It was a rough night's sleep. There was a group of bronco's nearby that blared music until 12a.m. Thankfully I had my earplugs and my single over the ear, hearing protection. One ear on the pillow, one with the ear muff. Helps block more noise.
the foam ear plugs aren't enough when things are noisy (like last night or sleeping at Cracker Barrel). I think I'm going to try wireless ear buds too, so I can drown out the noise with music/white noise when things are crazy loud.
During the recent Amazon prime sale, I got these refurbished ear buds for $90 instead of $120, They retail new for $150, so a decent deal. https://a.co/d/du1nF9Z
Anyway, I boiled a liter of water for tea and hotwater for dishes. Cooked pancakes for breakfast. Cleaned things up and got ready to go check out the show.
Anyhoo, i rode my bike down to the main pavilion around 8:45 am. to the exhibition area. only about a half mile away or so. A mile at most. I'm going to attend a winching and recovery talk at 10, so I figured I’d spend the first hour wandering around the sales booths.
I found Mark and Teresa (My friends in Maryland). They have a youtube channel Out of Office Camping. They’re working the SeaSucker booth. The product is sort of what it sounds like. Seasucker have industrial strength suction cups that you can attach to the sides and roof of your vehicle so you can attach your dirty shovel, Farmer’s jack, etc outside. They even make cup holders. lol They started making things for racing sailboats and have expanded into overlanding.
After saying hi, they got busy with customers so I left and continued looking around the expo. I want to find a good knife with a full length shank, thick spine, with about a 4 inch blade for making kindling, and hopefully not wounding myself in the process.
A youtuber I watch takes a thin piece of wood and basically slices in curls off the stick making a christmas tree looking kindling piece. Lights up like a torch.
I also came across the Kuat bike rack group. They had their piston bike hitch rack on their pivot v2 swing arm. It even has red led strip lights that light up when you hit the brakes (only if you’ve plugged it into the 4 pin towing light connection). But even with the discount, it’s crazy expensive. Normally, it retails for $1389 for the bike rack and another $475 for the swing arm. with a 20% discount it gets it down to ~$1500, and Kuat stuff never goes on sale, so I'm sorely tempted. Didn't take photos of the Kuat for some reason, but I did have these photos of the RigidD version that's similar. Just to give the idea of what I've been talking about.
[a few hours later and after talking with Jacqui and my overlanding friend Mark...] I’m not going to do it after thinking about it more. With the swing arm and bike rack it would add 100 lbs, and my truck is already at the max weight. I don’t think I want to add that much weight hanging way off the back of my truck. So I’m going to pass :( I also don’t like the idea of having a 3rd thing I have to swing out of the way just to get to my rear kitchen setup in my truck. Swinging the 2 Expedition rear bumper arms out of the way each time is annoying enough. adding a 3rd thing would make me regret getting it.
It would ruin my truck's rear departure angle too when offroading. I already have the Thule SwingAway bike rack on my spare tire bumper arm. I'd rather have the bike wheels supporting the bike when transporting it, instead of the bike frame, but c'est la vie, I think I'll have to live with my current setup.
10a.m. Ironman Winching and Recovery gear class
it was basically an overview of all the current gear you can get for recovery. I may go buy a few things later this morning. I’m leaning towards a recovery thing you mount into any rear 2” hitch. I don’t need one for my truck because I have my fancy Expedition One bumpers, but a lot of the time when you help someone else that's stuck, they don’t have any recovery points on their bumpers and if you pull on their stock rear bumper there’s a good chance you’ll rip their bumper right off of their vehicle. You also don’t want to throw a line on their rear hitch ball (a lot of guys drive around leaving their hitch on their truck...aka shinbusters). you have no idea if the ball’s shank is good or half rusted through. People die hooking their winch line to a hitch ball and turning it into a missile when it breaks off. so they make a billet piece you add to any 2 inch hitch so you have a safe way to pull them.
as the photo shows the edges are rounded and smoothed over so it won’t cut your soft shackles or synthetic rope winch line (which I have, not the steel cable).
Also I may get a couple pulley wheels. The guy confirmed one of my concerns with the new donut rings you can use to redirect the winch line. they get hot and can melt synthetic winch line like I have. I have a yankum one.
During the talk, the instructor pointed out that when you're using your winch, every time your line is wrapped over itself on the winch drum, you lose 10-15% of the total pulling power. So if i only let out 20ft, I've probably got winch line wrapped over itself at least 3 times, maybe 4. So I'd lose at least a third of the 9,500 lb pulling power of my winch.
Long story short, that's why you see on some youtube vids the line going back and forth between the winch and the pulling point. It's better for the winch line too. If you didn't click on the Yankum link above, here's a screenshot of how those snatch rings can be used.
Friday 11a.m., Newfoundland and Labrador talk, Storyteller pavilion
This was a good talk although it did feel a little bit like someone showing you vacation photos. That's a little unfair on my part because the whole point is to talk about why you'd want to do that trip.
There's a very long Labrador road that can be super remote, with a few expensive fuel stops. Lots of amazing camping spots on "Crown" land. The speaker kept losing bets to his wife that they wouldn't find a better spot, but then the next day it got even better. He even showed how city folk with drive out to a spot along the road where there's crown land and plant their own gardens. They make little surrounding walls to keep the wind and animals out.
There were photos of humpback whales breaching and splashing back down. A short video of whales bubble fishing (short example video). Photos of puffins feeding their babies on cliff side nests. Amazing stuff.
After this talk we hopped back on our bikes and rode back to our vehicles. Jeff walked his bike. He found the muddy conditions too difficult to ride through. I had my 29+ tires and I've done a lot more biking than Jeff. I was even able to ride up the hill to the Forest camping section without any issues. The guy checking for lanyards at the gate told me I was the first person he's seen bike all the way up (excluding the ebikes...cheaters!)
friday 4p.m. alaska talk
it was an interesting talk. basically, none of the map services have accurate overlays up there. So he uses starlink to look at satellite images from GaiaGPS, Google and Onyx. he says you kind of have to check all 3 because their photos may be cloudy based on when their satellite feed was done. They only pay satellite services occasionally to update their images, so it can be hit or miss based on the conditions at the time.
he explained there really aren’t forest roads up in alaska, but lots of mining roads, and those are fine to explore, but they’re out and backs. you can’t make loops and go off exploring side roads like in the lower 48. The miners don't mind you using the roads because it helps maintain the roads for them too.
June/July are the worst for bugs. if you’re above Fairbanks, August gets cold enough at night to calm them down.
He explained the difference between camping out on gravel beds along rivers (good) and glacial silt (bad)
Glacial silt is so fine it’ll get into your bearings and there’s no fixing the damage, you just have to replace whatever got coated. So don’t do that…
After the talk, jeff and i went over to the Happy Hour queue to get our free beer. 1 per night, Friday and Sat. even being 5 minutes early the line was 50 deep, but it moved fast once they started giving out tickets and the bartenders were fast.
Jeff got a ludicrously expensive cinnamon roll. a small, fist size one for $15 w tip. I got a pork slider sandwich for 15$, but with tip and chips it was $20.
we killed time until the film festival started, Mark, Teresa and their friends showed up. I texted the group chat this photo so they could find me, and it worked! Shocking I know...lol
We should have moved somewhere else because no one was drinking much and we were yapping and catching up. But the film audio was pretty loud, and probably drowned us out (I hope), but in retrospect, we might have been “those” people. Oops
Jeff left before me (he'd given up biking and was using the golf cart shuttles, which stopped at 8p.m.). I stayed a little longer and biked back. I remembered to bring my bike's headlight thing, so I had plenty of light to bike back.
When I got back to my truck, Jeff was in his van, so I went to hang out w Patrick and Brian. They had a propane firepit thing going, which the workers at the area seemed okay with (the flames were kept low). Patrick is the GE nuclear guy and Brian is a consultant doing National Cancer research stuff. He’s a former Marine too . He was in a reconnaissance group and did a tour in Afghanistan. their group was responsible for ensuring the road leading to the bases further out stayed clear. He didn’t do bomb clearing, he was the eyes looking for the bad people digging holes for IED’s. I got the vibe he didn’t want to talk about it any further than that, so I just thanked him for his service and left it at that. From what I understand, one of the toughest parts of that war at times, was just getting supplies to our remote bases. Can't have been easy.
Before I sign off, I did take a bunch of photos of other people's rigs when Jeff and I walked around earlier that day. I think we were killing time after our beer. I'll add snarky comments as needed (just kidding)
The top of this big truck slides up/down on each corner so there's headroom, but that upper grey/white box slides down over the darker black sides below.
Still Muddy walking around
old school cool
Storyteller van! i like their shower design. Packs small when not in use.
teardrop example for my Dad
Some alu-cab examples. Nicer than my GoFastCamper, but heavier and pricier. 275lbs vs 450-600lbs
i have the same Joolca shower tent as this guy!
more room in these clamshell roof top tents, but they're aren't nearly as good in high winds. My wedge camper is the best assuming you have it parked into the wind direction.
so much money parked in this field.
This is a well known youtube (whom i'm forgetting)
his channel is Truck House life. Here's a youtube video link of his build, click here
it's not just me bringing all my toys along!
definitely have to think about AluCab if I do another truck build in the future
a huuuuge tent on an old Land Rover/Defender
cool rig though
an attached bug room like this could be useful for Alaska or northern Canada camping during the bug season.
This Orange beast was Huge. Probably a million dollar rig. Wouldn't be able to get into a National Park with it though. No room to park it. I'd rather have the green van next to it. Jeff also pointed out on the orange one, if a tire went flat, it's got a spare on the back, but good luck changing it yourself. Each tire probably weighs 200+ lbs
the foam ear plugs aren't enough when things are noisy (like last night or sleeping at Cracker Barrel). I think I'm going to try wireless ear buds too, so I can drown out the noise with music/white noise when things are crazy loud.
During the recent Amazon prime sale, I got these refurbished ear buds for $90 instead of $120, They retail new for $150, so a decent deal. https://a.co/d/du1nF9Z
Anyway, I boiled a liter of water for tea and hotwater for dishes. Cooked pancakes for breakfast. Cleaned things up and got ready to go check out the show.
Anyhoo, i rode my bike down to the main pavilion around 8:45 am. to the exhibition area. only about a half mile away or so. A mile at most. I'm going to attend a winching and recovery talk at 10, so I figured I’d spend the first hour wandering around the sales booths.
I found Mark and Teresa (My friends in Maryland). They have a youtube channel Out of Office Camping. They’re working the SeaSucker booth. The product is sort of what it sounds like. Seasucker have industrial strength suction cups that you can attach to the sides and roof of your vehicle so you can attach your dirty shovel, Farmer’s jack, etc outside. They even make cup holders. lol They started making things for racing sailboats and have expanded into overlanding.
After saying hi, they got busy with customers so I left and continued looking around the expo. I want to find a good knife with a full length shank, thick spine, with about a 4 inch blade for making kindling, and hopefully not wounding myself in the process.
A youtuber I watch takes a thin piece of wood and basically slices in curls off the stick making a christmas tree looking kindling piece. Lights up like a torch.
I also came across the Kuat bike rack group. They had their piston bike hitch rack on their pivot v2 swing arm. It even has red led strip lights that light up when you hit the brakes (only if you’ve plugged it into the 4 pin towing light connection). But even with the discount, it’s crazy expensive. Normally, it retails for $1389 for the bike rack and another $475 for the swing arm. with a 20% discount it gets it down to ~$1500, and Kuat stuff never goes on sale, so I'm sorely tempted. Didn't take photos of the Kuat for some reason, but I did have these photos of the RigidD version that's similar. Just to give the idea of what I've been talking about.
[a few hours later and after talking with Jacqui and my overlanding friend Mark...] I’m not going to do it after thinking about it more. With the swing arm and bike rack it would add 100 lbs, and my truck is already at the max weight. I don’t think I want to add that much weight hanging way off the back of my truck. So I’m going to pass :( I also don’t like the idea of having a 3rd thing I have to swing out of the way just to get to my rear kitchen setup in my truck. Swinging the 2 Expedition rear bumper arms out of the way each time is annoying enough. adding a 3rd thing would make me regret getting it.
It would ruin my truck's rear departure angle too when offroading. I already have the Thule SwingAway bike rack on my spare tire bumper arm. I'd rather have the bike wheels supporting the bike when transporting it, instead of the bike frame, but c'est la vie, I think I'll have to live with my current setup.
10a.m. Ironman Winching and Recovery gear class
it was basically an overview of all the current gear you can get for recovery. I may go buy a few things later this morning. I’m leaning towards a recovery thing you mount into any rear 2” hitch. I don’t need one for my truck because I have my fancy Expedition One bumpers, but a lot of the time when you help someone else that's stuck, they don’t have any recovery points on their bumpers and if you pull on their stock rear bumper there’s a good chance you’ll rip their bumper right off of their vehicle. You also don’t want to throw a line on their rear hitch ball (a lot of guys drive around leaving their hitch on their truck...aka shinbusters). you have no idea if the ball’s shank is good or half rusted through. People die hooking their winch line to a hitch ball and turning it into a missile when it breaks off. so they make a billet piece you add to any 2 inch hitch so you have a safe way to pull them.
as the photo shows the edges are rounded and smoothed over so it won’t cut your soft shackles or synthetic rope winch line (which I have, not the steel cable).
Also I may get a couple pulley wheels. The guy confirmed one of my concerns with the new donut rings you can use to redirect the winch line. they get hot and can melt synthetic winch line like I have. I have a yankum one.
During the talk, the instructor pointed out that when you're using your winch, every time your line is wrapped over itself on the winch drum, you lose 10-15% of the total pulling power. So if i only let out 20ft, I've probably got winch line wrapped over itself at least 3 times, maybe 4. So I'd lose at least a third of the 9,500 lb pulling power of my winch.
Long story short, that's why you see on some youtube vids the line going back and forth between the winch and the pulling point. It's better for the winch line too. If you didn't click on the Yankum link above, here's a screenshot of how those snatch rings can be used.
Friday 11a.m., Newfoundland and Labrador talk, Storyteller pavilion
This was a good talk although it did feel a little bit like someone showing you vacation photos. That's a little unfair on my part because the whole point is to talk about why you'd want to do that trip.
There's a very long Labrador road that can be super remote, with a few expensive fuel stops. Lots of amazing camping spots on "Crown" land. The speaker kept losing bets to his wife that they wouldn't find a better spot, but then the next day it got even better. He even showed how city folk with drive out to a spot along the road where there's crown land and plant their own gardens. They make little surrounding walls to keep the wind and animals out.
There were photos of humpback whales breaching and splashing back down. A short video of whales bubble fishing (short example video). Photos of puffins feeding their babies on cliff side nests. Amazing stuff.
After this talk we hopped back on our bikes and rode back to our vehicles. Jeff walked his bike. He found the muddy conditions too difficult to ride through. I had my 29+ tires and I've done a lot more biking than Jeff. I was even able to ride up the hill to the Forest camping section without any issues. The guy checking for lanyards at the gate told me I was the first person he's seen bike all the way up (excluding the ebikes...cheaters!)
friday 4p.m. alaska talk
it was an interesting talk. basically, none of the map services have accurate overlays up there. So he uses starlink to look at satellite images from GaiaGPS, Google and Onyx. he says you kind of have to check all 3 because their photos may be cloudy based on when their satellite feed was done. They only pay satellite services occasionally to update their images, so it can be hit or miss based on the conditions at the time.
he explained there really aren’t forest roads up in alaska, but lots of mining roads, and those are fine to explore, but they’re out and backs. you can’t make loops and go off exploring side roads like in the lower 48. The miners don't mind you using the roads because it helps maintain the roads for them too.
June/July are the worst for bugs. if you’re above Fairbanks, August gets cold enough at night to calm them down.
He explained the difference between camping out on gravel beds along rivers (good) and glacial silt (bad)
Glacial silt is so fine it’ll get into your bearings and there’s no fixing the damage, you just have to replace whatever got coated. So don’t do that…
After the talk, jeff and i went over to the Happy Hour queue to get our free beer. 1 per night, Friday and Sat. even being 5 minutes early the line was 50 deep, but it moved fast once they started giving out tickets and the bartenders were fast.
Jeff got a ludicrously expensive cinnamon roll. a small, fist size one for $15 w tip. I got a pork slider sandwich for 15$, but with tip and chips it was $20.
we killed time until the film festival started, Mark, Teresa and their friends showed up. I texted the group chat this photo so they could find me, and it worked! Shocking I know...lol
We should have moved somewhere else because no one was drinking much and we were yapping and catching up. But the film audio was pretty loud, and probably drowned us out (I hope), but in retrospect, we might have been “those” people. Oops
Jeff left before me (he'd given up biking and was using the golf cart shuttles, which stopped at 8p.m.). I stayed a little longer and biked back. I remembered to bring my bike's headlight thing, so I had plenty of light to bike back.
When I got back to my truck, Jeff was in his van, so I went to hang out w Patrick and Brian. They had a propane firepit thing going, which the workers at the area seemed okay with (the flames were kept low). Patrick is the GE nuclear guy and Brian is a consultant doing National Cancer research stuff. He’s a former Marine too . He was in a reconnaissance group and did a tour in Afghanistan. their group was responsible for ensuring the road leading to the bases further out stayed clear. He didn’t do bomb clearing, he was the eyes looking for the bad people digging holes for IED’s. I got the vibe he didn’t want to talk about it any further than that, so I just thanked him for his service and left it at that. From what I understand, one of the toughest parts of that war at times, was just getting supplies to our remote bases. Can't have been easy.
Before I sign off, I did take a bunch of photos of other people's rigs when Jeff and I walked around earlier that day. I think we were killing time after our beer. I'll add snarky comments as needed (just kidding)
The top of this big truck slides up/down on each corner so there's headroom, but that upper grey/white box slides down over the darker black sides below.
Still Muddy walking around
old school cool
Storyteller van! i like their shower design. Packs small when not in use.
teardrop example for my Dad
Some alu-cab examples. Nicer than my GoFastCamper, but heavier and pricier. 275lbs vs 450-600lbs
i have the same Joolca shower tent as this guy!
more room in these clamshell roof top tents, but they're aren't nearly as good in high winds. My wedge camper is the best assuming you have it parked into the wind direction.
so much money parked in this field.
This is a well known youtube (whom i'm forgetting)
his channel is Truck House life. Here's a youtube video link of his build, click here
it's not just me bringing all my toys along!
definitely have to think about AluCab if I do another truck build in the future
a huuuuge tent on an old Land Rover/Defender
cool rig though
an attached bug room like this could be useful for Alaska or northern Canada camping during the bug season.
This Orange beast was Huge. Probably a million dollar rig. Wouldn't be able to get into a National Park with it though. No room to park it. I'd rather have the green van next to it. Jeff also pointed out on the orange one, if a tire went flat, it's got a spare on the back, but good luck changing it yourself. Each tire probably weighs 200+ lbs