DENALI D7 Driving Light Review | Excellent Design and High Performance Driving Light

We have had our hands on the DENALI D7 Driving Lights for over 6 months and the results are really impressive. Our D7's have been installed on a couple of our 4x4 trucks and their permanent home is on the steel bumper on our Lexus GX470.

We wrote another article of our first impressions of the D7 that you should read before continuing on. In the past 6 months of use we have explored all of our local trails and even made a trip to Moab, UT with the DENALI D7 lighting the way. Read on for an in depth look at the D7 and hear our opinions on their performance.

DENALI Lights-Top Notch Build Quality

The build quality of the DENALI D7, like every product that we have handled from DENALI, is top notch. The case is tough and sleek looking, while not being obnoxiously designed like a lot of other light brands. We are fans of traveling under the radar when possible, so the discreet branding and simple design is appealing. The D7 optics use seven CREE LED's placed behind a polycarbonate lens with a rugged rubber gasket to keep the elements out. The D7 is IP67 rated and we can attest that after several submersions, our D7's are still completely sealed.

Each D7 comes with a proprietary DENALI 3 wire plug at the end of the light and adapters included to wire up your lights if you aren't using the DENALI harness. We opted to use the DENALI harness and ease of installation and the plugs click in with no drama and 10,000 miles of trouble-free driving.

The most appealing selling factor for us, besides the performance of the light, is the size. At 4.5" in diameter, the D7 is small and packs a massive punch. The light fits perfectly in our Explore Overland front bumper and is less obvious than a light bar or larger set of lights. As much as we like camping, we often spend time in hotels or AirBnB's while we travel and having a light that doesn't scream "Please steal me" is an added benefit.

The D7 comes standard with a clear lens, but DENALI offers a Selective Yellow and Amber lens as well. Swapping the lenses is extremely simple and only requires the removal of 4 small screws on the rear of the casing.

The D7 is Stupid Bright

We have had the opportunity to test the D7 in a variety of conditions including forests in the Ozarks, long highway stretches, and desert runs in Moab. We are a bit blown away each time we flip the switch, these lights are crazy bright. Each D7 cranks out 7,665 lumens per pod and the spot beam pattern reaches over 1,200 feet at 1 lux. In real life conditions, the D7 projects light nearly 2,000 feet in a usable beam.

On our most recent camping trip to Moab, we got caught out in a rain storm and came back to camp to find our tent overturned and water inside. Not only did the D7's save our bacon on the drive back to camp in a torrential downpour, but also lit up our campsite while we drained water and re-pitched our tent. The amount of usable light is simply amazing. Where we live in rural Oklahoma, most roads are poorly lit at night and the chance of hitting a deer or other animal is pretty high. We use the D7's as our high beams nearly every day and have noticed many hazards well before they became problems.

The DENALI D7 is a Great Value

I understand that claiming a light kit that costs $700 is a great value will come as a shock to some. If that is you, it's probably best that you look at the pretty pictures and move on. If you have found that you typically get what you pay for when it comes to gear, keep reading.

At the current price for the D7 light kit ($699.99 USD), the D7 comes in at a cost of $0.04 per lumen. The nearest competitor offering claims 7,500+ lumens at a cost of $1,179 ($0.15 per lumen). The competitor's offering of similarly performing 7 LED spotlights costs 275% more than the DENALI D7. The decision for us is really easy, the D7 offers superior optics at an affordable price, relative to the alternatives.

There are absolutely a ton of offerings from name-brand lighting companies at cheaper price points for this size of light. However, at the lower price point you lose total lumens, distance at 1 lux, and cheaper build materials. DENALI is extremely straight forward about light performance and even offer ISOLUX charts (like above) for all of their lights. Tracking down light tests for many of the bigger lighting brands is extremely challenging.

We have found that the motto of "buy once, cry once" applies to nearly every gear purchase we make. After using cheaper big name lighting brands and amazon knock-offs, we will only be running quality lighting on our vehicles. Safety is not department that we want to skimp on.

Shop DENALI D7 Now

February 5, 2020February 5, 2020

Your Next Adventure Should be the Overland Experience at Overland Expo

This article originally appeared on overlandexpo.com 01/29/2020.

Whether you have been traveling by vehicle for decades or you are just discovering the world of overlanding for the first time, one of the best investments you can make in your future as a vehicle based traveler is the Overland Experience at Overland Expo.

TRAINING FROM WORLD-CLASS EXPERTS IN VEHICLE AND MOTORCYCLE TRAVEL

You can only learn so much from YouTube videos and reading books about overland travel. Overland Expo assembles the best training teams in the industry to make sure that your time in the classroom is a good investment.

7P Overland sets the bar in the off-road and overland training industry! 7P trainers bring to the table hundreds of years of combined vehicle-based travel experience, most of it off-road as well as professional skillsets ranging from engineering, medical, applied sciences, and military training.

Courses offered by 7P cover a wide variety of topics and skills from the basics of vehicle recovery and picking a line, to more advanced topics of failing a hill climb or when and how to engage locking differentials. 7P provides a comprehensive training experience that will leave you more prepared to tackle your next trip safely and confidently!

Motorcycle training at Overland Expo is provided by DART (Dragoo Adventure Rider Training). Bill Dragoo is a life-long adventurer with loads of experience and a laundry list of accomplishments in everything from writing and story telling to mountain biking and most notably, adventure motorcycle travel. Bill and his team of experienced riders and teachers provide a positive and encouraging training experience that builds confidence while teaching and refining skills that will undoubtedly improve your next MOTO excursion.

Training staff at Overland Expo teach skills in a classroom environment as well as hands-on training in your vehicle or on your motorcycle while navigating the on-site driving and riding courses.

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE DRIVING OFF-ROAD COURSES BUILT BY THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS

The Overland Expo build team consists of the best course builders in the off-road industry that coordinate and plan an epic off-road training course in conjunction with the instructors from 7P and DART to make sure the driving course is challenging, safe, and fun to learn on! The driving course is a fantastic place to hone your skills and learn new techniques in a controlled environment from instructors that have traveled the world and taken their vehicles to the very edge.

The build team at Overland Expo strives to bring new challenges to each training course and build courses unique to each event. The trainers will take you through obstacles, teach you along the way, and build confidence for your next off-road adventure.

IN-DEPTH CLASSROOM SESSIONS ABOUT THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY, PLANNING TECHNIQUES, AND OVERLAND DESTINATIONS

There are very few places in the world where you can learn such a wealth of knowledge about the newest technology, planning and travel techniques and strategies and the various overland destinations in the world as you can at Overland Expo. Real-world overland travelers from around the globe present courses on a variety of topics including gear and vehicle analysis, route and destination planning, photography and story-telling and more!

Want to know how to operate the new Garmin Overland?

Planning a trip across Africa and want to learn from travelers who have done it?

Curious about how to finance full-time travel?

If there is something you want to learn about overland travel, chances are, you will find it at Overland Expo!

VIEW PAST COURSE SCHEDULE

SO. MANY. EXTRAS.

The extras that come along with the Overland Experience package at Overland Expo are great!

From the beginning at Check-In you are greeted with a unique attendee bag that is exclusively for Overland Experience attendees, a customized schedule of courses and sessions that are only open to Overland Experience pass holders, and a boat-load of swag from Overland Expo exhibitors.
Overland Experience attendees have their own campground area that is closer to the event with easier access to classes, roundtables and amenities such as food and showers. The Overland Experience camping area is strategically placed to create simple and easy access to the training area.
Enjoy your evenings at the bar spending your complimentary drink tickets or winding down in camp with other like-minded overland enthusiasts.

A FESTIVAL-STYLE WEEKEND WITH THE OVERLAND COMMUNITY

From the world travelers that have crossed continents in their purpose built expedition vehicles to the weekend warriors that just want to spend time with their family in the woods, there is a place for everyone at Overland Expo and that is what makes it special. The best reason to attend the Overland Experience at Overland Expo is the community of motorcyclists, off-roaders, weekend-warriors, and full-timers- all enthusiasts with a passion for seeing the world.

Staff, volunteers, exhibitors, and sponsors put a ton of effort into making Overland Expo THE destination for checking out new gear, learning new skills, and making new friends. There is a reason that so many epic overland adventures have begun at Overland Expo, I recommend you come check it out and see for yourself!

March 21, 2019June 8, 2019

Okienomads at Overland Expo 2019 WEST

We are super excited and extremely humbled to be a part of the programing at Overland Expo 2019 WEST. If you don’t know what Overland Expo is, start HERE.

OX is the premier overlanding event in North America with shows in Flagstaff, AZ and on the East Coast at a new, all-weather venue in Fall 2019. Overland Expo attracts hundreds of vendors from the overlanding segment, hundreds of world-travelers telling their stories, and thousands of attendees coming to learn new skills, buy new gear, and meet lifelong friends.

We are really pumped that we will both be involved in programs available in the Overland Experience class schedule and a roundtable that is available to all attendees. Our roundtable discussion is with two other traveling couples Matt & Amie of The Traveling Together Journal and Marisa and Tim of Notiers’s Frontiers. Both couples have done some serious traveling and we look forward to hanging out and chatting about our challenges and experiences living full-time on the road.

Rachael will be teaching a couple of yoga classes geared toward traveling. In “No Mat Yoga”, Rachael will be walking the class through a yoga flow that is designed to relieve some of the issues that come from spending long days in the truck or on the bike. Often times a yoga mat takes up too much room to bring along, so this entire flow will be sans yoga mat.

Her second class, “Recovery Yoga” will focus on relaxing and relieving tension that can often arise after a long day on the trail. The stretch-intensive flow will be beginner friendly and doable for even the least flexible of the EXPO crowd (her husband included). Vehicles aren’t the only ones that need recovery!

Overland Expo is a great place to meet new friends, try out that roof top tent you have been shopping for, and learn new skills to make your time on the road that much better. Tickets are for sale HERE now!

February 1, 2019June 8, 2019

First Impressions of Full-Time Living in a Roof Top Tent

The nomadic lifestyle is so glamorous! Cruise Instagram for long enough and your feed will be flooded with mint condition $50,000 Land Rovers with $5000 tents on top and a half-naked woman seductively watching the sunset over a beautifully pristine landscape. Although there are some positive aspects of sleeping on the roof of your truck, if you travel full-time, a roof-top tent is likely not where you want to sleep more than a couple of weeks each year. We began living in our roof-top tent full time in December and these are our impressions early on.

Some Assembly Required

Most roof-top tent (RTT) manufacturers and YouTube reviews tout the simplicity and speed with which a standard RTT can be erected. While the construction is simple in design, setup can take 5-10 minutes depending on conditions. If it is cold, the tent cover and zipper can be much more difficult to open and take a considerable amount of time. If the wind is high, you will likely want to guy line your tent to keep the rain cover from flopping around in the breeze all night. If it is raining, it might not take any longer, but you will be wet and mad when you finally get inside. On the contrary, compared to most inexpensive ground tents, setting up a roof-top tent is very easy in most conditions.

86 4runner roof top tent — Windows down and closed to minimize setup time and exposure in near freezing temps

Some folks simply avoid popping up the windows and doors and minimize the time required to setup, but aren’t all of those breezy doors and windows why you wanted to camp on top of the truck in the first place? Also, most suggest a more expensive pop-up or clamshell style tent such as the James Baroud to minimize the amount of time involved in setup. But for the $4500 cost, you are halfway to a used hard-sided camper with a sink and a heater.

Roof Top Tents are Cool

Everyone knows it, that’s why we buy RTT’s. Having your camping shelter attached to your vehicle not only saves on interior storage room, but looks really cool. Although we think vehicle based travel and “overlanding” should be about the journey, most travelers will tell you that it’s still really nice to drive a cool rig. What’s cooler than driving to a remote campsite and simply flipping open your tent and climbing in. It’s not always that simple (see above), but it is a really cool concept.

Want to see which RTT we chose to live out of full-time? Check out our video review here!

Fair-Weather Domicile

This point is fairly biased as we have only camped in our RTT between the months of November and January in the Southern US and Mexico, but if you encounter cold temperatures in your roof-top tent, prepare to be cold. You are not only cold in the tent, you are cold when you go to the bathroom, when you wake up in the morning, and you are cold when you cook your food. We are working on installing a separate annex room the attaches to the underside of our tent to block out some of the cold and wind, but so far we have absolutely frozen in our tent.

Sleeping has been moderately comfortable as we carry our backpacking sleeping bags and several blankets. However, there is no cuddling in the RTT unless you have a 2-person sleeping bag.

Rain slows us down, but our RTT keeps us dry inside

Rain is a tricky enemy of the roof-top tent and we have had approximately 20 nights of precipitation in the tent and it makes everything more difficult. Humid air creates condensation at an alarming rate in a RTT and even with windows and vents open, water on the walls is inevitable. Pack a towel and dry it daily as you will need it to wipe down the moisture inside your tent. Alternatively, after a rain, the outside of your tent is wet as well. A decision has to be made to stay put and wait for the tent to dry out or pack up a wet tent and open it as soon as possible to avoid mold and water damage.
Snow is as likely as rain in the Western United States and snow will make closing your tent a challenge. We have found that carrying a window scraper with a brush (the telescoping kind made for truck drivers) and sweeping off as much snow as possible before trying to pack up makes a huge difference. Still, there will be residual snow that melts and causes the same paranoia as rain.

Camp Setup and Selection is a Chore

This point is comparative, maybe unfairly to our time traveling in our school bus conversion, but setting up and tearing down a campsite is a pain. In a hard sided camper like our bus or a pop-up bed camper, you pull into a spot (sometimes in a sketchy location), block out the windows and you are in your kitchen, bedroom, and living room. With the RTT, Rachael and I both have our assignments when we arrive at a spot including setting up the tent, digging food out of the back, setting up chairs, making dinner, climbing into the tent to cook dinner, climbing out to do dishes, brush our teeth, and pee, and climbing in a final time to sleep.

Selecting a campsite for a roof-top tent is much trickier than a hard sided vehicle or camper. In a hard-sided vehicle your site needs to be slightly level and only marginally incognito. With a roof top tent you must consider a level spot for your ladder, wind direction and speed, and probability of drawing attention to yourself. Also keep in mind that most urban camping areas (Wal-Mart Parking Lots anyone?) are not RTT friendly. We have seen some folks pop their tent in the parking lot, but it seems to be considered bad form in most areas.

The Views are Fantastic

Waking up with snow on the ground near Alamogordo, NM

The feeling and sight of being in a tent and off of the ground is a lot of fun. The feeling is similar to camping out in a treehouse as a kid. The views are great as you are approximately 6-8 feet higher than the area around you which makes for a great perspective in most campsites. While camping on the Pacific Coast of Baja we were treated to some great starry nights that were enhanced that much more by being able to law down in our tent with the doors and windows open and watch the stars shoot across the sky with the waves crashing below. It can be simply sublime.

Overall Impressions

After traveling across the US for Overland Expo EAST and driving from Oklahoma to Baja California, Mexico we are convinced that the Roof Top Tent is a practical, fun, and affordable way to travel. When you consider the relative ease of setup compared to a ground tent and the extreme difference in comfort compared to a ground tent, a roof top tent makes a lot of sense for a lot of people.

We will likely be continuing our search for ways to integrate a hard sided pop up style camper such as a Four Wheel Camper into our 4Runner only because we spend a lot of time in our truck. If we were planning on traveling on vacation a couple of weeks per year and being a weekend warrior the rest of the time, a Roof Top Tent is PERFECT! For full time travel we really miss the warmth, comfort, and convenience of a fixed living space.

Until that day comes, we will continue to enjoy the freedom, coolness, and simplicity of traveling with our roof top tent!

January 14, 2019January 14, 2019

Housesitting 101

What is Housesitting?

Thousands of people around the world have purchased homes and at some point they find that they don’t want to live in their home but they aren’t quite ready to sell it and either aren’t able to rent it or don’t want to rent it. Some are retirees that spend six months of the year visiting warmer climates in an RV and the rest of their time is at their “home”. Most folks would rather have someone living in their home than board it up. Others have a home on the market to be sold and know that it has a much better chance of selling if someone is actively living in it and keeping up with the house.

Off grid Mexico estate — Our housesitting gig in early 2019: Off-Grid Ranch in Baja, Mexico

How Do I Find Housesitting Gigs?

Build Your Housesitting Portfolio

If you are serious about housesitting, the first step should be to build your portfolio of references from people that you have housesitted for in the past. Most strangers on the street aren’t going to let someone they don’t know into their home for any period of time. However, if you had a list of credible references, your chances of being selected to house sit increase tremendously.

Offer to housesit for family or close friends when they go on vacation. Do an excellent job, let them know that you would love to housesit for them again, and ask if you can use them as a reference for future housesitting gigs. Now you can maintain a “resume” of your housesitting experience and use it as a bargaining chip with potential clients.

Create an Online Presence

The next step is likely the most important, creating an online presence. This can be different depending on the part of the world you wish to housesit in, but at minimum you should create a profile on a housesitting websites such as Trusted House Sitters and/or Luxury House Sitting.

Similar to filling out a job application, create a profile that is inviting and appealing to the particular type of assignment that you are interested in. Your profile photo should be high-quality, up to date, and accurate to your appearance as well as inviting. Don’t use a mug-shot as your profile photo on a housesitting website. Have someone proofread your profile for grammatical errors and try to be as professional as possible.

Remember that in a digital age, your online footprint means as much as your reputation did in 1950’s small town America. As soon as a potential client sees your name as an interested house-sitter, they will likely scour your social media and web presence to help determine if you are a credible applicant. The obvious solution to this predicament is to maintain social media as a decent human being and don’t post hateful, rude, racist, or overly political content. A less obvious way to avoid missing out on houses because of your meme addiction is to set your social media accounts to private.

Insider Tip Perform a “web audit” of yourself every 6 months or so to insure that you have a spotless web identity. If you do find something negative or defamatory, make steps to have it removed.

Provide a Quality Service

Like any industry, it doesn’t matter if you land the biggest client of your life if you can’t deliver a high-quality product. Once you get a housesitting gig, no matter the size, do the best job possible. Oftentimes going above and beyond your responsibilities as a house-sitter can yield glowing reviews online and excellent recommendations when someone calls. Similar to the rest of life, being excellent at what you do will net rewards continually over time.

Standard Duties of a House-sitter

The duties required in your housesitting agreement (yes, you need to sign a housesitting agreement) can vary depending on the geographic location of the house, the style of property (ranch, condo, apartment, etc.) and the reason that the owner requires a house-sitter. If the owner needs a house-sitter to make the home look inhabited, it’s probably best if you know how many hours per day you should be around the house.

In our 2019 housesitting agreement we signed on to live at an off-grid ranch in the remote mountains of Baja Norte, Mexico. We were interested in this assignment because it’s in Baja and because we are extremely interested in living off-grid someday and this was a perfect way to try that lifestyle without a huge commitment. Our duties at the ranch included the following:

Cleaning the main house and income property and preparing the income property with linens, supplies and a warm welcome if someone were staying.
Tending to the flower beds, gardens, and fruit trees on the property.
Feeding the dog, Pepita!
Monitoring the off-grid systems like satellite internet, solar power, and water.

Your responsibilities at a house might be very different and may include things like walking a dog or washing windows or dusting furniture. There is no right or wrong set of responsibilities as long as you are getting as much value out of the arrangement as the home owner. If you are staying in a 10’ x 10’ room with no windows and the owner of the house has you painting the exterior, reflooring the living room, and building on a garage, you have made a mistake. Remember that the home owner is seeking a housesitter for reason.

A House-sitter signs a Housesitting Agreement

A written document agreed upon between the owner or manager of the home and the house-sitter is vital to a mutually beneficial arrangement. This document should be signed and dated by both parties and outline the term of the arrangement, responsibilities of the house-sitter, any compensation involved, and how to handle expenses paid out of pocket by the house-sitter.
Final Tips for Housesitting
To sum up our experiences looking for housesitting jobs and apply for many, the golden rule applies as much to housesitting as it does to the rest of our lives. Treat other people’s homes how you would want someone to treat your home and be the applicant that you would hire if you were looking for a housesitter. Happy hunting and let us know if any of our tips helped you land a gig!

Final Tips for Housesitting

To sum up our experiences looking for housesitting jobs and apply for many, the golden rule applies as much to housesitting as it does to the rest of our lives. Treat other people’s homes how you would want someone to treat your home and be the applicant that you would hire if you were looking for a housesitter. Happy hunting and let us know if any of our tips helped you land a gig!

As always, thank you for reading along on our travels and adventures. Hopefully you were entertained, enlightened, or otherwise felt like the last few minutes reading this post was a worthwhile investment of your time. If you enjoyed our content, there are a few ways that you can help promote what we do and keep us on the road a little longer:

Follow us on social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The more viewers, subscribers, likes and comments, the better our pages rank.
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January 13, 2019January 13, 2019

New Travel Video: 4×4 Driveway to Our Housesitting Gig

Join us as we travel from the nearest paved road to the house that we will be house-sitting for the next 4 months. The road into the ranch is roughly 6 kilometers long and takes approximately 40 minutes to drive. In this video, our commute to civilization is sped up 8 times to give you the full experience of traveling into the remote interior of Baja Norte.
Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRVDfzibhxyN1I-niylEiKg

We are traveling in our 1986 Toyota 4Runner 4×4 with a set of Old Man Emu leaf springs and Bilstein shocks. The ride is rough, but would be much worse without the suspension upgrades. Our tires are Bridgestone All Terrains that have plenty of grip for all of the sand, slick rock, and mud that we experience in Baja. The tires were aired down to roughly 70% of highway pressure for the road and will likely be aired down a bit more the next time we leave the house.

You can learn more about our rig and the changes we have made to live out of it full-time here: https://www.okienomads.com/4runner/

Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date on our travels and to know when new content is posted.

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January 11, 2019January 14, 2019

We are Quitting Buslife!

We are quitting #buslife and parking the bus! Our Skoolie has provided us thousands of miles of adventure and exploration through some of the coolest parts of the Western US. If you haven’t seen our bus, you can catch up by checking out our Bus Build Page!

Okienomad’s Skoolie Bus Build

Our Skoolie will stay around and will eventually tow our new adventure rig to future destinations. Until then we will be traveling in a new-to-us 1986 Toyota 4Runner! The 4×4 will allow us to see more of the backroads and off-road trails that the world has to offer. We loved traveling in the bus, but having a small, nimble, and capable truck will allow us flexibility to travel farther. Without delay, here is the new truck!

The ’86 will obviously need some work before we take off on the road again! Plans include a new paint job, new bumpers, suspension refresh, rear platform build out, and a roof top tent. The goal behind this build is to have a capable, reliable, and rugged off-road machine to explore deep into the wilderness.

Here are some of the ways you can follow along with our build:

We have worked tirelessly on the truck to make it as reliable, capable, and fun as we could on a limited budget. The result is a great truck to get us into the wilds of Baja.

Rachael and I will be spending the Winter in Baja housesitting at an off-grid ranch. We have always really enjoyed this lifestyle and hope to learn more about how we wish to setup our future off-grid home. We will be shifting a lot of our content to off-grid living topics like solar power, aspects of ranch life, and the realities of living in remote areas. We hope you enjoy the new content and we look forward to sharing the next leg of our adventures.

Follow us on social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The more viewers, subscribers, likes and comments, the better our pages rank.
Share this article or our website with others that you think might enjoy it.

September 24, 2018June 8, 2019

Over Prepared and Underprepared: How Both Can Keep You From Exploring

By: Ethan Hayman

Whether you choose to explore the world around you by motor vehicle, bicycle, or by foot there is a fine line between wandering dangerously into the unknown with no preparation, being safely prepared for the adventure ahead, and being paralyzed by the insecurity of not having every piece of equipment you can imagine. If your goal is to explore the world and to be able to do so for a long time there are certain items and skills that will be necessities and others that can simply keep you from exploring at all. The most important question to ask is, do you want to sit around and wait for the stars to align, or do you want to plunge head first into the unknown and seize every opportunity for adventure?

The first multi day backpacking trip I ever did definitely fell on the less prepared end of the spectrum. Three of my best friends and I had planned out a five day fifty mile plus trek through the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri. Combined, we had very little experience and almost no proper gear suited to the task at hand. Those of us with some cash to spend invested in various items of the outdoors persuasion, and do we ever look back and laugh at those choices. Some items were solid selections. I purchased a pair of Vasque hiking boots which have now been worn for four years, gone hundreds of miles, summited peaks in Colorado, traversed the Grand Canyon, and waded through the Buffalo National River. I also bought a Fiskars chopping axe which weighed over five pounds and was proudly strapped to the outside of my pack to be carried fifty miles and was necessary approximately zero times. One friend opted to spend no money and wore old sneakers, military fatigues (in navy digital camouflage), and borrowed an ancient external frame backpack.

To keep a long story short, we got absolutely destroyed within two days of being on the trail. Five inches of rain fell the morning we were supposed to set off, turning our path into a tiny flowing river and making every step treacherous. The forecast also changed drastically from when we packed up and when we arrived leaving us expecting mild weather. Instead we woke up to snow falling the second morning. It was at this point that our spirits were broken and we decided to detour to a nearby state park and call for a very expensive shuttle ride back to our vehicle. Many experienced backpackers have told us we were foolish for going out with the equipment and lack of experience we had. We certainly felt foolish and were lucky that no serious injuries occured, communications were maintained, and there were options to bail out. To add to the point here, two of us attempted a return trip at the opposite time of the year with a different group and experienced one hundred degree temperatures and drought causing the expedition to throw in the towel at the exact same location as on the first attempt. All that being said, I am so thankful that I experienced both of those trips and would absolutely not trade the memories for anything. We learned a great deal about ourselves, our equipment, and our passion the hard way. And sometimes that’s the best way.

Since these experiences, many more lessons have been learned and many thousands of miles have been successfully traversed by foot, car, and bicycle. As I gain more experience and begin to slowly accumulate better, more useful equipment I find that sometimes I am held back by this desire to have all the right gear before setting off on the next adventure. Some of the hesitation is warranted, lack of potable water on our second trip to the MTNF could have been a fatal mistake, but I will probably be ok on every trip without a solar panel, 50” LED light bar or even steel bumpers on my expedition rig. While all of these can make certain situations easier, safer or simply more convenient the lack of them should never keep you from exploring the world around you.

As long as you have the basics covered, water/food, communications, first aid, navigation, and shelter I say go out and find something amazing in the world around you. Waiting until you have every tool and gadget will keep you from ever seeing the world and being totally unprepared could end your grand adventure we call life, but with minimal expense, basic gear and careful planning you should be all set to get out there and safely venture into the unknown.

Today’s post was written by Ethan Hayman. Ethan is a hiker, wood-worker, and general outdoorsman. Ethan’s adventures take him all over the South Central United States including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona. Follow him on Facebook to keep up with his shenanagins

If you would like to contribute to the blog, submit your short stories or articles to okienomads@gmail.com. As always, check out our social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

June 4, 2018

A Different Kind of Adventuring: Volunteering at Overland Expo West

We had just walked out of the Grand Canyon after a 5-day backpacking trip through some of the most beautiful canyon-country in the world. Surely, whatever activity we picked to occupy our time in Flagstaff following the bucket-list hike of a lifetime would be a dud, right? Wrong. Overland Expo West would prove to be an excellent experience as a volunteer and as an attendee.

Expo West, as it is called around the event headquarters in Fort Tuthill County Park, is the premier overlanding expo event in the country.

What is overlanding? The best way that we have been able to describe overlanding to folks that ask is: it’s just like backpacking, only with a truck, van, or other off-road capable vehicle instead of your feet.

Tens of thousands of 4×4’ers, motorcycle explorers, and weird adventurers like us flock to Flagstaff, Arizona for a 3-day event full of specialized training, trip report films and presentations, and overland experiences that include a Land Rover Driving Course. On top of all of that, nearly 400 vendors from the outdoors industry swarm the county park to showcase their newest products and offer show-discounts on a lot of great gear.

Before the show can begin, volunteers and staff show up to the enormous county park as early as Sunday (Mother’s Day, mind you) to begin setting up the event. Goodie bags needed to be stuffed and booths needed to be staked out and marked to ensure that all of the exhibitors have a spot to display their newest and grandest gear. The rest of the week carries on this way to coordinate signage, parking, camping, and food vendor locations. We were amazed at the amount of man-power and resources that goes into making this event a success.

Wednesday before the event was capped off with a “Cool Ride Contest”, a sort of fan-favorite vote of a few overlanding vehicles on display in Downtown Flagstaff, followed by a pub-crawl of local breweries being served in the various outdoor stores in Flag. Wednesday was a fun night where we also met Jordan and Candice from @beoldlater. These two are traveling in their built out Delica 4×4 van from British Columbia to who knows where. They are both super talented and if you don’t already follow them, you should.

While we are on the topic of the amazing people that you can meet at events like this you should also follow Noah and Amalie (@hella_mello, @anamalie; Destined for Lateness). These two are the real deal and are traveling North America in their Toyota T-100. Another fantastic couple that we ran into at Expo West was Amie and Matt (@the_traveling_together_journal) they are seasoned overland travelers that have a great YouTube Channel documenting their travels and their interactions with other overlanders around the globe. Back to the show.

Once everything is perfect (emphasis added, nothing is perfect in large event planning), the show can begin on Friday morning. Thousands flock to the park for classes, demonstrations, and to spend their money on roof-top tents, new coolers, or recovery gear to get themselves unstuck out in the wild.

The weekend flew by as we checked attendees in at HQ, helped direct parking, and even emptied some trash cans. If it sounds like work, it’s because it is. In exchange for volunteering, however, we were given free admission to the event, all sorts of freebies, and a place to camp for a few days. It is a great deal! The majority of staff that we volunteered with were knowledgeable of their field, helpful and friendly, and most were very fun people that we were very happy to have met. A lot of them have been a part of the event for a long time, some since its inception, and it shows.

Long story short, we can’t wait to be a part of Overland Expo again! The same folks host Overland Expo East in Asheville, NC in November and we are making moves now to be a part of that event as well. We want to send a huge thank you to Cyan Samone for being one of the better volunteer coordinators that either of us has ever worked with. Cyan was always friendly, upbeat, and very informative and helpful throughout the entire week. Another huge thanks go out to Roseann Hanson for founding and directing such a fun and unique event. There is not an event like this in the country that we have found.

If you are interested in being a part of Overland Expo in any capacity, your best bet is to start at the Overland Expo Website. If you are going to be in the Flagstaff or Asheville area before, during, or after one of the Expo events, we highly encourage you to volunteer. It will be well worth your time. In the meantime between events, we will continue to scour Instagram and drool over the coverage from this year’s event until we can make it to the next one.

Tag: overlanding