We saw more than enough bears last week in Yellowstone/Wyoming . Some were way too close for comfort.



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As for overlanding, we also saw a super cool MAN Unicat, as well as this bad boy. Very humbling.

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Cool to see them parked together for size comparison. There's a guy in Central America trying to find one for me now.

Need to start building a new sleeping/storage platform. Last one I built only got %50 finished and I scrapped it years ago. Some good ideas in here to steal.

I do own a fridge and am more than happy that I bought one. They are expensive as hell, but buy once cry once. Mine lives in the truck 24/7 and yes, it does on occasion take up a good bit of space I sometimes need. However, in my opinion, there is nothing better than not having to worry about ice or soggy food. Nothing worse than day 2 or 3 of a trip and you open the cooler to a gross paper machè of egg carton, broken eggs, wet cheese, and warm beer. Either that or having it perfectly packed with layered ice, take one thing out and have to repack it. Mine keeps my lunch for work nice a cool, waters and beers always at the ready. It's even awesome in winter (although the insulation I doubt is anywhere near a really high end cooler) in keeping stuff warm enough not to freeze and explode. I crack the lid when I drive to let it warm with the cabin air and close it when I park. Have had a beer to two explode but only after a week of -20°C. Would be nice if it had a little 20W heater built in for winter.

Definitely a luxury item but I'm glad I have one. I'm not promoting fridges over winches or anything crazy.
Winch -> fridge -> lightbar

Sorry Mike. I disagree bud. Fridge is much better then dry. It just is man. Not having to worry about dry ice. Or where to get it is a huge thing. Wether it last long or not. Fridge will still be better. And it’s not much heavier then a cooler with ice. It’s probably lighter than a cooler with ice. If you prefer a cooler with ice and zip lock bags. LOL than that’s fine to. Many who had a cooler and switched to a fridge. Will tell you that they should of done it long time ago.

Yea, I could see it being lighter depending on the size of the cooler & the amount of ice. Good point.

I have a Eureka 1 man dome. 7'x3', full size fly, totally waterproof. Weighs 3lbs & fits IN my backpack. Only 2 shocked corded poles to set up. I also have a Eureka 4 man dome, full fly, waterproof with vestibules & doors front & rear, weighs 17lbs, 3 shock corded poles & done. I camped in the rain for 5 days & stayed totally dry. My truck was 2 miles away. We camp up a trail by a lake.

You dont put your tent on rocks if possible. If you're car camping bring an air matress. If your hiking bring a 7'x3' foam mat, They're less than a pound. They also have self infaltable mattresses that are only 2" thick, roll it up & attach to your pack.

I laugh when I see people bring full size manual kitchen can openers. I have this little thing the size of a key chain. It's like what they gave the soldiers in WW1.

But yes, experiance brings knowledge.

Anyone having this problem, is doing it wrong. Like I said earlier, food goes in zip locks, a good 48qt cooler or larger shoud have a tray at the top for cheese, butter etc. There's nothing worse than meat juice leaking into the ice water making it undrinkable. You can never have too much water with you. Overheat anyone? broken coolant hose? See pic for how you bring eggs "Overlanding". I dont know anyone who puts a cardboard egg carton in a cooler. :-)

Sounds like you love your fridge, to each their own, at least we're all getting out doors!

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I put some plastic coated metal shelf racks in the cooler. The food stays above and the ice goes below. I have a cheap $5 Harbor Freight oil piston type pump with a hose that I use to suck out the ice melt underneath.

A freezer would be great but electrically I'm not set up for it yet.

I don't even know what to eat from the fridge in my house. Can't imagine what I'd do with a fridge in a 4Runner. Actually, I had one of those center console fridges in a Land Rover. I had water bottles in there for like 3 years. When it was traded in, I took them out and they were cold.

How old is your cooler that it doesn't a water drain at the bottom? :-)

Also dont leave your cooler in a hot vehicle. Take it out & put it in the shade. If you're driving a long distance in the heat close the windows & put the A/C on.

Packing all depends on the length of the trip. Short weekend, and week long trips don't require as much as a few weeks. We have a full length sleeping platform with more than enough storage a simple overlanding trip. When we start talking about spending multiple weeks out, and the need for random gear it's not quite enough.

Full length platform with dual drawers. The draws hold all of cooking supplies, cutting board, plates, bowls, mugs, french press, skillets, pot, and much more.


There are one of these compartments on each side. Plus an additional smaller one for night supplies like glasses case, contacts, and small items.


Water storage is under the front lip of the platform, and can hold up to 4 gallons with ease, but we only carry 2 gallons. In addition we can also fit 2 Yeti Hoppers, one on each side.


Cooking on the swing out with a 5lb propane tank mounted to swing out.


This was packing for 5 weeks on the road while moving from Missouri to Oregon. We had room for 2 Alu-box's on the roof rack with a Water-Port for our shower, and TRED's on the front.



List of gear:
*Cooking- Partner Steel Stove, 5lb tank, cutting board, multiple knives, utensils, spices, cooking oil, 2 plates, 2 bowls, 4 cups, 2 shot glasses, cast iron skillet, pot, strainer, bottle/wine bottle opener, can/bottle cozies

*Recovery- 9500 winch, ARB tree trunk saver 16', ARB snatch strap 20', 3/8" soft shackle @2, 5/8" shackle, 3/4" receiver shackle, TRED's, ARB tire repair, ARB air compressor, hose, deflaters, pressure gauge

*Tools- indexing pry bar, 3/8" SAE/Metric deep/shallow sockets, 1/2" SAE/Metric deep/shallow sockets, 1/2" breaker bar,screw drivers, SAE/Metric box wrenches to 1"/22mm, pliers, channel locks, vise grips, wire cutter, wire stripped/crimper, small torch, small hammer, BFH, repair tape, zip ties, electrical fittings, hose fittings, small section of hose, drill/impact, few drill bits, step bit

*Other- 2 camp chairs, shower, ground mat, water containers, coolers, axe, saw, gun, locking safe under seat, backpacking gear, and I'm sure there's more

The slide out is attached with 1/2 '' aluminum channel . The slideout is a piece of solid surface counter top , like Corian . It can't burn or melt , works as a cutting board ( I've cleaned a lot of fish on it ) and is very stiff .

I just got back from VA, flag pole knob. And I brought food back. It was awesome overland trip. There was like 10 trucks total. I’ll share photos once I gather all of them. I had plenty of food. It was me and my girlfriend. The 2nd camp site was little rough. The whole ground was rocky everywhere. And the actual flag pole knob was occupied by like “amateur radio club “ or something. So we had to camp couple hundred feet down. I had a air mattress but for some reason, that night it leaked air slowly lol. But anyways, awesome trip, I’ll share photos. I learned a lot. And will definitely be doing more.

I just got back from VA, flag pole knob. And I brought food back. It was awesome overland trip. There was like 10 trucks total. I’ll share photos once I gather all of them. I had plenty of food. It was me and my girlfriend. The 2nd camp site was little rough. The whole ground was rocky everywhere. And the actual flag pole knob was occupied by like “amateur radio club “ or something. So we had to camp couple hundred feet down. I had a air mattress but for some reason, that night it leaked air slowly lol. But anyways, awesome trip, I’ll share photos. I learned a lot. And will definitely be doing more.

Lots of good tips and info from everyone in this thread. To each is own. But keep them photos coming. Could save a lot of headache for someone who is new and will be going overlanding.

Am I the only person to notice the unicorn here?
Manual windows?