How To Start Overlanding On a Budget - A Beginner's Guide to Overland Adventure!

Hello everyone, how are you doing? My name is Ben, welcome to the channel today, we are here on the California coast, this is beautiful Big Sur, the weather is amazing, the trails are amazing, there are beautiful campgrounds everywhere and it really got me thinking about this idea of ​​how begin. about the landing and that's what I wanted to talk to you about today because I think it's very easy to look at social media Instagram YouTube things like that and look at these platforms that people have invested time and money into and if you're just

start

ing out, think about yourself himself: "Wow, I'll never be able to have a team like them.

I'll never be able to live the

adventure

s they do, ride the trails they ride, and I just don't think that's true." I thought let's talk about it, how to do it, get

start

ed and have your own

adventure

s, so let's get into it. If you're like me, you've probably already heard about

overland

ing, you've already seen people. doing it on social media Instagram YouTube places like that and maybe you're thinking this is something you really want to try, but your next thought is how the hell do I get into this? How do I start? What does it take to do it? review the landing for me.

A friend started the Overland Expedition YouTube channel for me and I binge-watched the entire Pan American Highway series and thought, "This is something I'd really like to do." I'm excited to get out there and try vehicle-based exploration things like that and my next thought was exactly that, but these guys on the YouTube Expedition Overlay and other people who are doing this have a ton of money invested. extremely developed platforms or they just have a list of sponsors a mile long and it doesn't seem like something I could ever achieve on my own and that can be a hindrance, it can be a hindrance.

To start, and I think the real key: the only thing you have to do to start again and land is to start, as simple as it seems. To talk about starting over, I think there are actually four key things we need. To touch, it's your vehicle, your recovery gear, your camping gear, and the trails you're going to get out and explore. On the subject of

overland

ing vehicles, my personal opinion will always be that the best overlanding vehicle is the one you already have and as long as you are realistic about the capabilities of your vehicle, it could be a two-wheel drive sedan, it could being an all wheel drive crossover, it could be a stock 4x4 with no mods or anything and you can still go out and do some pretty awesome things.

You can take that two-wheel drive sedan onto some well-maintained forest service roads and still get away from the crowds and see some really exciting things. You can take that original 4x4 and do some

beginner

stuff. To moderate the trails, just be realistic about the capabilities of the vehicles you have and get out there and start exploring, spend a few nights outdoors, make sure this is something for you before you invest in modifying the vehicle you have to do it. more capable. or maybe you know you know a completely new vehicle, so with that said, let's talk about some of the things you can do to improve the capabilities of the vehicle you already have, although in my opinion it is one of the best first modifications you can. thing on your rig to really increase your off-road capabilities is to change the tires, if you still have street tires on your vehicle or ones that left the lot, you can really get big performance gains on trails and off-road by fitting with a tire a little more aggressive, things like off road muddy terrain, even hybrid terrain tires are really a personal choice, they will all produce massive improvements off road.

I chose a kind of hybrid approach because this is my daily driver and when I'm about to land. I spend a lot of time on pavement getting to Trails, so I wanted something that combined capabilities. I ended up with the ridge grapplers in 285 70 17 to fit the ones on my 4runner. I had to make a considerable amount. of trim so keep that in mind if you are changing the stock size if you go with a larger tire it will require deeper modifications but even just using something like a ko2 or a ridge grappler on your stock tire size will produce massive improvements , so another big category of modifications for your vehicle is the idea of ​​armor, this could be underbody skid plates, things like rock sliders, things like steel front and rear bumpers, and I think what's really out there The thing to keep in mind is that If you're just starting out and are realistic about the capabilities of your vehicle and the trails you're going to travel, you can escape for a good amount of time without having armor, the first thing I did was pull the trigger.

These rock sliders. I had seen some real horror stories about putting the wheel on a rock and going down and just having this panel creak and not being able to open the door anymore, so the rock sliders for me gave me a lot of peace of mind and helped me start tackling trails more and more advanced, but you definitely shouldn't feel like it's something you need right from the start, so I think another important thing in your vehicle to think about when you're just starting out is the suspension. You hear a lot of talk about things like kings or iconic suspension setups, old Bilstein EMUs, whoever the manufacturer is, you're probably hearing about suspension and the upgrades people have made to their rigs.

You can upgrade the suspension for several reasons. potentially you get more ground clearance, more travel, better ride quality, things like that, but what I would say is that you definitely don't need to spend a lot of money on a suspension upgrade right off the bat, is one of the things I think about After You. Once you have learned the capabilities of your vehicle after you have an idea of ​​the type of things you want to do in the future, where you want to take your vehicle, then you can really start to think about what type of suspension setup you will need for the Lo Next thing we'll talk about and what I think might be the most important thing to talk about is recovery equipment, especially as a

beginner

, when you start landing or doing vehicle based exploration, it's important to be prepared and be able to get out of any situation you can get into.

I think one of the coolest things about this community about overlanding and the off-road community in general is that everyone is so willing to help if you have a problem. On a busy trail there is a high chance that someone else will come along and be able to lend a hand, but that is not always the case, so by far the most common problem you will encounter on a trail will have to do with tires. . At some point or another you will get a flat, it is bound to happen and being prepared at that moment is the most important thing so that you can get off the road safely and it may not be your own equipment either. you run into someone else who has gotten a flat, this has happened to me many times on a trail, often because people push the limits of their equipment or don't really understand the capabilities, maybe they have street tires and it's an incredibly rocky road that They did not shoot down and a puncture occurred.

I even encountered a new Jeep once that had gone a little off the road, found itself in a small ditch, and suffered punctures in its passenger sidewalls. side tires most people only carry a spare, so what are you going to do in a situation like that? That's why it's incredibly important to be prepared. What does it mean to be well prepared? I think the first thing you can do is have a full size tire. Spare Most SUVs come with a full size spare if you've put on new tires as one of your first modifications I highly recommend getting a set of five so that, especially if you want a larger size, you don't fall off. a corner on your way out of the way to limp home or something, so in addition to your full-size spare, there are a couple more things you'll want to have when it comes to dealing with tire problems on a road, obviously a jack that you can lift your car with, which means that if you put in a lift, if your tires are bigger, if you are in an awkward place, the bottle jack or scissor jack that your equipment comes with may not be enough.

This is where people start thinking about things like I lift jacks or other hydraulic jacks. ARB makes one. A lot of people make different types of jacks, so that's something to keep in mind, so it's one of the pieces of equipment that I think is very important to have. In your recovery kit there is this here, this is an ARB tire repair kit and it has been useful to me so many times that it is on Amazon super cheap, many people make it; Basically, what it contains is a couple of different tools. that allows you to repair punctures and tires, of course it will depend on where the puncture is, how big it is and things like that, but this is definitely a great kit that will give you a better chance of getting off the road.

Sure enough, we actually used this when we came across the Jeep I was talking about that had two punctures in the sidewalls of both passenger side tires. You're not supposed to use it to patch the side walls or it shouldn't work, but we were able to push through. Basically put enough rubber repair patches in the hole and have it hold enough pressure that they can get out of the way pretty safely, so I highly recommend it's a super cheap piece of mind to have in your kit and also I think. The other thing worth thinking about is an air compressor, so a portable air compressor, not the cheap ones from Walmart that plug into the cigarette lighter, because that will frustrate you so much that it will take you forever to enter to Amazon or some other website and spend. a little bit more money on one that's higher quality so this one has the alligator clips to connect it directly to your car battery and then on the other end you just have the regular valve to connect it here to your tire.

They are useful and are great to have for a few reasons: If you are venturing a trail to get more traction or to improve ride quality or to hopefully avoid punctures from sharp rocks, you can use them at the end of the trail. To put air back in the tires before hitting the pavement we met people who did have a spare but hadn't checked their pressure in a long time so we were able to use the compressor to put some air in their tires. spare tire and get them back on the road. I just think for the small amount of space and the small amount of money it costs, it's great to have.

I'll link to this specific one in the description below, this one is from a company called V air, it's the model 88 P, they have a ton of different models. I think this one is like $60 and worth every penny. Air compressors work with the entire range, such as the cigarette lighter versions, which cost ten dollars. At autozone or Walmart there is even a $900 ARB dual compressor, pros and cons of all of them. I don't think you need to spend hundreds of dollars on an air compressor right away, especially when this one has treated me so well so far.

I highly recommend the V Air. Like I said, I think tire problems are the number one concern you'll face on a trail. The number two concern you're most likely to encounter on a trail, I think. If you get stuck, whether in mud, sand or snow, you will eventually push the limits of your vehicle's capabilities and you will also learn to drive in these more difficult conditions and you will get stuck and that is where a couple of different things can happen. It's useful, so one piece of kit that will really come in handy in one of these situations where your bogs fall over is going to be a simple tow strap.

This is from Rhino Straps from Amazon. What I really like about it is that it has soft curls. In the end, so you can put it through a D-ring, you can wrap it around almost anything. There are other versions of these that let you get a feel for metal hooks and things that are already attached. Those are fine too and will do the job. but a tow strap is great, especially if you come across someone who is stuck and just needs a little help getting over an obstacle. Having one of these is definitely a lifesaver, so it's another great piece of equipment to have in your The recovery kit will be a set of traction boards, call them max tracks, call them recovery boards, whatever you want, these little things are cool, basically what happens is you can use them and stick them under your tires if you get stuck in the mud or sand. or snow just to have a lot more traction.

This is a cheap Chinese set from Amazon, not brand name. For me, they have worked well so far. I know there are some people who feel like they might only get one or two. It is used outside of the cheap ones, so it is worth spending the money on the maximum tracks or the name brand ones. I'll leave that in your hands, I think.if you are just starting out and looking. To save some money, the cheap ones on Amazon are great and I will link them and they are in the description below, so in a situation where you are stuck and need to pull out the last piece of the recovery kit I will talk about a shovel.

I think it is very important to carry a shovel with you for several reasons. If you find yourself stuck or stuck, you can use this to get out, maybe you are very focused and just need to. to clean up some sand or something Get out from under you so you can put those wheels back on the ground, maybe you've been spinning those wheels to try to get out and you'll be much happier to have a shovel for the trip to use your hands to dig. In that situation, shovels are obviously a great piece of general camping equipment as well.

You need to treat your fires properly, so put them out, stir them and smother them to make sure they are really out. It's also great if you need to, you know, use the bathroom in the forest. Thus, the shovel is a great multi-purpose tool to have again. This is, yes, a cheap Home Depot. It could look like this. It could be seen as a compact, foldable electronic tool from an army surplus store. A camping supplies store. Whatever it looks like. I think it is. It is very important to have a shovel with you and obviously this list of recovery equipment could go on and on, there are lots of amazing pieces of kit to have as the situations you find yourself in become more and more complex we could Keep talking. about winches, kinetic rope self-recovery devices, things like that, but for now I think as a beginner, if you're just starting out, as long as you become aware of the capabilities of your vehicle, your driving skills, and knowledge of the area we're going to explore, you should be able to get by with a tire repair kit, air compressor cover boards, and a shovel.

Okay, so we've talked about the vehicle, we've talked about recovery equipment, now it's time to talk about camping equipment. When it comes to loading your camping gear, you can have as much or as little gear as you want, but it all comes down to covering the big three needs: your shelter, your food, and your water shelter, are several different things, it is not. just surviving the night but also being comfortable if you followed me for a while you saw the progress of my setup over time. Now I'm at the point where I have the rooftop tent, the caravan I.

I have a review video on but I'll link it here. I have a Dometic in the back for my food, things like that, but you don't need all that equipment to get started which I would really recommend if you don't have equipment to get started properly. Now it's finding a place like REI or another sporting goods store where you can rent things like a tent, a sleeping bag, and all the other camping gear you'll need to go out and take a weekend trip or spend the night. night or something like that. that when we talk about your shelter or sleeping system it's not just your tent that protects you from the elements, but also something like a sleeping bag with a pad that helps you survive the night if you're in cold temperatures, things like that , again.

Sleeping bags are things you can rent and try, you can get them super cheap at places like Bass Pro Shop or Sportsman's Warehouse. I actually really like their zero grade sleeping bags or you can spend a lot of money on an ultralight one. one from a place like REI or Sierra Designs anywhere, so the second thing to talk about when it comes to camping gear is food, so the food you bring with you in the way you prepare it in A trail could be many different ways. instructions, it could be as simple as some dehydrated backpacking meals or a couple of noodles, something like that, just rehydrate, it could be a ton of fresh ingredients from the store that you need to prep and cook and end up with a completely gourmet meal.

It could be anywhere in between. I think the great starting point is something like a two burner stove which again you can try and you can rent these things from a place like REI. It could also be seen as a Jetboil style backpacking stove if you're just heating water, things like that for me, I like having the two burner stove and I think the only thing I would say when it comes to two burner stoves is that a lot of them are They sell based on total BTU or heat. that the output, which is not the right way to think about a two burner stove, what you really want to think about is something like the simmer control, you don't just want maximum flame or maximum heat all the time that you really want to be you can finally adjust the amount of flame you're putting out on one of these two burner propane stoves so you can do things like boil water quickly, make sure you turn on the maximum flame, sauté garlic or something you want to turn on the calls. simmer a sauce a bit, same thing, you don't need the full flame or you'll just burn whatever you're trying to cook, so that's really what I'd look at when looking for a two burner stove: how much flame control? adjustability you have when it comes to food storage again there are a ton of different options you see a lot of people with things like the Dometic refrigerators which I love I swear I would highly recommend it to anyone but it comes with a lot of extra costs, you have a way to securely attach it to your equipment, which maybe means a set of platforms or straps and ties, things like that, you need a way to power it, it could be something like the Dometic portable battery PLB 40 or a Goal Zero portable battery, which is what I did initially and then I finally jumped into a dual battery setup to give it some sort of constant power, which has made life a lot less stressful and again, it's something that I would highly recommend in the future. but to start out, anything will do like a soft-sided cooler if you just want to keep your beers cold, something like that hard-sided cooler if you're going on these longer, rotomolded yeti-style trips, but it doesn't have to be a Yeti. , it may be one of the cheapest, it will be great for keeping ice frozen for several days and keeping food at a safe temperature if you bring steaks, burgers or whatever to cook with, so again, really.

This will come down to personal preference. Don't feel like you have to go for something like a Dometic when you're just starting out. I would again recommend using what you have if it is a cooler that you normally take to the beach. just throw it in the back of your car and go out and explore somewhere and then I think the ultimate in camping gear is water. Water is important, obviously, for several different reasons. Bulk water is something you should definitely have with you if you're making a campfire so you can put it out, make sure you put it out before you leave.

Obviously it's important to have enough drinking water for your vehicle, you know, in case it starts to run out of coolant and you need to fill it with water. It's great to have, so this could look like a lot of different things, it could be like buying a couple gallons of water at the store before you go on a trip, it could be like having big refillable water jugs, which is what I've used The Aqua bricks are a little more expensive but I think they are super resistant, they are very well made, the plastic is thick and they fit together and stack very well and I really like the Aqua bricks.

Their size is three and a half gallons each, so I think it's very useful to have just a couple of those in there, they're manageable by whoever comes with me, so the last thing we need to talk about in terms of how to start landing It's just planning your trips and for me personally this was actually the biggest hurdle I had to overcome when I decided landing was something I wanted to pursue. I was ready to just grab my sleeping bag and jump in my car and head somewhere, but I didn't know where to go. I didn't know what to Google, how to tell if a trail was accessible, or what the difficulty was going to be.

I didn't have a good network of people to rely on for trip reports, guidance or information, so I want to give you some tips for planning your first landing trips, so I think one of my best tips for planning your trip is one that In some ways you'll get better over time, but it's connecting with local people in your area who also go out and explore social media. It's great for this, you can find a Facebook group so you can find subreddits and YouTubers in your local area that you can reach out to. Ask about the trails or where they like to go or even if there is a group trip coming up that you can tag along and also getting out and hitting the trails will allow you to run into people and get to know more people who commonly hike trails in your local area so I recommend I highly recommend that you know how to greet them, greet them, and ask them if they know of any other interesting places to explore.

Ask them if they have any interesting trips in the future that you can accompany with all those things that will help you get familiar. with your local area and your local trail network, so when I was starting out, the best resource I found was actually this book. This is your

guide

to California's back roads and 4x4 trails. It's written by a guy named Charles Wells and Matt Peterson and they have a couple of these different

guide

s on Amazon. I'll link them below. I know there's one for Utah, there's one for Colorado and also a few other places in the US.

I think there's one for Arizona too, but this book is absolutely incredible, basically what they've done is split the state into all of these different regions and you can go around them and choose the region that you're going to explore, you can look at the trails and there's a lot of great information as well, so they've done that. I'm not sure if you'll be able to see this. They have developed a complete rating system for the trails they talk about here. The easy ones are labeled in green, the moderate ones are labeled in blue and the difficult ones are rated in red and the cool thing is that they really define what these ratings mean.

A lot of times you go on forums or social media and you'll see people say "oh, that was such a hard road, I'd never do it." do it and then you find out that they were on a unicycle or something that just doesn't match the expectations of what you were thinking, so I think having trail definitions for difficulty is very helpful and then they made one of the best ones. Jobs I've seen in terms of laying out an actual trail, so this one is good, it's a poker flat, it's rated as a moderate trail, it's blue and they give you this big map here of the area, but they also have this mileage. sign up to get to the zero euro domitor trailhead in your vehicle and then you can follow it and on some of these more complex trails to navigate you can really make sure that you stay on the trail and that we're not going to get lost so again I'll link these books in the description.

I would HIGHLY recommend something like this and finally I think the other thing to talk about in terms of planning a trip is the apps that are available to us so One of my favorites to have on hand when planning a trip and when I go on a trip is Gaia GPS, so you will not be able to see that Gaya GPS is a map application that you can access on Android iOS and simply through a web browser where you can plan your trips, you can record your trips, record your tours, share them with people and I think in general a lot of people in the community are using Gaia or a similar application that can export the same type. of tracks, which is a great way to share the places you pass, the trails you've walked so you can just create this logbook of places to explore, in addition to Gaia GPS, another great app is iover lander.

It's crowd sourced content for campsites, interesting places to explore good trails, things like that, so I think once you have those resources, trip planning is easier than ever, social media guides and apps like gaia gps and i Overlander have fact that finding and sharing truly incredible places. easier than ever before, so I think that comes with a great added responsibility for all of us: to practice treading carefully and following the principles of Leave No Trace. If you're not sure what Leave No Trace entails, I highly suggest you look. Before you head out on your first trip, simple things like avoiding an obstacle or mud pit contribute to trail widening and trail degradation, which actually leads to all of our worst fears, which are trails closing and that the camps be closed. if you pack it up, carry it, leave no trace and just do your part to make the campsites and trails better than you found them and with that I hope you're ready to get out and explore somewhere, see you next time.