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From the Expo:
Sportsmobile West sent this email out, please be aware:
Joyce Hoffman, the owner of the Yella Fella, the bright yellow Sportsmobile that has been in many advertisements, just informed me that it was stolen yesterday from Oceanside at 1 PM. She was attending the opening of the Woman’s Surfing museum when it was stolen. This van is very high profile and visible, can you put the work out for everyone to keep an eye out for it, and report sightings to the police.
Anyone who sees a bright yellow SMB in the western USA or Northern Mex please contact the cops.
The 2nd Annual RGS Overland Travel Workshop
LRO’s Sam Watson has let us know that the second Royal Geographical Survey Overland Travel Workshop is scheduled to take place in Yorkshire on May 29-30 in the same location as last year; YO60 6PR, Terrington Hall School. Plans for this useful event include; 1. Two days of talks and workshops, rather than one as per last year. 2. Extended catering arrangements, courtesy of HM Forces. 3. Off-road tuition at a neighboring location. 4. Several overland film presentations. 5. Traders present in the main hall where the talks are, instead of at a separate location. Apparently the Overlander beer will be making a repeat appearance… The costs is a bargain £10 per vehicle and will be by registration and payment in advance please.
Additionally, a local specialist vehicle outfitters is offering us a ‘Bush Mechanics’ Course that will be a full day dealing with on-the-road fixes and fault diagnosis. Costs are still floating around and being worked out but will be over £200 per head. Let Sam know if you would be interested, and with what vehicle?
Contact Sam Watson at watsonsam@talk21.com
Source: Land Rover Owner International
Overland Journal was selected by Pangolin Pictures and the SPEED Channel for their prime-time television series Dangerous Drives, which will be broadcast to 78 million households worldwide.
Overland Journal will be featured in episode 12, which was produced in December 2009, and documents the testing procedures Overland Journal staff use to evaluate vehicles and equipment. “Overland Journal has a reputation of conducting the most exhaustive and abusive equipment testing in the industry, which piqued SPEED Channel’s interest in following along on one of our trips” says Scott Brady. For the testing, Overland Journal’s Publisher, Scott Brady and Senior Photographer, Sinuhe Xavier traveled through 500 miles of Utah backcountry testing American Expedition Vehicle’s (AEV) Brute and new Hemi powered Jeep Unlimited in the worst snow condition recorded in 40 years. The route ascended to over 8,000 feet, where the team encountered 40 inches of snow at the summit, requiring winching and progress at times measured in feet per hour.
In addition to testing the AEV trucks, Scott and his team were evaluating tents from Nemo Equipment, clothing from Arcteryx. Exofficio and Mountain Khaki, Lightforce lighting, BFGoodrich tires, ARB suspension components and rack/awning combination, and recovery equipment from Viking Offroad and Warn. Scott’s vehicle was the popular Overland JK, built by the Jeep Skunkworks team with components from AEV, ARB, Adventure Trailers, Equipt Expedition Outfitters and Mobil1..jpg)
Scott Brady, the publisher of Overland Journal, recently had an eye opening experience with English food. We were on our way north out of London to visit some overland companies. We had set off very early, and by the likes of 8am we were famished and ready for some relief. Stopping in a small town off the motorway provided no obvious place for refreshment. The town seemed hardly awake and, grim morning that it was, we had to stop and ask for help. The only people we could find were a group of construction workers, and a particularly portly gentleman was happy to direct us to a local establishment for an ‘English breakfast’. To be fair to the English (I am one) English breakfasts can be stellar; this was not one of those. The fried bread had that slightly rancid taste accompanied by pure grease and no discernable flavor. Sort of like eating pressed lard. The sausage was similar to the fried bread; tasteless and greasy, though it was hot. The baked beans were from a can, so they were at least edible and the bacon was passable at the time. Twenty minutes later we both felt like we needed to visit the hospital. My insides were coated like the bottom of a frying pan the day after cooking a pound of bacon; that white congealed grease requiring a scoop to get rid of. Take away lesson was not to rely on large construction workers for dining advice and the parting comment from Scott; “I need to get my stomach pumped!”
Overland Journal has recently been featured in the popular Italian 4WD magazine, Quattro X Quattro. With permission, they have reprinted our winch comparison article (from the Gear Guide 2009) in their September 2009 issue, translated into Italian. Their publication covers a wide variety of 4WD topics, and is definitely worth checking out if you know Italian. Expect to see more of our content there in the future!
BORN adventurer Brian Milton has finally put his first global exploit down in a book—more than 40 years late.
He’s been too busy working as a journalist, ironically, to put pen to paper about driving across the Sahara in 1968 in a clapped out jalopy to marry his sweetheart.
The 67-year-old intrepid romantic from London’s East End set off 41 years ago in a 1937 Austin 7 Ruby called ‘Alexa’ to reach the other end of Africa.
There were no motorways—and often no roads—on his overland route.
In the Fall issue of Overland Journal, we conducted a comprehensive soft-luggage test. One of the products featured was the Ortlieb Motorcycle Panniers. The manufacture was correctly listed, but the sole-source for purchase was not included.
The Orlieb panniers can only be purchased at:
Aerostitch: and can be ordered at 800-222-1994 or www.aerostich.com
The retail price is $187.00
Luis and Lacey have been on the road for about 3 months and 10,000 miles, traversing the continental United States twice in preparation for their journey to Ushuaia. Driving a 60 series Land Cruiser with a diesel conversion, they plan on driving to the southernmost place in the Americas over the next 1-2 years. Having no hard-set plans, they will camp as much as possible in the roof-top tent in this self-supported adventure.
Here at Overland Journal headquarters, we had the pleasure to visit with them some as they were on their way to southern California, before they head south into the Baja peninsula. With a custom-built kitchen, Engel fridge, and a myriad of magnets, these two will have an amazing overland experience on their Expedición Mundo Perdido.
http://www.lostworldexpedition.com/
This is very sad news. Earth Roamer filed chapter 7 bankruptcy today. I have followed Bill Swails since he started out with a popup camper on a Dodge truck. They built great quality camper units, and catered to high end clientel. I am sorry to hear this:
EarthRoamer files for bankruptcy
