so i dont have to keep going to walmart. lol
but the outdoor life chose me.
but the outdoor life chose me.
Why Did You Build Your Rig?
- Thread starter Sawdoff
- Start date
Influencer I
It started out as a "Holy shit! I'm having twins!" project. But to be honest it is the fact that I don't have to stop when the road does. I'm also off the grid and on a large parcel of land with a creek crossing and a summit I have to climb to get to water tanks. The Audi A3 just wasn't going to hack it.
It started when I decided I was going to take a 2 month trip to western Canada and Alaska in the spring/summer of 2018. I've wanted a rig like this for quite some time and the Alaska trip seemed to justify it in my mind.
I bought a "like new" Toyota FJ Cruiser TTSE last August. I told myself I would drive it for a year in order to figure out what I really NEEDED, this is very different than what is WANTED! Less is more while remaining self sufficient, stuff you don't need is just extra weight and clutters things up.
Although I have spent what I consider a small fortune on this truck I feel it will serve me very well after the big trip. It will be an ideal rig to hunt, fish and camp with the wife on weekend trips to northern Arizona and get out of the desert heat in the summer.
I have always cherished winter camping, and having a Maggiolina Extreme RTT will allow me a comfy, insulated 4 season tent to accomplish this. The ease of setup and departure take down time is 2nd to none IMHO (minutes). Camping and hunting/fishing in challenging weather conditions have always fascinated me, I just enjoy it ...... I know "I'm weird"!
Of course the women folk won't be going in the winter, but I enjoy time alone with mother nature and my son is now grown up and will tag along at any given opportunity.
I could go on and on ..............
I bought a "like new" Toyota FJ Cruiser TTSE last August. I told myself I would drive it for a year in order to figure out what I really NEEDED, this is very different than what is WANTED! Less is more while remaining self sufficient, stuff you don't need is just extra weight and clutters things up.
Although I have spent what I consider a small fortune on this truck I feel it will serve me very well after the big trip. It will be an ideal rig to hunt, fish and camp with the wife on weekend trips to northern Arizona and get out of the desert heat in the summer.
I have always cherished winter camping, and having a Maggiolina Extreme RTT will allow me a comfy, insulated 4 season tent to accomplish this. The ease of setup and departure take down time is 2nd to none IMHO (minutes). Camping and hunting/fishing in challenging weather conditions have always fascinated me, I just enjoy it ...... I know "I'm weird"!
Of course the women folk won't be going in the winter, but I enjoy time alone with mother nature and my son is now grown up and will tag along at any given opportunity.
I could go on and on ..............
Last edited:
Traveler III
- 4,364
- First Name
- Jason
- Last Name
- Shelby
- Member #
-
6080
I'm planning a western Canada and Alaska trip also, but it will be a few years out, waiting for the kids to get old enough to be alone for about two months.
Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk
Headed across Canada from Maine starting July 15 ending Aug 14 in Portland OR. Planning
Yellowknife route. Any comments, suggestions, criticisms, "don't miss" items?
Thanks
Marty
# 5954
Yellowknife route. Any comments, suggestions, criticisms, "don't miss" items?
Thanks
Marty
# 5954
Enthusiast III
My wife would tell you I built it to give her a new B$&@?! topic (she is sitting here laughing with me. She loves to go)... probably what I'm supposed to say is something like, got tired of carrying my my beer in my backpack so I built a TRUCK or some such manly thing!
Seriously tho, I grew up in the Back woods of Kentucky and out the back end of my grandpas property was the Daniel Boone National Forest. I could ride horses for days and never come across a road. From age 10 to 15 I did that every chance I had. At 15 I went to Spokane WA and have never been able to 'wander' like that since. Grown up life got in the way as I got older and kids and careers and and and... kids grew up and went their way and my wife and I had less LIFE and more time and money... About the same time my wife was diagnosed with MS and a sense of urgency to get out and do the things her and I have talked about for years kind of evolved in our lives. I already had a jeep 2004 Rubicon so we transformed it from the rocks to the backroad and longer trips. Loved it but decided a purpose built rig the grandkids could ride in AND the gear was needed. Sold the crawler and a 4 door JK Rubi replaced it. Building the new rig, and having its completion in site (never done r they?) is the instrument that's sending us on our next adventure over the Oregon BDR in a couple weeks. It makes the wife and I sit and talk/plan for hours etc... Maybe Overlanding rigs are tools that bring families back to talking and planning and dreaming together again. Built it for fun, got a lot more than I could have hoped for...
Influencer I
To be free keep my sanity as a human being and be closer to the nature. the way every human should be , never too far off the grid!
Off-Road Ranger I
have always liked dispersed camping to get away from the crazies. So have always had a rig to get off road.
Influencer I
Once you get to Banff, Alberta, you probably won't want to go to Oregon! Banff and Jasper are a MUST.
I was almost 50, the kids were mostly raised and I had the money to finally get my dream vehicle. I could've picked up my first choice, a 1970 SS Chevelle LS6 454, but not super practical. So, I bought a 2014 JKUR and started bolting stuff on. Not only do I have a really cool vehicle that turns heads but it's a Jeep and it can take me anywhere I want to go.
Don't miss = BEST PLACES if you think you'll never get back there again. That's what a don't miss is to me.
Member III
I got into off-roading with a very streetable XJ Cherokee and started building a K5 Blazer to be a more serious crawler. However, after selling my XJ and buying a Crew Cab K2500 to pull the K5, I realized I missed having a decently capable daily driver than a full on trail rig that just sits at the house. I was always saying "I wish I had the K5 and I'd give that a go" so I started the Xterra. It's capable enough, fits my family of 5 comfortably and safely, and gets decent fuel mileage.
My truck is an extension of me. Hunting, fishing, camping, adventuring, hauling. I have added to it to improve it's abilities.
I wanted a way to get out and see nature, and I can't walk it because of a lung disease, so I'll drive it.
Originally it was to get me in and out of very remote hunting locations. Now it does that as well as family outings.
Pathfinder I
Zombie Apocalypse.
Not the "Walking Dead" zombies but the metaphorical zombies. So, given the unpredictability of the zombie apocalypse, I have a perfectly good truck with a bunch of stuff set for self sustained travel that I can have a blast with and engage in all type of scenario planning and practice.
As an aside, I have put pen to paper (so to speak) and integrated this into a (maybe) fictional story which features truck & gear.......
Overlanding and prepping are natural siblings and many I meet in the overlanding community are preppers and many preppers are overlanders -- even if they never heard the term. It's pretty amazing to have a hobby that is fun and might extend or make life comfortable - whether it is a wildfire, flood, earthquake or..............
Not the "Walking Dead" zombies but the metaphorical zombies. So, given the unpredictability of the zombie apocalypse, I have a perfectly good truck with a bunch of stuff set for self sustained travel that I can have a blast with and engage in all type of scenario planning and practice.
As an aside, I have put pen to paper (so to speak) and integrated this into a (maybe) fictional story which features truck & gear.......
Overlanding and prepping are natural siblings and many I meet in the overlanding community are preppers and many preppers are overlanders -- even if they never heard the term. It's pretty amazing to have a hobby that is fun and might extend or make life comfortable - whether it is a wildfire, flood, earthquake or..............
