ABOUT CHRIS
Chris was born and raised in rural South Africa where 4WD vehicles were a necessary tool. Chris’ Dad started teaching him to drive about 40 years ago. Chris continues that family tradition by teaching his children to drive his 1952 M38.
He attended Hilton College and played national level squash. While at Hilton College he participated in two long bicycle trips, Hilton to Cape Town and Beit Bridge to Hilton, a total distance of about 4000 miles. Chris then went on to Stellenbosch University on a scholarship to study mechanical engineering, but due to youth and vigor found himself tossed out and in the army. Chris spent two years in the military using 4WD vehicles off-road in combat.In his teens and early twenties Chris graduated to motorcycles and 4WD vehicles and travelled extensively throughout southern Africa including Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. Chris began building and modifying vehicles (motorcycles, 4WD’s, and trailers) for expedition travel more than 25 years ago. Chris holds multiple Science degrees from two South African Universities and Cornell University.
In 2004 Chris founded Campa USA. See www.campausa.com that manufactures the P.O.S.T Trailer™ [Personnel Operational Support Tactical Trailer™] and the P.O.S.T Vehicle™ [Personnel Operational Support Tactical Vehicle™]
After qualifying as a Certified 4WD Trainer with the International 4 Wheel Drive Training Association see
Chris is directly involved in Rivers of Recovery, an organization dedicated to helping disabled veterans and their families. Please visit www.riversofrecovery.org. Chris and Annie have been married for 18 years and have two children, Emily and John.
Bob has nurtured a lifetime dedicated to enjoying the great outdoors. His interests range from hunting, fishing, target shooting, and off-highway travel on vehicles ranging from go carts, motor cycles, ATV’s, custom built buggies, and Jeeps. Bob is an accomplished marksman, gunsmith, and skeet shot.
Bob has always been the “go to” person for anything mechanical. His exposures to repairing transportation lead Bob to engineering the weak links out of those mechanisms of transportation by devising better products. Bob’s modifications began on go carts more than 40 years ago and his consistent desire to build a better mousetrap resulted in Bob starting his own business, On and Off-road 4 Wheel Drive, in 2001.
Bob wanted his business to include product testing and driving instruction. As such he bought some property and designed and developed an obstacle course that would provide real world evaluation for as broad a range of potential 4X4 obstacles that would test various suspension system designs, multiple types of tires, vehicle additions like lockers, gearing reductions, winching techniques, recovery equipment, etc.
In addition each week on a Friday afternoon Bob would open his obstacle course to 4X4 enthusiasts wishing to test their vehicles and those wishing to learn the skills of off-road driving. This presented him with an opportunity to demonstrate to customers the combination of products that would best suit their 4X4 needs. Recognizing that 4x4 needs differ widely from person to person, he was able to cater to the plethora of requests ranging from mild to wild, from mud bogging to rock crawling.
This, in turn, motivated Bob to build and develop a vehicle that is good at everything yet bad at nothing, an “all-rounder” for want of a better description. Understanding the compromises and necessary engineering solutions within acceptable boundaries while incorporating aspects ranging from passenger occupancy, to budget, to suspension selection, to tire selection, with reference to anticipated vehicle use, etc. remains one of Bob’s key interests.
On roughly two weekends per month Bob leads local 4x4 enthusiasts and friends on one day trail rides in several local areas. This involves driving and recovery instruction, invariably recovery of stuck vehicles, navigation, and trail side vehicle repair. Because of Bob’s significant mechanical experience, he has become very accomplished at finding creative ways to repair a vehicle on the trail using limited tools and resources.
About once a quarter Bob leads multi day trail rides to more exotic locations further afield. These include, Moab, Badlands Off-Road, Rauch Creek, Tellico, etc Bob’s philosophy revolves around artful driving and doing so with finesse as opposed to the all too often seen “hammer down” approach that leads to unnecessary vehicle and environmental destruction. Bob is also an I4WDTA Certified 4WD Trainer.
ABOUT BOB
© 2010 Expedition Guru
