Overland Journal Winter 2015

A Real Gift We can’t thank you enough for running the article on Free Wheelchair Mission in your wonderful magazine. It is a real gift you’ve given our organization to help raise awareness on such a large scope. Susan and Joe Rubio Free Wheelchair Mission Ambassadors 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Ultimate Overlander Thank you for a great and unbiased article on some fantastic vehicles that few of us will have the opportunity to evaluate on our own. As the owner of a 100 Series Land Cruiser, I have an equally unbiased question. Why was the G-Wagen rated lower in durability than the Toyota? After all, in Scott Brady’s own words, “While the Toyota feels reliable, the G-Wagen feels durable, as if it could survive any calamity.” Yet the Mercedes was rated an “8” in durability while…

Chris Burkard At 29 years of age, Chris Burkard has seen more of the world than most of us could hope to see in several lifetimes. He has always gone his own way, impelled by his idiosyncratic desires. Often referred to as a surf photographer, Burkard describes himself as a landscape photographer with a peculiar relationship to the sea. He has published several books including The California Surf Project (with friend and co-author Eric Soderquist) and most recently, the children’s book The Boy Who Spoke to the Earth. Burkard’s commercial clients are numerous and his work has been published in National Geographic, the New Yorker, GQ, Men’s Journal, Vogue, and Surfer Magazine. Chris and his wife, Breanne, live on California’s Central Coast with their two sons, Jeremiah and Forest. Karin-Marijke Vis and…

A few years ago I was camped in Moab’s Kane Creek Canyon, Utah, near a group of climbers. Around the fire that evening, several read books and reviewed maps, while others pontificated solutions to the world’s problems. One set up a slackline between two vehicles and spent the next hour refining the art of balance. They had asked me to join them for a beer, but I had a pending deadline and remained in front of my laptop toiling away. I kept glancing across the road, watching their warm firelit shadows dance across the precipitous red canyon walls and contemplated closing my computer—and with it my deadline. I hesitantly lowered the screen and deliberated for a moment before opening it again. The Word document and the deadline were still there. Though…

Clothing Arts Pick-Pocket Proof Pants $109 Clothing Arts outsmarts the thief with their pick-pocket proof cargo pants. While violent crime is rarely experienced by overlanders during international travel, the possibility of petty theft is a real consideration. One of the more nefarious methods is by pickpocket, who with practiced skill can lift your wallet, camera, passport, and even your watch right off your body without being detected. Situational awareness is critical to preventing most crimes, but it also helps to stack the odds in your favor with the right equipment. I did my best to abuse these trousers, wearing them every day (without washing) for a week which included trekking, brush-busting, vehicle repair, driving, and even a few trips to the gym. The comfort and drape of the fabric is excellent, feeling more…

Make no mistake, the Toyota Tacoma is one of the best overland platforms ever sold in North America. The model is the most popular vehicle among our readership and represents one of the most suitable options for long distance adventure travel. As a result, we all held our collective breath as Toyota announced a major revision to this stalwart pickup. Fortunately, we were given the opportunity to evaluate this new truck in the field, over rock, and on the highway—it did not disappoint. What’s New For an engineer to mess with success is dangerous territory. However, Toyota enthusiasts can rest assured that the 2016 Tacoma is more evolutionary than revolutionary. The designers addressed most of our complaints with the previous model and even included a few surprises. At first glance the model…

Something Lost Behind the Ranges: The Autobiography of John Blashford-Snell By John Blashford-Snell Reviewed by Chris Collard ISBN 978-0955312472 Though Colonel John Blashford-Snell (JBS) is best known for leading the 1971 British Trans-Americas Expedition from Alaska to Ushuaia via the Darien Gap, his exploits and harrowing tales of adventure extend to the far reaches of the planet over land, sea, and sky. Something Lost Behind the Ranges, his personal biography, transports us onto a mortar-peppered battlefield in the searing desert of North Africa: down Ethiopia’s bandit-ridden Blue Nile in Avon rafts, and to the Seven Seas on Eye of the Wind, a 1911 Brigantine he commissioned for Operation Drake—a scientific school at sea. He frequently digresses to his mischievous youth on Jersey Island off the Normandy coast (where he reconnoitered tunnels used by the…