*notcot in travel , 23:57

Overland Expo 2014: Flagstaff, AZ- 05.17.14

0-overlandMAIN.jpg I think i’m experiencing Overland Overload? Here at NOTCOT, we’re nothing if not thorough when we get into obsessive research mode! So it should be no surprise that once we watched tons of videos, acquired our NOTFZJ80, and even shared lots of fun design inspiration in overlanding gear (in a week!)… that when i realized Overland Expo was only a 7 hour drive away in Flasgstaff, we had to hop in the car and go see it all in person! And WOW, if you’re at all curious to not only see and touch all things overland in person, but also talk to both brand reps and overlanders who are camped out in their custom rigs… it is the place to go!

On the next page check out everything we found - from more Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, Unimogs, Jeeps, and more of every vintage/color… to every variations of rooftop tents, pop up and pop out kitchens, survival gear, hammock pods, and so many happy dogs…

Heading into the Overland Expo gate, we already knew this was going to be quite a day… 0a-overlandMAIN.jpg

To start it off ~ you can see that quite a variety of personal overlanding vehicles make an appearance! 1-cars.jpg

One of the most exciting ones to catch our eye of course were the Expedition Overland - after youtubing our way through their truly epic journey from Montana through the Yukon - it was great to meet the adventurers and see their rigs in person! 2-xoverland.jpg

Their whiteboard is just brilliant! And of course, we couldn’t help but pick up one of their patches and tees! 3-xoverland2.jpg

4-xoverland1.jpg

A few more unique, eye-catching rigs… 5-carsa.jpg

This one stopped us in our tracks… that red! those wheels! and how much everything perfectly matches… wow. 6-rovers1.jpg

Land Rover was a sponsor of the event and also had an offroad course on site - and it’s no surprise that there were many Land Rovers of all sorts around! 7-rovers.jpg

In the central area of the field you could find over 100 vendors - here’s Expedition Portal’s lovely setup… 12-expedition.jpg

… next to their booth! 13-expedition1.jpg

As far as vendors - there is everything from cookbooks to lockbox/center consoles, showers to reflective high visibility portable dog dishes! We brought one of the ForceK9 MOKE Bowl HRVMs back for Bucky. 14-gear.jpg

One of my show highlights was getting the chance to climb around all of the rooftop tents. Having never been in one, and having seen many pictures/videos of them - it was fascinating to try them out in person. The were far larger and more comfortable than i expected! I’m particularly excited about ARB’s Series III Simpson Rooftop Tent that we just ordered for the NOTFZJ80! 8-ARB1.jpg

Peeking in from the top of the ladder - it’s nearly a queen sized mattress in there! And so many windows you can open up as needed. And apparently ARB’s is one of the few made of flame retardant material. 9-ARB2.jpg

Here’s a peek at the ARB Roller Drawers and Fridge setups. 10-ARB3.jpg

Another angle at the ARB’s Series III Simpson Rooftop Tent - fun MOLE compatible seat covers (with a mysterious barbie), the Crovel Extreme II we impulse bought, and a cooking demo over at Kanz Outdoors! 17-insides.jpg

The fun booth of ITS Tactical15-tactical.jpg

… hard not to want all of their morale patches! 16-tactical1.jpg

I think everywhere i turned, there was an adorable dog of some sort around - lounging near/under/in a vehicle, running up to you with a ball, or splashing around. This mule’s hair was also too fantastic not to share. 11-dogs.jpg

My favorite graphic of the whole expo - Front Runner Outfitters captures the essence of adventuring so well with their ads! More on that to come… 17a-frontrunner1.jpg

Fun to see the Front Runner Outfitters Spare Tire Grate Braai/BBQ Grate in person! 0b-overlandMAIN.jpg

It’s truly incredible what people fit into their vehicles! yes, that is a wooden toilet seat… 18-inside.jpg

While Off The Grid Survival Gear first lured me in with their logo… 19-offthegrid.jpg

It’s the owner’s personally designed/built pop up trailer with rooftop tent that blew our minds. He often uses it when out hunting for a few days, and has everything he needs to survive (and thrive!) on his own. 20-offthegrid1.jpg

Look at this kitchen setup - complete with stove/oven combo. It all slides right out of the trailer. 21-offthegrid2.jpg

Here’s another modern, compact, woody pop out kitchen setup with a tent/awning above… 22-kitchen.jpg

And another look at slide out fridge/stove combos… and look at how much they fit above and around it all! I’m fascinated by the hyper functional tetris of the storage aspect of overlanding - so many possibilities for ingenious designs! 23-kitchen1.jpg

SO many wildly different Unimogs around… 24-unimogs.jpg

On ingenious designs - Baja Rack has a Stealth Light that can hide behind your roof rack or rotate out to illuminate everything ahead of you with the push of a button! A nice work around the laws which prohibit having additional fixed lights on your car without a cover… stealth.jpg

When it comes to winches, it sounds like Warn is the way to go. 25-warn.jpg

It was great to see some of their models up close! 26-warn1.jpg

On random things - there was a compound of hammock pods! The Local Motors Rally Fighter took on the Land Rover Off Road Coarse. Even a Mini can handle a roof top tent! And the K9 Water Breaks around the expo were adorably thoughtful on their pieces of astroturf. 27-random.jpg

MAXTRAX were everywhere! And selling fast we heard! They are a lightweight vehicle recovery device - basically “Just wedge MAXTRAX firmly against your tyre tread, jump into your vehicle and gently accelerate. Once your tyre tread grips MAXTRAX, your vehicle recovers and you’re on your way!” 28-maxtraxx.jpg

More fascinating rigs! 29-vans.jpg

And before we knew it the sun was setting on our day of Overland Expo! And what a Flagstaff sunset it was… drive1.jpg

And as we drove home today on highway 40 through AZ and back to CA - we just kept pointing to all the spots in the mountains around us that someday (soon!) we’d be able to overland too… drive2.jpg

… can’t you imagine a little NOTFZJ80 on the tops of one of those? drive3.jpg

… or popping the rootop tent down by the water? drive4.jpg

Or disappearing over each of those ridges one day at a time? drive5.jpg

And when we got home, in addition to all the pictures and ideas brewing… here are some of the patches and stickers i found in my bag! patches.jpg

Also if you’re curious about the layout of Overland Expo - here’s the map! 1a-overlandMAP.jpg

Phew I feel like i just relived running around all day writing it up to share with you - can’t wait to share our build and adventure stories next!

Tags: - - - - - - - - -

1 Notes

I couldn’t make it this year, so thank you for the thorough coverage with such beautiful photos.

----- Al 18.05.14 08:00


Copyright NOTCOT INC 2005-2019 - Privacy Policy - Work In Progress! Please be nice!