Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
Spot on.
Do you even overland, bruh?
- Thread starter Hulk
- Start date
Spot on.
I had an orange 1977 Chevy Chevette. Otherwise the details were pretty much the same. How did we ever survive without a skottle?
'87 Mercury Tracer for me. Bikes on the roof and tent on the ground. How did we do it. Now I can't fit all my crap solo in my 80 sometimes.
DouglasVB
Rising Sun Member
I grew up going out in a 1971 Ford F250 camper special with an old wooden camper on the back. We'd spend several weeks in the desert every winter.
That's funny, Paul. I had pretty much the exact same setup except my CVCC was orange and my tent was green! That little car was awesome.Overlanding/CarCamping at 16 in 1980 = 1977 Honda CVCC, crappy Pup tent, sleeping bag, $40 cash (for gas, food, etc....), cooler with hotdogs and exploring the great Missouri Ozark's = Freedom back then.
BritKLR
Vice Commander
That little Honda went and wheeled places that those early Toyota mini trucks hadn't gone yet!
I grew up camping with my family using a pop up camper and a dodge ram charger. Once it was me, it was whatever car I had atm and a tent with more beer than gear.
I have more gear now days, but I’m now a family of 4.
I’m in that small percentage of rock crawling car camper. I’m rocklander.
I have more gear now days, but I’m now a family of 4.
I’m in that small percentage of rock crawling car camper. I’m rocklander.
My brother and I started with an 85 sedan de ville. Bought a Thule rack for it (still using the same load bars) and tossed our bikes on the roof, loaded up 4 of our friends and gear in the trunk, tossed on a trunk rack for their bikes and headed down the road like a tin of sardines. Loved that it had airbags in the rear to keep that full diaper from dragging down the road! Tranny went out and we replaced it with a 91 Olds 88 for me and my bro bought a 90 dodge 300. By that time our friends had gotten cars and we started caravanning to Wayne national, red river, new river and parts of PA and NY for week long trips. We would dehydrate ingredients and make up our own dried food stuff to backpack with and clean water with iodine tabs. It was cheap, and most of the money spent went to recreational mood enhancers. I still use the 3 person tent that I dropped $120 on in '97 and have most of the yard sale cooking bits. The wheel rolls, and I don't feel like reinventing it.
DanInDenver
Trail Ready
My single mother took 6 (5 boys 1 girl) of us camping often. Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Bar Harbor Maine. Station wagons and a suburban. Ground tents, igloo cooler with ice.
We had amazing adventures.
We had amazing adventures.
BritKLR
Vice Commander
That right there is a great Mom.
For me it's not a matter of what you could pull off with less... yes I've driven a 2wd vehicle into places it likely shouldn't have gone, but we made it out. And heck I've car camped without a tent or sleeping bag, more than a few times- zip your jacket up and shiver in the front seat for a few hours. It's not pleasant, but I didn't die. Get Subway on the way to the campsite... eat half of it, eat the other half later that night. wake up hungry and get fast food on the way home. nbd... yeah you don't need all the stuff. here's what that guy left out of his video:
- I actually like having a certain amount of preparedness. I like having some basic first aid, too much water, extra food, clothing, etc. I like having a GPS device with a panic button on it, even though I haven't ever used it... but I've never used a tourniquet either. still, maybe we get into a situation one day where we use one of them, or both.. much cooler than not having them.
- I also like making & sharing food & drinks with friends, way more so than when I'm at home. Could be one of my favorite parts of the whole deal, hanging out cookin' stuff, socializing the whole time, sharing who brought what, etc. I think a fancy grill and/or camp kitchen setup is justified- not everyone needs one, but at least one in the group makes this a great experience.
- I really enjoy the planning... I spend hours staring at maps, Gaia, Google earth... reading other people's blogs, watching videos, mapping out my next epic journey. It doesn't matter if others have done it before, it's new to me and I really like the process of discovery. I don't like rock crawling stuff, but don't mind the occasional pokey thing on a dirt road, and that, combined with the unknown, tends to drive the need for vehicle upgrades.
- I also like sharing stuff, and some amount of showing off new gadgets. you probably picked up on that if you know me at all. I like being able to charge or power pretty much anything, air up just about anything, fix stuff, etc. I've run across bikers who were out of water, struggling with a hand pump to fix a flat; they were stoked I stopped. I've run across hikers who were out of food, water, and somewhat lost; they were also pretty psyched to have met me. Of course I've strapped the random jeep as well... I'm always happier after one of these interactions.
I have stood in the rain both with and without a rain jacket, with and without an awning. I've slept on the ground both with and without a mattress. I'll still cook a hot dog on a stick sometimes... there are some overland products that are absolute cringe to me, but a lot of others that I could totally make a case for.
- I actually like having a certain amount of preparedness. I like having some basic first aid, too much water, extra food, clothing, etc. I like having a GPS device with a panic button on it, even though I haven't ever used it... but I've never used a tourniquet either. still, maybe we get into a situation one day where we use one of them, or both.. much cooler than not having them.
- I also like making & sharing food & drinks with friends, way more so than when I'm at home. Could be one of my favorite parts of the whole deal, hanging out cookin' stuff, socializing the whole time, sharing who brought what, etc. I think a fancy grill and/or camp kitchen setup is justified- not everyone needs one, but at least one in the group makes this a great experience.
- I really enjoy the planning... I spend hours staring at maps, Gaia, Google earth... reading other people's blogs, watching videos, mapping out my next epic journey. It doesn't matter if others have done it before, it's new to me and I really like the process of discovery. I don't like rock crawling stuff, but don't mind the occasional pokey thing on a dirt road, and that, combined with the unknown, tends to drive the need for vehicle upgrades.
- I also like sharing stuff, and some amount of showing off new gadgets. you probably picked up on that if you know me at all. I like being able to charge or power pretty much anything, air up just about anything, fix stuff, etc. I've run across bikers who were out of water, struggling with a hand pump to fix a flat; they were stoked I stopped. I've run across hikers who were out of food, water, and somewhat lost; they were also pretty psyched to have met me. Of course I've strapped the random jeep as well... I'm always happier after one of these interactions.
I have stood in the rain both with and without a rain jacket, with and without an awning. I've slept on the ground both with and without a mattress. I'll still cook a hot dog on a stick sometimes... there are some overland products that are absolute cringe to me, but a lot of others that I could totally make a case for.
Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
This is pretty much exactly where I’m at, and always have been. The excitement of figuring out new places to go is it for me. The need to drive over the biggest obstacle around is not the driving force. My truck is built so that a moderate obstacle doesn’t get in the way of me finding that exciting new place I saw on the map.
I started doing this camping thing in scouts with the leaders taking our church van all over the Midwest. Then when I moved to Colorado, I’d drive my Honda Civic up to the mountains with friends, bringing my sleeping bag and crashing in their tent since I didn’t own one. If a road got too rough I’d park the civic and toss myself and my gear in the bed of a buddy’s Tacoma and carry on - returning to get the civic on the way home. It was about getting away to cool places. That led me to want a little more self sufficiency, which led me to buying my own Tacoma. And here we are today.
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That’s awesome! Where was home base and your ages at that time? You had an incredible mother.
What drives me now is getting away from crowds. To do that out here, you usually have to get past some tricky sections that take not just modifications, but driver skill. This opens up areas that most tourons can't reach and provides the seclusion I'm looking for.
Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
I’ve noticed that too and it’s a huge benefit. Get beyond the obstacle that the Subarus can’t clear (no offense Subaru owners) and there’s a little more peace and quiet.
To that end we don’t really go camping anywhere within two hours of our home in Denver anymore. Every time we try we’re reminded that it’s not worth it. Too many people.
DanInDenver
Trail Ready
Home base was Chicago western suburbs. 12 year difference from youngest to oldest. We started when the youngest was 4. She is an amazing mother.
Old40Dog
Rising Sun Member
I just love reading all of these posts. And what I'm reading is exactly why after 30 years of living in in Evergreen, I moved 3 hours South of the Denver area to escape those same problems. Yes it will end up here too some day, but likely not in my lifetime cause I'm an old40dog, LOL. BTW, I have some acreage here as RS members that have visited can verify that and other RS members are welcome to camp here as well. Just contract me to let me now you're coming and I'll provide directions and an access code to the gate and we'll have a good time cause we're all RS folks and welcome.
I tell my wife this all the time “just have to make it past the Subarus”
allen.wrench
Rising Sun Member
This guy makes some solid points, and I laughed a few times too, including, and idk if anyone else spotted:
In college I loved using my s70 1999 front wheel drive NA Volvo with 200+kmiles on dirt roads to get to rocket launch sites and camping in empty fields to launch high power amateur rockets the next day. Example event: https://tccrockets.com/v2/
While I loved doing what I did in college with my beater Volvo, it was necessary to experience that to know now I would only do it again if I was a broke college student again. I also used to dream I could sit at the glorious table of in the presence of big-name overlanders and call myself an overlander.
Today I'm not sure if my Tacoma counts as an overland truck. Now I'd likely just say "cool, I like to use my truck (vehicle, or whatever tool) to do what's necessary. Idk about the label overlanding, but I'll sit here and take care of what's important"
Is there an overland committee somewhere that decrees what is & isn't labelled "overlanding"? Is it OLAF?
Allen
In college I loved using my s70 1999 front wheel drive NA Volvo with 200+kmiles on dirt roads to get to rocket launch sites and camping in empty fields to launch high power amateur rockets the next day. Example event: https://tccrockets.com/v2/
While I loved doing what I did in college with my beater Volvo, it was necessary to experience that to know now I would only do it again if I was a broke college student again. I also used to dream I could sit at the glorious table of in the presence of big-name overlanders and call myself an overlander.
Today I'm not sure if my Tacoma counts as an overland truck. Now I'd likely just say "cool, I like to use my truck (vehicle, or whatever tool) to do what's necessary. Idk about the label overlanding, but I'll sit here and take care of what's important"
Is there an overland committee somewhere that decrees what is & isn't labelled "overlanding"? Is it OLAF?
Allen
Maybe we should start one. I nominate you as the chair.