r/overlanding • u/onemoretrail • Jun 26 '26
Gear Question Less gear, better trips?
It's funny how your gear priorities change over time.
When I first got into overlanding, I was always looking for the next cool gadget. Now I'd rather have gear that's simple and reliable. Good coffee, a comfortable chair, and a fridge that keeps food cold. That's enough for me.
What's one piece of gear you thought was essential but hardly ever use now?
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u/Mm11vV Jun 26 '26
My problem was too much recovery gear. Over time I just realized some stuff wasn't even getting taken out of its bag or tote since it was put on the truck.
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u/dynoman7 Jun 26 '26
"Bah! I'll never need that shovel!"
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u/Mm11vV Jun 26 '26
I ain't that dumb. Lol
Shovel, traction boards, and chainsaw ain't leaving that truck.
Neither is my kinetic rope, soft shackles, and d-rings.
But I did get rid of 100ft of synthetic rope, 2 extra 30ft straps, the extra d rings and soft shackles, a 4ft hook chain, and a bunch of other "extra" attachment recovery stuff. Gave me a lot of space back.
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u/RipRelevant9616 Jun 26 '26
Same here. Used to carry so much extra recovery gear and tools. Have been able to dial it back to only what I will actually need and it has been a game changer for space savings lol
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u/Weak_Friend_1463 Jun 26 '26
But if you don’t have all that gear bolted to the exterior of your rig, how will people know you overland?
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u/Mm11vV Jun 26 '26
My next problem I need to address is tools.
Id love to have every tool I own on the truck, but currently I have what is probably the absolute bare minimum and I'm not even confident that I have that.
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u/PandionYNP Jun 26 '26
I'm glad to read your reply as I recently bought traction boards, shovel two soft shackles, aluminum slug "D ring from Maxtrax and figured I was good. I bought the full size traction boards but now I'm wondering if the new Lite version from Maxtrax would be better at 1/2 the weight and my Bronco Sport only weighs about 3,700 lbs stock so maybe 4,000 lbs. max with full tank myself and gear, water etc.
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u/Mm11vV Jun 27 '26
So I'm not sure where you are located or what type of terrain you deal with, but I'm in Michigan and I have a Colorado ZR2 Bison which is far and away the heaviest Colorado there is (2026) which is around 5300lbs. By the time you add my gear, I'm easily in the same weight class as a crew cab Silverado.
I deal with insanely soft sand on a lot of the trails I go to, and dropping to 20 psi on 315/70r17s has been plenty to allow me to float on top despite all of the weight.
Unless you have a reason to be ultra concerned about weight, the tiny bit you save from lighter traction boards isn't going to matter one bit.
I have some rhino usa boards that I am sure are some of the heaviest boards you could probably purchase. (I don't know the exact weight and I could be wrong).
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u/PandionYNP Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
Thanks for the detailed reply.
Airing down helps immensely for sure. I grew up driving dune buggys in the desert so that is definitely my go to when I get off road. I'll air a down a bit on hard dirt for a better ride, less prone to popping a tire etc. And as you said I'll go way down in the really soft stuff. I'm in California so I'll be in the desert, but I'll also be up in the mountains where I don't think I'll encounter an awful lot of soft terrain, but I could be in mud or snow. I did see someone using a full size traction board as a bridge over a huge rut so the full size would definitely be best if that situation arises.
I have limited space so that is a concern as well as keeping the weight down since I've added about 100 lbs with the 3 skid plates I put on and this vehicle only has 250 horsepower and 277 ft. lbs. of torque. I'm just trying to think like a backpacker I guess and eliminate any extra weight just because it does start to add up and space is limited also.
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u/refotsirk Jun 27 '26
Whoah, I forgot I wasn't on a backpacking sub for a bit and was blow away briefly at all the stuff you were toting. :) but yeah, I bet it gave some significant weih9back too even though none of it was particularly heavy on its own
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u/barryicide Jun 26 '26
I'll never go without a shovel because even if I know for certain I won't need to dig my truck out, I don't know if I'll get sudden diarrhea and need to dig a poop hole in a hurry.
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u/TheBlackGuy Jun 26 '26
That happens every time we go out but I rather have to much recovery than not enough. We just drove out with an Extra winch line, multiple snatch blocks, multiple soft and hard shackles, tree saver, kinetic rope, tow rope. All untouched in the last 10 years of trips.
We will always bring all of that every time though.
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u/ninjawinch Jul 04 '26
The one time I left the Hi-Lift home was the time I actually really, truly needed it. I've still never used it in a recovery.
I have gotten stuck enough times, and gotten other people unstuck 10x as many times, to the point that I can make a reasonable estimate for what recovery gear is needed.
18
u/Guitarist762 Jun 26 '26
Easiest way I’ve found for dealing with gear is mark it every time I use it with a sharpie. On the bag, on a sticky note, something like that.
When I unpack I look at what got used and how many times based off check marks. After 2-3 trips of it not getting used at all, it stops being taken.
The only things I don’t take out if they aren’t used is stuff I hope I don’t use but always need/want. Stuff like medical, emergency equipment, that type of deal.
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u/Kermit-de-frog1 Jun 26 '26
And this is a great idea! Apart from absolute emergency stuff ( which I would mark every trip, to remind me to rotate out things on a timeframe ), this will give you what you’re actually using .
And your rig quits sounding like a tinkers wagon .
I do something similar on trips with clothes , zipper bags inside my luggage. Worn and put in the “dirty” bag . End of the trip you know what you’re actually wearing and aside from a rain jacket that always goes, you end up packing a lot less and are able to use smaller and lighter bags . Everything I need for a 5 day cruise now fits in a college sized backpack .
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u/Guitarist762 Jun 26 '26
Ya ithelped a lot. Another thing of note is stuff that I do use gets review after I unpack as well. Firstly looking at things I used but could’ve gone without and making note of why I used it, because sometimes it’s trip/area/group dependent. Me going out with a group of people is different than what I generally need to take if I’m just by myself. Also terrain plays a big part.
It also allows me to check over the stuff that’s used often for damage and common wear and tear. Everything has a life. Everything wears out at some point, I’d rather figure out my rain jacket has a hole in it while sitting in my driveway than in the middle of the woods or that piece of fraying recovery gear that’s now pretty questionable needs replaced before it kills someone. Check everything now while you have time to fix, repair, or replace instead of right before a trip.
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u/onemoretrail Jun 30 '26
I like this idea! It’s a much more objective way to decide what stays and what goes.
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u/SignificantOption349 Jun 26 '26
For me it’s honestly camp chairs. I dont know why but they hardly get used…. I will make sure that they get pulled out every trip just because i packed them, but in all reality we usually just explore the area or sit in the bed. Also haven’t had a camp fire in years since most places I’ve found myself seem to be under high fire danger
3
u/Otherwise-Report-823 Jun 26 '26
For the camp fire issues, particularly in California or the west, I went and bought a small propane gas pit, since I bought mine, the ammo can fire pits became much more affordable so I would recommend those.
We just bought a splitter and run our camp stove and pit off one 5lb tank.
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u/Outside-Season-5602 Jun 26 '26
same. i rarely bring chairs or even a separate table anymore. i have a flip down table in my trunk
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u/Greedy_Street_891 Jun 26 '26
I used to bring a food tent every time. We sleep in a rtt on my truck so we always brought a food tent to put a table in for a spot to cook and have some environmental protection to chill. But we finally pulled the trigger on an attachable annex to the rtt. It’s like having a living room attached to your tent. The food tent has been since donated.
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u/zigzagzzzz Jun 26 '26
got a recommendation?
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u/Greedy_Street_891 Jun 26 '26
There are so many options now w rtt and the prices have gone down so research is key. I got an ikamper mini with annex. Ikamper is def not cheap but there used to be less options when I bought. That being said I love the rtt and annex and have used it to travel across Canada and the States for last 3 years. So it’s a 👌 for me for reliability.
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u/magniankh Jun 26 '26
I'd like to think my wife and I have a pretty efficient setup. Dedicated camp box with fire starting materials, and a bunch of little things that stay packed so we don't have to think about it every single time. Things like: olive oil, extra socks, soap, emergency supplies...
Not a whole lot gets brought that doesn't have a reason to be brought. But we would go camping and write down what we were missing or wanting, then go buy it or add it to the list when we got back. We never really bought stuff "just because."
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u/SnooFloofs3486 Jun 26 '26
I agree completely. Has always been my philosophy. I like to offroad - and weight is the enemy of performance.
Big things to avoid: high offset wheels. They look stupid, they make your 4x4 worse in basically every way. Hard pass.
Rotopax - WTF are you actually going to do with 2 gallons of extra gas? They were made for motorcycles where that range might matter. They are just a big waste of space and wind drag on the side of a rack somewhere.
Rear swingout tire carrier. If the spare tire fits underneath and you're not moving it for a extended range fuel tank - why are you putting it on the back door where you gotta move it every time you want to open the back?
Big heavy bumpers. Plastic OEM bumpers work pretty well for almost everything. I DO always have a winch. But I much prefer a hidden winch mount inside the OEM bumper. It saves about 100lbs of weight and a significant aerodynamic benefit of keeping the OEM plastics intact.
Dual batteries - I've never needed a second battery for overlanding. 100w portable solar and the single OEM battery is great for running a fridge/freezer and starting the vehicle. Winch is fine on a single battery as well. I do have a small jumper pack.
Roof Racks - unless you're using them for putting stuff up there, skip it. They add a lot of wind noise, drag, and weight up high. A set of cross bars handles everyting I need and I find a large rocket box is more useful for camping gear because it's dry, it also holds skis, and it's a stuff it in and forget it not requiring tying everything down every time you move it. Plus it's not dusty. If I were crossing Africa and really needed to fully max out my capacity - I'd do a big roof rack. Not often I want to do that though. - I have driven a Land Cruiser across much of Africa - which I did not have a roof rack on, os maybe not even then. But it was only 2 of us. With a family I think i'd need the extra room.
Offroad lights - how many do you really need? Does that light bar really help you? I can't think of many situations where I've ever thought a light bar would be useful. My sxs had a bit one when I bought it I took off and I think it's still in a bin somewhere.
Things I DO think are necessary and useful:
Shovel, high lift jack, awning, heavy duty jumper cables, air compressor, small winch bag with a few soft and hard shackles, tow strap, tree strap, little baofang HAM radio, a few MREs, fire extinguisher, a GOOD firstaid kit like the Outerlimits Supply ones, multitool, chainsaw and axe - I carry both, but I live in Alaska and there's a lot of utility in those tools here, tool kit - sockets, ratchet, open end wrenches, pliers, and a screwdrivers (for Toyotas you basically need 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm, 19mm, and 39mm for the wheel hub if you break a CV - remove all the other ones, and some good binoculars. I also limit my spare parts kit to one front CV axle and a rear driveshaft if I'm doing harder offroading - if not I leave the CV and driveshaft at home. I think those all justify their weight in my basic kit.
For offroad capability - good tires, winch, great suspension but ideally small or no lift, locking front and rear differentials, and good underbody armor and sliders. With front and rear lockers and moderate tires along with good suspension you can go just about anywhere you want to and having a winch to get you out of trouble works a lot better than having an extra 2 inches of lift or 2 inch taller tires. And you can still have a great highway ride.
Oh - and a 12v fridge freezer. I'll never go back to a cooler. I also carry two jetboil style burners and 2 or 3 fuel canisters so I can cook two things at the same time. They take almost no space and are very inexpensive. I have a backpacking pot and pan set that go with.
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u/Hi-Point_of_my_life Jun 26 '26
For us being less fancy with our food. When we were younger we ate better camping than we did at home. My wife got really into camp cooking, we had a little Weber Q grill, some pots and pans and a huge plow disk we’d use over the fire. We’d also have usually two medium sized coolers. When my son was around 18 months I started traveling with him and limited myself to only what I could make with a regular Jetboil or that could be eaten cold like sandwiches. By doing that I could really focus on him. I even stopped bringing a tent and cots and switched to a rooftop tent. Now even when my wife does come we’ll just bring a Coleman stove and she’ll sleep in the rtt with our son and I’ll sleep in the bed of the truck with the dogs. Once the kids are older and can go explore on their own while we hang out at camp we might go back to making the fancy meals but for now it’s so nice and easy.
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u/Usernamesarehard674 Jun 26 '26
This is my thing as well. If we want to cook a decent meal with several people at camp, we prep everything ahead of time and bag it all ready to cook. I have a couple friends that bring cutting boards and whole vegetables and go all out. I don't want to do that in camp, I want to relax and hang out.
Also less trash, I get nervous about having smelly garbage and so many critters around.
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u/DEADB33F Jun 27 '26
If you have a decent sized fridge/freezer then pre or part cooking everything also makes life much easier.
....Bolognese gets pre-made, double bagged in freezer bags then made to fit an available space in the truck freezer. You can defrost & reheat it by dropping the bag in boiling water then use the same water to boil the pasta.
We've made pizzas on the trail before and took our Gozney pizza oven with us. This is great fun and I still like to do it occasionally, but much easier to cook a bunch of pizzas ahead of time, quarter them once cool, wrap each large slice in greaseproof then stack them up in the fridge. You can get a surprising amount in without compromising space for drinks & everything else.
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u/Helvetimusic Jun 28 '26
While I can't recommend any specific gear I do recommend taking every single thing out of your rig and adding a sticket to it. Next time you go on a trip the second you use the item you take the sticker off. At the end of your trip unload everything and if you see an item with a sticker on it see if it's something you truly need or if you can remove it from the set up. I ended up with a very large amount of crap that I never used and my set ups is lighter and easier to use.
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u/RickySlayer9 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Less gear, and more organized gear.
1 thing I can use 10 times over and over is far better than 10 things I use 1 time.
The reality is, if you have a warm place to sleep and a way to get out, clean water to drink, and a way to navigate, everything else is able to be figured out on the trail
Not exactly an item, but more of an organizational tool. Milwaukee packout boxes are GOATED
1
u/IdRatherBeDriving Jun 26 '26
If I don’t use something on three consecutive trips, it comes off the truck. Our truck is 6,700 lbs fully loaded with passengers inside. I have friends with the same truck who are over 8,100 lbs.
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u/jph200 Jun 26 '26
I never considered it to be "essential" but I bought one of those battery-operated Dometic faucets because I thought it might be nice to have for washing hands or rinsing off dishes while cleaning up, but found that most of the time, I didn't use it or feel like I needed it.
For the most part, my gear is fairly dialed in and not excessive. I have a separate box of "extra gear" in my garage that is mostly stuff that I use when my camping circumstances change. For example, it has a 12-cup coffee percolator that I take along only if camping with a larger group, but I don't take it along if it's only me or myself and one other person. It also has some extra cups, plates etc.
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u/Otherwise-Report-823 Jun 26 '26
I find that paying for the essentials such as a good mattress, fridge, and a power supply are worth it and a good base to camp with. I have many other cool gadgets that I pull and place in my kit depending on the trip. But most recently I pulled up in Yosemite on a friends camp out and my wife and I felt like the guys on a goofy movie that had a gadget for almost everything and it felt a little over kill considering everyone else was ground sleeping and I had my palace on wheels complete with WiFi and a power and a portable bathroom.
It's best to match the gear for the trip. And camping in your truck should be comfortable.
For me, our go to camp accessory is a set of string lights that are on a small battery spool. They add great camp light without having a spot light and they are like 10$ on Amazon.
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u/211logos Jun 27 '26
That's heresy here :)
I mean how could I possibly get by without my nuclear dust powered on-demand recycling hot water shower, with its faux marble enclosure and high wattage waterproof ditch lights and MOLLE panels? you saying I should use a shower bag like the riff raff? or heaven forbid, not shower???? ;)
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u/RiceBoyJason Jun 28 '26
I always bring my projector, gozney pizza oven, and starlink. Love watching a movie with a beer and pizza on top of a mountain.
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u/Small_Sight Jul 03 '26
I’ve found that almost everything is not essential aside from a warm, dry comfortable place to sleep and water. I’ve spent over 365 nights asleep in my jeep anywhere and everywhere you can think of. I only bring recovery gear, water and my deep sleep mattress and sleeping bag. Food is not even a big deal to me, I have no problem eating once every 24 hours or so and it can just be MRE powder if necessary. I enjoy not having all the junk on board
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u/ninjawinch Jul 04 '26
I put a premium on gear that's easy to pack, unpack, and clean. And preferably doesn't involve a couple hours of sweaty, dirty labor if it's avoidable. Getting too old for that.
That's why I'm throwing a roof tent on one of the vehicles again, and a hardshell one, it's just so easy to pop open. I don't actually take much more than that beyond tools/recovery/clothing appropriate for where I'm going.
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Jun 26 '26
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u/Weak_Friend_1463 Jun 26 '26
But you should bolt it to the exterior of your rig so people can see year round you are an overlander. A bunch of lights and rifle boxes help too.
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u/Galax8811 Jun 26 '26
I had a UV water sterilizer connected directly to my pump, but it ended up using a lot of energy, and filter bottles do the same job without needing electricity, which is ultimately safer in case of a problem.