ExpeditionGuru: Because Independence Counts

 Paying strict attention to these fundamental requirements is a necessity. Get these right and the rest follows easily.

 1.              The first aspect deals with the ability to replenish resources required to sustain life, viz. food and water. Remember the environment that you are traveling in may or may not be able to provide some of these life sustaining resources. For example, finding water or food in a desert could be problematic.

 For the most part one is seldom far from towns and seldom far from cell phone coverage when traveling in the US. Irrespective of how benign you think the environment may be, as a responsible individual, ensure you have enough food and water for everyone in your immediate party.

2.              The next aspect deals with clothing. Make sure that you have the correct clothing that will keep you warm. Getting out the sun is far simpler than finding something to keep you from freezing to death. I always carry additional outer shells, a hat and gloves for this purpose. You must have good hiking boots at all times. If you are going to spend your hard earned money on clothes, make sure you invest in good hiking boots and good outer shells that will keep you warm.

3.              Now that we have got ourselves adequately fed, watered and clothed, we need to focus on our means of transportation. Let me say that meticulous vehicle maintenance while the most important aspect, is probably the most neglected aspect in expedition travel. Maintenance is a grubby chore so it is far more fun to focus on all the gadgets that can be added to an “expedition” rig, not all of which are as important as the condition of the vehicle carrying them.

Let me digress for a moment. An experienced eye will very quickly be able to distinguish the real traveler from the “wanna be” simply by examining the vehicle.  Take a peak at the grease fittings under the vehicle and see if they have been recently greased. Look at the tell tale grease splatter on the vehicle around the drive shaft universal joints. Take a look at a high lift jack that people love to bolt onto their expedition rigs. An examination of the threads of the bolts securing the high lift jack to the vehicle will tell you a great deal. If they are rusty and don’t look as though the nut has been removed since it was installed, avoid traveling with that vehicle. Examine the condition of the high lift jack itself. It takes minutes to service a high lift jack, far less time and money than servicing a vehicle. If the individual cannot maintain their equipment they bolt on then the odds are good they also don’t maintain their vehicle.

4.              Meticulous vehicle maintenance is the most important aspect. One will be able to travel with far greater reliability in a well maintained stock vehicle than the coolest expedition rig on the planet that has not been properly maintained. Take your time to understand everything about your vehicle and personally maintain it. You can’t always call your favorite mechanic when you are broken down 50 miles down a rough dirt track. I’ll get into vehicle preparation in more detail later but the single most important vehicle related aspect remains meticulous maintenance.

Conclusion

The fundamental basic requirements for a successful expedition are food, water, shelter, and a meticulously maintained vehicle. Although there is a great deal more, without proper attention to the above, the rest is really irrelevant.

B.              Vehicle selection

As with the section; Fundamental requirements for a successful expedition, I intend to focus on the basics. The more obvious aspects of occupant capacity, fuel consumption, etc. I will leave to your discretion. In my mind, an expedition vehicle is a tool to carry your party, your supplies and equipment reliably and safely on your expedition.

Expedition travel involves going on an adventure with my family through remote areas where we appreciate the many outdoor activities and natural splendors of the environment and enjoy the relative solitude independent vehicle travel can provide. Although encountering difficult terrain that requires significant driving skill in a well prepared and capable vehicle, an expedition vehicle is closer to a daily driver than a hard core off-road buggy.

For me the most important factors in vehicle selection are reliability, simplicity and ease of maintenance. Many tend to look at the availability of after market parts in determining vehicle selection. The more popular vehicles often have more aftermarket accessories. Popularity does not automatically equate to reliability, simplicity, and ease of maintenance especially in a first world environment. Although the availability of aftermarket accessories is important, especially if one plans to get more involved in remote expeditions, for the most part, most stock 4X4 trucks and SUV’s are more than adequate foundations. I would argue that a meticulously maintained stock vehicle is more suitable than a highly customized tricked out vehicle with all the gadgets.

Not all of us have the disposable income available to thoroughly customize our expedition rigs. That money could be saved and used for many enjoyable family adventures to remote destinations. So then, what are the bare essentials?

For me a good set of All Terrain tires would be the first expense. I would wait until my factory street tires wore out and then fit some All Terrain tires. Most vehicles can accommodate a slightly larger tire (perhaps 1” to 2” larger diameter) than the vehicle came with from the factory.  If I did not get an exact stock tire size replacement, I would get a tire that was the same width as stock tire but try and find one that was not more than 2” larger in diameter. There are two aspects worth considering; speed and gearing.

Let’s assume you have a 30” stock tire on your vehicle. If you go to a 32” tire your speedometer will under read by about 7%. So when you had your stock tires on and your speedometer said 60 mph, with the new 32” tires when your speedometer says 60 mph you are actually driving about 64 mph. With regard to gearing, a 7% change will hardly be noticeable. By keeping your tires as close to stock as possible you avoid complications associated with suspension lifts and axel ratio changes and should be able to maintain factory steering geometry.

The next component I would upgrade would be the shock absorbers. I would select a superior set of gas charged shock absorbers. At some point you are going to get stuck and may require someone to assist you in getting unstuck. So the next item I would install would be tow points on the front and rear of my vehicle. This would conclude my first stage with regard to my vehicle.

With regard to preparing myself, I would sign up for driving courses, vehicle recovery courses, vehicle maintenance courses, etc. before spending another penny on my vehicle. We can help educate and train you. By increasing your driving skill and overall knowledge, you will find that you will be able to drive reliably and safely through areas that many can not even with modified vehicles. This training and education will also allow you to better determine what additional equipment you could acquire without wasting you hard earned money.

Conclusion:

To begin with I would simply replace my factory tires when they were worn with tires a maximum of 2” taller than the stock tires, I would upgrade my shocks and add tow points on the front and rear of my vehicle. The tires and shocks will probably be the two aspects that you will always use and may be the biggest bang for your buck. I would then educate myself on the relevant topics and do so with a trainer certified by the International 4 Wheel Drive Training Association.

C.               What’s next

At this stage I would start being more adventurous and looking for others that are perhaps more experienced and begin traveling with them. With a solid training foundation, there is no better substitute for seat time. Going on adventures and seeing what the more experienced take and use will help you decide how to get the best bang out of your hard earned money. Again I would suggest you visit the International 4 Wheel Drive Training Association web site at www.i4wdta.org and go to the “Find a Trainer” page. Then find the certified trainer closest to your area and visit their website. You will find that not only can they provide you with some of the best training in the US, but will also be of invaluable assistance from helping you meet other like minded people to providing your with useful equipment. From that point on you’re on your way to enjoying many successful expeditions with your family and friends.

Expedition travel, although considered by many a very expensive activity, really is not if approached sensibly. In fact I would argue that it is probably the most cost effective way of enjoying time with your family discovering the many joys of the great outdoors.