Overland Journal Spring 2011

Well Traveled I am a new subscriber to Overland Journal, and I wanted to show you where my first copy has been. I recently took it as my reading material on a trip to Europe and the Middle East. I’ve attached a picture of it with my vehicle in Ankara, Turkey. It also went to Israel, Romania, Spain, and Belgium. Unfortunately, it’s such a great publication that I finished it cover-to-cover by the first stop. My vehicle: a 2006 Boeing C-17A. I’m a USAFR pilot from Dover AFB, Delaware. Cheers, Matt Gross 1998 Chevy K2500 pickup with a 350 V8 and 4L80E transmission. Timeless Treasure The Winter 2010 issue was another great one. It brought back memories of the Canol Road: fall colors, crisp mountain air, rows of old rusted trucks, and the magic of Canada’s…

Graham Jackson Graham Jackson was born in Lesotho in Southern Africa. He grew up racing motorcycles in the dirt as well as helping his father design, build and race off-road buggies. Graham completed his first safari across the Kalahari at age 10 in a Range Rover with his family. This trip planted the seed for Graham's lifelong overlanding obsession. In 2004 he completed a 30,000 mile overland adventure from London to Cape Town. He has guided expeditions in Africa, the American West, Mexico and Central America, and has been an active supporter of the global overland community. A scientist by trade, Graham tries to combine his interest in the natural world, his passion for overlanding and his love of things mechanical. He is now director of Overland Training. Charlie Weatherill Charlie was born…

In a word, no. Or, to rephrase a bit: they certainly shouldn’t. Yes, pump prices are headed back up toward $5.00 per gallon as I write this, and one might be tempted to think that life is hell. But compared to what our explorer predecessors faced, expensive gas rates pretty low on the scale of inconvenience. Recall the early days of automobile travel, when dealing with two or three flat tires in a day would be considered lucky, and total-loss coolant systems meant that any journey in hot weather was a stop-and-start affair to refill the radiator and give the steaming engine a break. Or go back further, to when horse-mounted African explorers entering the tsetse belt had to watch their animals drop dead one by one, leaving them on foot to…

As I expected, that Pelican 1550 got small real fast. Of course, there was never any doubt it would wind up full—not with a triple-stack rolling cabinet and several boxes full of tools from which to choose. The exercise, if you’ll excuse a terminal preposition, was what it would wind up full of. Surprisingly, the basics—socket sets, wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, files, punches, and so forth, went in tidily either in their original cases or in several tool rolls from Off Road Trail Tools. It was the large grey area beyond those essentials—the tie-rod separator, torque wrench, pry bars, clutch alignment tool, bearing puller, hand drill, etc. in the what-are-the-chances-I’d-need-this? pile—that required triage. Ratchet and sockets The overstuffed Britool 3/8th-inch-drive socket kit described last issue has been my go-to set for several projects now.…

A range of hybrid news: Volkswagen is working on an even more efficient little diesel with a project dubbed the XL1. Last year the car made an official road journey, and now an updated version is making the rounds of international auto shows. VW plans to actually produce a very limited run of the XL1, which is a two-cylinder TDI/electric hybrid. The name is derived from the goal of one liter of fuel consumption for every 100km—roughly 260 mpg. The plan is to offer what few are produced to Germany, the U.S., and China. There are rumors of applications for the prototype systems in other models for the future. In the middle of the hybrid range, the Range_e from Range Rover is supposedly being developed as a production possibility. Rover is touting…

Govino Go Anywhere WineGlass$12 (set of 4) The Go Anywhere Wine Glass from Govino is made from a proprietary, BPA-free, food-safe/pharmaceutical-grade polymer (PETG). Not only is this vessel shatterproof, Govino also claims that it “reflects the wine’s color and aromatics much like crystal.” With proper care, these wine “glasses” should rival your glass wine glasses at home. When the day comes that they are due for replacing, the Govino is a class-1 recyclable plastic. For those concerned with portion control, the cup measures six ounces when poured to the center of the thumb notch, and 16 ounces at the brim. They are also soon releasing a champagne glass version—perfect for a toast on a remote beach camp next New Year’s. (JE) govinowine.com; available from overlandgourmet.com, 855-746-7684 BriarTek Cerberus $799 The Cerberus personal safety…