Fantastic thread! I want to share a few thoughts on gear. Most of us have limited resources, whether it be time or money. If you want to pour yourself and your resources into a vehicle designed to overland, that's awesome and the industry is definitely filling in the gear gaps pretty quickly. The issue I have is that I like to do lots of different things, most of which are outdoors. As a result I have invested in high quality gear that I can use for multiple activities. I have two tents, one is super lightweight and takes up very little space, the other is a canvas Springbar tent that I've owned for 30 years. It weighs a metric crap ton but can survive in nearly any weather. My wife and I love to ATV so my cooler, camp stove, and fuel storage all cross over from the ATVs to car camping, to my fishing trips. Do I own the 'best' cooking option for overlanding? Nope, but I do own one that works awesome on the ATV, the drift boat, in Moab, at a rest stop, and car camping.
My point is that sometimes we tend to be hyper focused on the gear for one activity and find that we've blown our cash on a very specialized choice and end up wanting for another activity. And to top it off, when someone picks something that'll work for them, people criticize. Now I'm just as guilty as anyone, my 40" LED light bar was expensive and will only be used on a very limited basis. Just my two cents.
I couldn't agree more. I am a prime example and offender of what you just described. I have a ton of hobbies. It's what I live for. Shooting, kayaking, paddle boarding, rock climbing, backpacking, overlanding... the list goes on. To top it all off, I make my living as a product designer, which fuels the desire for more cool gear.
Now I will say that a lot of my gear does cross over between hobbies, but sometimes we just need to take a step back and ask ourselves, do I really need this? Is it going to make my experience better? Sometimes that last question will get me in trouble though because that answer is almost always yes hahaha!
You bring up a solid point and it's something I struggle with quite often.
