Thanks for stopping by and checking this video out. Links to everything are in the description. Going to have part 2 (offroading gear) coming soon. Let me know some suggestions you guys have!
Just a heads up on some pronunciations. 1st is UCO it’s pronounced “you-co” think universal company 2nd is SOG it’s pronounced like FOG Also I would like to know what that panel behind your seats is called and where can we get one? Thank you
I forgot to ask about the grid panel covering the drivers side window in the back area of your vehicle. Thats another whats it called and where can we get one? Thank you This is the first video of yours I’ve seen and I’m now a subscriber so Cheers
Really appreciate the normal person overland/person that off-roads more than the rest. Your video is spot on! Not everyone can afford the top of the line but it doesn't mean they shouldn't give off roading/ overlanding a shot cause the world has so many pictures and places to see!
I’m lucky that I can offroad/camp/overland a lot as I’m technically full time while I hunt for a new day job. Trying to take advantage of it. I think budget stuff is great because eventually you may find that you need nicer stuff and you can upgrade… or you can learn that this hobby isn’t for you and you aren’t out a ton of money.
Just picked up a 04 expedition. Really nice shape. 3 grand. It's going to be my dedicated bug out vehicle. Plenty of room. Working on communications now. CB,Ham radio. Satellite communication, Navigation. Mounted 2 solar panels on the roof. Don't even realize they are there. 2000 power inverter. Duel batteries. I like a fresh pot of coffee in the morning. I've got a 5.5x10 fully loaded utility trailer ready to go stored in my garage. Everything you can think of I've got. Years of planning. After hurricane Katrina and now the ukraine 🇺🇦 I went all out. 1 hour from the mountains. Lots of fun.
Oh wow that’s really built out. Love to see vehicles other than a Jeep or 4Runner built out like that. Did you have to fab the dual battery tray yourself or is there pretty good aftermarket support for that kind of stuff?
Late to the party but due to life events I’ve decided that full time overlanding is how I want to go. Love this video, many I’ve seen people say budget and you can tell they don’t have people who make less than 6 figures in mind or they don’t really talk about anything of note. Thanks for the clear and concise list and thorough break down.
Well I’m guessing it’s not under the best circumstances based on the tone but I hope it’s a great experience for you going full time. And I appreciate the appreciation!
Yeah I was considering buying one to convert to a hot tent but I feel like I like them too much to potentially ruin them. Really easy to set up, I like them a lot.
I can vouch for the coleman cooler. We forgot to empty it after a cookout and we had a week of temps in the 90s. After 5 days it still had small ice cubes floating in the water amongst the refreshing beverages :) I need to check out a diesel heater for my travel trailer, too. The propane unit with a catalytic panel (Olympian Wave 6) makes so much condensation.
That’s actually pretty wild. That’s about as good as my old yeti. It’s not what it used to be but it still holds. The diesel heaters are really great for the trailers. I’m actually looking at breaking into the teardrop world soon and I’ll probably go with a diesel heater mounted permanently to the trailer.
Great video, liked and subscribed! The latest and greatest big$ stuff is great to see, but honest reviews of practical gear is infinitely more useful to me. Thanks !
Something to think about trying. Try the lodge carbon steel pan. It has the same characteristics as cast iron. But is lighter and cooks a little faster.
Those tables are pretty expensive for the size they give you, I bought one of those white fold out tables from Walmart for maybe $20 about 5 years ago and take it everywhere from the range to the mountains and it gives me plenty of space for the group of 4-8 I usually go with. Something to think about
I’ve had two of those and they aren’t bad at all. I lost one in a move and I think my other one is back at my parents house. As far as space goes they aren’t that bad and they are probably more durable than the roll tops even those pack down pretty tight.
Really great list! I have many of these products, but a few new ones to add now. Oh and I just bought the Napa Max trac compressor after my Smittybuilt was stolen. That thing is⚡️fast!
Alternative axe option - Cold Steel Trail Boss. I’m a fan of the classic style hickory handles but it’s a great lightweight camp axe. Fiskars is also good I just wanted to add Cold Steel as a great option.
This is a great video! I like how you don't just show the products but explain the philosophy of use associated with each item. Subscribed and looking forward to more!
Yeah I feel like I need to justify my lists. If someone’s seeing my video for the first time why should they trust my knowledge on the subject if they don’t know that I have extensive history camping. Much appreciated on the feedback! It’s always welcome.
I looked at rooftop tents then decided against one because of the price. Once you buy the tent and the platform you are looking at 2000 upwards of 5000 dollars, FOR A TENT, not a camper. I decided I will spend the money for a nice size 4 season tent because I like to do some camping in the colder months. I made my own awning out of a tarp and some expandable legs to go to 8 feet tall. The total cost was about 50 bucks. If you are going to spend 150 and up on a sleeping bag, the Military Modular Sleeping Bags System, Multi Layered with Bivy Cover for All Season, this is a great bag. It has 3 pieces that fit in one. I have used it in low teens weather and it keeps me very warm.
I totally agree with you. My RTT was around $5k but I went for a brand that I knew I could resell for about what I paid for it. In my eyes I’d rather tie up 5k knowing I could get it back rather than buying a 2k tent and it be worth $800 in a year. That being said I don’t have kids or anything so I can tie up $5k into something and not worry about it. Would I rather have a camper, hell yeah lol. Ground tents are my suggestion 95% of the time. A nice 4 season ground tent is a million times better than a low quality roof top tent.
That sleeping system looks intense. I’ll have to look into that. My next one I was looking into doing was a military surplus store but I don’t think they are all the same so it may be hard to do. That being said I don’t know if this one is military related or if that name is just a gimmick? Looks really cool that is -50 all the way to 50.
@@OXFOOT The ones from the military will always have a large tag sewn into each part of the bags with a NSN, national stock number. Ebay seems to be a good place to by these bags from. The newer bags have a light green, dark green, and a camo bivy bag, plus a cinch bag.
@@paladin11C40 yeah I don’t know much about the actual military sleeping bags because I’ve never used one, I want to look into that now. The one I’m amazon just uses the term military but I get what they are going for.
Love the videos. Did my rig with Amazon, rockauto,and discount tire. 4k$ 2005 Cadillac escalade awd and around 3,500$ in upgrades. Great rig that I don't have to worry about.
I personally would go for streamlights over olight. Olight tends to be more feature heavy but they have actually been known to explode, of course everything can fail but I’ve heard of too many instances to trust them to be safe to use.
Thanks for the info. I have Olight stuff and I like it but I have no brand affiliation with them so if there’s something better out there, I’m down to check it out.
@@OXFOOT olights have a lot of great features especially for the price, I personally just wouldn’t recommend them to people based on some of their products being potentially dangerous, although unlikely you’ll get one that does explode. Stream lights are great options that are a good comp for olight because they are inexpensive made in China lights but it seems their qc is better from what I’ve seen and output wise they have some decent performance in my experience. If you want to spend more money though I’d honestly just go straight to surefire.
If you’re not backpacking, get an inflatable air matress, they are $30, more comfortable, and many now come with built in air pumps that your cars plugs can run.
Yeah there’s a few of these I had just sitting in my purchase later. I may revisit this list in a year and see what new stuff I’ve gotten compared to this list based on suggestions in this video.
@@OXFOOT I love the look of the Kershaw cleaver. But it looks so agressively large I don't know if I would carry it. My edc is a Kershaw Ken Onion leek
@@stevecec14 yeah the cleaver is pretty big. It’s more of my vehicle EDC I should have clarified that. If I’m just going to be out and won’t have my vehicle I probably am more likely to carry one of my smaller knives.
I love my Luci string lights. After a year of tent camping...i only need my Luci string lights. I love them. I have a gazelle T4+ and a QuickSet clam screenroom. My headlamps are rechargeable and motion activated too. Love them so much; I use them in my house. They make cleaning sooooo much easier. I can see all the dirt. I use a cast iron wok.
I love my Gazelle tent. I wouldn't "upgrade" to a rooftop tent for 2 reasons: 1. I need the extra space on my roof rack for other gear (2007 Toyota Fj Cruiser...it's pretty limited on space but I won't get something else because I'm stubborn and I love it) 2. I have 2 large dogs that I will never go overlanding without. Getting them in and out of a rooftop is not easy- especially when they get older.
For tents, the Gazelle T4 is amazing. I had an MSR Elixer 2 man tent and it was basically the same price as the Gazelle and the Gazelle is way better for car camping. So much more room if you're a bigger person with mobility issues like me. I use a common Inntex air mattress and they make a DC air pump that takes 6 C batteries that works as well as the internal air pump. If you have an inverter, the air pump in the mattress will work off the inverter, like the one in a Tacoma. It's a little sluggish but it works. For sleeping bags, I love my Teton bags. They're a little more expensive than the Browning bags, but they're really great. I have the Teton 0 degree and the -35 degree bags. The -35 bag is comically large, too, but it comes in it's own duffle bag, but it's unbelievably warm. It's a 10 degree comfort rating. I've tested it and it's comfortable, almost too warm, at 25 degrees. The zero degree bag is comfortable down to about 30 degrees. Those King Camp tables are excellent and a lifesaver when cooking for multiple people. My Alps Engineering King Kong camp chairs are excellent. I'm a large guy and I break normal camp chairs. So, if you're a big person, I'd recommend the Alps Engineering chair I have the BougeRV 54qt fridge and it's great. It's very similar to your fridge My favorite headlamp is a Princeton Mountaineering headlamp. I do a lot of fishing at night and I've had the same one for the last 4 years. It eats battery, but I use Goal Zero NiMH rechargeable batteries. The Petzels are great, too. I bought my dad a Petzel for walking the dog. He loves it. I use nothing but Stanley camping cookware and billy pots. My Billy Can is a close second. Lodge is my go to for cast iron. My favorite camping saw is the Agawa Canyon Boreal 20. that silky saw you have is similar to one I bought off Amazon. It's decent. if you want to get into battery powered chainsaws, I'd recommend the Ryobi 10" saw that takes the Ryobi 1+ 18V 4Ah packs. YUou can do a ton of cutting off a single charge Kershaw, Mora, Gerber and CRKT are my go to for knives, besides my custom neck knife that I had made for me. I used to have a CRKT Tanto II neck knife that I got years of use out of before I did something dumb and snapped it. I really want to try one of those diesel heaters soon. They intrigue me. The cheap long, long handled titanium spoons on Amazon that you use for backpacker meals are awesome and hold up well. One last piece of gear I can never go without is a USGI rain poncho. So many uses and decently priced. I've torn FroggToggs up a bunch, but never ripped a USGI poncho.
This is a wealth of knowledge here. I’ll have to check out those Tetons bags. Having its own duffle is really cool. I like pretty much all the knives you listed. One of these days I’m going to get around to having a custom knife made. It’s on the agenda I just haven’t gotten around to it.
Yeah I’ve got some pretty low quality rain gear other than my water proof jackets and pants that are winter specific. So if I get wet in the summer and it’s warm I’m basically SOL. Looked into the froggtoggs but I’ll have to check out the USGI Poncho.
Also yeah I have a Royobi mower and my backup drill is the same. Maybe I’ll look into the chainsaw at some point but my huskvarna works great for now. Would rather have electric when away from home though.
@@OXFOOT The FroggToggs are okay. I use them in the summertime when I'm fishing and they have kept me dry when the freak rain shower comes by and I need to quick deploy a zippered rain jacket. And some UL backpackers swear by them. I just haven't had the best luck when it comes to snagging them on tree branches and stuff. Nothing some duct tape can't fix in a pinch, but overall I just find them to be too fragile for me personally. Plus, it's just not long enough to fit over me and a tackle backpack. The thing that makes the USGI ponchos so versatile over a cheap rain poncho is that they can unsnap and unfold into a mini tarp, you can re-snap the snaps into a sling to carry firewood of as a sling for a broken arm, you can fashion it into a wind break, you can use it as an emergency tent cover....you get the idea. The best part of the USGI ponchos, IMHO, is that you can get it in a variety of camo colors, including Marpat and old school Vietnam era splat camo, so if you're trying to stay low key, you can get something that matches your environment. Pair it up with a USGI woobie and you can survive some wet, cold, nasty times. Also, those little mylar space blankets do work, but I'd recommend doubling or tripling them up in very cold climates if you get stuck in a ditch. Mylar retains heat well, but they're really thin. You could up the efficiency of your DC heated blanket that way, though. Wrap yourself in the heated blanket, then use a couple mylar emergency blankets and, not only will the EMTs think you're crazy for dressing like a baked potato, you'll use the heat energy more efficiently.
@@OXFOOT I'm invested deeply into the Ryobi 1+ ecosystem. I'm not usually too much of a brand loyalist, but they make good stuff. I have their drills, their 1/2" impact gun, their 1/4 mini impact drivers and I just picked up their demolition sawzall for 49 bucks on Amazon and some cheap Amazon branded wood and metal blades. It was the tool only, so I saved a bunch of money because I obviously already have the batteries. I figure, if I don't want to carry the chainsaw, that'll work for branches and trees up to about 4 or 5 inches thick. One other great accessory that they make for when you get home and off the trail and you're cleaning up is an 18V wet dry canister mini shop vac. It's absolutely perfect for cleaning all of the mud and dirt and leaves and any other debris out of the truck. It's super lightweight, it's powerful and it's I think 5 or 6 gallons of liquid capacity. I put a thin kitchen trash bag in it as a liner and use it as a dry vac and I never have to even empty it. I just pop the top, pull the bag out and tie it up. Boom. Done.
Those ground tents are great as long as it doesn’t rain .. try spending two or three days in a wet spell in a cheap tent… for 300.00 bucks you can get a mountaineering tent or a three season tent ..
Sams has the 22” blackstone with a cover for $99 & it’s really good. Bought the Magellan Kitchen Table from Academy for $55 (compared to the Coleman $100-120 version which in inferior in my personal opinion) & fits/works perfectly for the 22” blackstone. The table collapses & folds in on itself and fits within my Plano 108 qt tote perfectly.
Yeah I keep seeing them at Walmart sams. I think the Coleman table is okay but it’s nothing special, I’ve since gone to a larger one that I like better. I don’t know much about the Magellan one I’ll have to look into that one.
I have the Danchel awning (8'x8') and I think it's pretty good. I got it a couple years and the only main issue I've had was that they sent the wrong size (I ordered the 10x8, but they refunded the difference since they were out of that size) and the rivets on the front end of the mounting rail popped off after a particularly gnarly trail. I ended up drilling them out and installing little bolts with loc-tite, and that solved the problem so far. I can see myself having to put some gorilla tape or something similar over the seams where the velcro is stitched in on the top of the canvas, but that's just because I sometimes camp in high winds and I don't want the seams to rip. If you're looking for a decent awning but don't want to pay those premium prices, I'd check them out!
Yeah that seems like it’s better than the one that I got. My list of complaints is is much longer than the issues you saw with yours. Maybe I’ll have to check that one out!
Great video! I will definitely be putting some of these items on my wish list. A suggestion for you on the coolers. The Lifetime high performance coolers. They a blow molded like the Igloo BMX but are made in USA and similar value.
For sure, it’s not my all time favorite knife but for the budget minded person it’s a good entry into the knife world. Much higher quality your average harbor freight or Walmart knife the average person has on hand and about 1/3 the price of the more professional knife collector has.
I have a gazelle 2 room tent. It is expensive but still half the price of a roof top tent. The only downside is the bulk and weight. If you are only 2 people don't get the 2 room. But we were camping with 4 adults and wanted the extra room. The price was less than my other tent a North Face 4 season. Getting a good tent is worth the money. If you don't want the weight and bulk of the pop up tents that's ok. Get yourself a good tent you won't regret spending a little more on a tent and less on a set of light bars.
Yeah I think I would likely just go with the one room. They are huge inside, I would say the 2 person is enough for 4 people almost but it would be a weird way to camp being that close.
Yeah I think they are the same as the ones I have from what I’ve seen. I ended up ditching the factory ones for the GFC ones which had a ton of mounting points.
It’s fine, I can’t really say anything negative about it. It’s sturdy construction and it does the job but it’s not like it’s really made for what I’m doing to it so it’s a bit of a pain to cut the holes but other than that it’s fine.
Dude, check out the Bully Tools D-Grip Trunk Shovel. I have had one on all of my rigs including my full-time van and it is such a burly little shovel that doesnt take up too much space!
You know how many times I've almost bought that shovel, it's crazy. When I used to have shovels mounted to the outside of my rig everyone kept recommending this one. Also thanks for the suggestions Ideally I'd love to revisit this video in a year once I've tried more comment suggestions.
I have to disagree about the Fiskers axes. The metal is soft, handles are uncomfortable, just terrible. If you want a cheap one that works, the cold steel axes are actually pretty good once you sharpen them. If you are worried about breaking them get an Estwing, I don't like their feel as well when using them a lot but they are made out of good steel, have a good blade profile, and are unbreakable.
Yeah I’ve sort of phased stuff out and added more stuff as time has gone on. The things you feel you need to upgrade, do it but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Browning McKinley sleeping bag is an awesome sleeping bag when you don't care about bulk or weight and want a budget price. I have better sleeping bags. I have warmer sleeping bags. I DEFINITELY have smaller packing sleeping bags (this thing is an absolute monster in pack size and weight), but it's cheap and as warm as marketed, which is rare. p.s. I'm not an overlander (just an outdoors man and avid camper), and the McKinley is my bag of choice when I go roaming the country camping anywhere near winter where there is a chance of a getting snow'd in. I have this sleeping bag and it lives in my Jeep starting in October and stays there until April. I've been stranded in the boonies on several occasions and having this thing is a lesson that was hard learned. p.s.s. although if you want a real winter sleeping to handle extreme cold ... the only sleeping bag you should own is a snowy owl. There -60C sleeping bag is in a world on it's own. Take that advice from someone who likely has over $10,000 accumulated in sleeping bags over the years. Buy once, cry once.
oh, and sorry to critique, but you don't put down on the inside of a synthetic sleeping bag. Down works with loft. And using on the inside of another bag, especially a heavy synthetic, will compress it, and loose a noticeable amount of warmth. If you stack sleeping bags, remember, down sleeping bags, go on the outside. The exception to the rule is when you use a thin synthetic layer on the outside to act as a barrier so that moisture doesn't accumulate on the outside and decrease the insulating value of down over time (which is something to take into account when you intend on using a bag in an enclosed environment where moisture is a thing and you'll be doing multiple nights).
Yeah it’s great if space isn’t a big deal to you. Eventually I would like to get a nice down -20 or lower bay but it’s just not in the budget for me right now. And yeah I never really considered myself an overlander I just like car camping and I’m willing to drive pretty far to get away from civilization. I came from more of the day camping backpacking world before this.
Oh man I love those things. That whole feathered friends company is really great. That’s the same one that makes the owl one right? I looked at those but like I said, cold and packable is just not in the budget for me.
Hm that’s interesting because I was always told that down goes on the inside because if it’s on the outside it absorbs too much water and can ruin it. That being said I’ve never challenged that school of thought so I would assume you’re right. I’ve always heard wool on the outside, down on the inside… but I guess that doesn’t make much sense because down up against your body will absorb the sweat. 🤔 hmm
@@OXFOOT Moisture is always a hard managed thing in winter, with no perfect solution. However, I would dare to say that moisture building up on the inside of your sleep system is worse than on the outside. On the outside it frosts over and allot of it can be brushed away in the morning, somewhat mitigating how much damage it does. Also making it easier and quicker to dry given the moisture doesn't permeate as far into the fibres. Adding a vapor liner to the inside of your sleep system has a place in a limited budget for adding warmth and limiting the moisture-build-up from your body. That does however trade off the benefit of having a drier sleep system but now your sleeping clothes take on that moisture. Ultimately, moisture without a way of drying things is the misery of any multi-day trip in winter. MY solution is one of two things, ether I pull a hot-tent in with me (not a feasible solution for those on a budget)... or I'll often build a large shelter with tarps around the fire pit sufficient enough to hang and dry out gear.
Yeah I mean I get it I had a GFC before my ikamper and I would agree that there’s no real comparison but it’s almost as fast or at least not nearly as slow as a ground tent.
With the Amazon awning, you say it has tones of good reviews so maybe your negative experience was a glitch. This probably isn’t the case. It has 1,700 reviews and is only 4 stars. 1,700 reviews means many/most were bought. To still get down to 4 stars with all those paid reviews means real customers mostly had a bad experience.
They were able to help me with one issue a had. Their method of setting the temp on my FC12 was just ill conceived. Elements of the digital readout just died. I was never able to get any response from them on that.
Just a note here. The second cascade light shown are garbage. The lack of diffusion on the light makes them almost unusable IMO. They’re bright while somehow not helpful.
You know I actually filmed one about a year ago and it was bad. The one near me must just suck. I’m willing to give it another shot because I filmed a whole intro skit for it and everything.
Depending on the brand they usually make big nets for them. I don’t live in an area that’s super bad for mosquitos but Ive definitely faced them here. In the Appalachian mtns, where I grew up I’d use the mosquito net and some mosquito spray.
Did you drill through your roof rails, or just ratchet the bolts down tight when you installed your awning? I'm only seeing 2 options to install a side roof awning, and I don't want to drill through the Thule bars to secure it.
I bolted the awning to my rooftop tent as it has extrusion channels on the side of it. I didn’t use the mount that came with the awning, used the mounting bracket that my tent company makes.
If you have a rack on top or a RTT with brackets these work great. Then you just find the hardware that fits, aka which bolts and nuts. amzn.to/3Hh7FTT
I don’t really have that problem too much but I do mention some products in my “summer overland gear that doesn’t suck” video. I’m using a natural deer free bug spray but if you live somewhere with a lot of them I’d go with the thermacell back packer.
So, these things are budgeted for people who make $40k-$100k per year? There are much cheaper options that will last just as long. Harbor Freight has some thick canvas you could waterproof for an inexpensive awning, there are cheap aluminum and plastic tables, $20 hammocks, $15 air mattresses, Goodwill or thrift stores have old camp stoves, Ozark Trail equipment from Walmart is actually really good stuff for the price. You should remove the "budget" portion of the title, because people see the word "budget" and think affordable or inexpensive. It's misleading.
Well cheap and budget aren’t really the same thing. I actually built an awning with harbor freight supplies but I wouldn’t call it budget, I’d call it cheap. Budget still implies selection and an emphasis on some degree of reliability. Most of these thing were pretty low budget, things I could have afforded in college or just starting my career. That’s what I’m going for with these videos. I did one in harbor freight as well; I’ve done a few.
@@OXFOOTI had one in the past and the one draw back I had with it was having to take it down of if I needed to leave my camp site. The convenience of its set up is really good. But there were several times I had to leave my camp site and take everything out and then having to put it back in when I got back. I guess for me it just didn’t fit. I switched to a SUV tent and it’s so much better for my needs. I just feel so many go towards the roof tent because of what you said “clout” and aesthetics
It was tongue in cheek, I’m making fun of people that do it for the clout while also recognizing that deep down everyone has an ego to some degree so a lot of folks will do stuff for “clout”. I don’t like the word either and I’ve never really used it in a non ironic way.
@@OXFOOT I mean be more enthusiastic or at least excited. Your response makes you sound like those obnoxious teenagers you're complaining about, and like a boomer.
@@OXFOOT yup. Must be difficult being you. Confused in your 40s not knowing who you are. It's ok Gramps some people age but never mature. Keep on with your boring content
