My first motorcycle was a Honda. . . and so was my second (curiously, my first car was also a Honda). It was that XR250L that opened my eyes to the fun and adventure of exploring by dirt bike, and my life-long love for adventure motorcycling. When I think back, it was the reliability and…
Will the new 2020 AWD Ford Transit Dethrone the Sprinter?
For the last five years, the Mercedes Sprinter has quite literally revolutionized the backcountry RV market, upending longtime offerings like the Ford E350. The popularity of the Sprinter was so extreme that inventory backlogs extended into the next model year, and industry leaders like Sportsmobile were ordering 100 units at a time (the most that…
AETHER Moto Boot :: Overland News
Riding a motorcycle in distant lands is a true adventure, but there are a few difficulties that come up once we attempt to fit everything we need into two small panniers and a top bag. One of the challenges for the adventure motorcyclist is striking a balance between protection and comfort, and between minimalism and…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: HZJ77 Pop-Top Land Cruiser
Today’s classified is something pretty special. Not only are you looking at one of the few HZJ77s here in the states, but this one is freshly completed with a pop-top and custom camper interior. The seller states that this specific truck was being outfitted for rental service here in the USA, and as you’d expect…
Video of The Week: Live Work Wander’s Pop-Top Troop Carrier
By now, you’ve probably seen Live Work Wander’s striking yellow Land Cruiser floating around Instagram. This beautiful Maltec build has quickly become one of our favorite overland rigs, boasting an ideal combination of capability and comfort without adding excessive weight through modifications. For many of us, it’s a dream rig, but it has also raised…
AEV Bison Rear Bumper and Fender Flares Announced :: Overland News
Press Release: 1 July, 2019 Rear Bumper AEV’s ZR2 Bison Rear Bumper is now available for all 2015+ Chevy Colorado trucks! The ZR2 Bison’s Rear Bumper is not just for good looks, it is designed to withstand all the rigors of off-road use and overland travel. Because the ZR2 Bison was primarily developed out…
Is the Ford Tremor the New Full-size Overland Benchmark?
There are few surprises in the media anymore, but the new Ford Tremor full-size left our offices genuinely in awe. We have grown so accustomed to only seeing the best overland options from Toyota and Chrysler that we (and I suspect they) never saw this full-size Tremor coming. The Power Wagon has maintained the capability…
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…
Tackling the Rubicon in (Mostly) Stock Toyotas
Last September, Todd Rogers of Four Points Adventures contacted me about joining him on a three-day trip to the historic Rubicon Trail that he had put together for the rooftop tent company Tepui. The really exciting part was that Chris Collard, one of my favorite writers in the off-road industry, was going to be our…
Outdoor Retailer Show Adopts Overlanding
Expedition Portal and Overland Journal first attended the Outdoor Retailer show in 2006, over 13 years ago. Initially, we were met with reserved curiosity, the outdoor industry unsure about its relationship with vehicle-based adventuring. However, in the subsequent years, we have received more and more attention and adoption from the community, and the outdoor industry…
Featured Vehicle: Overlanding Brute
There are fundamental elements of a good overland vehicle: the combination of serviceability (or ultimate reliability), capacity (payload and cargo volume), capability for when the terrain gets technical, and enough comfort to keep driver fatigue at bay. For the last 15 years, American Expedition Vehicles has been trying to pull the Jeep Wrangler into the…
Field Tested: RedArc Manager30
The scenario is all too familiar, the anticipation of a long weekend of camping interrupted by the click, click, click of the starter and a truck filled with dead batteries because that one light was left on. Or the remote camp on the beach and days of sunshine and fun followed by a dead house…
InDeflate Tire Inflator, Deflator, and Equalizer
Inflating or deflating off-road tires when trail running is necessary but it’s a chore that seemingly takes forever: a slow air compressor, air hoses tangled in a spaghetti-styled mess, or tire pressure gauges that read the same psi (no matter how often you check it) can all contribute to delays. Deflate or inflate. Check tire…
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…
The Nissan Titan Surfcamp
I accelerated hard out of the curve, pushing tight against the apex and to the limits of adhesion from the Nitto Grapplers. The Cummins diesel pulled strong and sent me into the next bend with more momentum than an 8,000-pound truck should, and with a bigger smile on my face than I expected a full-size…
MaxTrax Extreme :: First Field Test
“Expedition Portal gets a first look at the newest, and most durable MaxTrax yet.” I remember the first time we really, really, really needed Maxtrax. The Expeditions 7 team was deep into the Canning Stock Route in Australia and encountered a half-mile long, water-logged track. We had already been stuck many times that day, but…
Remote Breakdown Strategy
The trail rating was “moderate to difficult” but the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and the track we were driving on that cold afternoon was anything but moderate. It was tough going. Tough enough that the Defender 130 needed low range and diff lock to conquer some of the steeper, muddy switchbacks…
Four Wheel Camper Rally: Anza Borrego
Something special happens when a community of overland travelers get together. A sense of adventure and camaraderie, an appreciation for one another’s pursuit of wanderlust and all the unique ways people go about it. Earlier this month, the Southern California Four Wheel Campers owners group came together at Ocotillo Wells in the Anza Borrego State…
Desert and Lava: Crossing the Sierra Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar
“Birds and animals had never seen humans, warblers flew to me and touched my face, a badger trotted up and sniffed my boot, coyotes sat watching me walk by, an antelope paced for a mile. In complete silence and isolation, it was like what walking on the moon must be.” Julian D. Hayden (1911-1998), from The Sierra Pinacate
Overland Skills: Make Power or Store Power, Which is Best for You?
If you follow Expedition Portal with any regularity, you know we cover the topic of power management quite often. The business of watts and amps has become inextricably intertwined with the pursuit of overland travel. Even when we’re roughing it, we can’t seem to live without our electronic devices. Over the last many years the…