KISS BABY !!

[Billiebob]

I want to start a KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID thread.

Rather than saying you need this and this and you must have this and you'll die without this.
Lets write this thread thinking we are back packers. Lets state what we DON"T need. Lets gear up for a Samari instead of a Duramax.

So tell us what you have in your overlander that is dead weight.
Tell us how to consolidate 5 items into 1 you use daily.
Suggest ways to be lean.

Suggest ways to source daily needs without packing it.

 

[grubworm]

OK...one example I have for being lean backpacking is to take a bar of Ivory soap. I use it to bathe and use it for shampoo and use it to lather for shaving and to soap up dishes if needs be. One bar of soap just got rid of a bottle of shampoo, a can of shaving cream and a bottle of dish soap...

 

[Billiebob]

I'll start....

edit, so I didn't start ^^^^ I love this forum. Cannot believe I found someone else who uses Ivory soap exclusively too. It is all I have used for bathing for 30 years.

I hate pooping in a small trailer... plus I detest managing all that shit so I do not have a solid waste system.

I dine out periodically and use the restaurant facilities. I look for road side outhouses and use them, or camp near one so I can get there after hours. I have gone 5K miles without a toilet in my trailer and never had an issue......... I might have a small advantage, I camp alone so I only digestive system to service. But I've never had a camper with a toilet. I think I learned how to control that urge to poop thru years of mountain climbing. A 10 hour hike or ski is much more enjoyable if you can curb the need to pee or poop. And it is amazing how well you can control that with diet. Actually it was running, triathalons, biking which developed that habit of eating right for 5 days before an event.

The cool thing about using diet to control the bowel movements is the food is lighter and easier to digest. You actually feel better when you dine "healthy".

So never needing a mobile toilet, holding tank easily lightens my trailer by 100#.... and means I never need to find a dumping station.

 

[Billiebob]

Tools !!

If you look in my garage or work trailer you'd think I must overland with 1000# of tools but no. Unless I've actually needed it over the past 40 years on the road, it stays at home. I carry a minimum.

I carry the factory scissor jack. A basic 3/8 Socket set with the few Torx which fit my Jeep. A few screwdrivers. A ball peen hammer, center punch and a few drill bits plus a 12V drill. Plus a body hammer in case I hit a deer or? Since my trailer is a wooden box I have a few extra deck screws just in case....... Plus booster cables and a couple of ratchet straps. Less than 50# plus a winch......... Of yeah, plus AAA & VISA and a cell phone.

Spare parts.. I carry nothing except a spare tire. I've only needed a tow once, when the alternator died but if I had looked at the voltage gauge, I could have driven to a shop to have it fixed. So I figure why pack a hundred pounds of lethal projectiles.

The only luxury tool I have is the Warn Winch with a few winch accessories. Altho I wheeled and overlanded for years without a winch, I find it opens my mind to tackle the ditch or slope to access a beach I'd otherwise drive past. And a few times a year I go down that slope knowing I'll have to use the winch coming back up.

I don't go overlanding planning to replace a u-joint or driveshaft. I go overlanding to forget about all that maintenance and repair work. And I drive without doing stupid things which might break something. In 40 years, I've only been stranded once, when the alternator died.

If I were overlanding in Africa or Australia, I'd buy the most popular local vehicle and do it the same way. Rely on the local shops and drive with caution.

 

[Billiebob]

Am I too heavy ??

I drove truck for a living so I am very conscious of being legal. My overlanding choice, a Jeep Rubicon is rated for 2200# on the front axle, 2700# on the rear axle but overall my Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is 4600#. If I ever weigh more than 4600# I am over weight and if I get into a fatal accident I could be fined and liable for the results. A lot of guys say, you can be 10%? over. Or if you change to a heavier tire you are OK...... Flat out NO !! The GVWR is the weight the engineers design everything around. Spring mounts, brakes, steering components, even the frame design is all designed for safe travels at the GVWR.

Factory Curb Weight for my Rubicon was 3723#. Less my GVWR of 4600# gives me a theoretical payload of 877#.

Curb weight is with an empty gas tank so add 19 gallons of gas 115#, me 225#, my wife 120#, my dog 80#, I'm at 540 and have room for 337# of stuff. But I also have a winch 80# plus some steel to mount it 20#, plus a bag of accessories 15# and now I can pack 222#. Less my bag of tools 50#.... so 172# left over for water, coffee, snacks.

On the tools, clothing, food, cameras, books, axe, stove, cooler, tent?, RTT with rack, I can only load 172#. So I use a trailer for all of this. My TJR Trailer Weight Rating is 2000#. All up ready to go, food, clothes, toys, books it weighs 1500#. Keeping me legal and sparing me breakage on the trail. You are almost guaranteed a Wrangler with an RTT on the roof is overweight.

Anything less than a 3/4 full size truck is pretty much the same. A Tacoma has a 1500# Payload. A Tundra 1640#. A Colorado 2000#. A Sierra 2700#. It is real easy to go over weight on anything smaller than full size. But even then the additional volume seems to attract more stuff. If you like to go glamping with a toilet, hot water, BBQ plus the kitchen sink, you really need a 3/4 ton ot bigger. And if you pack tools, spare parts, winches, jack alls, chains, extra gas.... you should be in a 1 ton.

The Power Wagon, one of the most capable off roaders is like my Rubicon. Thanks to all its flexability it has the worst payload capacity of any pickup at 1440# but it is massive and so easy to grossly over load it. Like my TJR overlanding in a Power Wagon should include a trailer for all the extras. It can tow 9790#.

Ultimately if you ever drive past a "self weigh scale" on the highway, pull in, scale yer rig. Compare that to the sticker in the drivers door jamb. That is exactly what DOT will do if they ever decide to check your weight. But don't do it at a Manned Commercial Vehicle Inspection Station unless you KNOW you are legal.