Influencer II
- 2,192
- First Name
- Mike
- Last Name
- Johnston
- Member #
25039
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KN6OIW
Picture this: It is six in the morning, 40 degrees, and I am on my knees in the dirt like a penitent sinner, wrestling a ground tent that has turned feral overnight. Jagged rocks are poking my fifty year old knees with the enthusiasm of a prison riot, and the tent is fighting back like it knows it has already won. This was one of those ninety second deploy miracles, allegedly engineered by cheerful people who have never tried to stuff nylon rage back into a bag the size of a loaf of bread. At this moment it was less a tent and more a personal vendetta.
The rest of the group was already packed, standing around sipping coffee and watching me perform what could only be described as interpretive dance with profanity. During that 20 minute episode I could only keep thinking: Next time I'll be in a rooftop tent! I will sell blood. I will sell organs. I will sell other peoples organs. Whatever it takes.
I love the exploration part of overlanding. The off road wandering. The camping. The camaraderie. But this particular brand of bargain basement suffering, this doing it on the cheap nonsense, felt suspiciously like work. That was one of my first trips. Start simple they said. It will be fun they said. I started simple. It was maddening. But, bare with me. That is what I thought at the time.
Fast forward a little over five years. I have crossed the country coast to coast, knocked out multiple back country discovery routes, and even ran the full Continental Divide from Mexico to Canada. Thousands of miles later, with a truck that looks like it has opinions about things, I am rebuilding the whole rig again. Version 3.0 is in the works as I type this post. The twist is that this time I am tearing things off instead of bolting them on.
I am pulling more than 1500 pounds off the truck. Boxes. Gear. Gadgets. Dreams. I am simplifying, because experience has a way of slapping you upside the head and taking your credit card away.
I have approached that new version with this thought: If I were starting over, knowing what I know now, what would I do?
First, the platform. I would still choose my Raptor. I am a large man of advancing age and long distance comfort matters. The suspension is comfortable straight from the factory and that counts for a lot when you are rattling your skeleton across entire states. Tacomas are excellent. Tons of aftermarket support, which I absolutely did not have when I started. Jeeps are fantastic too. If I were smaller and younger, I would happily run one of those and never look back.
What you do to the platform depends entirely on how you use it. When I first got my truck, I talked to my dad and became convinced that I needed a winch for self recovery. Over all those miles, all those trips, I never once used it to pull myself out of trouble. Not one time. It is gone now. The lesson is simple. Do not overthink modifications. Take the truck out. Have fun. Live with it stock for a while. Your wants will very quickly turn into needs, and the difference will become painfully obvious.
I would throw a cheap tonneau cover on the bed just to keep the dust down, because if you go off road, dust will find you. It always does. I would add a basic water cooler. A cheap Walmart camp stove and some propane. A dust and waterproof box for dry food, which is worth spending a little money on. Grab a shovel because sooner or later you are going to need to dig a hole to handle personal business. Bring good toilet paper. Not the John Wayne kind that is rough, tough, and does not take shit off anyone. Put it in a zip lock bag. The toilet paper. And, some man wipes are also a gift from the gods.
Yes, I would use that same ninety second deploy tent again. I just would not waste time trying to wrestle it back into its bag until I got home. This is a simple truth that somehow escaped my brain on that first trip. Get a cheap heavy sleeping bag. A cooler is a cooler. Buy a Yeti if you want, but over three days you will not see much difference in my experience.
As for recovery gear, without a winch you are not really self recovering anyway. So get a toolbox. Put JB Weld, duct tape, and bailing wire in it. Flex Seal and a good silicone lubricant are worth carrying. Hit Harbor Freight and buy sockets and screwdrivers specifically for your truck. And buy five ten millimeter sockets in various configurations. Socket. Drill. Driver. You will never find all five when you need them, but hope springs eternal.
Your real recovery tool is communication. Being able to call someone who can come get you or bring you a part. For that, Starlink has been a revelation. It is not cheap, but you can turn the service on and off when you are not using it. The ability to make calls and access the internet from basically anywhere makes it a piece of kit I would never go without again.
And honestly, that is it. Go out and live with your setup. Take short trips. Take long trips. Go solo. Go with groups. You will start to notice things you want because you think they will make everything easier or better. Sometimes they will. Often they will just make it heavier. Fight the urge to add weight at every turn. Weight kills a platform faster than almost anything else. Trust me. I have the receipts.
If I were spending money early on, it would be on Starlink, a good ninety second deploy tent, and a refrigerator. Yes. A refrigerator. Expensive, sure. You will need constant power and probably another battery, and I would stick with a portable unit for flexibility. But compared to a cooler, a fridge is a complete game changer. If you do this kind of travel more than a few times a year and not just weekends at the lake, you will never go back. I do like my roof top tent though. I'd probably end up with a sub $1000 version, eventually.
Was that a rant. Probably. I hope there was something useful buried in the madness. I am thinking about doing a new video on version three of the build soon. I am also deeply lazy at the moment, so that may take a while.
Good luck. Welcome to the overland community.
The rest of the group was already packed, standing around sipping coffee and watching me perform what could only be described as interpretive dance with profanity. During that 20 minute episode I could only keep thinking: Next time I'll be in a rooftop tent! I will sell blood. I will sell organs. I will sell other peoples organs. Whatever it takes.
I love the exploration part of overlanding. The off road wandering. The camping. The camaraderie. But this particular brand of bargain basement suffering, this doing it on the cheap nonsense, felt suspiciously like work. That was one of my first trips. Start simple they said. It will be fun they said. I started simple. It was maddening. But, bare with me. That is what I thought at the time.
Fast forward a little over five years. I have crossed the country coast to coast, knocked out multiple back country discovery routes, and even ran the full Continental Divide from Mexico to Canada. Thousands of miles later, with a truck that looks like it has opinions about things, I am rebuilding the whole rig again. Version 3.0 is in the works as I type this post. The twist is that this time I am tearing things off instead of bolting them on.
I am pulling more than 1500 pounds off the truck. Boxes. Gear. Gadgets. Dreams. I am simplifying, because experience has a way of slapping you upside the head and taking your credit card away.
I have approached that new version with this thought: If I were starting over, knowing what I know now, what would I do?
First, the platform. I would still choose my Raptor. I am a large man of advancing age and long distance comfort matters. The suspension is comfortable straight from the factory and that counts for a lot when you are rattling your skeleton across entire states. Tacomas are excellent. Tons of aftermarket support, which I absolutely did not have when I started. Jeeps are fantastic too. If I were smaller and younger, I would happily run one of those and never look back.
What you do to the platform depends entirely on how you use it. When I first got my truck, I talked to my dad and became convinced that I needed a winch for self recovery. Over all those miles, all those trips, I never once used it to pull myself out of trouble. Not one time. It is gone now. The lesson is simple. Do not overthink modifications. Take the truck out. Have fun. Live with it stock for a while. Your wants will very quickly turn into needs, and the difference will become painfully obvious.
I would throw a cheap tonneau cover on the bed just to keep the dust down, because if you go off road, dust will find you. It always does. I would add a basic water cooler. A cheap Walmart camp stove and some propane. A dust and waterproof box for dry food, which is worth spending a little money on. Grab a shovel because sooner or later you are going to need to dig a hole to handle personal business. Bring good toilet paper. Not the John Wayne kind that is rough, tough, and does not take shit off anyone. Put it in a zip lock bag. The toilet paper. And, some man wipes are also a gift from the gods.
Yes, I would use that same ninety second deploy tent again. I just would not waste time trying to wrestle it back into its bag until I got home. This is a simple truth that somehow escaped my brain on that first trip. Get a cheap heavy sleeping bag. A cooler is a cooler. Buy a Yeti if you want, but over three days you will not see much difference in my experience.
As for recovery gear, without a winch you are not really self recovering anyway. So get a toolbox. Put JB Weld, duct tape, and bailing wire in it. Flex Seal and a good silicone lubricant are worth carrying. Hit Harbor Freight and buy sockets and screwdrivers specifically for your truck. And buy five ten millimeter sockets in various configurations. Socket. Drill. Driver. You will never find all five when you need them, but hope springs eternal.
Your real recovery tool is communication. Being able to call someone who can come get you or bring you a part. For that, Starlink has been a revelation. It is not cheap, but you can turn the service on and off when you are not using it. The ability to make calls and access the internet from basically anywhere makes it a piece of kit I would never go without again.
And honestly, that is it. Go out and live with your setup. Take short trips. Take long trips. Go solo. Go with groups. You will start to notice things you want because you think they will make everything easier or better. Sometimes they will. Often they will just make it heavier. Fight the urge to add weight at every turn. Weight kills a platform faster than almost anything else. Trust me. I have the receipts.
If I were spending money early on, it would be on Starlink, a good ninety second deploy tent, and a refrigerator. Yes. A refrigerator. Expensive, sure. You will need constant power and probably another battery, and I would stick with a portable unit for flexibility. But compared to a cooler, a fridge is a complete game changer. If you do this kind of travel more than a few times a year and not just weekends at the lake, you will never go back. I do like my roof top tent though. I'd probably end up with a sub $1000 version, eventually.
Was that a rant. Probably. I hope there was something useful buried in the madness. I am thinking about doing a new video on version three of the build soon. I am also deeply lazy at the moment, so that may take a while.
Good luck. Welcome to the overland community.
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