Outskirts Overland Podcast
Welcome to the Outskirts Overland Podcast, your go-to source for all things overlanding! Hosted by a seasoned adventurer with over 15 years of experience, this podcast offers a genuine and down-to-earth exploration of the overlanding lifestyle. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or just starting out, join us as we delve into the essentials of gear and equipment, share captivating stories from the road, and provide practical tips for your next adventure. Tune in for insightful interviews, expert advice, and a community of like-minded explorers who share a passion for discovering the world beyond the beaten path. Get ready to fuel your wanderlust and embark on unforgettable journeys with the Outskirts Overland Podcast!
Outskirts Overland Podcast
Getting Ahead: Why Now is the Perfect Time for Winter Gear Maintenance
Caught in summer's sweltering grip, the last thing on most campers' minds is cold weather preparation. Yet that's precisely the opportunity hidden in these hot July days – a chance to get ahead of winter while everyone else is simply trying to stay cool.
This episode cuts through conventional wisdom to deliver practical advice about winter camping prep that needs to happen now, not later. I share my three-year experience with diesel heaters, including my summer maintenance routine of running it for three consecutive days at maximum level to burn off soot and ensure reliability. Despite common horror stories about budget heaters, my completely unmodified VIVOR diesel heater has performed flawlessly through multiple seasons – proof that sometimes simple systems suffice.
The current global supply chain presents unprecedented challenges for overlanders. Most budget diesel heaters come from China, along with waterproof materials and merino wool from overseas manufacturers. Ordering these essential items now puts you in a position where extended shipping times won't impact your winter adventures. Plus, you'll avoid competing with holiday shoppers when cold weather gear becomes sought-after. I recommend checking vehicle systems too – water in differentials or steering components can freeze and cause serious problems when temperatures plummet.
Don't wait until you're shivering to discover your gear isn't ready. Test your equipment, place orders early, and organize your systems now while there's no pressure. Winter camping requires preparation, but with proper planning, you can enjoy comfortable cold-weather adventures while others scramble. As I always say: be ahead of the curve, not behind it.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Outskirts Overland. I'm sure I've been taking some days off. I'm trying to find a rhythm again that I want to stick with. It is Tuesday, the 15th, so halfway through July, some good news. Next Wednesday I will be recording with Overland of America so we can finally get some. A lot of people have been messaging me and going hey, what's? What is that event? What's it about? Well, we're going to get it firsthand from the founders or creators of the event, so that will be next Wednesday.
Speaker 1:I have not yet decided if I want to do it live or not. I'm actually going to kind of leave that to them. I'm, as you guys know, perfectly happy doing lives. Um, doesn't bother me in the slightest, but not everybody's into that. That makes some people nervous. So we'll have to see, but not nonetheless. After it's done, I'll get it edited up and it'll be up Thursday evening late for you guys to listen, or it'll be up Thursday evening late for you guys to listen, or it'll be up Wednesday evening late for you guys to listen to Thursday. I will keep you guys updated if anything changes. Any schedule changes, something like that happens. But that'll be one to listen to.
Speaker 1:If you guys are wondering what that event's completely about, who's going to be there? Like there's going to be gaps that I could fill in. Um, that the website, that the event sites not. So make sure you guys listen to that. If that's something you're interested in, I'll also ask them. You know normal things, all right. So what, I have been up to the last. So I think I did it last year at this same time and I've done it the last few years at this same time.
Speaker 1:But I always try to make sure that my diesel heater doesn't go longer than three months. I mean, ideally I'd started every month, but it doesn't go longer than three months sitting. I always treat the diesel that's in it because you don't want to run it dry and any amount of diesel that's in it and has ran through it can gel or cause problems. These diesel heaters at least mine. It's one of the knockoffs. It was $100, $88, something like that, not a lot of money, so I try to run it. I've ran my diesel heater. I ran it Saturday, sunday and yesterday at the highest level. You can run it just burning it in the open air, making sure I'm getting stuff through the pump. This is the first year. I think this is my third year with the decelerator and this is the first year when I started it up the first time.
Speaker 1:After a couple of months the exhaust had a little smoke to it, had a little looked a little sooty. I do burn it as hot as I can, burn it for probably an hour, at least those three days, so I could try and burn off any soot that's in there. So I mean it's level 10, you know, just out in the air, nothing crazy. When it is warm like this, the heat exchanger doesn't have to work as hard either. So if you really are trying to burn some stuff out of it, sucking in warmer air to output hot air is going to suit you far better than oh, excuse me, far better than um, wait until it's cold. It has to work harder than the glow plugs have to work harder, everything has to work harder. So I always recommend getting that diesel heater out in the hot.
Speaker 1:You know I always think, oh, it's hot, but I want to be hot in the winter. It's crazy to think about right now, but we're going to have days in three months from now. You know it's the middle of October or, excuse me it's the middle of July, but the middle of October is only three months away, so you would. In Missouri at least, that's been 80 degrees, that's been snowing. So part of this whole thing about being you know being, uh, being into camping a lot of people this year, more than ever, have said and you know being into camping a lot of people this year, more than ever, have said I just hate this summer.
Speaker 1:Well then, take the summer to get ready for the winter. Make sure you're, you know you're going through your stuff, knowing where it's all at, making sure it's all working. Great time to use your to be re-waterproofing things, washing your winter gear, getting it ready, conditioning leathers that you need to, or waterproofing them, whatever it is that you need to do to get ready for winter. Now I'm way. People may go oh, you're way ahead of it. Now there is a little bit of touch and go when it comes to winter and just like when you guys were a kid and I'm assuming a lot of people in this hobby are at least at least born in the 90s, but again in the 2000s, but there was a time where the stores were always a season ahead. So, like right now, you'd have a hard time getting swim trunks or summer clothes because you're getting ready for winter. People planned ahead with clothes. You know school's coming, you know get your school supplies, but really come August there is no school supplies. We're getting ready for Halloween, you know kind of thing. You know summer's over and that's kind of how things went. I don't know that it'd be in July per se, but pretty much come August things are transitioning. So it's kind of like how do we just skip for whatever reason it goes, halloween to Christmas every year? We all kind of skip Thanksgiving in the stores. But making sure your stuff's ready for the winter will just make you feel more confident when the weather finally gets cold, just like when the weather got hot the first time.
Speaker 1:When you're camping and when you're overlanding, when it gets hot the considerations are different, but less. The same considerations exist in the winter as the summer, but actually less. You still need to have power in the winter as the summer, but actually less. You still need to have power in the winter for your heater. You still need to have propane in the winter, but all that stuff still occurs in the summer, except now to keep your fridge cool. You have more electrical Fans require more electrical. You have more electrical requirements, in my experience, in the summer. So or excuse me you have more electrical requirements in, yes, in the summer than in the winter, but you still have them in the winter. So in my experience everything from the summer translates to the winter, except it doesn't require as much clothing prep.
Speaker 1:Waterproof, like summer, is a little easier on the overall of the hobby of camping. So summer's summer slightly easier, except far more uncomfortable. But being uncomfortable you can't really pack for that. I'm not someone that has an air conditioner in my tent. That would potentially make an add, another pretty substantial thing to my kit for the summer, but I don't have that. So that's not the case. I don't really know many people that do so.
Speaker 1:But come winter you got to make sure you got your, your, your diesel heater ready or your gas heater or whatever. A lot of people run kerosene in their diesel heaters, evident. Evidently it runs cooler. It's $12 a gallon. I run diesel and I put diesel treatment in it. That's what I do. It's an 80. I don't think I got 90 bucks in my diesel heater. I'm not going to put $12 down. You know I'm on a beer budget here. Yes, we're not. We're not on a, we're not. You know we don't want champagne in our beer fridge. You know that's kind of where I'm at with it. I do want it to be reliable. I do want it to last. I do invest good money in sleeping bags, blankets and other things, because I don't know that I want to rely that heavily on an $85 thing, an $89, $100 thing to pretty much make sure that I'm good to go Now.
Speaker 1:But making sure your stuff's waterproof, getting ready, will make you way more confident when it comes to winter, because I think winter requires more gear period. Your clothes can dry out in the summer. In the winter you got to carry more clothes than you do in the summer. You've got to make sure you've got extra pairs of shoes because you don't want wet feet In the summer. Having wet feet not that big of a deal. So there's a lot that goes into summer, or there's a lot that goes into summer, excuse me guys there's a lot that goes into winter, that requires prep and every single year the first cold camp I am ever around somebody, they're like damn, I wish, I don't wish.
Speaker 1:Prepare now. Think about it. Maybe watch some videos from last winter from different people. Look at blog posts, listen to my winter prep stuff. You know I try to be ahead of it because I'm not being relevant with what. Let's just be real here for a second guys, being relevant with what people want me to market when it's popular to market. It is not my stick, like that's not my stick at all, like I don't care. I'm here for you guys, to help you guys out.
Speaker 1:So yeah, you're going to see stuff about diesel heaters come October, november. That's not the time to buy a diesel heater. That's not the time to get your diesel heater ready. The time to buy a diesel heater, that's not the time to get your diesel heater ready. That's the time that everybody else wants you to do it, because you're thinking about it. I want you guys to be prepared, not behind the curve, ahead of it, okay.
Speaker 1:Another thing to think about is we have unprecedented supply chain issues this year from every other year. Everyone in the world knows diesel heaters come from China. At least the people that are on a relatively you know, normal human being budget can't afford a Webasto from Germany for $900. So we got we're dealing with, you know, cheap diesel heaters $100 deceders, I can guarantee you guys just based off everything else. They're going to take about four times as long to get to you as they did.
Speaker 1:Period. Order it now. Don't wait for whatever YouTuber to unbox it and tell you how great it is and then later on down the road you look at a rig walkthrough and it's not even what they freaking use. Don't be that guy. Let them be them. You know that's good the brands. You know that's their job. I don't hate anybody for their job, but I want you guys to be better than that.
Speaker 1:So make sure you're looking at your winter gear now, preparing for your winter gear now, before supply chain issues be in a situation where you can order it and wait some time. It's not an immediate need. Okay, go to your Bass Pro Shop, get your boots if you need boots. Get your wool socks if you need your wool socks. Don't be the person that's not ready. I'm telling you right now. I don't want to hear how your winter camping in 2025 sucked because you didn't think ahead at the supply issues to come.
Speaker 1:Okay, merino wool a lot of times. Not from the United States. Diesel heaters not from the United States. A lot of waterproof fabrics and products not from the United States. Diesel heaters not from the United States, a lot of waterproof fabrics and products not from the United States. So be in a situation where you could wait four weeks and it doesn't even matter at all. Like you could wait two months and it doesn't matter. In two months from now is September. Like, be in a situation where you're ready. Do I think anything's going to take two months to get a waterproof jacket or wool socks or beanies or no, I don't. But don't be the guy that when the supply chain's low, that you're looking for gloves after everyone in the world grabbed them. Like, just don't be in that situation.
Speaker 1:Start your DC heater, make sure it runs. If you want a diesel heater, buy it now. I don't have a recommendation. I have a VIVOR diesel heater. A lot of people say they suck. I'm on my third year with it. I have done again. You're going to hear it from everybody and their mom, as far as creators and everybody.
Speaker 1:I've done jack nothing to my VIVOR diesel heater. It is stock as stock gets out the box. I didn't add a filter. I didn't change the pump. I didn't change the fuel lines. I didn't do anything. I am Mr DIY. I didn't change nothing about that heater and it works for me. I don't have any problems with it. I, you know, I could not tell you guys. I couldn't tell you guys what to do or not to do or what other people's experiences are. I can only speak for my own.
Speaker 1:I bought a VIVOR diesel heater. I put diesel in it, I attached the cord, I went through the startup process. I always go through the shutdown process and it works. Not some of the time, not half the time. I haven't spliced no wires. I've changed nothing at all. Period, nothing. I've changed nothing about that thing Works so far every time. It has never given me a problem. I have had issues with hoses, but again, that's not the heater. The heater works. So just just I'm just throwing that out there for probably the 10th time out of 90 episodes here, I have had no issues at all with my heater. None Zero, and I just use it and I just use it, I just use it. I mean, again, I don't know what to tell you guys, but again, supply issues are unprecedented this year.
Speaker 1:The difference between camping in the winter and not camping at all is pretty drastic and gear dependent. I would very, very highly recommend you guys get on top of that or you start saving for it, preparing for it. You know, again, winter camping gear. Another thing I like to bring up right now is winter camping gear is right. You know you don't want to be the guy that's getting winter camping gear right around winter too, because Cause that's Christmas time. Guys Like, don't be the guy at Christmas that now needs camping gear. You know it needs winter gear. Be ahead of it. Guys Like you don't got to get. No big holidays are coming up unless you got kids, birthdays and stuff right now. It is a such a good time to be ahead of the game. And again, that's what I'm here for Make sure you guys are ready, not behind the curve. Start your dsl heaters, make sure they're running.
Speaker 1:I would recommend at least I always go pretty much march, probably march to july, late june, july, before I start mine the first time. I'm not telling you guys that's a good idea, that's what I have done. That probably will be a mistake made later. That I tell you guys was a mistake. At some point I'll be like that was my bad. So I'd still recommend get it started, started a couple of days in a row as if it was a weekend camp, which is why I did. You know, saturday, sunday, monday, three days started right up, went through the shutdown process. Everything seemed to be working fine. You know, you don't.
Speaker 1:I don't want to ever get it started the first time I shut down the first time and assume that it's good forever. I want to kind of get it a couple of repetitive times on it, just because of the horror stories that I have heard. I don't ever want to be. I just don't want to set myself up for failure. So be starting that thing.
Speaker 1:You would a truck that's sitting, a car that's sitting, you know, crank it up once a week. I wouldn't run it on a low setting at all until winter. Try and keep it as cleaned out as possible, get it started wherever you get it started, crank it up to 10 or 50 or whatever your thing has, run it for minutes, shut it off, shut it down, shut it down. It's very important you shut it down, but I I said it last year and I had a lot of people message me oh, I just kicked it off, problem, no problem, whatever. Be ahead of it, don't be behind it. So, yes, it is gonna be 90 today, possibly even 100 today, and I'm talking about getting ready for winter, because winter will be here tomorrow and you guys don't want to be behind this. You don't want to be behind the curve.
Speaker 1:We're in unprecedented, you know, times with getting products from overseas heck. Now's the time where you can get last year's stuff, that you can get stuff on sale from last year's winter that is in stock now, probably cheaper. I mean, look, but I don't think there's too many people looking at winter coats right now. Don't be the one that's looking for it when you need it. Like that, be prepared now for later Seems real simple. It is real simple. So, and you're not relying on that gear, so it's a good time to get that gear. If you've got gear already, it's a good time to get it out, clean it, take care of it, you know, get it hung up. You're not in a mad dash or rush. Work on, you know, get in your rig, work on where you can put things so you're not disorganized in the winter. Things like that matter and they, they pay dividends. No, get your stuff ready.
Speaker 1:Like I got my stuff all out for winter, like it was 20 degrees outside and I was like, oh, where's this, where's that? Even me, you know, like I'm not perfect, heck, I'm not perfect is understatement. Like I'm not perfect, heck, I'm not perfect, is an understatement. I'm the worst. So, to be honest with you guys, I like forget stuff. I'm so forgetful, I mess up football all the time. But like, just think of what do I need for the winter? Where am I going to put fuels they freeze? Where am I going, like some of those places and things you do in the summer aren't going to work in the winter or they'll work until they don't. You know you're going to want to keep some stuff needs to be inside the truck. That's outside the truck. Now, pay attention to those things again will keep you, you know, from being the guy that's not around the fire, that's screwing with their rig because they got a bunch of broken stuff they're trying to figure out and, you know, stressed out and cold, stressed out, cold and not relaxing. We're hanging out with your friends fully Be ready, which, again, you know, making sure, I think, that after again, the Ozarks just preparing for things In the Ozarks, lots of rain, make sure you guys are paying attention to the fact that you might want to be changing your diff fluids before winter because you've been in the Ozarks or you know the Ozarks, the Guachitas, wherever around, at least around Missouri and Arkansas lots and lots of water crossings.
Speaker 1:Do I think that you're always getting water in your diffs? No, I don't actually, but do I think you should know? And the only way to know is to check. So make sure you're doing that, like, because if you get a bunch of water in your diffs, what's water do in the winter? If you got a bunch of water in your steering rack, what's that going to do in the winter? It's going to freeze, guys, you're going to be screwed. Like, don't be that guy. Why do I know you could be that guy? Because I've been that guy. Don't be me. Be me this year, not me 10 years ago. Okay, so think about those things, guys.
Speaker 1:Again, next week on Wednesday, I do have, you know, overland of America coming on. I don't know if I have Robbie and Chris or just Robbie, or what's going on. Nonetheless, I'm going to ask them all the questions. If you guys have any questions about Overland of America, shoot me a message. Charlie, at outskirtsoverlandcom, you can get ahold of me at outskirtsoverland on Instagram. You can get all of me at outskirtsoverland on YouTube. You can get a of me at Outskirts Overland on YouTube. You can get all of me at Outskirts Overland on Facebook. Message me, let me know what you're going to, what you want to know about Overland of America.
Speaker 1:If you want to know anything, if you guys are potential event promoters, like, how'd you guys get into it? What do you guys do? How'd that happen? How do you talk to brands, like what? I mean? They're coming on my show. I will ask them questions.
Speaker 1:Okay, like, and I love you guys, so I'll ask them your questions. I don't care. I mean, I don't think anything's off the table. I'm outside of, like I'm not gonna ask them rude or personal things. But yeah, just, whatever you guys have that's in relation to to um, whatever you guys have that's in relation to the event, or potentially get into event promotion or start an event or anything along those lines, hit me with it, I'll ask them. I mean, heck, you might ask a really good question that I wish I knew the answer to. So I will catch you guys another time. I don't know when that'll be, maybe tomorrow, maybe not tomorrow, maybe Friday, I don't know. We'll see and have a fantastic day in the heat that you hate getting ready for the winter. That you won't hate because you're prepared. I'll catch you guys later. Have a good one.
