STOP Wasting Money on Overlanding Gear You Don't Need!

Are you tired of feeling like you need to spend a fortune on overlanding gear you might never use? We think there are quite a few people who have been discouraged from exploring the great outdoors by the high price tags of off-road camping "necessities". In this video, we'll cut through the marketing hype and reveal some of the essential items you'll actually use on your next off-road adventure. Discover the best budget-friendly options and avoid unnecessary expenses. Stop wasting money and start enjoying your off-road camping adventures with the right equipment! Subscribe and like for more off-roading tips and tricks.

Use code AUTOMOBROS for 15% off any purchase! 😁

Time stamps:
0:00 - 0:45 - Intro
0:45 - 4:20 - Overlanding vs. Off-road Camping
4:20 - 7:00 - Winches
7:00 - 9:25 - Tires
9:25 - 11:11 - Suspension
11:11 - 14:11 - Jerry Cans
14:11 - 15:22 - Under Armor
15:22 - 20:00 - Final Thoughts / Outro

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#offroad #toyota #camping #4runner #fj #overlanding

[Automobros]

Hey everyone!!! We just wanted to thank everyone for the INCREDIBLE discussion we've been having down here in the comment section! There are so many great perspectives and thoughtful inputs. It blew up down here so we're still trying to read everything and respond where we can!

We also wanted to reiterate that people interact with this hobby in a lot of different ways. We're not trying to pass judgement on anyone's purchases, or tell people how they should spend their money. You know better than we do if the trails you are running might require use of a winch. We just want to try to lower the perceived barrier to entry to getting out in the woods and having fun. Marketing is a hell of a drug!

[scroungasworkshop]

I’ve been four wheel driving in Australia for the last 40 years and I’ve learnt a few things along the way. Normally the two biggest reason a vehicle gets stuck is the driver. The inexperienced driver: this bloke doesn’t know what he’s doing. He doesn’t know what gear he should be in, he doesn’t know where to keep the engine revs at, he doesn’t know what line to take, he doesn’t know exactly where his wheels are and worst of all he doesn’t know his own limits. They think that keeping forward momentum means pedal to the floor and just try to crash though.
The second is the lazy driver: this bloke doesn’t want to get out and walk the line, he doesn’t want to walk the water crossing to check for hidden obstacles or deep holes, he doesn’t want to adjust his tyre pressures to suit the conditions and he certainly doesn’t want to find an alternative, less difficult route. Like the inexperienced driver, he just wants to crash through. It’s amazing how many people underestimate what their vehicles are capable of straight from the factory and a lot of the time it’s the driver that gives up before the vehicle does. If you want a winch, get a hand winch like a Tirfor. It can pull your vehicle in any direction, it’s a lot lighter than an electric winch and there’s a lot less to go wrong. Being a hand winch, it’s a lot more work so it makes you think before you leap. Lastly something to keep in mind, the more recovery gear you have like double diff locks, electric winch, big wheels ect, the deeper in the shit you’re going to be when you do get stuck so it’s going to be even harder to get out. Great video guys. Cheers, Stuart 🇦🇺

[jeffmorris]

This needed to be said. I started off road camping in the 80's in my old FJ60 with a Walmart tarp over the open hatch. Coleman stove, cheap Walmart folding chairs and a card table. It was not called overlanding then. Overlanding is like X Overland going to Africa and Iceland. I now have a $25 dollar hammock, it's great! Go to the Dollar Store and buy your cookware and put it in a plastic dollar store box. When it wares out throw it away and replace it. Don't throw it out in your camp site....tread lightly.

[vertstang]

I just got back from the Pomona Off Road Expo, they had tons of overlanding gear. It's like taking your house with you camping, electronic gadgets, refrigerators, battery packs, solar panels etc. What happened to a tent, a Coleman stove, a lantern and an ice chest?

[ScottyDog]

Overlanding? Nothing more than a marketing term for car camping… It’s cool to build your rigs.. but the past 10 years it’s been nothing more but for looks and LIKES on IG.. I’ve grown to hate the term..

[eightyfilms]

I work in & offroad my vehicle daily… 70%-80% of the stuff you “need” is worthless weight that just slows you down, wastes fuel & takes up space.
NO to wheel spacers… weak point & WILL break

[Gzus]

16:14: "Take the vehicle you have, go out into the woods, and camp!" This comment nailed it! Too many people confuse glamping with camping. I prefer minimal stuff to pack (and re-pack when leaving), and most 4x4 vehicles nowadays are waaay more capable than n00bies give them credit for, so they spend unnecessarily on stuff that they don't really need.
That being said, for me, a winch was a MUST because I wheel solo almost 100% of the time, and it's more for self-recovery than it is for pulling out others.

[ZipZoomZip]

Some of the most fun I've had off-roading was in bone-stock vehicles with all-season radials. Low ground clearance, no skid plates, no winch, just driver skill. One time, my wife and I decided to take the adventurous way over a mountain ridge on the way home from a spring road trip. We were in a almost new, tiny, low slung 1984 Subaru station wagon. It had all-wheel drive, not 4x4. Our philosophy was that we would not drive anywhere we couldn't backtrack from, if necessary. We navigated through mud swamps covering the trail, to steep, rocky technical driving, and everything in-between. We came out above the clouds on top of the ridge to find 12 members of the local Jeep club. They were all lifted with 35-37" tires, skid plates, rock sliders, the whole nine yards.

When they saw us, their jaws dropped. They looked at the shiny, almost new low-slung Subaru wagon with stock tires, the roofline barely came above the tops of their tires (slight exaggeration) and wanted to know how we got up there. Knowing we were on the only route (or at least the only mapped route) I said, "what do you mean?" They wanted to know if there was an easier way up to their regular weekend 4x4 spot that they didn't know about. I told them I came up the way I assume they came up, the easiest way. They said the easiest way up was the way we were going. When I confirmed that we came up from the same direction we had arrived, their jaws were hanging on the ground. It was as if they had wasted all that time and money modifying their Jeeps. As we were ready to depart, they told us if we made it this far, we wouldn't have any problem on the way out. Just goes to show you don't need a manly looking off-road rig to get most places people actually go.

[wadehughes]

We go solo remote off road camping (in Australia) for weeks on end. I can tell you, when you’re by yourself and you’re stuck on a slippery ridge, then it’s such a relief to be able to winch yourself out of trouble. You don’t need something until you need it. Good vid, keep up the good work.

[theoutdoordad]

Camping + instagram = overlanding. I started camping outside with no tent no sleeping pad just a tarp and a sleeping bag. If you had a bucket it was a luxury chair. Nothing wrong with the overlanding hobby but I agree with you guys, beginners should know camping can be affordable and easy to start. Been camping for 30+ years, the more I camp the more I value bringing less but value comfort more.

[drewpknutz]

I work with a guy who has gone into the deep end, he's got all sorts of axes, shovels, lights, winches.. whatever hanging off his Tundra.. A few months back we had a get together at some local sand dunes and a friend got stuck.. We asked dude if we could use the shovel on his rig and he said "No man, I lost the key to that like 6 months ago".. lol.. totally useless gear, we goof on him all the time for that

[jimbojumbo-osnp]

The biggest hint at how much of this crap you dont need is looking at what farmers use. If farmers out in australia are running stock trucks on road tires a thousand miles from the nearest town and never seeing tarmac then why would anyone else need more when your going on pre cut tracks anyway. Half of the tracks shown as cutaways in this video could be done in a stock subaru for gods sake.

[ShowseeTravels]

You’re 100% right. When I was a teenager we did a lot of these things without even 4x4. Sometimes the journey isn’t where you want to go but where you end up.

[llamabearduck]

We’re running a Jeep wrangler now (just 3 weeks old), but I began all of this years ago with a Mitsubishi Evo with a rally suspension kit. I took that thing to places where most people with bigger appropriate looking rigs would stop and say “How the f did you get here with that?” Being limited with the vehicle forced me to figure out the best lines and how to do stuff through major trial and error. Tons of getting out of the car to move stuff. Cigarette lighter powered tire pump, some wood “recovery boards” we ripped out of a trashed grand piano, an insulated bag for food and drinks and a generic tent and collapsible shovel is all we had. Put 120k miles on that before trading it in.

Driving out of rocky back country roads 5-10 miles in on just a donut spare tire was always fun.

[digitalperson]

“Overlanding” has always made me giggle. It’s EFFING car camping.

Amusing to see people driving around with traction boards, high lift jacks, armor and lights galore…pristine paint and clearly never have seen more dirt than a muddy parking lot.

But then it is merica and cars are identity here so much is about the “look”.

[MattVoran]

Agree fully about winches with one caveat - if you are solo, its great insurance. Sometimes the mud looks worse than it is and you make a woopsie.... BUT the big bumpers with permanantly mounted winches is the real issue and cost. My solution? Winch plate that can be put into a trailer hitch. Mount a cheap winch to the plate, sitck it in the vehicle only when you think you might need it (not driving to work) and its there if you need - added bonus you can stick it on the back (or front if you have a front reciever) OR another vehicle in your caravan. Way more versatile than a permanent winch.

[bass_squatch]

I am a poor boy building my 3rd gen 4runner . Thank you for this. I have to remind myself of all of these points all the time thanks to Instagram. As a backpacker and traditional ground camper I've always leaned into less is more and there is a saying on trail, "hike your own hike". I feel like the overlanding community needs to create a similar saying to keep us all humble and aware that you can do this with less stuff than you think.

[fritty]

I’m 70 and was caught up in the 4 wheeling craze in the early 70’s. Didn’t know a thing about it even though I’d driven trucks my whole life. Went out and put some BFG’s on( yes they were around even back then) a set of white spoke wheelies and just let it rip. Got stuck a few times but for the most part would just mash the pedel😅. Have an FJ now and even though it’s more capable than my 73 blazer was, I’ve never tried things with it that the blazer couldn’t tackle. Granted I don’t live in rock crawling territory, just mud, snow and tight trails. By the way, I thought the look of both was outstanding.
Nice vid guys.
PS: as close as I get to overlanding now is an air mattress in the back of the FJ usually at a rest stop!

[istp]

In Australia, there's a saying, "ATGANI". It stands for, All The Gear And No Idea. 😆😆😆

[joebielski]

Very true. Been off-roading for years. 70% of the gear we buy we never really need. But always fun to buy! 😉😉