I love gear porn, but I am probably one of those people you're talking about I guess. I don't necessarily understand why it matters if it gets you viewers and makes you happy. A lot of hobbies are like that. It's like collecting something. Some people just like to collect whatever. Yeah they spend money on it, but it makes them happy, and gives them something to do/learn/research. Though it may not get used a ton. A lot of people in this hobby have good careers and disposable income to buy stuff, but because of long work hours and family obligations, may not be able to "just get out there" all the time. I am not saying that's a great mentality to have, just sort of a cultural norm in our country.
The videos are basically a cool way to advertise products and the guys get to enjoy their hobby. I don't really want to watch a video with a bunch of stock trucks driving around and camping in coleman tents. Just curious, what builds do you think were $100,000? I am fairly certain most of the mods and gear are given to them by sponsors. The Land Cruiser was loaned to them by Toyota.
Love RD's videos too though. I really look forward to his trip series. He's a gear head as well though. The whole hobby is filled with gear heads. All those trucks are heavily modified. I do think it is a A LOT easier to shoot watch-worthy, overlanding videos in Australia than it is here though. Just the nature of the beast. It's so massive, unpopulated, and wide open. They can legitimately go days and days without being in a city. Here is the US, it's really hard to not be within a several hour drive of a city or a least a paved, main, road. It makes for a more fascinating video to know they are way way out in the backcountry, vs 2 hours away from a city. As cool as I think "overlanding" is, its just not the same here as it is in Australia or Africa. That's why I think they are choosing these far away destinations - like all the way down to the tip of South America.
