US Northwest Idaho BDR (and then some!)

[armyRN]

As a follow-on from my previous post on page 9....

Four Wheeler Magazine recently closed their application for the 2022 Overland Adventure (I was a participant in their 2019 Overland Adventure East event). Here for your reading pleasure are some of their vehicle requirements (cut and pasted from their site). I find them interesting.

Link: Apply Now for the 2022 Four Wheeler Overland Adventure Presented By Jeep! (motortrend.com)

Vehicles must be overland-style (defined as: capable of extended backcountry travel, outfitted with integrated sleeping accommodations either in or on the vehicle or in or on an off-road-capable trailer), be equipped with four-wheel drive, have a two-speed transfer case, and be street legal.

Vehicles will also be checked to ensure they have the required equipment: rollbar, full 'cage, or factory-installed hardtop; tow strap or rope, recommended rated at two times the vehicle weight (no metal hooks); full-size spare tire; jack capable of lifting your vehicle and a tool capable of removing lug nuts; fire extinguisher with gauge indicating good/full, appropriately stored; seatbelts for all vehicle occupants; recovery points front & rear—i.e., tow hooks, hitch receiver, etc.; No tow balls.

All participants will be required to have a GMRS radio (minimum of 15 watts, with external antenna) for communication. More info on the topic will be provided to participants prior to Overland Adventure.

Gee... any of that sound kinda familiar? It isn't just me who comes up with this vehicle requirement stuff.

When I participated in 2019, they loaned everyone 5-watt hand-held GMRS radios from Rugged Radios. Looks like they've upped their radio requirements this time around - guess they figured out 5-watt hand-held radios weren't powerful enough to go from one end of the convoy to the other end (I think they're having 12 participant vehicles plus support vehicles for this event). I know Midland has their 15-watt GMRS radio kits that come with an external antenna. I don't know (haven't looked really) who else sells GMRS radios for vehicles.

 

[M Rose]

As a follow-on from my previous post on page 9....



…When I participated in 2019, they loaned everyone 5-watt hand-held GMRS radios from Rugged Radios. Looks like they've upped their radio requirements this time around - guess they figured out 5-watt hand-held radios weren't powerful enough to go from one end of the convoy to the other end (I think they're having 12 participant vehicles plus support vehicles for this event). I know Midland has their 15-watt GMRS radio kits that come with an external antenna. I don't know (haven't looked really) who else sells GMRS radios for vehicles.

Midland has a 50 watt radio, the MXT-575. Wouxun has the KG-1000G also a full 50 watt GMRS radio. Rugged has a 45 Watt mobile Radio (GMR45). Btech (subsidy of Baofeng) has the GMRS-50x1 50 watt GMRS mobile transceiver. These are the top four mobile GMRS transceivers that operate at or close to maximum legal transmitting power on the GMRS band. There are a lot of other GMRS radios that I didn’t list because they are rated under 40 watts of power.

In overlanding you want the most power legally available to you for your given radio service.

 

[Ubiety]

To anyone thinking about setting up or organizing a trip like this, these (not-so-random thoughts) might be helpful....

Well said, very well said.

 

[armyRN]

Midland has a 50 watt radio, the MXT-575. Wouxun has the KG-1000G also a full 50 watt GMRS radio. Rugged has a 45 Watt mobile Radio (GMR45). Btech (subsidy of Baofeng) has the GMRS-50x1 50 watt GMRS mobile transceiver. These are the top four mobile GMRS transceivers that operate at or close to maximum legal transmitting power on the GMRS band. There are a lot of other GMRS radios that I didn’t list because they are rated under 40 watts of power.

In overlanding you want the most power legally available to you for your given radio service.

You can spend some money on a high-powered GMRS radio.

On this IDBDR trip I used a 25 watt BTECH UV-25x2 Dual Band HAM radio (that also transmits and receives GMRS) of course with an external antenna. Sometimes we were on a HAM frequency; other times we were on a GMRS frequency (usually channel 15). I was pleased with it.

UV-25X2 - BaoFeng Tech

 

[mtn]

There's definitely more to a good radio setup than wattage, I never had problems hearing Paul despite usually being on opposite ends from him on the convoy. I spent most of the trip transmitting on low power (~5w) but boosted it up to 50w when Paul or someone else had a hard time hearing me.

 

[M Rose]

There's definitely more to a good radio setup than wattage, I never had problems hearing Paul despite usually being on opposite ends from him on the convoy. I spent most of the trip transmitting on low power (~5w) but boosted it up to 50w when Paul or someone else had a hard time hearing me.

I’ll agree mostly… money spent on a good antenna and great coax is more important than quality of radio… to an extent, especially when talking GMRS for Convoy use… but for ECOM and SHTF the receiver finals need to be a lot better to reject u wanted signals, and the transmitter needs better filtering than a cheap radio can provide.

 

[kunstmilch]

I've found that 5-6 hours of driving time for me is about the sweet spot for me.

I also have found that large convoys definitely tend to slow things down. 4-6 vehicles works best in my experience. More than that, and you tend to experience exactly what you've mentioned. We typically have 2-4 vehicles in our groups, and it makes it very enjoyable.

2-4 vehicles seems like the seat spot, not that I have experience with this, always done solo which is a very different set of skills and concerns. I find it interesting so many people are so concerned with "safety in numbers" but then I've never had issues when going solo either hiking or driving.

 

[armyRN]

I've found that 5-6 hours of driving time for me is about the sweet spot for me.

I also have found that large convoys definitely tend to slow things down. 4-6 vehicles works best in my experience. More than that, and you tend to experience exactly what you've mentioned. We typically have 2-4 vehicles in our groups, and it makes it very enjoyable.

2-4 vehicles seems like the sweet spot, not that I have experience with this, always done solo which is a very different set of skills and concerns. I find it interesting so many people are so concerned with "safety in numbers" but then I've never had issues when going solo either hiking or driving.

To me, safety in numbers also includes having someone there in case you break down or get really stuck. I've been on solo trips in the middle of nowhere thinking "If something were to happen, I'm kinda screwed. It is a looooong walk out of here, and I don't know what would happen to my vehicle if I'm not there".

There are whole threads on overland forums dedicated to sketchy situations folks have experienced when overlanding. Sadly, there are folks out there with evil intent looking for easy prey. When I go hiking with my wife, rest assured I'm carrying. And even then, that might not be enough.

A recent example (and I grew up near Apopka - and am a UCF graduate):

Link: UCF student killed in robbery during visit to national forest, deputies say (clickorlando.com)

 

[kunstmilch]

I've found that 5-6 hours of driving time for me is about the sweet spot for me.

I also have found that large convoys definitely tend to slow things down. 4-6 vehicles works best in my experience. More than that, and you tend to experience exactly what you've mentioned. We typically have 2-4 vehicles in our groups, and it makes it very enjoyable.

2-4 vehicles seems like the sweet spot, not that I have experience with this, always done solo which is a very different set of skills and concerns. I find it interesting so many people are so concerned with "safety in numbers" but then I've never had issues when going solo either hiking or driving.

To me, safety in numbers also includes having someone there in case you break down or get really stuck. I've been on solo trips in the middle of nowhere thinking "If something were to happen, I'm kinda screwed. It is a looooong walk out of here, and I don't know what would happen to my vehicle if I'm not there".

There are whole threads on overland forums dedicated to sketchy situations folks have experienced when overlanding. Sadly, there are folks out there with evil intent looking for easy prey. When I go hiking with my wife, rest assured I'm carrying. And even then, that might not be enough.

A recent example (and I grew up near Apopka - and am a UCF graduate):

UCF student killed in robbery during visit to national forest, deputies say (clickorlando.com)

I just read that and responded in a way I hope doesn’t offend anyone on the forum, never my intention. ( I mean you will know if I’m trying to offend you) I have a soft spot in my heart for roma and forest dwellers housless etc. but this situation here was shit all around. Yeah like I said I haven’t been too worried, haven’t been robbed, but I certainly have been shot at many a time so maybe I’m just wired weird.

The safety in numbers regarding getting unstuck etc is one of the main reasons I even started looking to groups like ob (if you can even call it a group at this point it’s closer to nationhood) being disabled now makes getting caught out in the middle of nowhere a much bigger deal. Plus as people are going out more there’s just more people and we have to deal with each other.

 

[rslagle]

Six of the seven participants met up at the Jarbidge Campground, just north of town the night before starting

Nice spot right by a river

The seventh attendee was there at the appointed time, here is the lineup. There was a nice lady there, that owned the Outdoor Inn, that was interested in our trip and took all our photos

 

[rslagle]

It's an interesting little town with several places to see, get there early and look around. This is the Community Center. Max occupancy of 50 should never be an issue with a year round population of 20.

They have a permanent garage sale that goes on with the proceeds going to maintenance and upkeep of the Community Center

 

[rslagle]

Some interesting sights around town

I like the "Hens on Holiday"

 

[rslagle]

and if you've been looking for a slightly used dozer, bring a trailer

everyone topped up with gas at Jarbidge. This is the gas pump. I thought this would be the most expensive gas ($7.86/gal) and the most unique gas pump I would see on the trip. I was wrong on both counts. It is premium non-ethanol, but still......

afer a meet-and-greet and brief driver's meeting, we were on our way

 

[rslagle]

and soon out of Nevada. The state line is marked on a boulder, but fading and you have to watch for it

our first stop

 

[rslagle]

Not a lot to see in far southern Idaho and we made a lot of miles early on

even the gravel was fast

our first lunch stop was beside a reservoir

[/url]

the trail continues around and follows along the shore for quite a ways. See the tailgunner over there?

 

[rslagle]

here he is taking a picture of me taking a picture of him

lots of old burned forest, you will see a lot of that

we camped at Trinity Lakes

 

[rslagle]

I have a question for the USFS about that handicapped toilet. Maybe if your wheelchair was 4-wheel drive?

sunrise the next morning was spectacular and the lake was like a mirror

sometimes I get a little carried away with the scenery

Photo stop!

 

[rslagle]

a lot of the trail follows the streams and rivers

Oops! we met this side-by-side on the trail and when he backed up for us, he went too far up the hill and rolled it over. There were 4 adults inside. No one was injured

after getting everyone out, we helped them roll it back upright

it fired right up and he pulled over to the side and let us pass

 

[rslagle]

soon, we were being overtaken by several motorcycles and when this one stopped, he just fell over

we helped him up and around and were soon on our way

circling the wagons, so to speak

the next day, we rolled into Yellow Pine

 

[rslagle]

main street in Yellow Pine

gas pump in Yellow Pine. the guy zeros the mechanical counter, fills you up, takes a paper slip inside the general store, where you pay for your gas (9.00/gal) You have to wonder how accurate that meter is?

when you have to have a speed limit sign for snowmobiles.....

following along a river again

another group of motorcycles zooming around