding. So rewarding.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: And then, you know, for any of the other stuff that you’re doing, you just know where this luggage is going. Like, you can see it moving here or moving there.

It’s like I know exactly where everything’s at.

Brian McVickers: That’s where it’d be really helpful- It’s su- … is with the higher priced stuff.

Scott Brady: Yeah. It’s just really… And, and it’s such a small little item. You just kind of stash it in the luggage and- Yeah … you know, or in the car, and you kind of know where things are going.

So I, I really do like that quite a

Brian McVickers: bit. So similar to that, I just started using a product called, um… It’s called a Scout. So it’s made by, um, Knog, Knog, K-N-O-G. And it’s the-

Scott Brady: Never heard of it …

Brian McVickers: the de- the, the product itself is called the Scout.

Scott Brady: Okay.

Brian McVickers: Okay? [00:26:00] And it’s a little black box, right? And it mounts to… You can, you c- it’s got 3M sticky back, so you could mount it to, say, a set of skis- Okay

or, you know, your trailer, or really anything that’s kind of, you know, more of, like, a har- a hard goods item that you would stick something to.

Scott Brady: Yeah, sure. Right?

Brian McVickers: And then, um, like I’ve got them on, like, the race bikes, right? Okay. So we race mountain bikes. They’re not, you know… They’re pretty nice.

Scott Brady: Yeah, if they get- Yeah

pinched,

Brian McVickers: pinched- And I- … then it’s a problem … yeah, it’s a problem. You got… You know, it’s, that would really be lousy, and so I wanna be able to keep track of them, right? ‘

Scott Brady: Cause you’re gonna hunt those suckers down.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. And so you can- You’re

Scott Brady: gonna be like N- Liam Neeson …

Brian McVickers: you can hide these things- Gonna call

Scott Brady: these guys up

Brian McVickers: on the bike. And they do this with AirTags too. This is kind of a new one that’s, like, not a lot of people know about, so you wouldn’t know what it looks like.

Scott Brady: Yeah, yeah.

Brian McVickers: So you can hide them on the bike. It uses the, um… It uses the same software as the Apple AirTags.

Scott Brady: Oh, got

Brian McVickers: it. Right? Same [00:27:00] technology. And so on any iOS device, you can…

It basically gets tracked into that cloud network.

Scott Brady: Right.

Brian McVickers: Um, and so it’s pretty cool. And if you, you can set it so that whether it’s on a set of skis or a bike or your motorcycle, it’d be great for motorcycles. Um, if somebody… You can set it so that if it gets moved, it’ll, like, scream. It, it turns into, like, a car alarm And, uh, and that’s kinda neat that it does that too.

I

Scott Brady: love that. I love that. And then I think, uh, a couple other things that come to mind. I’ve, you know, I just got this, uh, Ether puffy, and I think like a, like a hooded puffy is such a, like, grand s- staple-

Brian McVickers: Mm-hmm …

Scott Brady: of any clothing. And because I try, when I travel, to never check bags, like, like I have this, like, personal…

I feel like I’ve been a failure as a traveler if I have to check a bag. Which, on my next trip, I have to check a bag ’cause- That’s the

Brian McVickers: thing, though. It

Scott Brady: really sucks … ’cause I’m bringing, I’m bringing motorcycle gear with me- Yeah, you gotta check it … so I have to check a bag. [00:28:00] So I’m gonna use, uh, a Red Oxx. Um, they, they make these really lightweight, rollable, but in- somehow impossibly and durable, um, big bags that are just the perfect size for motorcycle gear, so.

Brian McVickers: I think it’s called the, the one that you’re taking is, like, the Air… It’s like, a, it’s the Aircraft something. It was kinda designed for pilots to just put all their stuff in.

Scott Brady: Yeah, and it works great. Yeah. So I can fit boots, helmet, full, you know, gloves, full suit, um, into the bag But, you know, this, th- for the most part, I always just try to check, you know, to do a carry-on.

So, like, this puffy packs down to, like, a small burrito.

Brian McVickers: Oh, that’s great.

Scott Brady: But it’s weather-resistant, it’s, you know, sufficiently insulated for the fact I’m gonna be going to Ethiopia and at high elevation. Yeah. And I need to be able to, I need to be able to have, um, something- That’ll be perfect … something wa- something warm

down or

Brian McVickers: s- yeah, so a down or synthetic? [00:29:00]

Scott Brady: And we’re also gonna be… It is down, and then we’re gonna be going up into the Atlas Mountains on the motorcycle, so I need to be– I can use this as a base layer.

Brian McVickers: Base layer. Mm-hmm. So the other way to do it is I did a fly and ride out to LA one time. I wore, I think I had a– Whatever the suit was, I wore my suit on the airplane.

So I wore …

Scott Brady: Not willing to do that.

Brian McVickers: I wore my pants- Yeah … and my boots. Uh-huh. And I carried my jacket and my helmet.

Scott Brady: Uh-huh.

Brian McVickers: And that’s all I took with me. I had, like, whatever, some snacks in my pocket and my phone.

Scott Brady: I remember that.

Brian McVickers: And it took me about a half an hour to get through security.

Scott Brady: I bet.

Brian McVickers: And on the-

Scott Brady: They’re like, “What is happening right now?”

Brian McVickers: On the other end of security, they, they asked me to never do that again, because all the armor, that D3O-

Scott Brady: Yeah …

Brian McVickers: doesn’t go through the, the, uh-

Scott Brady: Like, it all shows up that you have, like, eight pounds of

Brian McVickers: C4 It, it all looks like, it looks like plastic explosives. You have

Scott Brady: eight pounds of C4 on you.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. It was very difficult.

Scott Brady: With a helmet.

Brian McVickers: I had to take it all off. They had to inspect it.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: It was bad.

Scott Brady: Yeah. Okay, well, there you go. Lesson learned on the Overland Journal Podcast. I

Brian McVickers: would do it again, because it’s not [00:30:00] illegal- … and it was really easy.

Scott Brady: Oh, man. Oh, well, that’s funny. So, and then, you know, recently we covered, um, the, the radio chatter game on the podcast.

It’s just a small, you know, family-run business, and we got a lot of great feedback on it-

Brian McVickers: Uh-huh …

Scott Brady: uh, for people who liked it on, on the show. So, um, I’m gonna ask you a question here. Oh, this one’s loaded. Um, so-

Brian McVickers: Setting me up.

Scott Brady: Yeah. Well, I mean, this one says, “What is the best advice you have ever received?”

Brian McVickers: Oh.

Scott Brady: Like, so I don’t know if you wanna, if you wanna touch that one.

Brian McVickers: Man, there’s so- Or

Scott Brady: we can go to something more overly indie.

Brian McVickers: No, there’s, there’s so many things. I think that, I think one of the things that… One of the best little things I always remember is, like, um, uh, do… Like, if you’re choosing a career or, you know, you’re working or whatever it is, do something that you enjoy doing.

Scott Brady: [00:31:00] Yeah.

Brian McVickers: Right? And I think that that-

Scott Brady: So why’d you come work for us?

Brian McVickers: I

Scott Brady: don’t know.

Brian McVickers: I didn’t say that I listened to the advice that I get. I’m just saying that’s probably the best thing that I’ve ever heard. So yeah, that’s… I think that that’s one, and I’ve… And that’s one of the things that’s like, you can… And you can find the balance.

Yeah. Like, even if you wanna, you know, have whatever lifestyle, like, that’s fine if you wanna find the way to get that lifestyle.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: But do something that you enjoy doing, ’cause, I mean, how many people have you met… I would kinda… I don’t- For whatever reason, I don’t consider us to be the norm. Um, but- We’re

Scott Brady: pretty, we’re pretty lucky.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. Very much so. And, but, you know, the general person that you meet on the street, and if they’re just kinda, like, miserable with their work, you know, and it’s, like, because they hate doing what they do. Yeah. But yet they spend that much of their life doing it.

Scott Brady: A third of their life doing it.

Brian McVickers: Right. And so, yeah, even if it’s, you know, there might be, have other imperfections about it, but if you’re doing something that you love doing or you enjoy doing, it makes it so much easier.

Scott Brady: That’s good [00:32:00] advice. Thank you, Brian. Well, let’s… We’re gonna, uh, pivot into, uh, talking about, um- W- we wanna kind of focus on events for this Overland News because there’s so many events in the space. And of course, the Overland Expo is one that we just feel has done such a good job of striking the balance between product and travel.

They still spend a lot of resources bringing in well-traveled individuals from around the world and providing training resources that’s difficult to find at other events. Other events do provide that, but the Overland Expo provides it at kind of a level that isn’t really matched elsewhere in the industry.

Brian McVickers: They do, and, and we do, or we’re, we’re o- we’re one of the media sponsors- Mm-hmm … or the, the media sponsor of the event, so we do work really closely with them. But we’ve got a long history with the event, so- We do … the, you know, we’re probably a little bit biased on it, but I will say that one of the things that I’ve enjoyed watching them [00:33:00] do is, you know, they’ve kind of got the four events now.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And they’ve had four events for quite a few years, so it not, it doesn’t seem like they’re just trying to make as many more events as they can.

Scott Brady: Right.

Brian McVickers: But what I do notice them doing is they’re enhancing the quality and enhancing the experience of each of those events.

Scott Brady: Yeah, refining it maybe.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

So it’s not neces- It’s, I would say it’s a little bit more quality than it is quantity.

Scott Brady: Gonna take this jack- this, uh-

Brian McVickers: It’s just so- The

Scott Brady: puffy is so- Such a hot jacket … it’s so

Brian McVickers: wa- Yeah. It’s

Scott Brady: so-

Brian McVickers: I’m, I’m impressed that you like the hood on a puffy.

Scott Brady: Yeah, I do.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: I do like the hood, just because it’s one less thing that I’m

And plus I have no hair.

Brian McVickers: Right.

Scott Brady: So, like I could- Oh, yeah, yeah … my brain could freeze- You kinda

Brian McVickers: have to have

Scott Brady: a hood … very quickly ’cause- Yeah … my, I have a small brain,

Brian McVickers: so- I, I like the, I like the puffies without the hood-

Scott Brady: Ah …

Brian McVickers: because I use them as an insulating layer under, like, a shell.

Scott Brady: I see.

Brian McVickers: And then I use a hooded shell.

Scott Brady: I see. But- I wouldn’t bring both.

Brian McVickers: But… Oh yeah, you gotta bring both. I wouldn’t. You’ve gotta bring a shell.

Scott Brady: I wouldn’t.

Brian McVickers: Oh, you have to have to bring a shell. We’re gonna talk [00:34:00] about puffies.

Scott Brady: I do actually have a shell with me.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, a puffy and a shell, and you’re done.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And then if you’re going really, really cold, you bring the exterior puffy that’s, like, a size larger than what you-

normally wear, and then you put that over- And then

Scott Brady: you take it through security …

Brian McVickers: No, you put it over all of your stuff. And that one has to have a

Scott Brady: hood. Got it.

Brian McVickers: And that way when you’re like, you stop at the top of the mountain and you’re just kinda, like, taking a break so you don’t, like-

Scott Brady: You muskie or something

Brian McVickers: you don’t, so you don’t freeze-

Scott Brady: Uh-huh …

Brian McVickers: and get into that, like, weird hypothermic thing.

Scott Brady: Mm.

Brian McVickers: Right? You put that puffy on the outside, and it’s just like a big warm blanket. But that one’s gotta have a hood, but it’s gotta be oversized.

Scott Brady: Okay.

Brian McVickers: There’s a science behind it all.

Scott Brady: It sounds… That makes sense.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, it’s fun.

Scott Brady: Makes sense.

Brian McVickers: So there’s the Overland Expos, and then there’s another one, the music festival I was telling you about.

Scott Brady: Yeah, which is what? The, uh, Fort Desolation Fest?

Brian McVickers: That’s right. So the Fort Desolation Fest is, um, I think it’s happening in June And it is, it’s a music festival [00:35:00] that is kind of focusing on the overland consumer.

Scott Brady: Mm-hmm.

Brian McVickers: So the overland audience, if you will. So it’s a, it’s not, you know, it’s kind of this overlandy atmosphere as far as, you know, lots of cool rigs, lots of vans, lots of trailers, lots of, you know, kind of really neat overlanding- Travelers, yeah … rigs and travelers. But it’s not focusing on, “Hey, let’s learn about overlanding, and let’s do clinics and things like that.”

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: It’s just a three-day music fest.

Scott Brady: Hmm.

Brian McVickers: Um, and then they have a couple of little activations. Like last year they had, um, their main stage, they powered the entire main stage using Goal Zero products.

Scott Brady: Oh, that’s cool.

Brian McVickers: Um, and solar. So they would charge all the batteries by solar during the day, and then at night they just lit this center stage up for the, for the main acts at night, um, and ran it all by, you know, Goal Zero batteries.

Scott Brady: That’s amazing. And

Brian McVickers: yeah, it was… I, I mean, I think it was ki- quite a feat for them to pull it off. Yeah. And it was a really neat way to showcase it. [00:36:00] Um, so they’re doing that again this year, and it’s on a private piece of property, kind of a private ranch that has a few very kind of bespoke buildings on it.

Um, and then just, like, a nice grounds. I mean, they’ve got grass, and they’ve got- Sounds very cool … infrastructure. I think they even have a restaurant on site.

Scott Brady: Huh.

Brian McVickers: Um, so that’s a, that’s another good event that’s coming into its second year. Yep. And in fact, um, Equipped Expedition Outfitters was the first sponsor to sign up with them.

Scott Brady: Well, and Equipped is such a solid organization. Yeah. Something that they’re behind seems worth-

Brian McVickers: Yeah …

Scott Brady: keeping track of. Yeah. And then of course there’s the Overland Rally that’s done by Ray Highland and team, and they always- Are there- … do a good job …

Brian McVickers: two or three of those now?

Scott Brady: Um, I’m not sure how many they have.

I think they have one in Canada, and they also have one in the Pacific- BC … Northwest. Yeah. So they’ve always done a really good job of those. Those are events that we founded many years ago. That’s right. Um, and Ray runs those now. Um, and [00:37:00] then there’s also Josiah and the Journey of Lost Time, which is a p- Jour-

Brian McVickers: Journal of Lost

Scott Brady: Time

Journal of Lost Time, yeah That’s a publication. It’s– I think it is print, but it’s definitely digital, and it’s just a really nicely done publication. But Josiah also has a bunch of different events. There’s, like, the Moonlander, and there’s one down in Baja, and there’s one up in the, in the Oregon area.

And I went to the one in Oregon, and w- what stood out to me at that event that was very unique was that nobody talked about the gear or the vehicles, which I thought was very unique. So there was some very cool trucks there.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: Like, very thoughtfully prepared vehicles, but there was such a wide range of makes and models and, like, is it a van or this one’s a trailer or this one’s a- Doesn’t really matter

a syncro. Nobody cared. Right. [00:38:00] Like, everybody was talking about travel, and they were talking about craft beer, and they were talking about how cool this area was or where they were going next or m- maybe, maybe challenges around travel that they were working through with other travelers. But it really was not another gear fest, which I really liked.

So, and, and Josiah is a, he’s a very thoughtful, like, master of ceremonies. Like, he’s a really– He’s a cool dude. So because he’s a cool dude, the events are very cool. Yeah. So I’d make sure that people are taking a look at those.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, I’ve had quite a few conversations with them this year and last fall ’cause we’re, we’re sponsoring their events this year.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And, you know, they really are taking that focus of they just wanna get a bunch of people together and have a really cool time.

Scott Brady: Yeah. And it seems like that they take that really serious. They do. Um, so every event has, like, a different vibe to it, which I think is really beneficial. And it’s easy to, to look at maybe [00:39:00] the fact that one event skews one way- Mm-hmm

and to use that as a criticism, but that’s not fair because there’s so many different kinds of travelers- Yeah … that people want a different experience. They’ve got- So I’m glad that there’s different experiences … I

Brian McVickers: think it’s four to six events is what they’ve got.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And, and they do. Every one’s a little bit different.

Scott Brady: Yep.

Brian McVickers: Has its own, you know, kinda characteristic to it.

Scott Brady: That’s right.

Brian McVickers: And then what I really like is that they’ve got the Baja one because that is integrating some level of international travel.

Scott Brady: That’s right.

Brian McVickers: And Baja is, that’s pretty easy international travel.

Scott Brady: Oh, yeah.

Brian McVickers: For

Scott Brady: sure.

Brian McVickers: But to the first-timer, it could be quite intimidating and challenging.

Scott Brady: I remember I was terrified to- Yeah …

Brian McVickers: but

Scott Brady: it was something I wanted-

Brian McVickers: But how many times have you been down there? Yeah, a

Scott Brady: lot. And it’s

Brian McVickers: almost like-

Scott Brady: Yeah … you know … it’s, it’s safer than a lot of places in the U- States.

Brian McVickers: And being in Arizona, we can go down there for the weekend, right? That’s right. And so it’s a, it’s a great first international trip for people.

Scott Brady: No, I

Brian McVickers: agree. And then to be able to go and meet up with a group of people that you would know, that you kind of have a relationship with is, is

Scott Brady: pretty- Or even traveling with them down there [00:40:00] if you’ve got… if it’s a first time into- Yeah … in, across a border to get a little bit of help. Now, the,

Brian McVickers: the actual, like, the border crossings and the travel, that’s not part of the event.

Scott Brady: Yeah, but you could pair up with- It just happens to be- … like somebody else that’s, is on their way. Um, if you got a little concern, I’m sure there’s a way to pair up with other travelers that are heading down there. Yeah,

Brian McVickers: a few groups of people.

Scott Brady: Yeah. So that’s an event that’s happening. And then of- across the industry events, we see more and more penetration into the overland space.

We see more and more- Mm-hmm … overland presence at the- The

Brian McVickers: More, you said More? The More Overland-

Scott Brady: There you go …

Brian McVickers: Expo. I think that’s in Minnesota.

Scott Brady: There you go. Yeah. And they’ve done really well. They’ve done really well with that. And there’s a whole bunch of other events. If we have missed your event, it was not intentional.

There was no slight intended.

Brian McVickers: I did a list last year. In 2023, there were 64 overland related events.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And

Scott Brady: we’ve

Brian McVickers: got a- So it’s gotta be up to 100 this year.

Scott Brady: We’ve got a really good article on Expedition Portal that features those different events. So if you’ve got a new event or you don’t think that we’re [00:41:00] familiar with what you’re doing, check that article on Expedition Portal and see if you’re on the list.

If not, please reach out. Uh, you can… I’ll give my information for contact at the end of the show.

Brian McVickers: There was one other one that we mentioned earlier or, or before the-

Scott Brady: The Texas Overland Fest?

Brian McVickers: Texas Overland Festival, that’s new. They did their first one last year. They’re gonna have another one this year.

Scott Brady: Nice.

Brian McVickers: And then there’s the Overland of America Expo.

Scott Brady: Okay.

Brian McVickers: That’s another new one. Um, that is happening, I can’t remember the dates, but that’s happening Later in the summer, I believe. And that’s gonna be at a property that is… It’s a fully established property that, that is normally used for, like, off-road events, a lot of side-by-side events, a lot of Jeep events.

Okay.

Scott Brady: Okay.

Brian McVickers: So I think they’ve got 15 to 20 miles of trails-

Scott Brady: Sounds cool …

Brian McVickers: on the property. They’ve got restaurant, they’ve got a swimming pool, they’ve got… It’s like a resort [00:42:00] atmosphere on the property where you’re gonna have- Sounds amazing … the Overland event.

Scott Brady: Sounds amazing.

Brian McVickers: So that’s another good,

Scott Brady: good event I think.

You don’t even have- you don’t even need a shower, just jump in the pool.

Brian McVickers: Oh, that’s the thing, they have full, full showers.

Scott Brady: They have all the things.

Brian McVickers: They do. They’ve got dozens of showers- … like, in a big shower building. It’s, it’s pretty well-appointed.

Scott Brady: Yeah, so there’s a bunch of new events. If you’ve got an event, you don’t think we’re aware of it, please reach out ’cause it’d be great to get an update on that.

‘Cause we’re gonna try to cover events in this way about once a year.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: Um, and we’ll… And if you, and if you do reach out with an event that’s later in this year, we’ll make sure to cover it in a future episode of the Overland News. Um, there’s a couple kinda key product developments that have come out recently.

Uh, Kuat now has these hard sides for their rack system. Um, this is one of the most impressive products that I’ve seen come onto the market in recent years. Um, they are a sponsor of the podcast, which I’m grateful for, but I’m also [00:43:00] personally very impressed by the product. Um, so it’s adjustable in height to two different heights.

It’s got these MOLLE style panels that don’t look MOLLE, they actually look cooler. Um, and then you can put outboard, uh, mountain bike mounts on it, plus you can mount a roof tent on the top, whatever else. But they’ve just recently included, uh, the option for these lifting upsides and a, a rear lift gate, uh, that can be bolted onto the system that basically makes it like any other topper.

It’s like a

Brian McVickers: hard-sided

Scott Brady: shell. So, yeah, so you end up with a hard top, a hard front, uh, hard sides, and a hard back. Uh, so it’s a very clever solution that is now multifaceted in its approach depending on the time of year or what the intentions are with it. Uh, so it’s very clever to see Kuat, who makes some of the best bike racks in the world, come out with a product now, um, that’s gonna be very well-suited to overlanders, [00:44:00] especially overlanders that do wanna bring things like accessory kayaks and mountain bikes along, ’cause they make some of the best mountain bike racks in the world.

Brian McVickers: So I, I spent a lot of time with that IBEX system. So I put it on… It, it, we had it on a Tundra, and this is a neat thing about that rack, is I– we had it on a Tundra, I took it off of the Tundra and put it onto the, the GMC, that, that 2500 we had. The HD? Yeah, the 2500 HD AT4X- AEV …

Scott Brady: AEV Yeah, that’s right

Brian McVickers: It’s a acronym soup.

But it’s like, it’s a great truck, and we took the, we took that IBEX off of the Tundra and just, like, it was a direct swap. We put it onto the GMC. I think we had to widen it-

Scott Brady: Uh-huh …

Brian McVickers: about maybe three inches.

Scott Brady: Sure.

Brian McVickers: But it was, you undo a couple of bolts, it slides apart, and you tighten them down.

Scott Brady: Sweet.

Brian McVickers: And we had, so we had that.

It had the MOLLE panels on the side. So we had a bike rack on both sides, and then we had [00:45:00] the, I think we put the Intrepid rooftop tent-

Scott Brady: Okay …

Brian McVickers: on top of the IBEX, and we mounted it with those new, um, those new Van Ultra quick mounts.

Scott Brady: Oh.

Brian McVickers: So Van Ultra is a fairly new company that’s making a, a quick mount roof rack, or a quick mount rooftop tent bracket system.

Scott Brady: Clever.

Brian McVickers: Um, yeah, so instead of the kind of the four bolts-

Scott Brady: Yeah …

Brian McVickers: or actually eight bolts, so it reduces it down to, from eight bolts down to four bolts. Um, and it’s the, it’s set up so that all you do is you can quickly undo a knob, and then the whole bracket separates and, and now you’re done. Oh, that’s great.

The tent’s free to take on and off.

Scott Brady: Oh, that’s pretty clever.

Brian McVickers: Um, so we, you know, we put that through quite a few miles of off-road and, and the whole system worked really well.

Scott Brady: Yeah, that sounds, uh… A- and also it’s just an impressive solution. Couple other things that have come out recently, Winnebago has just announced an overland trailer called The Hike.

Um, we’re trying to get one in to test, but [00:46:00] it looks very promising. Um- I saw

Brian McVickers: it at SEMA.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: It’s a ni- it’s a fairly compact package with a lot of space on the inside.

Scott Brady: Yeah, and that’s kind of the sweet spot is that- Yeah … 14 to 16-foot box. And

Brian McVickers: a lot of ground clearance.

Scott Brady: Yeah, so I think that we’re seeing more and more trailers like that that are gonna be really well suited, uh, for longer term travel because you’ve got the use of Starlink now.

So we’re seeing a lot more of those coming on the market. Um, and then, um, Nitto has their new Ridge Grappler hybrid tire. These hybrids are becoming more and more popular. Um, so you’re looking at something that the center of the tread is like an all-terrain. The outside of the tread is more like a mud terrain with a little bit tighter lug spacing, but you have a lot of lug integrity.

You have some good self-clearing of mud and other debris, snow, sand, et cetera. Um, but you end up with a fairly quiet ride- I was gonna say- … and better like- …

Brian McVickers: it sounds like it’d be a quiet

Scott Brady: tire … and better fuel economy. So these hybrid tires are now coming out from more and more [00:47:00] manufacturers, and they’re a very well-suited tire for most overland travel because, you know, crossing a continent, you can encounter everything, from mud- Mm-hmm

to sand to highway miles and everything else in between. So these hybrids, uh, perform well, and they have a little bit longer tread life than a typical mud terrain. So a lot of times it can help you get across the continent before you gotta change out a set. Yeah. So I think that, uh, those new Nittos are really nice.

Uh, Jackery just launched their new rooftop tent that has solar built into the lid, but then also has these wings of solar that kick out to the sides. It

Brian McVickers: doubles… So think about You know, for everybody listening, think about kind of, uh, your wedge style tent.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: So the, the roof is about the size of the back of the truck.

Scott Brady: Yep.

Brian McVickers: And so you flip it open, and now the solar panels slide out-

Scott Brady: Yep …

Brian McVickers: to reveal more solar panels underneath. And so you’ve got double the s- double the surface area, and it’s all solar [00:48:00] panel.

Scott Brady: Yeah, it’s pretty clever, and it likely integrates with their Jackery, uh, you know- Their boxes … little power boxes.

Yeah. But then it’s also gonna work, I bet, with a lot of other ones. Uh, we haven’t tested this yet. Um, I’d be really curious to see how it does in higher winds. I’m sure they’ve taken that into consideration, but, uh, we wanna get our hands on one because it’s a really innovative new product.

Brian McVickers: They had a… Now I’m realizing, I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think at SEMA, I think they had a bit of a prototype on display-

Scott Brady: Yeah

Brian McVickers: but just didn’t say anything.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And so there was a r- they had a rooftop tent, a wedge, I’m not sure what brand it was, but it was kind of the wedge style, um, opened towards the front of the truck, and the… They had two solar panels on sliders-

Scott Brady: Oh, cool …

Brian McVickers: that would slide out. They didn’t have them deployed.

Scott Brady: Right.

Brian McVickers: But I was… I saw this new tent, and I went back and I looked at my photos from SEMA, and you can see the tracks-

Scott Brady: Oh, clever …

Brian McVickers: that, where the solar panels are mounted. Sure. [00:49:00] So it looks like that prototype, they would slide out, they just didn’t have it deployed.

Scott Brady: Oh, that’s interesting.

Brian McVickers: And they never mentioned it, ’cause I met with them, and they never said anything about it, so.

Scott Brady: And they do a good job. Um, they’ve done really well in some of our, you know, power supply tests, so. They

Brian McVickers: do, yeah. They make a… They, I mean, there’s a lot of battery boxes out on the market.

Scott Brady: Yeah, and then you see- They do do a good job … to the other direction, you see Goal Zero that came out with, uh, their own fridge.

So there’s been a lot of developments in the fridge space.

Brian McVickers: It’s got a battery built in, right?

Scott Brady: Yes, it does, and it integrates with all of their, their battery packs. Um, and it, you know, it just allows you to have that single ecosystem. It likely pairs in with their Bluetooth and everything else. So, um, you get these, um, you know, kind of walled gardens of technology-

Brian McVickers: Yeah

Scott Brady: uh, that you can use across your electronics, which I think is pretty worthwhile.

Brian McVickers: I am seeing, I think, to the benefit of the consumer, is that- If you’re– depending on your use case, it used to be the only option was to have a dual battery system.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: And now I think the [00:50:00] dual battery system still very much has its place for the right use case, but you would see everybody and anybody doing a, a dual battery system even though that they would never really use it to full capacity.

Scott Brady: Right.

Brian McVickers: And they’re– they can be quite complicated to, to install and maintain. Right. So now if you need a dual battery system, that technology with, um, with Redarc and a few other companies, that continues to advance. But then if you don’t really need the full capacity of a dual battery system, these battery boxes and these standalone refrigerator freezers are kind of providing that solution for the maybe the more recreational user.

Scott Brady: Yeah. Or, you know, like that’s on the Africa trip, that’s all I’m using is a battery box. Yeah. In the, in the Scouts, when you get a Scout delivered, it just comes with a Goal Zero.

Brian McVickers: Well, and how simple. I mean, with the, with the Grenadier-

Scott Brady: One wire. Yeah …

Brian McVickers: you’re, you’re not wanting to install- No … a whole lot of aftermarket systems.

I

Scott Brady: just

Brian McVickers: don’t want- You wanna take that truck and see what

Scott Brady: that truck does. Although I do use a lot of the Redarc equipment [00:51:00] on that truck. I have the Redarc- The inverters,

Brian McVickers: right?

Scott Brady: I have a Redarc, um, battery isolator, and I also have a, a Redarc solar blanket that I put on the windshield. Right. Um, so when the vehicle’s parked for long periods of time, I’m able to top off the little battery box that I’ve got.

Brian McVickers: And that’s working pretty well?

Scott Brady: It works flawless.

Brian McVickers: That’s great.

Scott Brady: Because my, my power requirements are pretty minimal. Doing that 12-volt conversion to the Starlink with the unique componentry really dropped my power consumption with the Starlink, and their wiring uses the same plug as Dometic and ARB and a couple others where it screws in so that it just screws- So

Brian McVickers: crazy you just do that on 12 volt now.

Scott Brady: Yeah. It’s really, really good. Yeah. Yeah. It’s really good. So then the, the Redarc, uh- solar panel system that I have on the windscreen, uh, when I park, it’s more than enough power to run the whole thing. So run the fridge and the Starlink. Um, some other [00:52:00] news is the Rebelle Rally has come out with some training.

Let’s talk about that.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, so, uh, most people, uh, listening would probably know of the Rebelle Rally. It’s an, you know- Awesome event … women’s only navigationally focused, uh, kind of driving challenge event.

Scott Brady: Yeah, awesome event. Um,

Brian McVickers: yeah, it’s, it’s not, it’s not a race. It’s a

Scott Brady: nav- It’s a r- it’s a race.

Brian McVickers: It’s,

Scott Brady: it- It’s not a race, it’s a race.

It’s not a race, it’s a race. It’s Nina Barlow, it’s not a race, it’s a race.

Brian McVickers: It’s a navigation challenge event.

Scott Brady: It’s not a race.

Brian McVickers: So they have, they’ve, the last few years they’ve done this really impressive job at doing training for the people who have entered in, right? Yeah. So you enter into the Rebelle Rally, and then you get this, this training that you can enter into as well, and that, I mean, it’s like six months of training if you want.

Yeah. Not everybody has, never, you don’t have to do it, but a lot of people take advantage of it.

Scott Brady: Yeah, it really helps the outcomes.

Brian McVickers: From what I understand, and I hope I’m not wrong, but from what I understand, they’re now [00:53:00] offering those training classes to, to any… You still have to be a woman, but they’re offering it to anybody w- who is, you don’t have to be entered into the Rebelle Rally event-

Scott Brady: But

Brian McVickers: what a g-

in order

Scott Brady: to

Brian McVickers: take the training … what

Scott Brady: a, what a great thing though, because it allows people to gain skills and determine if it’s something that they would like to do or not.

Brian McVickers: Right.

Scott Brady: So yeah, I’m just, that event just continues to impress me with how awesome it is, so. Yeah.

Brian McVickers: I kinda wish, like, if my daughter had more time, I’d want her to go through-

Scott Brady: How rad would that be?

Brian McVickers: all that training. Yeah. It’d be incredible.

Scott Brady: Yeah,

Brian McVickers: that would be so good.

Scott Brady: And then, uh, couple other little pieces of news here. Um, XOVERLAND is gonna be launching their Africa series, um, on their Overland or their XOVERLAND network.

Brian McVickers: That’s six episodes, right?

Scott Brady: That’s right. That’ll be coming out. And we’ve got our own Africa series that’s coming out here with, about the time that this podcast drops, um, we’ll have our [00:54:00] first episode.

So there’ll be lots of cool Africa content. Of course, XOVERLAND does an incredible job with theirs, um, and mine’s a different kind of story. Uh, but I think that they’re both, uh, gonna be fun for people to watch. So XOVERLAND did a big loop through Southern Africa, and some of the footage that I’ve seen so far is all world.

They just continue to advance their game in ways that are unimaginable.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, they put out a trailer for the series.

Scott Brady: Yeah, it’s so good.

Brian McVickers: It was, it was kind of-

Scott Brady: So good …

Brian McVickers: captivating.

Scott Brady: So captivating. Really impressive. Yeah, so much so. Um, and then of course our series will touch on our travels, um, up the length of Africa from Cape Town, uh, most likely making a right at Djibouti, um, above the Horn.

Um-

Brian McVickers: Now, just real quick, ’cause I don’t know how many times you’ve talked about it and w- how, what people really understand of what you’re doing. So- Yeah … you know, so XOVERLAND went over, they kind of picked a couple of areas of, of the continent to go explore.

Scott Brady: Some of the best. So they [00:55:00] really focused on some of the best of Africa.

Brian McVickers: And the footage is incredible.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: Now what you’re doing is quite different.

Scott Brady: It is. Um, so what, what we’re focusing on is a, um, a long axis crossing of the continent of Africa. We’ve done a short axis crossing of the continent of Africa. I did that in 2014 or, or 2013 actually. Um, but we wanted to do this long axis crossing, uh, to complete our crossings of all, all seven continents.

So in technical terms, I’ve crossed all seven continents. I think first person in history to do that by any measure we can find. Uh, but this long axis crossing will be a Guinness record, so.

Brian McVickers: So it’s, it’s got a- It’s different … it’s got a lot of levels to it.

Scott Brady: Yeah, it is. Different layers to it. It is, it is.

And it’s, it’s consistent with the kinds of things that are important to us at Overland International, which is to push, uh, the limits in all the ways that we can. Uh, we did that with Expedition 7, um, and we do that, uh, with our, [00:56:00] with our other travels to really understand how things work so that way we can best support our audience.

Brian McVickers: Well, I had to put you on the spot and call it out ’cause you’ve put a lot of hard work into

Scott Brady: that expedition. Yeah, I have. I have. Yeah, this has been four years in the works, um, and really grateful the, for the opportunity to also test the Grenadier. We’re not being compensated by Ineos because we wanted to be able to speak freely about the use of the vehicle and the results that we have in using it in such a long, uh, and arduous journey.

So we’re over 20,000 kilometers already on the Grenadier. I’ve had no failures. Um, I’ve not had to replace any components. I’ve not had, um, any faults that kept me from going anywhere. So, um, the vehicle has exceeded my expectations, particularly given that it’s, uh, unit number 370 something, so it’s very early, very early in the manufacturing process.

Very early in, yeah. Um, so, and I know people in North America are starting to take delivery of them. So if you, if you follow Overland Journal on [00:57:00] Instagram or Expedition Portal on Instagram, or if you want a little bit more of a personal granularity around it, you can follow scott.a.brady on Instagram to see our journeys across Africa, and I’m about ready to leave to head back for the final segment, um, of the Africa crossing.

So I’m gonna be flying into Morocco. I’m gonna be dri- riding the new Ducati DesertX Rally, um-

Brian McVickers: And that’s in Morocco?

Scott Brady: In Morocco.

Brian McVickers: Amazing.

Scott Brady: And then, uh, so I’m gonna try to keep all of my limbs intact so that I can finish the next part of my, of my Trans Africa journey. So, um, yeah, riding Ducati-

Brian McVickers: It’s a du- don’t be a hero.

Scott Brady: Yeah. It’s an incredible motorcycle that makes you feel like a hero.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: So, um, it’s one of my favorite new motorcycles on the market, period, because it’s got range, capability, um, just overall comfort, and really lightweight. Um, so the DesertX is in a whole new class of its own. I mean, they’re giving KTM a full run for their money on this thing.[00:58:00]

That’s cool. So yeah, we’re gonna go ride that in Marrakech, and then I’ll be flying to South Africa, doing some stuff with Paul May from Equipped and Jess from Easy On. Gonna do some traveling. I’m gonna go interview Kingsley Holgate, who, those who are listening, uh, this is an interview I’ve been trying to set up for, since the very beginning of the podcast.

Brian McVickers: That’s gonna be a treat to travel with Jess in his own backyard.

Scott Brady: Yeah, he is quite-

Brian McVickers: That’s gonna be cool.

Scott Brady: Yeah, he is quite the traveler in Africa. Incredible spotter of game. Uh, like he’ll see, uh- a leopard under a bush, like partly obscured by the carcass of an impala, and he’s like, “Oh, there’s a leopard 300 yards away.”

And I’m like, “Dude, I can barely see the bush,” you know? And he’s like… And then you zoom in on your lens, and sure enough- Yeah … like there’s the leopard. So he’s really fun to travel with and, and also very… He’s a thoughtful designer, and Easy On makes really high qu- high-quality components, so looking forward to doing that.

But I’m [00:59:00] really looking forward to spending time with Kingsley- Mm-hmm … um, because he, he’s an overlander that in every kilometer that he travels, he’s given back. So he will bring along trailers full of Mombasa nets, uh, to try to protect children in Africa- Oh, sure … from malaria. From malaria. Uh, and I’m selling his accomplishments very short.

This is some of the most recent stuff that he’s doing. Yeah. But he’s taking, uh, modern Defenders up the west coast of Africa, starting that in just a few months. So Kingsley Holgate, for those that don’t know him, um, he is, um, who I wanna be when I grow up. I know 1% of what this guy knows. And I kind of want you to get me an

Brian McVickers: autograph.

Scott Brady: Yeah, I’ll do that. He’s got a way better- I’m not a

Brian McVickers: big autograph

Scott Brady: person … he’s got a way better beard than I do, too, so. But, uh, yeah, so lots of stuff happening in Africa right now.

Brian McVickers: Cool.

Scott Brady: What’s next for you, Brian?

Brian McVickers: Next is, well, it’s, I most immediately, um, headed to SHOT Show-

Scott Brady: That’s right …

Brian McVickers: [01:00:00] next week, so I’ll be-

Scott Brady: Yeah, we’ll have to touch base on that, ’cause there’s always some interesting stuff that comes from SHOT

Brian McVickers: Show.

There is. It’s gonna be quick. Um, you know, I’m gonna go for Monday, Tuesday, um, and then, so it’s, it’s, you know, a day on the show floor and a day at the range, so it’s gonna be a, a pretty quick turnaround for that show.

Scott Brady: Pew pew.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. Kinda have to.

Scott Brady: Oh, it’s so fun,

Brian McVickers: though. You have to go to Media Day at the range.

Scott Brady: Oh, it’s so fun.

Brian McVickers: It’s

Scott Brady: kinda like the- It’s just so, it’s so ridiculously fun.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. I, I, I kind of, that’s always on the calendar every year.

Scott Brady: Yeah. No, as it should be.

Brian McVickers: Um, super fun. And then- Oh, that’ll

Scott Brady: be great …

Brian McVickers: a day, a, a day on the show floor, um, we’ve got a few meetings scheduled, and, and then a bit of walking around to see what people are

Scott Brady: doing.

And then you are gonna go drive the Lexus GX.

Brian McVickers: And that’s the big thing for next week is-

Scott Brady: That is a big deal …

Brian McVickers: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, go drive the new Lexus GX 550.

Scott Brady: Yeah, and they’ve got the new Overtrail version, and I mean, just this vehicle, I could not be more excited about a Lexus [01:01:00] than in ever.

Brian McVickers: Yeah.

Scott Brady: Like, it’s, it’s gonna be really, really good.

Brian McVickers: Yeah. I got, I got a chance to poke around it a little bit at SEMA.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Brian McVickers: Um, so I’m, I’m really excited to get it out on the trail

Scott Brady: and drive it. Well, I can’t wait to hear your feedback on that. So Paula and you- Yeah … will be heading down to Tucson- We

Brian McVickers: will …

Scott Brady: and capturing some content, um, and then we’ll be able to give some feedback on that soon.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, I look forward to it, so.

Scott Brady: Well, Brian, thanks for taking the time today.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, you bet.

Scott Brady: It was- And for those that are listening and have been following the, the new Overland News series, uh, please give us some feedback on things that you’d like to hear more of or less of, or how you like the format overall, um, things that I need to do better, ’cause of course, Brian is the man, so.

Brian McVickers: Well, I tell you, it’s, it’s… I only covered about half of the stuff that I wanted to talk about. It’s impossible. Yeah, it’s impossible. I mean, there’s probably another five trucks that I wanted to call out. That’s right.

Scott Brady: Yeah, that’s right.

Brian McVickers: So I don’t know-

Scott Brady: But we’re at an hour.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, right at the hour. We- Yeah.

I think we need to say, “Okay, we’re only gonna talk about trucks, we’re only gonna talk about events.” S- [01:02:00] we, we’re all over the place. I think we did good. Which is great, and I think it’s fun.

Scott Brady: I think we did good.

Brian McVickers: Yeah, we did a really good job, so.

Scott Brady: Awesome. Yeah, that- Well, we thank you all for listening, and we’ll talk to you next time.