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The Best Overland Gear of 2020 · The Overland Journal Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I'm your
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: host Scott Brady and with my co host Matt Scott,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and it is twenty twenty one.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Which was initially promised to be better than twenty twenty,
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: but I do have my reservations. Things are already off
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: to an interesting start. Well, my beer watch this. This
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: is what we're going to talk about.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk about twenty twenty and the things
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: that we liked, maybe the things that we didn't like,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: some of the changes in the industry. So this is
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: going to be our twenty twenty recap, which is cool,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: which I think will be really great. I mean, there's
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: a lot of positive things that happened in twenty twenty
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: and let's just focus on those.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: And a special thanks to Danner Boots, who is supporting
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: this episode today. Danner's new Logger nine seventeen was inspired
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: by the classic pattern and lines of Danner's original cocked
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: logging boots. Made in the Pacific Northwest. They're built with
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Danner's trusted quality and durability. The Logger ninety seventeen is
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: designed to ensure you're comfortable and dry wherever your adventure
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: takes you. Even if it includes a little bit of
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: recovery along the way. With a gore Tex waterproof liner
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: and a vibrum spe rubberized Eva midsol, the Logger nine
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: seventeen offers performance, waterproofing and lightweight comfort, all in a
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: rugged yet refined style. Thanks Danner.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: You know, I think I think twenty twenty was the
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: year where overlanding really kind of started to take the
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: main stage. And I think the cool thing, both from
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: an industry perspective and a media perspective, was that, you know,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: it persevered through all of the drama and all of
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: the things that weren't so great about twenty twenty. You know,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: we still saw so many people getting out, so many
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: people getting into overlanding. You know, whether that was because
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: they couldn't get out and fly to I don't know
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: anywhere anywhere, but yeah, it was cool. I mean, I
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: I think twenty twenty is where we saw manufacturers really
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: oe level. You know, auto manufacturers kind of get into
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: the overlink game. You know, we saw Bronco unveiled this year.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: I by the Defender and I guess technically the Gladiators
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: at a twenty twenty model year. It's it was a
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: fascinating year. We saw a lot of innovation in the
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: industry this year and also a lot of kind of
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: you know, continued ali Baba overland as I call it.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Let's just slap a name on some stuff we find
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: on ali Baba and call ourselves a business inevitable.
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  Speaker 1: But even beyond that, which is and of course the
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: ali Baba overland thing is a problem because these products
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: aren't vetted in the field. There's not a lot of
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: testing behind them. They tend to catabolize innovation because they
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: look at someone else's good idea and then they just
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: make it cheaper, which, of course you can make it
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: cheaper if you don't have to design it and take
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: all the risks to see if it's going to work
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: in the market. So yeah, maybe we won't dwell on
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: that too much, or maybe that's another podcast.
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: That's probably another podcast for the future.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: But twenty twenty the things some of the things that
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I liked about twenty twenty was overlanding was a way
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: for people to get out. It was a way for
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: people to have experiences that maybe didn't include them flying
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: to Europe that they were going to hop in their
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: forerunner or maybe by a trailer or.
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: Buy a road.
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  Speaker 2: Our v sales went through the roof crazy. I mean,
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: I want to say it. At its peak, four wheel
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: campers was a year maybe two years out, that's right,
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: you know, I know Earth Roamers two years out.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Yes, it's crazy, yeah, but it also makes sense. It's
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: the way to socially distance. It's reminding people that, hey,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I'm stuck at home. One of the greatest ways that
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: I can have a beautiful experience is to go out
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: in the outback. Which, of course, as travelers, we all
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: have responsibilities to minimize our impact. So when we're camping
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: now and we see that there's a lot of trash
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  Speaker 1: left behind from the campers before us, let's take another
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: couple minutes and let's clean that camp site up. Let's
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: try to put it in a spot that's better than
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: where we found it. I'm finding that I'm needing to
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: bring extra trash bags because every time I go camping,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: I'm cleaning up a lot of a lot of things
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: that I'm finding out.
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  Speaker 2: There were so many people, you know, on the trails
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  Speaker 2: and camping this year. I mean, obviously there was only
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: a there's only a few select places that you could
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: go based on the time of year that you're going.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: You know, we spent some time in Colorado this summer
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: and we gave up. Yeah, take it how you will,
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  Speaker 2: but we just went and stayed in a hotel because
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: our first night it was like the Crown Vix, legitimate
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Crown Vix that were going up for real drive trails,
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  Speaker 2: just you know, skinny pedal to the metal so they
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: could get to the campsite.
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  Speaker 4: It was really busy.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: And yeah, and I think not to get on a tangent,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: but the land managers, whether that's forest service, BLM, you know,
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: those types of folks. I feel like they're almost being
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: a little bit slow to react to overlanding. And I
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: hope that there are some more plans in place. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: if anybody out there is listening to this that you know,
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure we would love to help.
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  Speaker 4: But I think the days of.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Just being able to head into a direction and find
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  Speaker 2: a great campsite while I'm finding, now there's five or
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: ten people at that campsite and they all don't know
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: proper etiquette, they don't know tread lightly practices.
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  Speaker 4: Yep.
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  Speaker 2: So like you said, picking up after them is the
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: short term solution. How do we come to a more
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  Speaker 2: long term solution, Because if this industry doubles again and
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  Speaker 2: next year those campsites are even more busy, you know,
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  Speaker 2: does it hit a critical mass where people just start
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: to not want to go.
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  Speaker 1: Or things start to get shut down. And that's we've
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  Speaker 1: learned that throughout the decades, even starting from the four
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: wheeling side, is that the best people to police a
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: situation like this is ourselves. And if we all just
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: take responsibility for the fact of if I'm going to
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: go out, I'm going to go, Let's maybe go a
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: little further. Let's avoid the really popular camp sites. If
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: you're on Ioverlander and you're traveling, don't just immediately default
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: to the Ioverlander campsite that you see in the app,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: because maybe someone with a lot less skill than you
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: needs that campsite. So those of us that have traveled
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: a lot, and that includes many of the listeners of
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: this podcast, let's go a little bit more remote, and
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: then let's be very gentle on these locations that we visit.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Let's be really mindful of not putting in a fire
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: pit if there isn't one already there. Let's clean up
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: the camp sites let's put our vehicles into for world
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: drive so that we were minimizing damage to the trail.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Like you said, the skinny pedal with the Crown VIC.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: We have the tools, many of us that we can
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  Speaker 1: drive slower less, we'll spind be really mindful of the campsite.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: So I think that that's certainly a lesson learned from
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty is that overlanding is exploding in popularity and
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: because of that, usage is going way up. So let's
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: do what we can, all of us to improve the
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: nature of those campsites. I'm going to change the subject.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: What was your favorite truck of twenty twenty that you drive? Oh?
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: My favorite truck. I'm kind of focusing on something that
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: is new. If I was going to say my favorite
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: vehicle that I've driven so far this year, it's been
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: this Diesel Original Brute, the OG Brute from Yeah. So,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Mike mcmaud a friend of both Matt and and I,
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  Speaker 1: longtime member of the community. He's been involved with Overland
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: International for well over a decade and he has this
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Cummins Power.
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  Speaker 2: It's the only diesel AEV built Diesel TJ Brute.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's really cool. It's amazing.
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  Speaker 2: He's the guy I want to be when I grow
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  Speaker 2: I mean, now, I don't want to grow up, but
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  Speaker 2: you know, I think I think Mike's struck that balance
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: well of like growing up and not growing up at
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  Speaker 2: the same time, which is really awesome.
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  Speaker 4: That's something we all aspire to.
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  Speaker 1: But so probably the one that brought me the most
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: smiles has been that Brute. But if I was to
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: think about new trucks that have come onto the market
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, I just really want to focus on
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  Speaker 1: this Diesel Gladiat or not because I think it is
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: the absolute best mid sized truck for overlanding, although it
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: is arguably so. I just love the fact that Jeep
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: has released a Rubicon. It's so cool. It's so cool
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Jeep pickup with a diesel motor. I drove it on
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: a long trip through New Mexico and I was just
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  Speaker 1: so impressed with the capability and the comfort on the highway.
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  Speaker 1: And then I actually picked up that AEV Jeep in
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico and I towed it back behind the Gladiator
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  Speaker 1: on a flatbed. The fact that you have a vehicle
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: with that breadth of capability, and I'm speaking to the
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: choir here because you own a Gladiator. But I just
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  Speaker 1: love the fact that we can get solid axle data
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  Speaker 1: forty four diff lock four to one transfer case Diesel
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  Speaker 1: Motor GP pickup in twenty twenty one.
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  Speaker 4: I mean that's really cool. It's amazing.
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  Speaker 2: It's like we've somehow gone back in time but then
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: forward and yeah, you know, I mean, I love my Gladiator.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: I have twenty twenty two thousand miles on it now. Honestly,
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  Speaker 2: it's a car that we kind of just that's road
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  Speaker 2: trips and that's adventure miles, is the way I would
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: call it. You know, there's probably four thousand of those miles,
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: and you know are on dirt, if not more. I
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: haven't had a check engine light. Yeah, it's really good.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: There's there's no squeaks.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: I just I mean, I don't want to say that
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: it's better than Toyota build quality because that is a
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: very very bold statement. But they've somehow managed with their
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: vehicles to mix progressive design that's still practical. Yeah, you
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: know that that vehicle is really nice inside. But I
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: can still wipe the interior down, I can still get
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: it wet. It still feels like a tool for travel.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Which so many of these new vehicles feel like a
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: luxury sedan with for world drive capability. And I really
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: like that about the Gladiator. I really like the fact
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: that it is so purposeful.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: And to your point about Toyota, I think that Toyota
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: still builds the highest quality trucks.
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: But they reliable for sure.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they have lagged in some of the innovation and robustness,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: and they've lagged in payload. And hopefully Toyota responds to that.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: I suspect they will.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: If Toyota was lagging behind and leaving us with like
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: a seventy series, like true rugged, old school kind of capability,
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: that'd be great. But you know they've left us with.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: The Tacoma came out in two thousand and six and
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: they put a different body on it. Yeah, it's pretty
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: much the same. The Tundra came out in two thousand
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: and seven. They put a new grill on it, and
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: some vendors. There's something too that I think for for
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: travelers there's a benefit to time tested technology, But I
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: just have to say that they're just outdated now. Like
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: I would love to consider Toyota. Yeah, I have a
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: land Cruiser. I love my Toyota stuff. The most significant
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: travels I've done in my life have always been in
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Toyota's for a reason. But would I buy a Toyota
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: in America right now and they're discontinuing the land Cruiser?
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, hopefully that whatever land Cruiser comes next is
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: going to be amazing. But speaking of innovation, I think
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: one of the things that Matt and I wanted to
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: kind of complement the industry on this year is just
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: the rate of innovation and the number of new products
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: that are coming to market that are extremely high quality.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: The fact that you can send a Dodge Ram to
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: AEV and go pick up something that is ready to
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: go around the world. That's I think very significant. The
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: new Earth Cruiser, for example, a lot of the quality
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: tents and materials that are coming out of Africa, in
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: other countries and even the United States, you know, the
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: go fast campers. All of that stuff is a rate
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: of innovation we've not seen before, and a lot of
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: these new products are super high quality.
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: It's fascinating.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's a lot, there's a lot going on
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: in the industry right now, and you know, I wish
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: these guys the best because if we don't innovate, we
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: don't push forward.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and as consumers, if we don't spend a little
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: bit more money and buy it from the one who
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: thought of the idea or who perfected the idea, then
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: if we just buy just the cheap variant of that,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: then I'm biased.
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: On that one. But yeah, but it's.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: So true if you take away I mean, obviously the
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: knockoff is cheaper because they don't have any of the
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: expense of engineering and R and D and market tests
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: and everything else.
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: So we should as consumers.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: I think it's a part of our responsibility as travelers
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: is to is to focus on the high quality gear
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: because then someone who's new to the industry, they come in,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: they see like, oh, this is what these people are using,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and then that means that's probably what I should buy.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: So I think we have some responsibility to weed out.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: The chaff, right, Yeah, Yeah, there's always going to be
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: the good, better, best thing that happens. But they're to
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: your point of there being a lot of innovation, there's
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: also a lot of copycat going on. We can sit
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: here and blame the Chinese.
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but I will tell.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: You that there's an American that is actually facilitating that.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: It's always funny, like with the roof tents, because I've
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: actually been to some of the factories in China that
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: make these roof tents that make Yakima's roof tents, that
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: make a lot of company's roof tents, like Sunday Camper
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: probably makes half of them. And you read these marketing
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: descriptions tested in the wilds of this inspired by this,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: I'm like, no, dude, what you actually did is you
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: you selected the tick box for this many grams per
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: square meter canvas for this for the walls, and you
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: selected this, and then they give you a little.
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: Twelve by twelve place to put your logo.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: And it's just funny how many people are purely based
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: on marketing, paying more money for what is legitimately the
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: same quality product. Just go on Ali Baba and buy it.
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, because it'll be cheaper.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Like there's literally a new company that's out now that
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: their catalog like they haven't innovated on anything. They just
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: go to Ali Baba put their name on it. I mean,
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: I don't want to say they're lying to the consumer,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: but you read there, you read their product descriptions and.
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: You're like, hmm hmmm.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: It's funny that for other companies sell that exact same tent.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: But yeah, you're claiming that it's this and that, and.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Whereas if you sit down and have dinner with the
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: owner of easy On and you hear about where this
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: guy has been in the world and where his father
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: has been in the world with their product and that
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: they make, they make it themselves. Anyways, I'm not I
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: don't want us to focus on the negative and just
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: highlight maybe the exceptions, but as consumers, and that's part
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: of the growth of the industry is there's a lot
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: of product development.
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: Let's do our research into where we should.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Really people are doing that, and there's a lot of
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of mindful travelers out there. I mean,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: you know, go fast Campers released their new ultra Light.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: I want to say, it's called the ultra Light Version two. Yeah,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: version two, and it's probably sold out. I mean everything
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: they do is sold out. I mean, so that's proof
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: that there are people that are supporting, you know, innovative
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: American manufacturing, and I think that that's great total. We
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: got off topic. I want to talk about my favorite truck. Yeah,
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty RAMTRX. It's awesome, seven hundred and two horsepower.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: Do you need that for overlanding?
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: No? Do you want it? Absolutely?
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: It's almost like you want to tint the windows so
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: no one sees you driving it, but you really want
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: to drive it.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: I don't even think that that's me, that's me because
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: I would totally drive one of those. But yeah, that
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: was a fascinating thing to me because it's just interesting
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: to see these luxury technologies and these advanced power plants
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: become reliable enough to where you could actually consider taking
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: them on a Rueah. I mean, there's no reason you
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: couldn't take a tar X around the world. Yeah, I
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: mean that was that was pretty amazing. I had that
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: truck airborne like multiple times. Like it wasn't a press
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: launch where you were like, hey, we're going to put
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: you in the right seat with this professional driver who
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: knows his marks exactly. They were just sending journalists who
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: respectfully don't always know how to drive as well as
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: they think they do, probably myself included.
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: They're just letting them go. And it survived it, and
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: it survived wave after wave. It was really cool. And
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: then there's some significant SUVs that came out this year. Yeah,
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: for sure. You know we were.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: We started twenty twenty in Namibia with the new Defender.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's my favorite suv of twenty twenty. You know,
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: you kind of talked about av being somebody that you
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: can send a vehicle off and it's, you know, ready
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: to drive around the world. You can get that from
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: a land River dealer now, and I think that that's
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: really cool. You can get a shower built in, you
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: can get an air compressor built in, you can have
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: your roof, tent roof, rack, snorkel, truthfully, everything that you
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: need to go around the world integrated into your car.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: And I think that's really cool. It does seem unfortunately
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: that they're having some reliability issues with that car.
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I want it. I want it to succeed.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: You know, the land River folks are so nice and
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: they put a lot of work into that car. And
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: I think it's important to recognize that the rules that
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: we may have here, they're a global brand. They have
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: to integrate safety regulations for the European Union, for the
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: United Kingdom, for US, for many different markets. So it's
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: never going to be a box like the old Defender was.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: And part of the problem I think with hating on
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: a vehicle like that is that it automatically removes innovation
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: from the marketplace. It removes competition. And that's if we
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: talk about like the Tacoma for example, it was because
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: it didn't have competition. Now that there is the Bison, yeah,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: and there's the Gladiator, and the Ranger keeps getting better and.
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: A new we'll still buy Tacomas.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: And the new Rangers coming out, that will force Toyota
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: to address a bunch of those issues in the next iteration.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: And that is I think really positive. So before someone says, oh,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: the Defender this or reliability that, take it for what
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: it is and the innovation that it includes and see
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: how that will help leap from the in When I look.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: At the biggest people that are talking smack about the Defender,
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: there's this part of me that can't help but to
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: think they're doing it because they know it's controversial, yeah,
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: and they just want to stir the pot so they can,
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: I don't know, get some more Instagram chuck e cheese
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: tokens or something.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: Sure, a lot of people.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Haven't actually driven this vehicle, and land River's selling every
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: single one that they can get.
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: Congratulations to them.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: My experience has been that it is class leading comfort,
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: class leading capability for what it is, the breadth of.
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: Capability, it's huge. Yeah, is really notable.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: So for me, I've got like the literally the antithesis
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: of the Defender. I'm going to stick with that two
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: hundred series land Cruiser because you actually use your stuff.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: I don't know, well, you can never go wrong with
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: a land Cruise. Yeah, that's the deal though, right It
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: just it just feels like that. I'm so grateful that
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: vehicle is still here, and of course it's going away,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: and I suspect that Toyota, because of their lineage with
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: land Cruiser, they're going to come out with another really
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: great car. I'm excited about the two hundred that it's
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: still available. You can still get a body on frame,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: super heavy duty suv with a proper payload and lots
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: of aftermarket support and go and leave and drive it
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: around the world.
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: And for me, I'm excited to see what they come
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: up with next.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: So the two hundred series one ore Overland Journal Suv
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: of the Year one hundred percent. Believe it deserved that
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: the reliability these exceptionals it's just been out since I
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: was seventeen.
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I know.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: That's so it's hard for me to kind of like, no,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: I get it look at like the what would that be?
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: iPod? Yeah, it is like or like the Walkman. Yeah.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but sometimes it works. It works, no, and it
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: really and it really does.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: There's been a lot of innovation in camper trailers campers
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: this year. I have to say, like I was able
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: to check out an earth Rummer LTI. Those things are crazy,
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: all new carbon fiber bodies. That's probably my favorite of
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty. And what do you like most about the
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: earth Roamer. It's an all in one system. I'm lucky
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: enough to have a have one. I mean it's ten
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: years old, but you know that a lot of the
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: systems are kind of similar, so understanding where they came
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: from and understanding what the LTI is. The biggest problem
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: that the Earth Roamer has, in my opinion.
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: Is weight. They're very, very heavy.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: So they went to lithium batteries, they went to the
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: you know, the carbon fiber body and instead of I
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: want to say before it was like a fiberglass with
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: balls core, which which was fine. It was very durable,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: for travel. I think just lightness will make the experience better.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: Everything's tweaked a little bit, you know, it's you put
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: them next to each other and maybe you wouldn't recognize
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: huge differences, but you know, talking with people that have them,
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: they just say that they can go longer, and they
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: can go further and it's more comfortable. Not that the
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: old ones were terrible, Yeah, it's just it's cool to
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: see something innovation that didn't necessarily have to happen, because again,
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: that's one of those products where they sell every single
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: one that they can they make yep, you know, used
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: values on earth Roamers go up because there's so much demand,
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: so they didn't really have to mess with it. And
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: I think it's it's cool to see people just constantly
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: pushing that bar forward.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: And I think also the fact that Bill Swales, who
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: runs earth Roamer, I remember reading his stories in four
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Wheeler in the early two thousands and he had his
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: own camper made and he learned a lot from that.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: And then I've been with the big earth Roamers. We've
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: gone all the way down to Panama with them. They're
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: really impressive. And the fact that this many years in
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: they still have kind of an ethos around them being capable.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: They were one of the first to go with the
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: Kelderman suspension and the forty one inch continentals and all
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: of that really doesn't improve the capability of that.
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: They're impressive trucks, for sure.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: What's your favorite kind of a new camper set up
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: for twenty twenty?
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: So for me, and I'm coming across totally as the
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: ludite in this conversation, which is so funny. So I
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: like this new Scout can Those are really cool. Yeah,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: they have one that's called the keen I that's just
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: coming to market. I'll explain why I like the camper.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: First of all, it is very light for what it is.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: And the second thing is is it's extremely simple and
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: minimalist for what it is. So you get, in my opinion,
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: the things that a camper should always have. If you're
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: going to strap a camper to the back of your truck,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: it might as well have a place to go to
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: the bathroom, and it might as well have a place
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: to take a shower. Otherwise, why not just use a
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: rough tent or yeah, just camp right, So, I think
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: that there are some things that really make sense for
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: having a camp on the back of your truck. But
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: what I like about the Scout is the fact that
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: it doesn't have any plumbing going.
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: Through it at all.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Fascinating it has It uses a Lifeline jerry Can Lifeesa
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Lifesaver jerry Can.
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: Which is a great product. Takes all the time, does it?
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so maybe maybe the way they've got it positioned
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: because they've got it a bat with the cap up.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: But you can pressurize it, which gives you then pressure
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: for the sink and there's just no plumbing to fail
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: in the whole thing, which is in my experience with
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: campers that's what plumbing fails. Electrical systems fail, and when
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: it's cold outside as well, like those, those are the
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: things that you have to then have a bigger battery
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: pack because then you have to heat it yep, and
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: then the battery system, the entire electrical system. Two wires
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: connect it from your main charger or your dual battery system.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: It's a big goal zero pack and it has its
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: own built in inverter lithium ion battery twelve old outlets USBC.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: It all plugs into the one unit. If something goes wrong,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: you replace the unit there's not a whole bunch of
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: systems to work on in great In my mind, I
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: like the fact that the camper is spacious, it has
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: the key features that you need, It's lightweight, and it
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: should be very, very reliable.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: That's completely enclosed it is. Yeah, I'm not knocking on
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: pop up campers, but I have much lace. For sure,
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: they have their place, but the idea of a lightweight,
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: simple hardshell camper is really attractive.
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: For me, it'll be my version of an Earth Romer
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: if if I ever got one, I can carry the
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: wine for you. So and along that line, I'm really
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: interested in the full sized trucks. I think that the
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: full sized trucks have merit in the space, and we
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: don't have a lot of experience with them. So I
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: have ordered a Diesel GMC just to try something totally different.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: No, this will be your first like American pickup.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: Will it will be, And no commentary on it yet
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: because I haven't tested it and I don't know how
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: it's going to work. But it has the little Diesel
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: engine in it and it's their eight four package, so
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: let's see how that goes. I think it's really important
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: for us to start to get into the full sizes,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: because it's definitely the direction that a lot of the
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: markets going. I mean, the payload requirements of most US
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: based travelers just dictate that that's where things have to go. Yeah,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: in Tacoma's I mean, like I have so much respect
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: for the Tacoma of course, but it's just such an
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: easy target because it is not class leading in anything.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, other than reliable, other than the one thing that
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: actually matters in the aftermarket. But yeah, motorcycles. Let's let's
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: talk by So you were in Africa with your favorite.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: I were favorite motive I was. I have since the
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Triumph twelve hundred XC launched, I have had lust for
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: this motorcycle, and Triumph of South Africa was so generous
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: to let me just give me the keys to a
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: bike and head off to Swaziland.
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: So I did that with some.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Buddies of mine in South Africa from Bona Fide Moto
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: and we just went loaded up a bunch of scramblers
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: road to Swaziland. And it was really an amazing motorcycle.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: It's everything that I want a bike to be. It's
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: got a lot of character, it's a classic looking looks good,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: like it looks like a Scottie bike. Yeah, totally. And
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: then it's got nine inches of suspension travel. So for me,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: that's definitely the bike. In fact, I plan to buy
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: one this year.
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah. It's just I love it. That's awesome. Yeah, how
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: about you?
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: Man, Like I'm weird with adventure bikes. I love my
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: nine to fifty, but I really emphasize lightweight. I think
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: that's that's super important, and I kind of delineate between
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: street bikes and off road bikes. And my dream bike
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: right now is the KTM four to fifty Rally Replica.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: I know that that's a competition motorcycle, but like, you
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: see what these things do in the back car and
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: they're just cool and so we're just talking about cool stuff,
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: right So for me, the coolest thing is this four
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: to fifty rally Replica. They're just over three hundred pounds,
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: they have huge fuel range, huge performance, lightweight, you know,
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: KTM cone valve suspension, Like they have all of the
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: cool guy stuff that I kind of scratch the surface
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: in terms of actually knowing what to do with it.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: That's my dream bike.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: I'm really trying to find one because the cool thing
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: is while this is like the most expensive dirt bike
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: money can buy, it's like also the price of a
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: base twelve hundred gs. Right, So when you I don't
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: know when I look at things that way, do I
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: want the five hundred pound.
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: Six pounds I was trying, I was trying to be
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: a nice man.
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: Or do I want something that has more performance and
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: half the way I don't necessarily care about, you know, radar, crews,
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: control and some of those things. I would in twenty
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: twenty one, I would love to find a way to
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: get on a trip on one of these things because
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: I just have to think they're that perfect blur between
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: performance and travel. There's a really cool guy, Linden Poskett,
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: races to places that travels all all over the world
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: on these types of bikes. I want to say his bike,
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: Basle Bike, is a six ninety rally. But if you're
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: curious about what adventure riding can be for people that
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: are more biased towards off road, he's a really cool
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: guy to check out. He's done Dakhar multiple times. I
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: mean legit rider. Sure, yeah, people got to check that out.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Because lighter and less is always more. As we talk
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: about Serve percent. That's a cool bike. Maybe you'll find one,
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: I hope, So, I hope.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: So tell me about your favorite vehicle accessories for last year.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: If we're going off of what my dog likes, which
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: is what I have to like this little greyhound running
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: around here, Goose gear seat delete that we put in
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: the Gladiator awesome. We put all of his food underneath.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: It gives us kind of stacked storage in that back seat.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: And for Gladiator people with dogs, like the cab is
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: massive on that thing once you take the seat out
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: because they obviously have to have the kind of that
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: reclined sure seat, So you end up with a square
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: usable space that's been greater than that. We did the
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: sixty or the seventy percent seat delete. We ended up
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: actually buying the thirty percent seat delete that just came in,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: and we're just going to get rid of everything in
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: the back because it's just so much more efficient.
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and it just gives you that extra storage.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Comparing yet and I also I also messed around with
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: the new Red Arc Manager and Red Vision system put
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: that in the Gladiator because kind of building that into
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: more of a you know, serious camper in the back.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: Converted it to lithium to try and say some weight,
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: and boy, that thing charges so quick.
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: Nice. It just it works one hundred percent of the time.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: With the red Vision system, I can go on my
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: phone and I just disconnect every accessory, so it's kind
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: of like an S pod on steroids. I if I
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: had any complaint for it, it's definitely currently two biased
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: towards camper trailers, and I think if I had had
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: any critique for red Arc, it's a great product. They
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: need like a light version or vehicle car based overlanders
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: that aren't building a caravan or something like that.
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: I want to say.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: It has like six different water tank inputs which take
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: up a significant space on this unit itself. I mean
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: for people that are watching, I think it's probably that long.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: If you're watching on YouTube, it's over a foot in length,
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: and they really could pair that down. I think by
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: the time you do the manager system and the red
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Vision system is it's a substantial amount of stuff. With
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: the Gladiator, I was kind of able to hide it
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: around my drawer system, so it worked out just fine.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: But those in it that have a little bit more
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: space constraint might have an issue.
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: But it works great. I love it.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: It's so cool to be able to just turn everything
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: off on your vehicle.
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I have my you know, and I can.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: I can selectively turn things on on my phone and
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: turn my cell phone booster on, turn my fridge on
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: when I need it, turn my heater.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: On, or even from in bed in the camper. Right, Yeah, exactly.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: That's a big deal. That's nice to be able to
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: check up on stuff when you're sleeping.
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah cool. What about you? What's your you know?
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: I want to say Max Tracks, and I just don't,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: so I know I'm the Max Track I know, so
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: full disclosure on the Max Tracks thing.
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: But just this week we had this great storm and.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: Prescot over a foot of snow in Arizona, almost two
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: feet at my house, and I'm driving around this awesome
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: brute because it's one vehicle that I had that can
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: do all of the snow and so all of it.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah exactly, So I put all I do is just
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: put a set of Max Tracks in the back. And
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: then a friend of mine, her elderly mom, got stranded
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: in her driveway and Brian, who works with Overland Journal,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: he goes out and rescues her with Max Tracks. He
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: gets home. You yes, guy is stuck on the road.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: He rescues the ups guy with Max tracks, So a
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: full disclosure. Matt imports Max tracks, So disregard everything I
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: just said if you choose to. But that is again
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: one of the most useful things that you can buy,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: and it doesn't cost that much money compared to a
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: lot of accessories. But beyond that, I would say that
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: the thing that's most impressed me this year is the
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: arb old Man EMUBP fifty one suspension system. I'll be
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: really specific about why I like it. There are two reasons.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: First of all, it doesn't make any noise. The bushings
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: and everything the connection points are all highly durable. They're
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: not designed for racing where they're going to be rebuilt's
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: after every trip, so they it doesn't make any noise.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: It's super quiet, and the lexus. The other thing that
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: I like about it is you can adjust both compression
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: and rebound, and then there is internal bypass as well,
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: so throughout the stroke you end up in the midline
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: where you're just kind of running down the road in
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: that middle thirty percent. It's super soft valving and it's
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: really comfortable, but if you have a g out or
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: a large event, pass can ramp up or restrict the
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: fluid flow and really adjust for those larger events and impacts.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: And I really like being able to adjust for rebound.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: I like to have a relatively soft compression to get
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: full use out of the suspension travel. Then I do
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: like to ramp up rebound a little bit so it
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: gives me better control over the car. So the fact
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: that you can adjust both of those, it's a high
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: quality component, really good codings and stuff like that.
• 30:26
  Speaker 4: So the BP fifty one is my choice.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: It's super nice just to see somebody looking at the
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: market and recognizing that people want blinging shocks. Whether they
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: have kings on all of my cars and I love
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: them to death, but you know one of them is
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: currently being rebuilt. You know, they're a race shock in
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: a street application. So it's nice to see that same
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: technology brought over to something or an Overlander that's going
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: to be putting serious miles on. Kudos to airb on that.
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: The first time that I used BP fifty one's on
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: a long trip. I drove from Brisbane all the way
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: to Perth. Yeah, in a seventy series with those on it,
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: pulling up trailer and it was just they never faded,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: they never failed. I mean abusive corrugations. They're made for
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: Australian conditions and they're made for travelers. So in that regard,
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: I think it's a positive thing. All right, talk about
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: your favorite moto accessory.
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: Do you have one.
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: I'll be honest, I didn't really ride adventure bikes in
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty. I messed around in my yard on trials bikes.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: So trials bikes, yeah, so I trials bike. If you
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: want to learn how to ride, I'm not somebody that
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: has ridden my entire life. You know, it's just a
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: hobby for me that I kind of picked up. And
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: I will just say that in terms of learning how
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: to ride, it's just been fascinating to really get into
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: trials over the last few years. So I don't really
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: have any adventure moto. It's necessario. That's a good point though.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: I remember when I was trying to learn how to
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: ride the nine point fifty before I went and did
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: the Trans America Trail, got training from our mutual friend
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Tim Hillsimmer and this guy, he's an amazing rider. He said,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: all right, no problem when you do the training, but
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: you got to follow the program. I said, no, no
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: big deal. And we get out there and he unloads
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: his trials bike. He says, you're not going to get
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: the the KTM nine to fifty until you can ride
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: this thing.
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: So we did loops and figure eights and slow speed
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: stuff up ledges and until he felt like I had
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: body mechanics and some bount and now, of course I
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: was still an amateur. But until I reached a certain
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: level of expectation that he had on the trials bike,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: I didn't even move to the big bike. So you're right,
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: maybe that is a great accessory. Is start small, Start small,
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: get trials.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: Bikes for like two or three grand I mean, I
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: know people that spend more on tour tech panniers.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, So I think the motor accessor accessory for me.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: I really believe in high quality gear when you're riding.
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: And I love this Ether Adventure motorcycle jacket. They call
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: it their Expedition But I like the fact that it
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: doesn't have a liner, it's gore tex type material, it
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: has big vents. It also doesn't look like you're a spaceman.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: So I like the fact that it's really understated, understated
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: color tones. I use that jacket all the way throughout
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: South America on my lap trip there, and it's just
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: a it's just the jacket I keep going back to.
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: So I really like that coat. I really like the
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: aesthetic of the ether stuff. I think that's how you
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: pronounce it. I think that's the whole point of that name,
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: is that it's a little bit hard to pronounce.
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: I mean I don't have any personal experience with it,
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: but I can say that it looks really good, and
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: I think that that's important.
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: It is, Yeah, it.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: Is because everybody everybody looks like a stormtrooper an adventure bike.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: You don't have to you don't have to look like
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: it's like baiting their country. The climb Brigade is coming back. Now,
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: there's a reason why everybody's wearing climb putting myself, But
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: it's just nice to have.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: Have something different, Yeah, something different, But I really like that.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about gadgets real quick with your figures. Yeah,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: let's talk about your because you just got that new camera.
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 33:42
  Speaker 4: So for me, it's because I love photography. It's my art.
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: In twent twenty twenty was a year that I just
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: didn't get to use as many other gadgets. So I
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: did use my camera a lot, and the A seven
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: R four for me, has the image quality that I
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: need for stills. I also used a hall Blod last year,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: the XD one, and that was an amazing camera for
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: image quality, it just didn't meet my needs for fast
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: moving objects. Startup time was a little slow, and the
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: A seven R four just gives me all the image quality, smaller,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: more compact overall setup so it fits on a bike.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: And also I've been using the Zeis Primes and I've
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: just really kind of fallen in love with those two.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: So Sony stuff is just immense, like the capability of
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: those sensors. I've never vibed with the ergonomics of them, yeah,
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: because I'm a but somehow I vibe with the ergonomics
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: of Alaika doesn't have.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: Any I have an emotional connection to the word. There's
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: an emotional connection here, There's an emotional connection there. I
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: don't know what my favorite gadget is, to be honest,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: I've kind of thought about this. It's been weird because
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty is the year where I've traveled the least,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: and I have to say that planning and this, I
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: guess goes into my favorite book of twenty twenty. I
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: have been just sitting working doing what I feel that
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: I'm supposed to do, which is trying to stay home
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: and trying to stay distant. And you know, I've become
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: obsessed with this Gaya app and really good, like you can,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: I can plan on you know the computer, I can.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: It automatically shows up on my phone in the cloud.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: I can download maps just specifically to the track. It
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: works with Apple car Play. I got this mile Post book.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: It's like the Bible to North country travel since nineteen
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: seventy nine.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: I think it's honestly meant for like retired people in
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: RVs with the amount of information so good as planning
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: somebody that's planning, you know that Alaska Yukon kind of trip.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: You get like kilometer by kilometer and mile by mile
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: walkthroughs of all this stuff. So I've kind of taken
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: taken that and put put that data into Gaya and
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: that's been something that's I guess, kind of keeping me going.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: You know, hopefully hopefully we'll be able to do that
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: trip this year. So what's what's your favorite book that
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: you've read in twenty twenty that you read in twenty twenty.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I actually read a lot last year, which I'm
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: grateful for. I've listened to a lot of audiobooks through
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: the years, but I've started to just take the time
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: and make the time in my life to because it's
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: such a foundation of learning so for me, and also
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: I recognize that this is a really challenging year, so
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: I started to dig into things that I wanted to
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: reduce the stress of my life. I wanted to gain
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: some perspective that I had learned so much from in travel.
• 36:14
  Speaker 4: So I read this book. It's by Ryan Holiday.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: It's called Stillness Is the Key, and it's a volume
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: that's based very much so on the Stoics, So it's
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: great to listen to as an audiobook. I've listened to
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: it several times as an audiobook, and I've also read
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: it in print format, and it's just a really beautiful volume.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: It talks a lot about Marcus Aurelius, the Emperor of Rome,
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: and there's a lot of history in there and some
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: of the most significant people from World War Two and
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: how they got through these very stressful times. So I
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: found that that was just a really a beautiful book
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: to read. I think it prepares us well for travel.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: And then I really like Vagabonding, also by Ralph Potts.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: I've talked about that a little bit on the podcast,
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: but I read that again this last year and just
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: was again so taken by his repetive. This is someone
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: who has lived on the road, traveled and worked in
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: unusual places, taught English in Asia to afford to travel,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: and he has some great perspective on it, and it's
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: really about coming back to the joys of travel and
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: staying away from the stuff and the expense. And if
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: the goal is to travel, there's a way to do it,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: and he shows a lot of how to do that.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: So I really like both of those books. They're a
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: little different, but they're both pretty amazing. I've definitely found
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: myself just diving into travel books. I sit down at
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: night and my mind has to travel. So I've gone
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: through all of my favorite Paul Throrow books.
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: Oh nice one, And you know, I have a particular
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: interest in Southeast Asia, so I'd love to read like
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: the history of that. So a book that was recommended
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: to me was a bright and shining lie By And
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: now I'm forgetting the guy's name. Yeah in the show notes,
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: right she Han. Oh got you, Neil Shehn, Neil she Han.
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: But it just it talks about the Vietnam War from
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: just a different perspect from before it was the Vietnam War, before,
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: you know, when it was the French, when it was
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: World War Two, all the way through the president. It's
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: just interesting, I think when you travel in a place
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: that has been I'll say, I don't want to call
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: Vietnam war torn, but it was. Yeah, it's a lovely
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: place now. But just to have more of an understanding
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: as a young person what happened in very recent history
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: there just provides perspective. And you know, now I'm excited
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: to go back and to see the things that I'm
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: reading more in depth about. And I think that's that's been,
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: you know, for books for me for twenty twenty. We're
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: definitely and still are in twenty twenty one, just how
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: can we figure out more, how can we absorb more
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: from the places that we're going to travel.
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: And that's been a nice thing. Yeah, now that's what
• 38:44
  Speaker 4: a cool book to read.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll put all those volumes in the show notes
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: so people can see what we've been checking out as well.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: I also do consume other podcasts at a rapid rate,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: and there's one that I would like to recommend to everyone,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: Doctor Peter Attiya. You'll find him on any major podcast outlet.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: It's the Drive and the subjects that he goes into,
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: particularly around health and longevity and lifespan, so being as
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: healthy for as long as possible. But the subjects that
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: he goes into are amazing. And he loves racing, so
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: he's a driver, he likes cars, he likes great watches,
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: and he's a really interesting person that has incredibly valuable
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: insights towards being a healthier, more active person. So I
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: really like it. I listen to it every time it
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: comes out. And then I guess we can wrap up
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: with who we kind of think has been the Overlander
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: of the year. What an unusual, strange year because people
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: aren't necessarily traveling, and it's interesting to be in a
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: where you are nominating somebody in a time when they're
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: not necessarily supposed to be traveling. I'm not getting into
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the politics of that, right but Graham and Louise A Belle,
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: you know there's somebody that, regardless of this year, deserved
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: you know the award per se sure you know, as
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: you said there, I mean they're on the road right
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: now now.
• 40:00
  Speaker 4: They are.
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: They're quarantining at their following the rules, which I think
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: is important.
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: They're camping remotely, they're staying out of cities, they are
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: socially distancing in Africa. In Africa, they are following all
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: the rules, they're avoiding the bribes, and they're actually getting
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: COVID negative tests before they cross these borders. So they're
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: doing a lot to try to stay on the road.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: And despite how you may look at it, there is
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: so much to learn from that. So they're really pushing
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: the envelope. And they're amazing people and they've driven around
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: the world and a defender with their family and they've
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: raised their kids on the road. So they're just wonderful
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: humans that are kind of pushing the envelope a little bit,
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: which is worth following just for that perspective alone.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're there. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: them in person, but I've chatted with Graham a little
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: bit and on the Internet and just super nice people. Yeah,
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: but they're travels and the books specifically that you know
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: that Graham and Louisa have written and authored definitely worth
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: a look if you're lucky, if you're looking for that
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: little bit of inspiration to keep you going in twenty
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: twenty one, I really really recommend getting their books because
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: that's a great way to support these travelers on the
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: road and reading more about what they do.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: And also we want to just thank all of you
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: as our listeners. Twenty twenty was really the year that
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: we started the Overland Journal podcasts. We're now at hundreds
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: of thousands of downloads and that's because of you the listener.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: We really appreciate your feedback, the questions that you send
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: Matt and I, the feedback that you send us. Please
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: send in more questions. We're going to put together and
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: ask me Anything episode in the next month or so.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: That'll allow us to address a lot of the questions
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: that you've been sending. But we appreciate all your feedback,
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: positive and negative. Please let us know if there's ways
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: that we can improve, because we want to make this
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: lite and improve. Yeah, we want to make this a
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: podcast that the industry is able to be supportive of.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: So he've given us that feedback, we really appreciate it.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: If you want to reach out to Matt. You can
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: do that on Instagram at Matt Explore and you can
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: send him questions and comments, feedbacks. You can find out
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: where he buys these amazing shirts that he wears.
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: Minor boring. I wouldn't say yours are boring.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just a little bit of a compared
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: to yours are pretty boring. And then you can reach
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: me at Scott dot a dot Brady on Instagram and
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: provide the feedback. You can follow Overland Journal at Overland
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: Journal on Instagram as well, and we will talk to
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: you next time.
• 42:21
  Speaker 4: See you, guys,