Overland Journal Fall 2022

SHOW SOME ELECTRIC LOVE Great job all the way round—print, online, podcast. I have six LandCruisers (FJ40, 80s, and 100s), a Tacoma, and an air-cooled VW bus. I overland in all of them (pros and cons to each). How about some discussion of the new EV and full-size cutting-edge vehicles versus the older and more traditional vehicles? [Or] to rethink builds of older generations of Tacomas (lighter/minimalist) and Jeeps? Matt Powelson START THEM YOUNG Thank you for [your] publication; it’s been an inspiration to me in many ways. We just completed our first “real” overland trip as a family where we explored Joshua Tree National Park. Here are our boys (below), on Berdoo Canyon Road, perusing the most recent issue. Please keep up the amazing work on the magazine, website,…

JOHN GAISFORD John spoke his first words while squashed between his parents in a 1948 CJ2A Willys Jeep and spent much of his formative years on family trips, camping on beaches in Mozambique, and learning life lessons from breakdowns in the Botswana bush. After completing a geology degree, he spent several years working as a remote exploration geologist in Africa. During these years, John practically lived out of a Land Cruiser 70-Series pickup and developed a strong love affair with them. He has spent time hitchhiking in the USA and building aquaponic farms in Vietnam but is always inevitably pulled back to the yard of Willys Jeeps at his family home in Eshowe, South Africa. RICHARD GIORDANO Richard Giordano completed a 48,800-kilometer overland journey from Vancouver, Canada, to Ushuaia, Argentina,…

A proper bushcraft knife is a piece of gear that often A gets overlooked. Unlike a multi-tool or the classic Swiss Army knife, Fitzroy designs their products to be knives foremost—that can do multiple kinds of tasks. I learned long ago that a multi-tool is a great item to keep, but it’s average at best in its performance. You’ll need a proper knife if you need to cut, whittle, slice, or even pull off light chopping. For the last 18 months, I have been using the Bushcraft, which is designed to be durable, strong, easy on the hands, and versatile. It slices tomatoes with ease yet can hammer through thick ropes when needed (4mm, full tang blade). I’ve used it to cut Dyneema rope, Manila 2-inch rope, hammer out kindling…

There’s something undeniably alluring about mud-terrain tires. It could be their aggressive looks or their reputation for trail performance, but the romantic in me says it’s something more. Like your grandfather’s ax or an old Willys Jeep, there’s an honesty to them—a rugged quality found only in purpose-built tools designed for one reason: to get stuff done. I’m a sucker for that sort of simplicity but also understand it’s rarely practical. Waxed canvas jackets leak, a chainsaw is quicker than an ax, and a mud-terrain tire isn’t a good all-around option for a daily driver. Or is it? Toyo Tires claims that their Open Country mud-terrain is “designed to help trucks work hard on pavement and … work just as hard when roads are muddy, snowy, and rocky.” That sounds…

Established in 1986 in Billings, Montana, by Jim Markel Sr., Red Oxx got its start producing fitness straps and belts using surplus military webbing slated for decommissioning. Jim Jr. joined the business early on, and the father-son duo transitioned to a factory location to keep pace with the company’s growth. Today, Jim Jr. is the CEO, and Red Oxx’s product lines are centered around luggage and sporting gear. C-RUCK I chose the C-Ruck for its practical, no-nonsense approach to packability inspired by military moxie. The polyurethane-coated 1000-denier Cordura nylon fabric is thick yet pliable, water-resistant, double-stitched with bound seams, and utilizes rugged hardware to fit the bill. I tried using this rucksack as a carry-on (intended use), and though everything from my small wheeled suitcase fit, I didn’t want to…

Adventures require plenty of planning and packing for the long haul ahead. With each stop, there’s the potential for a side quest away from base camp. Along with the food stored in your fridge mounted to your vehicle, there’s the need for a cooler that won’t take up much excess room in your already limited space. This is crucial for any time spent away from camp. The Elite offers reliability that eliminates any worry, with a freezer-grade seal that provides plenty of cooling power to maintain proper temperatures of food and beverages when hours away from your headquarters.Pelican offers a few features with this cooler that other competitors have not provided, including a rubber non-slip handle grip and a formed indent that circumvents the bruises we all remember. It’s lightweight…