Whether you are on a 4x4 road trip, acting as a chase truck in an offroad race or out Overlanding to your next campsite, we have some suggestions from our own must-haves before heading out in the dirt.
Icom IC-SAT100 Satellite PTT Radios
Welcome to the future! We have had the opportunity to use these and they are impressive. They look and feel like a standard walkie talkie but with push-to-talk capabilities via satellite. They work by using low orbit satellites to communicate with other units in a talk group. For example, you could have a race team or a group of friends on a talk group and now you can communicate no matter the location or distances separating each other. Expensive? Yes. Maybe rent them instead.
First Aid
"You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs..." that's what they say anyhow. In our gear we have a large trauma kit that we thankfully have never had to get into. The whole point is to have it and you'll never need it right? Ours is now out of date and needs to be replaced. Yes bandages and medicines are perishable so maybe time to look at what you have and replace old supplies. We just ordered the one below here on Amazon.
First Aid trauma bag
Nitrogen Tank
Shock reservoirs need the clean, dry, inert pressure that nitrogen provides and tires benefit from the stable temperature / pressure properties of nitrogen. A relatively small cylinder from your local welding supply will last a surprisingly long time. The regulator will allow you to set the psi for charging reservoirs or inflating tires while indicating the remaining tank pressure. A short-ish hose length will make storing and moving the tank easier. We safely transport our regulator, hose and fittings in a Pelican case on our chase truck.
Zippered pouches
Not the sexiest piece of gear but literally thousands of uses. Pens, hardware, keys, paperwork, money... trust me when I say we use these pouches for everything. Same theory as a ziplock bag but better with a real zipper and durable tear-resistant plastic. Translucent enough to see what is inside and comes in a variety pack with 8 different sizes for the price of a couple of shots of tequila. We have them everywhere in our vehicles and toolboxes.
Coffee Kit
Coffee is a necessity that doesn't take a day off because you are in the middle of nowhere without a drive-thru Starbucks or a home kitchen machine to get your fix. That is a horror we hope to never endure so we have built a self-contained kit to make fresh french press coffee to get your jitters on while enjoying the great outdoors. Imagine the astonished faces of your friends when you bust out this hardshell case, assemble the space age stove, boil water in about 2 min and hand them a cup of fresh java 4 minutes later. This little box of love has saved my ass from a miserable existence on many chilly mornings. Keep a bag of your favorite ground colombian marching beans along with a couple of collapsible cups in the box and all you'll need is water. It will be a great day after all... now, where did the TP go?
GET IT HERE:
Insulated camping french press
12v Automobile Refrigerator Freezer
Having a fridge in your offroad truck is a game-changer. The overlanding world has long been aware of the pleasure that having a real fridge/freezer in your 4x4 can bring. The ability to store perishables indefinitely while off grid is perhaps obvious but less so might be how fantastic they are to have while going through everyday life. Being that they run off your vehicle's 12 volt system most of these units have an internal battery monitor that will shut it down if the power gets too low so you have enough juice to start the engine. Things to consider are energy consumption during engine off (power draw & auto shut off) internal capacity and external footprint. Dometic has emerged to the top of the category as a premium brand but the tried and true leader for overland / offroad refrigerators is ARB.
ARB portable 12v offroad refrigerator / freezer
Dometic 12v refrigerators for trucks and cars
Airline neck pillow
As a passenger, long drives make me sleepy. It doesn't matter if I'm well-rested or not, bouncing offroad or humming along on the highway, I like to doze off in the backseat as much as anyone. I also have neck problems which can make automobile naps uncomfortable. Those stupid looking horseshoe pillows you see people carrying in airports is one thing you'll be unapologetic about using despite looking like a moron while doing it. Keep one in your truck, there are even inflatable models, saw logs in comfort!
Keyed Alike Padlocks
Keeping our gear secure isn't something you want to worry about constantly. Give yourself some peace of mind by locking things up as much as possible. Open truck beds full of shiny stuff are too tempting especially if things can be easily grabbed by shifty characters. Honestly, if a thief wants something even a padlock isn't going to stop them but it could be enough to slow them down or cause them to reconsider the effort necessary to get your stuff. Locks only work if you use them and to make it easier on ourselves we have a bunch of quality made locks that all use the same key. Preferably a minimum of two guys has the key to keep them separate and ensure a loss of keys isn't disastrous. We use long cables to attach multiple objects together, through spare tires, handles of luggage, expensive coolers, toolboxes, etc. Keyed alike padlock sets come in different quantities and qualities but we prefer the Master Lock brand which is easy to get additional keys made because of their popularity. THIEVES SUCK!
Bluetooth Speaker
Got tunes? You never know when you will need to spice up a space with some music and you need to be ready because timing is everything. If you happen to be at the Mexican 1000 and run into our team setting up a pit on the side of the highway you may detect some carefully chosen music emanating from a bluetooth speaker. Side of the road, in the garage, at the beach, this guy goes everywhere. Rubberized, water and shockproof the JBL Charge 4 can actually be fully submerged in water. Rich sound and long battery life from a speaker about the size of a wine bottle it's the best bluetooth speaker we've ever owned. With an onboard USB port, the JBL also has the ability to charge your devices using its massive battery, hence the "Charge" name. Reasonably priced we paid the extra $10 and got the high-quality travel case too. Well worth it.
JBL Charge 4 bluetooth speaker with case
Collapsible Trash Can
The standard for trash collection amongst offroad vehicles is typically a trash bag hastily tied around a mirror or an empty twelve pack box overflowing with nastiness that will inevitably tip over and spill your garbage all over. Ready for something better? Get one of these collapsing trash cans. An easy to store flat disc when closed, they spring open to a generous size plastic cylinder with zippered lid. Add a heavy-duty yard bag and packing up your trash has never been easier.
Yeti Cooler
The analog refrigerator. We were skeptical of the hype surrounding these "Roto-molded" coolers at first but after using ours for a week in southern Baja we are convinced. Tough as nails, rubber padded bottom keeps it from sliding in your truck bed and most importantly, they keep ice for a shocking length of time. We love our Yeti Tundra 65 it's a smart medium size, some of the larger ones are impossibly heavy to move when loaded up. Expensive? Yes, but honestly can you put a price on cold beer? PRO TIP: get the cooler basket to keep small items where you can find them and the metal padlock bracket to protect your beer from getting stolen.
Fire extinguisher + Mount
We all know what these do and hopefully never have to use them but they should always be nearby. Realistically if you have space (Hint: you do) make room for at least a 5lb size bottle of chemical agent.
We recommend the Amerex B402 Dry Chemical ABC extinguisher.
"ABC or Multi-Purpose extinguishers utilize a specially fluidized and siliconized mono ammonium phosphate dry chemical. It chemically insulates Class A fires by melting at approximately 350°F and coats surface to which it is applied. It smothers and breaks the chain reaction of Class B fires and will not conduct electricity back to the operator." ... this means they work with many types of fire without risk to the operator of a chemical reaction.
The Amerex B402 5lb (weighs about 10 pounds) and is effective against the many types and sizes of fires. It has a metal valve and allows recharging.
Throw away the plastic mount that is included with the extinguisher and get something more secure and also quicker to deploy, like this billet aluminum quick release mount.
Got Shade ?
Heavy, cumbersome and always in the way when not being used, traditional pop-up tents are never "easy". When you need shade it doesn't get easier than this, the Front runner "Easy-Out" awning. Water-repellent and UV-resistant the awning measures 2 meters x 2.1 meters, mounts on your vehicle's roof or chase rack, and sets up in 60 seconds. Packing up is a breeze too and the awning stows inside a heavy PVC bag all while staying mounted. You'll need these special designed Front Runner brackets to mount this guy.
Maybe you are waiting in the hot Baja sun for a race car to fuel or drinking beer at camp while trying to not get sunburned, shade is always welcome.
