July 2012

At the Overland Expo we saw just about every make and model of roof top tent available. All the big names were there, along with several less known brands. Twelve months ago I would have included CVT (Cascadia Vehicle Tents) in the ‘new’ category, but after being in business just over a year, Bobby Culpepper and CVT are changing the way we think about roof top tents.

There’s a reason Bobby uses the term ‘vehicle’ in his company name instead of ‘overland’ ‘expedition’ or ‘safari’. It all comes down to his philosophy of what a well built, economical, elevated tent should be: accessible. CVT has sold tents to FJC owners, FJ-40 owners, Jeep owners, Honda owners, Nissan owners, and I think I’ve even seen a Prius sporting a CVT. The point is that these tents are inexpensive enough for anyone to use, and will stand up to some very unfavorable conditions, such as a major beating in the Arizona wind.

Get Outfitted. Get Trained. Get Inspired. Get Going!

That was the motto for the 2012 Overland Expo, held at Mormon Lake, AZ in late May. The expo has been going strong for several years and has continued to grow since its inception. With over 5000 attendees and 140+ vendors showing their latest and greatest products, not to mention world class training and the top names in overlanding, there really was something for everyone at this event.

I blame it all on my brother-in-law Dax.  He just had to go and buy a black FJ back in 2007.  Over the subsequent four plus years I have been subjected to a series of pictures showing his FJ in all sorts of thrilling, precarious-looking situations, not to mention pictures of camping and cavorting throughout the Texas countryside.  This constant harassment (damn you FaceBook!) caused me to reminisce about the rough looking CJ-7 I owned back in college, with a suspension lift and knobby mud terrains, and about the Toyota SR5 truck I had before that, with a hideous body lift and tires that were way too big for the little four cylinder engine.  Being an early 40’s, mid-career, married man with a wife and two young, boisterous daughters, I figured it was just about the right time for a quasi-mid-life crisis vehicle.  Before long, I had traded in my well-mannered and perfectly practical Honda Pilot for a 2012 Army Green FJ Cruiser.  It seemed the rational thing to do at the time.  That was October 2011.  Little did I know that I would spend the next eight months researching, planning, and ultimately building the FJ that I wished I could have bought directly from Toyota.

We’ve covered the contents of a good recovery kit in the past: gloves, quality shackles, tree saver straps, winch controller, and recovery traps. Many manufacturers offer standard recovery kits that are a one size fits all, basic setup which is perfect for most situations. Let’s face it, most people just don’t get stuck all that often, right?

Well, when you do get stuck, hopefully you’re with a group (since we know it’s bad form to wheel alone – especially on difficult trails). Since stuck happens, you want to make sure you have great gear to keep the situation as stress free as possible. The kits we’ve seen don’t always come with a true dynamic snatch strap, one of the most important pieces of your kit.