Has overlanding become elitist ?

[Traveling Together]

Nice, may I ask what sort of truck ?

It is a 1995 Toyota T100 4x4 with the 3.4l V6
The only "modifications" I've done are Bilstein stock-replacement shocks and stock size BFG Ko2 At tires
She's coming up on 250,000 miles on the odo. 50,000 of that is since we bought it. I would guess around 4,000 off-pavement miles.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Go peruse expedition portal/overland journal you'll find the very definition of elite-ism. They only feature the expensive gadgets their sponsors sell and their vehicles featured are over-the-top unaffordables. Their writing has a specific style that smacks of an English major editor with a bent for convoluted, artistic, touchy-feely prose. Don't get me wrong, I have subscription to their Journal but the artistic prose is getting old. Along with that, it seems like every article is the same no matter what it's subject is. To me, it defines elitism.

Yep. Agreed. I got banned over there for saying that a lesser brand pedal bike was just as useful and fun as a uber buck expensive model. The two brands in discussion were motobecane from bikes direct (what I was looking at), and a cannondale (what the moderator was suggesting). Price difference for the same parts setup was about 5g. meaning the bike I was looking at was 1599.00 and the bike he was suggesting because of brand name was 6599.00. He was coming up with things like the carbon fiber frames from BD were just paper with a carbon covering etc. We had an exchange of opinions and after he figured out he was not going to sway my opinion he banned me for "Political talk" which is not allowed on EP. Thank god that we have a much more mature minded group of folks here.

 

[grubworm]

this thread is pretty funny at the moment because whether a person has a $500,000 unimog or a $200 toyota corolla they travel in...BOTH are pretty useless at the moment. we are all pretty much equals now, quarantined at home contemplating our mortality....

yep...right now the only thing that really matters is who has the coolest and best face mask!

 

[Boostpowered]

Yep. Agreed. I got banned over there for saying that a lesser brand pedal bike was just as useful and fun as a uber buck expensive model. The two brands in discussion were motobecane from bikes direct (what I was looking at), and a cannondale (what the moderator was suggesting). Price difference for the same parts setup was about 5g. meaning the bike I was looking at was 1599.00 and the bike he was suggesting because of brand name was 6599.00. He was coming up with things like the carbon fiber frames from BD were just paper with a carbon covering etc. We had an exchange of opinions and after he figured out he was not going to sway my opinion he banned me for "Political talk" which is not allowed on EP. Thank god that we have a much more mature minded group of folks here.

You know those same people come here too, You apparently did. I wouldnt pay $20 for something without an engine. Can i afford a 6k bicycle? Yes. I dont see any value to that though just like you didnt but 1k is still too much. Thats used beater car money or another dirtbike money. Everyone is different in the things they value. My neighbor likes dogs and i like cats we dont argue which is better we dont hate each other for it, he knows my barn cats would eat his dogs alive though they deal with coyotes while his dogs are comfy in the house. All the arguing will ruin this site eventually too.

 

[Ubiety]

Let me start off by saying, being on disability I may be biased, but still no need to rip me a new one. I watch many, many overlanding videos from all kinds of overlanding Youtube channels, and I have yet to see one, except "iamjake" that doesn't have $10,000 or close to it (usually more) worth of gear on their rigs. Now I'm not talking about people that live in their rigs full time, but rather those that go for a few days at a time or less. Now I know it's very difficult to not pay a premium to get out there. I mean even good tires can be $1,000 or more a set. Just seems to me that overlanding has gone the same way SUV's, Harleys, trucks, and other things have gone. They got popular by people with pretty good size budgets, then parts costs skyrocket because a lot of people can afford it, and the little guys like me get left out. Now I can and do go out there as far as I can for now but I'll bet my gear costs less than $300. You work hard I know, I don't begrudge you that, you earned it GREAT. Just sucks to not see people more like me out there too.

There was a recent thread here on some of the YouTubers and the general consensus matches your comment. To summarize nobody wanted to watch people build out-of-reach rigs on sponsorships because it is not real life and and not something available to all. There is one YouTuber in particular who generates much angst; interestingly enough their name rhymes with a favorite childhood toy - the Light Bright (awesome pre-digital toy for us oldsters).

Don't allow YouTube to become a mirror for what life should be like - I say to my son all the time. YouTube videos, in large part, do not reflect real life, most of them are productions. Do your thing and be yourself. My overlanding group dresses like cowboys and takes over remote bars to sing patriotic songs. Weird maybe but cheap and real and you won't see that on YouyTube.

I have been researching the Mackenzie Trail up in BC and found this series. Normal guys, normal rigs, good info presented in voice over. Watched the 2 part series twice now.

Rant off ;)

 

[Ubiety]

I hear ya, and at times, I may agree with you. Personally, I'm pretty new to this whole "overlanding" thing myself. But, you don't necessarily need to spend a ton of money to do it. The first trip I went on was 4 days into the Oregon desert, using a bone stock 04 colorado and camping gear I had laying around. Had a blast, didn't get stuck, and went everywhere everyone else did.

This stuff can be spendy, but you don't need a huge rooftop tent, 2 sets of max trax, brand name bed rack, etc. Keep it simple, and get only what you need. Keep your vehicle maintained, and have some decent recovery gear (I'm still working on this one), and get out there. That's what I'm working on.

Where did you go in the OR desert?

 

[Ubiety]

Thanks for the replies, you all are awesome. One reason I joined Overland bound was for community. I DO get out there as much as I can sorry if I didn't mention that. Me n my '99 Buick do what we can. Honestly, I don't go out with other overlanders yet because I'd be embarrassed with my car. And I am NOT camping in bear country in a ground tent LOL

Porterville? Do you know the Mabs family; Sherry Mabs married Glen ???. Sherry and her folks/grand-folks are long time Porterville residents and Glen moved there after he married Sherry (Glen is a Porterville fire fighter). My wife's grandparents were Sunkist growers in Lindsay and the families have known each other forever.

Bear country? Travel with a big firearm. A bear cares very little if your tent is on the ground or rooftop; if it wants that unwrapped goo goo bar in your tent walking up the hood of your rig is not an impediment.

 

[Overland True North]

This is a VERY interesting thread. I feel I can see the imbalance within the Overlanding community just as much as any other endeavor. I used to prefer to run my competition pistol bone stock. As I have gotten older I have opened my eyes to some technology, Red dots. Positive upgrade with great improvements in my accuracy and speed. As with all things there is a cost to obtain better quality items. My jeep is a 2013 JKU Sport (not a rubicon) We wanted a Jeep to get out and do trails and camp. We bought most, if not all, of our equipment from Walmart. First trips in AZ were fun and sucked us into the Overlanding mentality, as described in Overlanding Journal and Expedition Portal. Then we went to Colorado. Our equipment was not up to the task. Leaky tent, camp stove not so awesome, and on and on....we were NOOBS and bought stuff without researching quality. Fast forward to now. We are almost done re-kitting our rig and will be out and about once the Bans are lifted. Bought a new rack and RTT and some other items, because they make our experience "easier" and more enjoyable because the items actually work as intended. I have no sponsors ( except me, myself, and I) and pay for everything I use. I do dislike a very small number of influencers on youtube. So I don't watch them, ever. Others, that I like, I watch because of the places they go to and I take mental notes about how my equipment will fair in those environments. My last thought on this is that an expensive rig, sponsored or not, doesn't make the person, or persons, Elitist. That comes from within them.

 

[reaver]

Where did you go in the OR desert?

We were in the Steens Mountain/Alvord Desert Area.

 

[Ubiety]

This is a VERY interesting thread. I feel I can see the imbalance within the Overlanding community just as much as any other endeavor. I used to prefer to run my competition pistol bone stock. As I have gotten older I have opened my eyes to some technology, Red dots. Positive upgrade with great improvements in my accuracy and speed. As with all things there is a cost to obtain better quality items. My jeep is a 2013 JKU Sport (not a rubicon) We wanted a Jeep to get out and do trails and camp. We bought most, if not all, of our equipment from Walmart. First trips in AZ were fun and sucked us into the Overlanding mentality, as described in Overlanding Journal and Expedition Portal. Then we went to Colorado. Our equipment was not up to the task. Leaky tent, camp stove not so awesome, and on and on....we were NOOBS and bought stuff without researching quality. Fast forward to now. We are almost done re-kitting our rig and will be out and about once the Bans are lifted. Bought a new rack and RTT and some other items, because they make our experience "easier" and more enjoyable because the items actually work as intended. I have no sponsors ( except me, myself, and I) and pay for everything I use. I do dislike a very small number of influencers on youtube. So I don't watch them, ever. Others, that I like, I watch because of the places they go to and I take mental notes about how my equipment will fair in those environments. My last thought on this is that an expensive rig, sponsored or not, doesn't make the person, or persons, Elitist. That comes from within them.

Bought a new 10/22 breakdown a couple years back with real nice fiber optic iron sites (stainless Mag Pul edition). Unfortunately age has caught up with me and I no longer see well enough to hit much with iron sights :(
Totally agree with "start with what you can afford and grow from there" - that's what we did. IMO YouTube is poison unless taken with a grain of salt. Sets up too many false expectations and (typically) tells the glamor and glitz side of the story. I get to tell my son all the time that "no that XYZ super car/truck is not the typical first car for a 16 year old, aim lower buddy, much lower". No matter how much gear that you have being an idiot is still being an idiot.

No, I don't feel strongly at all about this :)

 

[Ubiety]

We were in the Steens Mountain/Alvord Desert Area.

I think we talked about this somewhere else? Ha!
Steens are awesome! Check out the Pine Forest Range next time you are in the area; some nice spots tucked away there. Whitehorse road between Fields and the 97 is a shorter but fun little gravelly jaunt.

 

[USStrongman]

This isn't a competition, we are enjoying each others company while exploring.

Oh but it is a competition. Take a look around Instagram. Posers and wanna be important and famous bullshit artists are everywhere... and they all hangout with one another. Trust fund kids, mama and daddy money and daddy's Black Card. They are all "sponsored" by the same people. Perfect rigs, never dirty and always talking about the latest gadget. "Cockpits" are silly. 74 com devices and pictures to tell you how they need more. Discussions about how X shovel is better than Y shovel. People pontificating their "sponsored" brand with an absolute loss of why they are doing it in the first place.

To the OP. Who cares what you drive? I'd prefer to camp with you than any douchebag on IG who has lost sight of why they went off pavement to begin with.

 

[Prerunner1982]

"Cockpits" are silly. 74 com devices

Ouch... almost like that's directed right at me.

 

[PonoAdventures]

Oh but it is a competition. Take a look around Instagram. Posers and wanna be important and famous bullshit artists are everywhere... and they all hangout with one another. Trust fund kids, mama and daddy money and daddy's Black Card. They are all "sponsored" by the same people. Perfect rigs, never dirty and always talking about the latest gadget. "Cockpits" are silly. 74 com devices and pictures to tell you how they need more. Discussions about how X shovel is better than Y shovel. People pontificating their "sponsored" brand with an absolute loss of why they are doing it in the first place.

To the OP. Who cares what you drive? I'd prefer to camp with you than any douchebag on IG who has lost sight of why they went off pavement to begin with.

I feel like you can make the same case for any hobby/industry, especially in today's world of social media. You will always have the people that want it just for the attention. At the same time, if they want to take the time and somehow make money off of making videos and post, good on them because there still quite a bit of work that goes into that, especially on the editing part (I don't have anywhere near the patience for that). Can't fault people for making money on doing something they like.

 

[MeHere!]

Do what you want to with whom you want to, never mind the outside noise...

 

[Overland True North]

Do what you want to with whom you want to, never mind the outside noise...

Hey there!!!!! Good advice and common sense shall not be tolerated here ................go back to the end of the line, please.

 

[Ralph]

Let me start off by saying, being on disability I may be biased, but still no need to rip me a new one. I watch many, many overlanding videos from all kinds of overlanding Youtube channels, and I have yet to see one, except "iamjake" that doesn't have $10,000 or close to it (usually more) worth of gear on their rigs. Now I'm not talking about people that live in their rigs full time, but rather those that go for a few days at a time or less. Now I know it's very difficult to not pay a premium to get out there. I mean even good tires can be $1,000 or more a set. Just seems to me that overlanding has gone the same way SUV's, Harleys, trucks, and other things have gone. They got popular by people with pretty good size budgets, then parts costs skyrocket because a lot of people can afford it, and the little guys like me get left out. Now I can and do go out there as far as I can for now but I'll bet my gear costs less than $300. You work hard I know, I don't begrudge you that, you earned it GREAT. Just sucks to not see people more like me out there too.

I'm not so sure about not to see disabled people out there. I wish You the best and make Your dreams come true...

 

[grubworm]

This is truly a case where ignorance is bliss. I just got on here a little over a year ago and this is the only 'social media' i have ever done, so i am totally clueless (blissfully ignorant) that anyone is doing anything out there, good, bad, or indifferent. I find that the less I know about people, the more I can like them!

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Do what you want to with whom you want to, never mind the outside noise...

I dont know why any of us must keep saying this over and over again. It's the "Motto" of OB, run what you brung !

I certainly dont feel being pushed into buying any item or product, by any of the OB members I have communicated with.
As a whole, most all have not even mentioned to me that I need this or I need that, unless I ask. I'm always asking others
what they use, if they like it, and why. In the end it will always be my choice of whether I buy or not. It's only natural to want,
but more practical to buy what you need. It boils down to if you want it and you can afford it, that's your business.

A good example of what I am saying is this. I see all these equipped rigs with lights hung all over them and have asked myself
why. Then when I was driving over the black range a few months ago and had to make a stop to let my dogs out. It was pitch
black in the forest and I had to leave my headlights on. I got out of the rig and couldn't see where I was going or where the
dogs went except for what was in front of my rig in the headlight. I didn't have a flash light with me and one dog was out of
sight and wouldn't come back. I was so frustrated not being able to see anything. The dog finally came back but I decided
then that I needed some of the roof rack perimeter lighting so that I could see where to walk around my rig in the dark of the night.

What had seemed to me as un-needed soon began to be important that I have it. So guess what guys I just ordered the rack light
I want on my rig for the big price of $53. Thank you who ever ti was that had them on his rig when posting a picture of his rig on
the forums and for giving me the info on them when I asked..

 

[Traveling Together]

The funny thing about this thread for me is that I have actually tried to be one of those people on YouTube or Instagram but it just never took off for me. When we left for Panama 4 years ago the only YouTube channel portraying what we now think of as overlanding with well edited videos was Kombi Life. We thought, "We can learn to edit and do a similar thing, but with a 4x4 and less young, hippy shenanigans." It's a lot harder than it looks and people like to watch sexy vehicles and sexy people. We don't have either. haha
I'm still slowly editing the video from our trip and putting it up on YouTube, but I've lost the hope that it will ever be a source of income that we could travel on.

Over the years I've crossed paths with many "YouTube celebrities" from the Overland niche and we've appeared on quite a few of their channels including Overland Bound and I Am Jake that were mentioned earlier. Most of them were nice even though we drive a POS. Some of them are faker than others, but all content creators are encouraged to be fake if they want to be successful. Success in that game is measured by views, likes, subscribers, followers, etc. and you get more of that by posing your cool vehicle with an attractive female in good lighting. It may not be the most practical place to set up the solar shower, but it gets the clicks ;)