OverlandSphere » Overland Tech & Travel

Three days on El Camino del Diablo

Overland Tech & Travel — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 01:45:49 +0000

Few places on earth have experienced such a completely circular human history as the desert traversed by southern Arizona’s El Camino del Diablo. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries its harsh plains and jagged mountains comprised a gauntlet for missionaries, explorers, and seekers of gold traveling northwest from Caborca to the first sure water at the Colorado River. In…

Easy trip assistance app

Overland Tech & Travel — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:35:36 +0000

by Roseann Hanson How many times have you been reading a magazine or book, and come across some place you want to jot down to remember to visit, such as a landmark, a restaurant, a museum, or a trail? In the past I either scribbled these onto a nearby post-it note or in a file on my computer. Inevitably these…

BGAN review turns into a real-life test

Overland Tech & Travel — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:55:31 +0000

When we took the OCENS BGAN satellite communications kit to a remote beach in Mexico where we planned to celebrate the New Year with friends, we expected to have fun testing it by checking email and news, and maybe making a few phone calls to friends to evaluate the ease of use and reception. As it turned out, the unit…

Transform your Hi-Lift jack

Overland Tech & Travel — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 22:56:15 +0000

It isn’t very often I test a product that defies criticism even when subjected to the harshest analysis. But I’ve just been using a brand new accessory for the Hi-Lift jack, and I find myself at a loss to write anything that would approach even the level of nitpicking. Anyone who has used a Hi-Lift jack knows it will do…

The King of Luggage

Overland Tech & Travel — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:48:23 +0000

How many of us have gazed enviously at photos of Edwardian-era travelers as their steamer trunks and leather suitcases were hauled off the ship in Mombasa by befezzed stevedores groaning under the load? No excess baggage fees for them. Do you suppose Teddy Roosevelt was told sternly, “Sir, we’ll have to charge you extra for that second suitcase. And the…

THAT coffee . . .

Overland Tech & Travel — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:19:32 +0000

I can claim with unimpeachable documentation to have been a fan of good coffee since before Starbucks made it out of Seattle: On our first Christmas together in 1984, as penurious college students, Roseann’s gift to me was a tin of Langford Brothers Jamaica Blue Mountain beans. It was exquisite stuff, and the tin still serves as my pen holder.…

A Cummins-powered, Getrag-shifted . . . Chinese pickup?

Overland Tech & Travel — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 09:03:39 +0000

Quiz: What company is the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the world? Unless you’re better informed than I, you answered wrong. The correct response is Foton, a Chinese industrial giant. Now the company is introducing a mid-sized double-cab pickup to the South African and Australian markets, designed to compete directly with such well-established trucks as the Toyota Hilux, Nissan…

What happens when . . .

Overland Tech & Travel — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:35:39 +0000

. . . you park your Hilux near a bunch of Maasai kids. In Olkirimatian, in Kenya’s South Rift Valley.…

Working for a living

Overland Tech & Travel — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 13:59:06 +0000

I’ve always thought my 1973 FJ40 lived a vigorous working life in the three times I’ve turned over its odometer. It’s pulled sailboats, loads of premixed concrete, and, once, a 12,000-pound mobile home absurdly beyond Toyota’s published tow rating. It’s yanked and winched out stuck vehicles heavier than its two tons. It had over 200,000 miles on it when I…

Special report: Adventure Overland UK Show

Overland Tech & Travel — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 08:04:56 +0000

Those of us in the U.S. overlanding world have always assumed that our English counterparts were well ahead of us. They invented the Land Rover, after all (not to mention those awesome MOD water cans with the little brass chains to secure the cap and breather). And they can take the Chunnel to Calais, turn right, and be in Morocco…

Land Cruisers of Baharia, Egypt

Overland Tech & Travel — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:28:08 +0000

Land Cruisers of Baharia, Egypt—a set on Flickr The oasis of Baharia, about five hours south of Cairo, is the gateway to the Western Deserts and a major hub for expedition services and vehicles. On our way there during the Sykes-MacDougal Centennial Expedition in February 2012, we heard there was a booming trade in all things Land Cruisers, but we…

Irreducible imperfection: The flimsy

Overland Tech & Travel — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:40:53 +0000

At the beginning of the North Africa Campaign in WWII, the British faced a logistics problem on a scale they’d never imagined. In this, the first totally mechanized war, the need for fuel staggered existing supply lines—and existing supply containers. For several decades the British military had made do with a squarish four-gallon soldered-tin can known officially as a POW…

Outdoor Retailer, day 3—security

Overland Tech & Travel — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 13:39:33 +0000

Securing our gear (or your wallet and passport) is always top on our mind, whether locking up to go on a hike at Grand Canyon or shopping for produce in Congo. Here are few security accessories we spotted at the show: P^cubed pants (pickpocket-proof) have multiple layers of security, from super tough fabric and thread to triple layer pocket…

Outdoor Retailer 2012, day 2 – ultralight tents

Overland Tech & Travel — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 02:20:59 +0000

At last count I owned 14 tents, and I might have missed a couple tucked away somewhere or loaned out. Clearly there’s a bit of an obsession there, and I’m finding enough to keep it stoked at the OR show. Most fascinating are the ultralightweight one and two-person tents employing high-strength canopy materials that look like they’d be blown apart…

Outdoor Retailer, day 1

Overland Tech & Travel — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 01:51:20 +0000

Overland Tech and Travel arrived at Outdoor Retailer in sunny Salt Lake City this afternoon. We managed to visit a couple dozen booths before the happy hours began. Over the next three days we will be reporting on new gear as well as just cool stuff. Follow our Flickr Outdoor Retailer set as well (http://www.flickr.com/photos/conserventures/sets/72157630877676310/with/7701752420/). Here’s a preview: BioLite stove:…

Can’t fit the Weber? Bring a SlatGrill

Overland Tech & Travel — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 01:20:49 +0000

There’s rich irony in the fact that many of us cook on five-foot-wide, $1,500 stainless-steel propane grills in our back yards, where our only view over the wall is the top of the neighbor’s head as he cooks on his own six-foot-wide, $2,000 grill (with counterbalanced rotisserie)—but when we have a brai out in Mother Nature’s beautiful scenery it’s usually…

Do you want it hard or soft? (your motorcycle luggage, that is)

Overland Tech & Travel — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 21:56:28 +0000

I equipped this test Royal Enfield with a combination of AndyStrapz canvas panniers, a Wolfman duffel, and a Pelican case rack trunk for a traverse of the Grand Canyon’s North Rim Just as our instinctive mental image of an expedition vehicle is more than likely a Land Rover 110 or Land Cruiser Troopie equipped with a roof rack loaded down…

On the worthlessness of door mats for sand recovery

Overland Tech & Travel — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 01:18:25 +0000

It’s surprising how much flotation you can get out of a 235/85/16 BFG All-Terrain in soft sand—even under the mass of an HJ78 Land Cruiser Troopie—if it’s properly aired down to around one bar (14.7 psi). At that pressure the contact patch elongates significantly, providing vital surface area without the frontal resistance produced by a wider tire. However, at one…

The Holy Grail of factory tool kits

Overland Tech & Travel — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:54:11 +0000

Who remembers when new four-wheel-drive vehicles came with any factory tools beyond a cheesy scissors jack and a dog-leg lug-nut wrench, and maybe an OnStar account? It wasn’t always that way. In the halcyon days of Series Land Rovers and FJ and HJ Land Cruisers, it wasn’t considered a sign of weakness or a failure of the accounting department to…

Insuring an older vehicle for overlanding outside the U.S.

Overland Tech & Travel — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:06:26 +0000

OT&T reader Tom Devitt wrote: Like you, I have an older vehicle that I’ve put a newer diesel engine in, and am hesitant to drive to Mexico without being able to get full coverage (ideally, an agreed amount policy). It seems that most companies that sell Mexican auto insurance (e.g., Sanborn’s) won’t provide full coverage for a vehicle older than…

Ditch the cigarette lighter

Overland Tech & Travel — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:52:56 +0000

On the left, cigarette-lighter outlet: plastic body and lock ring, guaranteed-to-break rubber cover “hinge,” press-fit back plate. On the right, German-made DIN receptacle: metal body, brass lock ring, rigid cover with spring-loaded hinge. The cordless automotive cigarette lighter was patented 90 years ago, and assumed its present configuration in 1956. I know for a fact that by 1960, car campers…

Historic bodge fixes: T.E. Lawrence

Overland Tech & Travel — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 22:36:46 +0000

T.E. Lawrence, on right, enters Damascus in the Blue Mist. Here’s a bit of history David Lean left out of his epic film Lawrence of Arabia: In addition to the camels T.E. Lawrence and his Bedouin allies used on their spectacular raids against Turkish outposts and railroads in what is now Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria, Lawrence employed a fleet…

Two Sahara veterans reunite

Overland Tech & Travel — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:12:10 +0000

In 1975, Squadron Leader Tom Sheppard led the Joint Services Expedition on the first west to east crossing of the Sahara Desert, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea—a trek that covered 7,500 miles and took 81 days coast to coast. The team used four of the very first production forward-control 1-tonne Land Rovers, two of which were…

Mistaken mystique: myths of tire repair

Overland Tech & Travel — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:20:02 +0000

Despite significant advances in technology and huge reductions in the frequency of failure (certain infamous Firestone models excepted), tires remain the number one cause of vehicle trouble, whether you’re driving your minivan to Disneyland or a Defender to Dodoma. The minivan can get by with a single spare tire. For an expedition vehicle you need to think a little more…

Speed vs. economy, or Fd = 1/2pv(squared) x CdA

Overland Tech & Travel — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:16:59 +0000

Diesel engines such as this fine 1HZ are inherently economical, but they still have to work harder to push a vehicle faster Fuel economy is a funny subject. Very, very few people want to admit their vehicles get poor mileage. The overwhelming tendency is to fudge the other way when the subject comes up. I know for a fact there…

Touring tip: When it’s tool time on the road

Overland Tech & Travel — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:57:18 +0000

Published with the permission of RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel Magazine for Overland Tech & Travel / Overland Expo only. Not for sale or distribution.If you’re like most adventure motorcyclists, you don’t want any type of mechanical problem to deal with during a motorcycle tour. And, of course, the best way to keep that from happening is a heavy dose…

Is Gross Vehicle Weight Rating . . . Overrated?

Overland Tech & Travel — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:57:02 +0000

We all know most of America is overweight these days. But 2,000 pounds overweight? Scott Lesak wrote us regarding his 1997 Mitsubishi Montero (the one in front here), which he has outfitted extensively for overland travel (his brother Mark owns the one following). Recently, Scott weighed virtually every piece of gear that goes into the Montero for a typical camping…

Vehicle rentals in New Zealand?

Overland Tech & Travel — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:09:01 +0000

My wife and I are headed to New Zealand in March and I wanted to see if you knew of anybody down there who did vehicle rentals? We are looking at renting a pop-top camper van to spend our 2 weeks traveling around the south island. Any leads would be helpful! Thank you for your help. ~ Beau Johnston (www.LivingOverland.com Gourmet Cooking *…

10 Great Last-minute Christmas Suggestions

Overland Tech & Travel — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:54:18 +0000

Whether your preferred mode is motorcycle, truck, bicycle, or foot, Overland Tech & Travel editor Jonathan Hanson offers up great last-minute gift suggestions for the overlanders on your list—or a treat for yourself. Fenix E11 LED microlight ($27) I remember when I thought a halogen flashlight that produced 70 lumens from two expensive lithium batteries (for one hour) was hot…

Why I hate Nalgene bottles

Overland Tech & Travel — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:35:33 +0000

Few outdoor product manufacturers have attained the market dominance enjoyed by the Nalge Company, once an obscure maker of laboratory storage containers, after company president Marsh Hyman discovered his son’s Boy Scout troop was using their one-liter bottles as canteens early in the 1970s. The subsequent rebranding of Nalgene Outdoor Products was successful beyond the wildest dreams of marketing people…