Outskirts Overland Podcast
📸 Join us as we dive deep into the thrilling world of overland travel, off-road exploration, and outdoor adventures! 🌄
🎧 Tune in to hear captivating stories, expert tips, and interviews with fellow travelers and industry professionals. Get inspired to embark on your own epic journeys! 🌍✨
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Outskirts Overland Podcast
What I would tell myself starting out knowing what I know now
Embark on your journey into the world of overlanding with Outskirts Overland, where personal adventures and expert insights converge to guide you through the essentials of this thrilling lifestyle. Ever wondered how to kickstart your overlanding experience without breaking the bank? Join us as we delve into practical strategies for embracing this adventurous lifestyle, especially when specialized advice is scarce. Our exploration covers everything from leveraging YouTube and online forums to the benefits of getting involved in community events like the Polar Bear Camping Club and the grand opening of Midwest Adventure Outfitters.
Discover the secret to assembling the perfect overlanding kit, as we share a thoughtful roadmap for your purchases. We'll guide you through the initial must-haves—like tires and tents—before introducing more nuanced gear such as portable fridges and power stations. Our advice prioritizes practicality, explaining how many stock vehicles are more than capable of meeting the needs of a beginner. With a focus on careful investments and avoiding costly vehicle modifications early on, you'll learn how to enhance your experience while keeping costs in check.
Uncover the gear that transforms overlanding from a simple trip into a comfortable adventure. We discuss the merits of durable, E-rated tires and the game-changing comfort of a diesel heater. From the importance of modular and adaptable equipment setups to the affordability of rooftop tents, our conversation provides you with the know-how to make smart, cost-effective choices. Lastly, stay tuned for exciting updates on upcoming events and unbeatable gear deals, ensuring you're always ready for your next great escape into the wild.
Soundstripe, soundstripe, soundstrike. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Outskirts Overland. I appreciate you guys all being here. I'll be trying to have a candid conversation this week with you guys about what I'd do if I was starting out. Um, I am in a different spot than usual so I am attempting to like get some better audio and lighting for you guys. I mean, I'm no, I'm no magic man when it comes to this stuff, so let's all just hope it's better for you guys. Okay, that's the hope. All right, but first things first. If you guys want to use Onyx Offroad, go on over to Onyx. Use code GLOBALOVERLAND236. You're going to get 20% off of Onyx Offroad. It's what I use exclusively. I love it. It's never let me down and you can download offline maps to the millionth degree Love it. Secondly, if you guys are interested in having a little off-grid connectivity, go on over to WeBoost. I have a discount code for WeBoost as well. It is Outskirts5. Weboost also has a lot of Black Friday sales going on right now. I'm not much on like sharing other like. Obviously, weboost sponsors a podcast and I love WeBoost. It just doesn't come off the same when I'm like here's their ad, if that makes sense. So I try to not do that for you guys. I try to, you know, be a little bit more conscious of here's. You know I like the product. I'm going to tell you I like it. But they do have a lot of sales over there for cars, rvs, houses et cetera. I have loved it. So I don't need to get into that again. I've gotten into it you know 75 times already. But great product. I'd also like to give a shout out to Toyota Trucks of Arkansas. Got a lot of buddies over there. They seem to be real helpful within the Toyota community. They do some things like cleanups and different things. And then, lastly, this weekend, polar Bear Camping Club in Arkansas. If you're not familiar with what the Polar Bear Camping Club is the PBCC my friends over at Zach Outdoors are hosting this oneing Club in Arkansas. If you're not familiar with what the Polar Bear Camping Club is the PBCC my friends over at Zach Outdoors are hosting this one. It's in Arkansas, so go on over and give it a look. I don't know if you can still register or not, but it'll be a fun event. It'll be a community, it'll be more of a community event. So go on over there and check that out. There is four events, so there'll be one in Arkansas, missouri, oklahoma and Kansas. This will be the Arkansas one, so go ahead and give that a look and check it out.
Speaker 1:And last but not least, the following weekend, the 23rd, my buddy Benji's shop opens Midwest Adventure Outfitters. He calls it MAO for short M-A-O. It opens the 23rd at 11 o'clock for the open house. Afterwards there is a camp out he had previously said on his podcast he's only got like for the camp out. For the camp out he's only got, you know, less people than I want to see at his uh, at his grand opening camp out. So go on over there.
Speaker 1:You can buy tickets on midwestadventureoutfitterscom. He's got tickets available there and you, you know, you can pick different tickets ticket options for just camping, or camping with a shirt or a hoodie or a hat, or being here, whatever you know merch, whatever he's got, keychain, I don't know like, don't quote me on any of that merch, but he's gonna have stuff. There's also some giveaways and you get five tickets if you do the $65 camp for the raffle, where that gets you a shirt, I think with it as well, $45 to get you one ticket and it's just camping, so there will be a turkey potluck. Benji doesn't even ask me to pimp this out. I just am very excited about him opening a shop, starting a shop, and I just want people to go give it a look For those of you that are new, and I want I just want people to go give it a look.
Speaker 1:For those of you that are new the whole entire topic of this podcast is what I would. Some stuff like these overland shops weren't something that was around. So you really relied heavily on YouTube. I mean, there's no other, there's no, there's no bones about it. You relied on YouTube or forums, expedition Portal, or you know Tacoma World For me, I have a Tacoma that had a few Tacomas, or you know whatever 4Runners or Discos or whatever that is.
Speaker 1:So really, there's some things that I did. There's a lot of things I did that I think that I've went back to, and there's a few things I just did that I feel like I should have done sooner. So I think, when I get into it, there's a few things that I think would be generally useful. I get into it, there's a few things that I think would be generally useful, and it's going to have different use case scenarios, depending on you know how you use your vehicle, but there's quite a few things that I think, even if you try overlanding out and you know it's not for you, it's not your thing, you're not that into it per se there's a few items that might just make your life better. Quite frankly, I think a lot about how much I use some of this stuff with the kids. I have three kids, I've told you guys before. They're two, four and nine and they use some of my stuff for life.
Speaker 1:So first things first. If I was to go back in time and tell myself where to start and I tell this to people now all the time and it seems hypocritical because it's not what I have but if I was to go back, I wouldn't lift my vehicle off the bat, like right off the bat. I wouldn't lift my vehicle. I'd put the biggest tire. I'd put the biggest you know more aggressive tire on it that I could fit for sure and I would go with a 10 ply. Um, for any midsize SUV truck, larger truck. I'd get the largest tire I could get in a 10 ply, I wouldn't go to a 33. I wouldn't do a lift. I wouldn't do that first. That is not what I would do first. So first thing, first thing, just better tires that will fit under it without a lift. So now I'm not into labor and different things. Second thing I will buy to outfit my overlanding ring. First thing better tires. Second thing somewhere to sleep. I think that a great.
Speaker 1:I did a ground tent for a really long time but I go ground tent, quality, hammock, gazelle tent. If I was just starting out, that's where I'd go, because I've went through three or four different rooftop tents before I found the one I really wanted and I didn't really spend enough time going to things and I spent a lot of time looking at rooftop tents deployed. I didn't spend a lot of time looking at how long they took to put up or what that looked like. Could you put bedding in it? And I think if I would have done something that was at least more comfortable because I was in a regular ground tent, like a big Agnes, like something I would take hunting, like backcountry hunting. So it's like very packable, you know quality packable though you know you put the footprint down, you stake it in the four corners type tent.
Speaker 1:And I think if I would have got a gazelle, something was a little bigger. You know, I don't know, I still wouldn't want to be on the ground by any means, but I think it would have bought me more time because you could damn near stand up in one, um, sit up in up in one like my little tent's, a little tent like you got to crawl out of it and stuff. So I think I think that maybe would have helped me. But, um, a few of my friends have Haven hammocks and that's just like a fancier hammock. They love those. Um, you know which is going to get me. You know, next thing's somewhere to sleep. Third thing, and this is kind of third and fourth, and I'll explain why this is so important as well but third and fourth is going to be some type of rack system and an awning.
Speaker 1:I think an awning is something that's universally useful. I've used it at soccer games, I've used it at home in the summer. You know, the kids are out on the slip and slide, they want to be in the yard. I can deploy my 270 and they can sit under it and get a little bit of reprieve. So that's not even camping, that's just living.
Speaker 1:An awning is a great piece of gear for anybody that's outdoorsy. I could see a use case for it at a trailhead before or after a hike, when you're just trying to take your shoes off and stuff like maybe it's raining, you can deploy an awning pretty easily. Um, and then I'd go back to the rack system, like some type of roof rack rails, something of the sort. Because, for instance, like my friends, they have these haven hammocks, hey, or maybe they call it a haven tent. It's a hammock but we've tied them off on racks. So because you cause, you don't, you don't know sometimes you need something to hang something off of and there's just not trees, so a rack's also useful for that.
Speaker 1:A rack's useful for other modularity of things. You could put boxes up there, strap things to it. There's a lot you can do with it. That's going to help you with a number of other things. And because racks are so modular and this is something I'll tell myself later this is not something I'd say to buy right away, but because racks are so modular, it allows you to grow in the hobby without having to buy a new piece of gear. So you can grow in the hobby of overlanding. But because the roof rack is so modular, you can kind of take things on and off easy, and I think that's extremely important and that's going to be a theme throughout the podcast today is modularity. That allow you to grow into it.
Speaker 1:Big, huge thing that I've not done well and I think I've spent a lot of time and money. I think I've spent a lot of time and money and I wish I'd thought better of it. I guess would be how I would explain that I wish I would have thought better, but I didn't. So here we are. So an awning. So, first thing better tires. Second thing a place to sleep. Third thing awning rack. Third and fourth quality.
Speaker 1:I typically say get something that you can screw into what's already existing versus something you have to screw through the roof. And there's tons of brands out there Like pick one. I can rattle off five, six, seven right now that are decent, but their brand's a rack. But so, again, recap, bigger, 10-ply tires, tires that'll fit without a lift. Um, yeah, a place to sleep. I would highly recommend something less expensive that's not a rooftop tent out the gate, something that's modular, that you could pack, that's comfortable enough that you can, that you can stay in until you figure out a rooftop tent. I think a rooftop tent is something to get into and I think that needs to be on your mind when you get this other sleeping system. But I think a gazelle is really, really, really good entry point. Again, I'm talking about what I would tell myself now if I was starting now, like what experienced Charlie would tell inexperienced Charlie, and that's what he would say.
Speaker 1:So then an awning and a rack you get 270 awning, 180 awning, just a regular pullout awning. You can get them used. You can get them cheap, you can get them expensive, whatever. I think an awning is just if you have kids and you're an outdoorsy person at all hiker, biker, kayaker, anything An awning is a phenomenal thing to have on your car, whether it's a Subaru Outback or an F-250. Having an awning is awesome and extremely useful and it's something that I did not have at first and I lived a rough life. I have a sick awning now and, man, you know it's really worth it.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, we're going to get into more expensive stuff and I would do it in this order. I mean a hundred percent in this order is how I would do it. You know, tires, tent, you could go Um, I would get a, a cooking stove or apparatus of some type. Next fifth so look into cooking stuff, whether that's. You know, sky's the limit there too. But you can get a cheap one at Walmart and it will work just fine. And then I would go straight into my next purchase being a fridge and a power station. Now, that is an extreme, that's. So tires are big purchase and awning not necessarily An Iraq system, not necessarily. You could do those things budget. You could do those things secondhand. Even Now you can do a gazelle tent secondhand. Tires are a little expensive.
Speaker 1:But now I'm going to talk about a fridge and a power station. This is where I get into, if you have went a few times with the previous list. Why a fridge? Well, you don't have to deal with ice ever. You have to deal with soggy food. You can hold more stuff. So if you have a big or huge cooler, you could have a kind of small fridge and it would hold just as much stuff. You know I have a big fridge, but that's neither here nor there. Like my fridge would be like 110 liter cooler when you add the ice, which is insane. You could put like an animal in that, like a killed animal. So I think a fridge is the next purchase and I think it's really good.
Speaker 1:I think, for most people's needs, anything from a 35 liter to a 55 liter fridge is going to suit all your needs. 35 is on the smaller side but it definitely could work for two people for sure, three probably. If you're getting into four people, I could see where the 40, 45, 50, 55 comes into play. Starting, I think that's a way to go. I could easily I have a bigger fridge just because I have a bigger fridge, but I could easily get by just fine with a 55 liter and I think that's like the size. I think that's like your sweet spot, honestly. So I think a fridge is the next one.
Speaker 1:Power station is the next one you need to look. This is when you got to start getting a little gear centric. You got to start paying attention to okay, I'm looking at this fridge Now. The fridge is those two things have to happen together a fridge and a power station. So you got to look at the fridge and you got to look at what it draws power things like that so you can understand what kind of battery you need. I still do. You know, dual battery system's great. It's a lot less money but labor is high. So only if you're a DIYer is a dual battery system cheaper.
Speaker 1:And, quite frankly, I am a much bigger advocate of getting out. You can take a power station out of the box, plug it in your wall, charge it and leave Okay, like you could. Just it's much more mobile and modular so you could just get out. So I do push the power station. They're a little more expensive. Barrier to entry is zero, zero. You know what a plug looks like? It's a box. I mean, it's done for you already.
Speaker 1:If you get into building a rig which again, I'm still not yet built a rig In this scenario I'm telling you we've put probably one or two size bigger 10-ply all-terrain tires on it and an awning and a rack, but ultimately it's a completely stock vehicle. You're adding things to store in it, potentially, but nothing is modifying the vehicle and, quite frankly, nothing I'm going to say today is modifying the vehicle. I do think that comes later, but I think that's where it gets into nuance and everything I've brought up to this point will still be relevant at that point. So you know, once we get into lifts and bumpers and sliders and skids, you know that's, you may never need it and that's why I would start not with those things Now. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I do agree with that statement, but I also have a pretty decent feel on the community as a whole and I think the people that are getting more into wheeling, rock crawling, things like that, they're aware of that and everything I'm saying maybe doesn't really apply, because they're not just traveling and camping, you know, in a vehicle, just traveling and camping. You know, in a vehicle. You know the what's the word? The biggest part, the biggest event of the trip for them is going to be, you know, going off road and hitting some trails and stuff. Well, that's a totally different scenario, right, and almost every stock vehicle with you know, toyota Ranger, you know whatever they'll do a lot more than you probably are experienced to do. If you're just getting into this as well, they'll do a lot more than you think, quite frankly. So don't think you need all this. Don't think you got to build a doomsday truck or SUV just to go. You do not. But so you need to start I digress so going back. You need to start looking at what's you start getting into the weeds now, and this is going to be your first time getting into the weeds and overlanding in this scenario, so you're getting into.
Speaker 1:I got a fridge. How much power does it use? How many days do I need it to run? How do I charge it? Do I need solar? Do I not need solar? Can I charge it off my 12-volt in my car? All these things are questions you got to ask yourself. And if it matters, if you're going for two days, it's going to make a bigger difference. But this is where I say buy once, cry once. This is the time. A power station is the time. Buy a power station for your best case travel scenario. Station for your best case travel scenario. So if you're going on weekends a lot now but you really aspire or want to or are going to go for five days, 10 days, 12 days, look at a power station that'll accommodate that, because it is by far, on this list, the most expensive thing. You can get fridge cheap and I'll tell you guys about my fridge scenario here in a little bit. I just don't know what I think either, but anyways, you can get a fridge cheap. At this point I'd say a Booge RV is good, set Power is good. What's the other one? There's another budget one that's out there. Those are all good options, very, very affordable.
Speaker 1:Then you get into your Iceco, then from there you go, iceco, dometic, engel, national, luna, like you could go and go and go, you know, look at warranties, look at different things, but you can get affordable, definitely get affordable fridges, so yeah. So just just look at it that way. Fridge is not going to cost a ton of money. It'll cost about as much as a tent, gazelle tent. A couple hundred bucks you could get a fridge. You're not going to get the freaking dual zone Bluetooth controlled monster. You know for that. But again, if you're just getting into it, I think a fridge is very, very useful and a fridge is something I feel like you can upgrade pretty easy. Actually, power station I would get the power station you want. Which leads me to my next thing, because it's going to go right off that power station Diesel heater.
Speaker 1:Get a freaking diesel heater. It is a game changer, it is the biggest game changer. I tell you, for comfort reasons, an awning and a diesel heater are probably the two best things your comfort, convenience, a fridge, but comfort is going to be a diesel heater. So when you're looking at your power station you got to get nerdy again. You got to start to pay attention. Will this 12-volt plug handle the watts or amps that the diesel heater is going to pull? To start up, a diesel heater is. I don't care who you are. A diesel heater is too cheap to not have. They are $100, $100. Like that's a tank of gas, at least right now.
Speaker 1:Get a diesel heater and I think with those things you know you could fill in the blanks from there. Plates. You could fill in the blanks from there plates forks, knives, stove, food, et cetera. But with that basic setup I think you could do. You could do a hundred percent of what I do camping and probably it'd be hard to put a. I'd say 65% of the, the off-roading I do, um, and I say 65, I'd say a higher number. But man, I do a lot of stuff that I get hung up on clearance wise and that just wouldn't fly without a lift and bigger tires, um. But you could do a lot, a lot, a lot of overland travel, touring, with just what I said again go through it Bigger tires that'll fit without a lift, rack, awning right, tent, fridge, power station diesel heater that will get you going. Now, what's that whole setup cost? That's going to be the question that everybody's going to be asking or wanting to ask her. Okay, so like I have Kenda Kenda has been nice enough to to work with me I have Kenda Cleaver tires on my truck in a 285 70 17, which is true 33 inch tire. Um, they're like 250 a tire. Now that's if you got like so on the tacoma, the size that will for sure, for sure fit without lifting. It will be a 265 70 17 and they're even cheaper yet. So I'm not even going to be the guy that's like I would get it If it was between a quality tire and a lesser ply, or a lesser tire in a 10 ply, like a lesser name brand in a 10 ply.
Speaker 1:I think the 10 ply, the E rating, is more important than the brand of tire. If I was to tell anybody like Big O makes it, big O brand has a great. You know, mastercraft makes a good all terrain tire in a 10 ply. That would work. But shop, okay, guys, there's discount tire, priority tire, there's Dobbs, there's tire rack, you know, shop, shop. But get a tire that can fit on your truck without modifying anything no body mount chop. No wheel spacers, no, nothing. Biggest tire E-rated. Some puncture that gets you a little bit more puncture resistance, you know, sidewall resistance. That's what I would do and I think that will get you. That'll get you everywhere you want to go. You're not going to be unhappy about any of those purchases. That'll get you everywhere you want to go. You're not going to be unhappy about any of those purchases.
Speaker 1:I do think that getting the rack ahead of time is good because naturally you're going to want to get into probably a rooftop tent. I am a huge advocate of rooftop tents and now, having had every style of rooftop tent you can have I've had a soft top foldout, I've had a hard top foldout and now I have a wedge style, a soft top fold out. I've had a hard top fold out and now I have a wedge style and I would tell anybody that anybody that's annoyed with cleaning up there's no other tent than a wedge tent. If you're somebody that's like I don't want to say lackadaisical, but just like la-di-da, like you don't care either way I'd actually say soft top tent because they're the most comfortable. They're the biggest pain to put up and take down, but I think they're the most comfortable.
Speaker 1:Honest, honestly, the hard shell clamp shell, honestly, is my least favorite. Um, and I had it. And now in retrospect I'm like, yeah, they're just not. They're not aluminum, not, they're not aluminum, and you know they cost a lot. Still like an aluminum one. With the canvas soft tops you can get them affordably.
Speaker 1:So, um, but a lot of people think the grass is greener. I'm here to tell you this is the whole point here is, the grass isn't greener. You know, buy a quality fridge, a quality power station. You don't need to get either one of those huge. You don't need a 270 awning or a 180 awning, just any awning. Now you can look at my truck and see what I have. I've been doing this for a very long time and, quite frankly, I just want things Like these aren't things that I need. My setup is not. I wouldn't say my setup is completely and totally over the top, but my setup is 100%, not just function, like there is a lot of function. I don't need a 270 awning, a big one at that, but that's what I wanted, and I haven't had a mounted awning until now.
Speaker 1:I had a Moonshade for a long, long time and I'd be here to tell you that the Moonshade costs more than you can get a mounted awning, so that's just all there is to it. You should do that. That the Moonshade costs more than you can get them mounted on it, so that's just all there is to it. You should do that. That's what you should do. The Moonshade is a great product, but it's too much money. It's just too much money. When you get something else for cheaper, it just goes on the side of the car. You don't have to carry another bag. You can't forget it, it's attached, which I'm big on. And then I bag you can't forget it, it's attached, which I'm big on.
Speaker 1:And then I think that the last thing I want to touch on because I've done it last thing I want to touch on with the truck is a rack. Do you do a bed rack or do you do a cap or a cap style camper? So I've done a half rack, a full rack and a camper shell. Okay, I will tell you right now, the modularity of a rack is unmatched in this hobby. I can put roto packs on for this trip and the next trip. I come out my diesel heater to the side of the rack. Propane mounts to the rack, max tracks mounts to the rack, awning mouse to the rack. The rack is great. The bed rack's great, half rack not so much, not enough room to get in and do stuff. And then kind of along the same lines, same thing with the cap. It's a little bit more confined and it gets real hot in there and it's still not dustproof.
Speaker 1:So I think that for modularity purposes of evolving in the hobby, think of things that are modular. Like I've always had trucks, so I've had full-size trucks and mid-size trucks. That's what I've always had. So bed racks are a big part of my overlanding experience. My first overlanding vehicle was a truck. I've never had an overlanding SUV. So here we are. So I do think a bed rack is the way to go. There's a number of good bed racks that'll fit your needs, but ultimately you want a bed rack that has the modularity that suits what you think you want to do, with the ability to do other things you don't know that you may or may not want to do adding kayak mounts, adding bike mounts, adding, you know, like if it's got the accessories to add to it, that's what you.
Speaker 1:A rack is the way to go and I have a lot of people that are like but weatherproofing? And I'm like, actually it's way easier to weatherproof stuff in the elements than deal with it. You can't get around in the cap? Well, you just can't. I have so many cuts on my knees and my shins to this day from trying to maneuver in that cap, just so my stuff didn't get rained on. Well, I'm here to tell you guys, rome makes a case. Milwaukee packouts are waterproof and you know, like that cap was not cheap. That was like a four thousand dollar bed cap and I have a stupid nice sherpa bed rack now and I think it was like 1500 bucks, so less than half. So that's where I have just stupid, stupid, stupid.
Speaker 1:And would I love to have a GoFast camper, if you're listening, gofast camper, I love you, I would love to have a GoFast camper. But that opens freaking up gull wings everywhere. Like you could get around in it. Like, actually, it's like more of just a frame with a wedge 10 on the top and it's aluminum and it's stupid expensive. Could I, could I justify that? If they don't help me get one? Hell, no, I can't. I'd love to have one. I'd love to have a used one. Hell, I'd love to have one. I'd love to have a used one Hell, I'd love to have one. I have to fix. I'd love to have one. They can be modular too, but they're $10,000. Maybe more than that. Now I quit looking because it's depressing. They're a lot, but I love them and you could go the sky's limit there too.
Speaker 1:Gofast camper is like the entry-level cab camper. I mean Alucabs more, scout campers more, kimbo's, more. I mean you could go. I mean you get crazy, but none of that's relevant. You get a gazelle and you just go, unless you find, like, a rooftop tent for 300 bucks on Facebook marketplace and you're, you're neither here nor there, if you like it or not. I mean that's a possibility, there are. There are rooftop tents on Facebook workplace like, without a doubt. But that's what I would tell myself.
Speaker 1:Starting now and I think coming into the holidays is why I'm having this podcast a little further out Like we're still ahead of Black Friday, everything I just talked about will be on sale Black Friday Tires, fridges, power stations, cook stoves, awnings, racks Everybody's going to Black Friday. Hell, they might all be having pre-Black Friday right now. Those are the things I'd do if I was just starting out and I'd have a vehicle that could do all those things. But any midsize SUV can do anything I've talked about. Any truck can do anything I've talked about.
Speaker 1:I didn't bring up a bed rack, I'm bringing up a roof rack. And if you have an SUV, that's going to encompass the length of the vehicle, but if you have a truck, just one on the roof, just over the cab, that's going to help you. You could put boxes up there, different stuff. You know it's, it's helpful. You still have the bed of the truck. Maybe you get a tonneau cover. Honest to God, because of what I just did say, get weatherproof cases out the gate, because a bed rack's the way to go, period. Like I said, I've done two bed racks a half a full and a camper shell and I went back to a rack and I could not be happier. It's just a million times better. It's a million times better and I would love to tell you guys that it's because it's Sherpa. But Extrusion makes a good rack, lightener makes a good rack, victory 4x4 makes a good rack, c4, CBI, they all make good racks. Uptop makes great stuff for Toyotas. Uptop, overland, Uptop racks, whatever. They make great stuff.
Speaker 1:The modularity that, the, that, the extruded aluminum and the different cross plates. I mean you put anything on them, dude anything, heaters, tracks, propane boxes inside and outside. It's secure, it's easy to do. You just need, you know, carriage bolts. It's not hard, it's like just dumb to not do.
Speaker 1:And then I, I personally wouldn't do a tonneau cover. I just get stuff that you can, that you can pack, that's watertight, whether that's waterproof bags or what, because I still think a bed rack's the way to go. So so if you buy stuff to store it with the idea of a tonneau or bed cover, that's going to go, because you're going to end up into drawers and organization. I mean I think organization is really where it turns into. Damn, I need to organize this thing. But I got a deck system and my dad has a bed slide and he likes his bed slide in his Ranger and he's got a fridge and he's got all kinds of stuff in his and he's got the full bed slide. He likes that. I like the deck system.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm not here to say organization will be a key point as you collectively get more stuff but you. But if you get rid of your vehicle, okay, you could sell the rack, keep the tent, keep the fridge, keep the power station, keep the awning. You can put it on something else, like you're not in a bunch of stuff. That's also got to go with the vehicle. If you decide, ah man, maybe I don't want to use a Kia Telluride, you know like, potentially, maybe that's what you got, maybe you've got a RAV4 and you're like, man, I'll just get an older forerunner, because that's just going to be a little better. You know, almost everything I just said is transfer. So that's also something to pay attention to. Don't get, don't be cutting, lifting, getting into all this labor and all this work on a platform that you're not even sure of. Get out there, do it and then see where you're at, and that's going to be a much better way to go. So, like I said, like I was getting into when I'm, when I bring this up, I'm bringing it up because black friday's coming up and it's gonna get.
Speaker 1:I mean, with polar bear camping clubs going on. I just did a, a night camping at overland attic. They, we did a movie at night, camped in the parking lot, did donuts and coffee. The next morning A bunch of people were there, got rained on, kind of sucked, kind of was fun. But there's community events now like a lot. It's becoming more popular, like cars and coffee, like the car community. There's a lot more meets, there's a lot more groups, there's a lot more going on and that will draw people in on and that will draw people in.
Speaker 1:But if you were to go today with a new Tacoma and look at my Tacoma, you're going to be overwhelmed. So hopefully I can catch that individual before they get overwhelmed to say, hey, seriously, start here. It's a decent list of stuff, but you'll be comfortable and you'll be happy about it. Okay, you know, obviously there's things you're going to need that are obvious camping needs, so cot, maybe air mattress, sleeping bag, like your basic things. But overland specific, the things I listed, I would double, triple, quadruple down on. Those are the ways I would go and that'll suit you for fishing, hunting as well, kayaking, whatever. So I want to get on. I want to hit that off.
Speaker 1:I'm going to start talking, um, as the weeks go on. I got a product coming to me, excuse me, next Monday, um, I may actually do my first product Like here's a product, look at what I got. I might do that next week. A comparison between two products I have. I have one that's headed out and I got one that's coming in and I think you guys would find it pretty funny why I Did that.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I think you guys Think inside of my head head is funny if you get a chance to hear it but the entire reason why I switched this piece of equipment is ridiculous. But again, I live in a you know, I am a simple, very simple individual that only really spends money on fun, whether that's fun for my kids, fun for me. We live pretty simply, pretty basically really, and I just try to make it happen. But yeah, that's what I want to talk about this week. How do you get started? Where do you get started? What future Charlie would tell past Charlie if he knew. So that's where we're at. I will catch you guys next week.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to sit. I'm relying on FedEx. So if I don't have the product, who you know? Or if it's damaged in shipping or something, don't count on a product comparison. But just schematicallyatically, it would be a product comparison. I won't have tested this product. So I will not talk about the longevity of it at all and, quite frankly, the reason I got it has nothing to do with longevity. It's literally the form of it that I care about.
Speaker 1:Um, but don't forget at the beginning of the podcast, like I said, mayo's the 23rd polar bear camping clubs this weekend. Check out Midwest overlay, midwest adventure outfitters to get tickets for the camp out for that on the 23rd, and then check out PBCC or polar bear camping club for the one this weekend. I think there's room at both, so give them a look and see what you guys got going on. If you're interested in a wee boost, I got black Friday sales. Check it out outskirts five. So what I got for you guys. I'll catch you guys next week. I love you all for being here and listening to me ramble and hopefully I see all you guys next week. Talk to you later.