Jeep JK. Land Cruiser. Defender. Tacoma. Discovery. 4Runner. If you ask members of our community what the "optimal" platforms are for an "overland vehicle", chances are these are these usual suspects will be brought up. But, what about the full-size pickup truck? Is America's job-site/mall parking lot staple, the full size truck, a worthy "overland rig"? You bet your … [Read more...]
Maps: Digital or Paper
The argument of digital or paper maps will most likely continue as long as the waxed cotton vs. gore-tex debate. Which means forever, unless Filson and Barbour stop selling coats. I remember growing up in my fathers red Volkswagen Golf with a manual transmission, AC/DC or George Thorogood in the tape deck, and a Maryland road map in the seat-back pocket. I spent some of the … [Read more...]
Red Cloud – Snow Run
With the DC area recovering from our most recent mediocre epic snow storm, we headed out for a quick snow run at Red Cloud Off-Road. I know, all you guys from Boston are probably screaming about how you got more snow than Antarctica this year, how the Bruins are going to win the Stanley Cup, and how harbor is spelled with 3 H's. Well snow storms are in a little different … [Read more...]
UORTC – 4WD-202 Class Part 3
The first half of the UORTC 4WD-202 was some of the most in depth off-road driving training any of us had received. So after a quick lunch in the field we got right back to it. The instructors immediately started covering what I refer to as the worst case scenario portion of the class. They covered everything from radiator repairs, to field fixes for u-joints utilizing only … [Read more...]
Winter Exploration: George Washington National Forest
One of the best things about the East Coast is that we get all 4 seasons - which is great for offroad adventure in that the terrain changes all the time. Minivan-accessible routes in the summer months requires recovery gear for serious 4x4s in the winter months. This was the case for us this past weekend when we got out for a Saturday of exploration and sightseeing on USFS … [Read more...]
