Is the Overlanding community killing itself

[DBAR]

I don't think it's killing itself. Look at any other hobby. They are all the same in this respect. People always make it seem like you need to spend a ridiculous amount to get started. The truth is you just have to plan a trip and go. Lots of people overland in their stock vehicles. They do what they can to get out. Maybe over time, they upgrade their rig or their camp or whatever it is they enjoy most.

 

[DintDobbs]

@MiamiC70 Be nice. He isn't wrong.

Telling us what we don't need is as unsolicited as telling us what we do need. My joke seems to have derailed this thread. Sorry to everybody whose notif's are being clogged with this thread.

 

[Winterhawk]

What is Overlanding? - Overland Bound
Go to the link above on this sight and see the pictures of a totally outfitted rig and its trailer. See the picture of the interior of a rig with all the cameras. Read the text and tell me again what you think.

 

[smritte]

Read the text and tell me again what you think.

Old picture? One of the few who may stick around? One of the many who were in it for the fad? Not sure how to respond to the question that wasnt already stated.

I am one of the few who have been doing this for decades. As I posted seven pages ago, it became a fad that's fading, just like all the other fads I've watched over the last 50 odd years.
Some people new to the sport will find a home, others will go chase the next fad and the next. I personally don't worry about it. In my opinion, anyone who does was new to the sport, likes it and is afraid their new hobby will end. It wont. Some of us will be around when the fad comes back. The nice part of it becoming a fad was all the gear got to evolve. The bad thing is, I have a ton of old gear I don't use anymore.

 

[DintDobbs]

An other factor that a great deal of people overlook, both amongst this community and others, as well as those outside the relevant community, is the fact that a community's needs shift over time. Supply and demand rules.

For example, the massive electrical boxes and batteries and whatnot was irrelevant 20 years ago. People didn't need to run an electric refrigerator and an Internet hot spot and a coffee maker, 2 HAM radios, 4 walkie-talkies, and charge 3 phones, a laptop, and an electric shaver from a car.

Some of us still don't - all I'm saying is, a market exists for new gear because society requires us to be "connected" in ways that were not expected of us 20 years ago. This means that people depend on us in ways that they did not, 20 years ago. Being constantly called around means no time to charge the devices you're using to keep up with all this, as well as no time to empty and refill coolers (necessitating a refrigerator) and the list of these factors is endless, and constantly shifting.

Gear that was vital 20 years ago is optional now. Gear that was unnecessary 20 years ago is vital now. Companies that manufactured and supported certain equipment are gone, and replaced by new companies that manufacture and support different equipment. Again, supply and demand rules - you can't sell what nobody wants.

The community has always been, and will always be, alive and well. Some participate of necessity, others as a lifestyle, others as a hobby, others don't even mean to participate at all.

 

[grubworm]

What is Overlanding? - Overland Bound
Go to the link above on this sight and see the pictures of a totally outfitted rig and its trailer. See the picture of the interior of a rig with all the cameras. Read the text and tell me again what you think.

not really sure what youre getting at, but here goes:
when i see that picture, the one taken from the inside of the truck...i immediately see the view thru the windshield and think "Wow, I'd like to be there and see that firsthand".
as far as the interior with the cameras and stuff...i guess it doesnt matter too much to me because my focus is the view thru the windshield. if i had to delve deep into my psyche and reflect on my feelings about the vehicle itself, i would have that second or so of gratefulness that i can go travel like that with the comfort of air conditioning, shock absorbers, comfy seat, etc instead of getting there by covered wagon 100+ yrs ago.

i have been driving vehicles that have electrical instrumentation ever since my first vehicle, a 1976 yellow ford pinto (trunk, not hatchback...give me some credit) and i have gotten used to electronics being part of everyday life. even the shitty pinto was a technological marvel compared to a horse and buggy.

i cant really tell, but it sounds like your post is questioning how to reconcile experiencing the simplicity of nature while using current technology or even possibly seeing it as hypocrisy? you didnt really ask a specific question, just asking what we think...so hopefully i understood you right. i see no conflict because the mode of transportation reflects the times, just like a covered wagon reflected the times back then. im sure if a caveman saw this same picture, but instead it was taken from the inside of a covered wagon, the caveman would be thinking "What a bunch of pretentious assholes packing all that fancy gear."

 

[Murphy Slaw]

the caveman would be thinking "What a bunch of pretentious assholes packing all that fancy gear."

That was great.

 

[MidOH]

Ooh, ooh, is THAT fire?

 

[DRAX]

Well, we've all heard the phrase "As slow as possible, as fast as necessary." How about "As little as possible, as much as necessary?" :D Every person has to determine what is necessary for their enjoyment/comfort/abilities, nobody else can determine that for them.

Some people seem to think overlanding isn't overlanding unless there's a bit of suffering/discomfort. I don't get that thinking. This is a hobby, it should be enjoyable. If I don't enjoy it then I won't keep doing it. If that means spending a bit of money in order to make it comfortable and enjoyable then that's my choice.

There's no right or wrong way to do this, but treading lightly and leaving no trace should be paramount.

 

[MiamiC70]

I thing the “problem” everyone has with it is the unusual number of “D-bags” that have flocked to this hobby.

Also, yes camping in any form car, hiking, traditional should be a return to nature in some form. If you’re camping with a bigscreen TV, oven, and dishwasher stay home it’s cheaper and you’re doing camping wrong anyway. Buy an RV hang out at KOA.

 

[DRAX]

I thing the “problem” everyone has with it is the unusual number of “D-bags” that have flocked to this hobby.

One could argue that someone who mods their vehicle to look like they overland but they don't actually overland aren't overlanders, they're just posers and as such they aren't actually involved in this hobby outside of consumerism and supporting the businesses that are providing products. We should be happy there are people out there supporting businesses. ;)

Also, yes camping in any form car, hiking, traditional should be a return to nature in some form. If you’re camping with a bigscreen TV, oven, and dishwasher stay home it’s cheaper and you’re doing camping wrong anyway. Buy an RV hang out at KOA.

See above. Nobody can tell someone else that the way they're doing it is wrong if it makes them happy and they're not being damaging/destructive to public lands. What camping/overlanding is to you doesn't mean it has to be that way for everyone else.

We do enjoy disconnecting while on vacation, but we also bring an iPad with movies/shows to watch at night if the weather is bad or we're bored but not ready to go to bed yet.

If you're not enjoying it then you're doing it wrong. Find a way to enjoy it or find a different hobby, forcing yourself to do something that you don't have to do and you don't enjoy makes no sense.

 

[bgenlvtex]

I know people who hog hunt with spears, knives and dogs.
I know people who hunt with bows.
I know people who hunt with muzzle loaders.
I know people who hunt with modern center fire rifles and/or handguns.
I know people who hunt with one off custom firearms .

They are all hunters, all will tell you they enjoy the way they do it.

The simple fact that they do it differently than you doesn't make them right or wrong, don't seek to define another mans happiness, it makes you look like exactly what you are.

 

[MidOH]

I hunt like dis:

Brrrt #m134 #feralhogs #invasivespecies #hunting

youtube.com

Ordering one of these and an Rtt right now. You will turn off your gen at night, or I'll mistake it for a feral pig.

 

[DintDobbs]

@MidOH Don't get an RTT, you need the roof clear for the Gat and hatch.

 

[MidOH]

I was going to put it IN the rtt.

Brrrrrt through a white window drape so nobody knows its me.

 

[DintDobbs]

@MidOH Ah, of course. I had overlooked that option.

 

[Jay61]

I imagine I am older than most on here and here are a few observations with regards to comments made since my last comment on this thread. Having seen the advent of color TV, then Cable, then Central Air and Heating, then pagers on to cell phones and then the advent of personal computers and the internet I have learned without a doubt, mankind will grasp ahold of anything that makes his life easier, more enjoyable and more comfortable. We do that with every aspect of our life, why would vehicle-based camping and adventure be any different? I remember when Coleman came out with the little propane canisters and how that "revolutionized" cooking when you were camping, you no longer had to haul around kerosene, "white gas" or other liquid fuel for your camp stove or lanterns (for that matter). Heck, I remember buying my first liquid fuel camp stove (they were invented before me, but they were not what you would call cheap and easy to find in much of the nation) and how much easier that made camping, I did not have to cook over a campfire anymore and deal with cast iron pans, pots and dutch ovens. I remember when lightweight "back packing" tents became affordable and you did not have to rely upon heavy canvas or Army surplus tents, these new tents were easier to put up and took up way less space in the always limited packing area.

My point being, new things come along, people are going to buy them and use them if they can afford them and they make their vehicle-based camping easier, more enjoyable or more comfortable. Unless you are getting to your destination via horseback and with your gear on packhorses, with cast iron pots and pans, sleeping in a canvas tent with Hudson Bay "Beaver Blankets" and cutting your firewood with an axe and nothing else, you ain't a "purist" no matter how much you try to convince yourself you are and no matter how hard you to to convince yourself that you and somehow better than those that ain't, you ain't.

 

[DintDobbs]

@Jay61 This! Well said! Bravo! Once upon a time, every thing was harder. The issue though isn't the gear that makes life easier. The issue is that this perceived "ease" is the selling point, and people are buying stuff to ease activities in which they do not participate.

Of course, I'm better than everybody else because I don't need any of that fancy gear. I take only tools manufactured overseas by multiple-million-dollar corporations, spare tires mass-produced by companies older than myself, and recovery gear carefully hand-crafted by endless rows of soulless machines. The food I eat on my journeys is only granola bars mixed in the kitchen of an industrial robot the size of a cement mixer and raisins harvested by the likes of a hundred thousand tons of steel farming equipment.

I am the very definition of self-reliant!

/sarcasm

Sound familiar?

Even those heavy cast iron pots and pans exist to ease cooking. Those heavy canvas tents exist to ease life in the wilds.

Somebody designed each piece of equipment that each one of us uses for any purpose. Therefore, our "self-reliance" relies exclusively on other people.

This prideful hypocrisy is what drives the gear-mania, alongside the advertisers who get paid to lead dummies to think they need this stuff.

It isn't the actual gear that is being criticized necessarily, so much as the mindset that you're "missing out" or "doing it wrong" leading you to buy stuff you really don't need. If you really do need it, then you're not part of the problem - but buying mass-produced equipment does not make you capable of being more self-reliant. Much the opposite.

The fact is that humans are practically incapable of being self-reliant, which is why God created Eve... and the rest is history!

(The overlanding community is not killing itself.)

 

[Jay61]

@Jay61 This! Well said! Bravo! Once upon a time, every thing was harder. The issue though isn't the gear that makes life easier. The issue is that this perceived "ease" is the selling point, and people are buying stuff to ease activities in which they do not participate.

Of course, I'm better than everybody else because I don't need any of that fancy gear. I take only tools manufactured overseas by multiple-million-dollar corporations, spare tires mass-produced by companies older than myself, and recovery gear carefully hand-crafted by endless rows of soulless machines. The food I eat on my journeys is only granola bars mixed in the kitchen of an industrial robot the size of a cement mixer and raisins harvested by the likes of a hundred thousand tons of steel farming equipment.

I am the very definition of self-reliant!

/sarcasm

Sound familiar?

Even those heavy cast iron pots and pans exist to ease cooking. Those heavy canvas tents exist to ease life in the wilds.

Somebody designed each piece of equipment that each one of us uses for any purpose. Therefore, our "self-reliance" relies exclusively on other people.

This prideful hypocrisy is what drives the gear-mania, alongside the advertisers who get paid to lead dummies to think they need this stuff.

It isn't the actual gear that is being criticized necessarily, so much as the mindset that you're "missing out" or "doing it wrong" leading you to buy stuff you really don't need. If you really do need it, then you're not part of the problem - but buying mass-produced equipment does not make you capable of being more self-reliant. Much the opposite.

The fact is that humans are practically incapable of being self-reliant, which is why God created Eve... and the rest is history!

(The overlanding community is not killing itself.)

P. T. Barnum is reputed to have said "There is a sucker born every minute." Of course, there is a debate as to whether he said it or not, but that doesn't matter for this thread. It is true, whoever said it, and well, so what? There is one certainty with our species...technology rolls on. I am sure there were some who thought the wheel served no purpose when it appeared on the scene, just as some probably talked bad about copper and bronze replacing stone tools. As a 62 year old man who has hunted, fished, trapped fur and prospected pretty much most of my life (I do not trap fur anymore though) I have fallen prey to many an add that purported to make my tasks easier, that in reality never got used more than once or twice, but there are also dozens upon dozens of products that purported the same thing, that I now wonder how I every existed without them.

I fortunately make a living where I can make a mistake with a purchase every now and then that turns out to be a foolish purchase. I recently built a vehicle that is of a type that I have dreamed about owning since I was old enough to drive, and so far, it is getting used heavily. The only reason I purchased it at this stage of my life is that simply technology or more accurately, the consumer market, had not produced the items that I felt meshed perfectly. I have never been a fan of IFS, and will never be one. I love my Gladiator Rubicon with the Alu Cab Canopy Camper with all the "bells and whistles" because it makes my trips now so much easier. Camp can be set up and broken down i roughly a minute or so by someone my age. It is comfortable and can keep me out of the environment on those days where the weather does not want me out and about. It wasn't cheap to build but it exceeds all my expectations so far. I will be chasing the Lake Superior Coho run next month and a Turkey Grand Slam next spring along with maybe a mule deer hunt in Idaho this year based out of my vehicle if I can swing getting an OTC tag, all for the cost of the gas and licenses.

My vehicle and all its accoutrements are a tool that I use to pursue my favorite pastimes. I have good offroad ability, comfortable living space, food storage and fuel capability to do what I want. What more could an old country boy want?

 

[grubworm]

Is the Overlanding community killing itself?

i look at it like this: if garth brooks hasnt killed country music by now...overlanding has absolutely nothing to worry about...