@The Deputy I restrained my inner Gallant, my father, younger brother and 2 of my sisters would have blown a gasket and quit. But I only have 4 more years,I retire and the pay is good so I sucked it up. It is a busy time of year but pretty sure they could have managed without me they have before.

But living in BC I can plan a 5 day trip and rarely touch pavement, so a fishing and photography trip is in the planning stages, and this build will continue.

 

Things are continuing, my post lift work is complete. I am moving on to my interior living arrangements and finishing my Solar charging system for a "portable battery Box".

The Battery box is for light duty use, for the nights when I am in truck due to bad weather rain, snow etc.

A voltage gauge and instrument bank arrived today, picking up used battery from the wrecker as well.

Finally found the last part for my DIY rear awing.

As my truck is also our second vehicle, everything needs to be easily removable.

Final test run and dump run, checking out the new camera lense

 

Rear awning/Rain cover

This was fairly high on my list I have an ARB awning on the passenger side but needed something for the rear door.

Parts list in CDN dollars

• 18.95 Marine antenna mount
• 12.00 3/4 irrigation pipe (total of 4 pieces) ABS/PVC
• 8.00 Connectors and 90 deg Elbow
• 10.00 Tarp - I already had this but for clarity
• 8.00 Paint roller extendable handle

The marine antenna mount rotates through 180 deg and has 4 mounting holes. There are more expensive and durable options but I was not sure of the setup so cheap it is.
You could use 1/2 in irrigation pipe, but I could not find and step down adaptor, I find the 3/4 stays fairly level even without a down support

I have a Front Runner cross bar to mount to so that makes things simpler.

Here it is mounted - no tarp in the stowed position




Extended with fancy paint roller extension vertical support




Extended full shot




Tarp over top for a test fit - note the current tarp will over hand the door window a fair bit - which is fine.




Being BC and summer as I got everything set it started to rain and I was thinking a bit of light rain is not too bad then it RAINED.

The intent is to roll the tarp around the outrigger and stow it that way, so a it is quick to deploy.

I will post images of the final setup.

 

Continuing along with prep, I have a 4 to 5 day trip planned for mid to late July the coast to the west edge of the Rockies and home, mostly off road.

Recovery bag

Left to right

• Bag and orange para cord
• Rag
• Work Gloves
• 2 Large soft shackles
• Tire repair kit - spare patches and plugs are in an ammo box
• Misc lightweight rope
• Safety vest
• Duct tape
• Vise grips
• 2 hard shackles
• Hitch adaptor for recovery
• Shears
• Bailing wire
• Although not shown a bunch of zip ties
• I have a Non kinetic recovery strap stored separately

Vice is not included, it just happened to be there. I store the recovery strap separately

 

Cooking utensils - this bin goes under the sleeping platform at the back - yes the garage is a disaster area - spring/summer cleaning

• 1 light duty aluminum pot
• 1 larger pot
• 2 cast iron frying pans
• Can opener
• 2 misc cups
• Thermos in a thermos bag

Cooking utensils Bin 1

 

Food stuffs, this bin also fits under the sleeping compartment.

In addition to food I carry bug spray, cleaning products and a candle lantern.

 

Me, I like about three sets of gloves (maybe more in the winter). Sometimes, one recovery will happen right away the other...and I hate wet gloves to start out. I'm excited about your trip...wish I was closer...and actually had a rover running...lol.

Brian.

 

Well prep continues, more pictures forthcoming

My BC Overland rally experience showed I lacked a very useful piece of kit a 12 dollar plastic beach mat, 5 x 6 feet keeps the mud covered in the area beside the passenger side under the awning. Would have been very handy that weekend, added one to the Disco and it fits nicely under the awning. Drove for about 1.5 hour at highway and town speeds and it stayed put nicely.








I also add a little Butane ceramic heater it get nippy higher up in when I am on day and overnight trips, in spring and fall. This unit is an nice size to just keep a small area warm, I have purchased some adaptors and valves to allow running off of ISO Butane or Propane as it get colder.

Kovea heater I was sold on this by another fellow you who had a Little Buddy and found the Kovea worked better overall - subjective but in my short test it did the job well. Comes in a plastic carrying case.

Butane is only good in cool weather, iso butane better in colder propane in all, I will provide full details once everything is in place.

Changed my behind passenger seat storage box, to an old wooden Dummy grenade box with a lid, it is better than what I had.

Left to right :

• USB Fan
• Butane for the Heater
• TP in a Folger's coffee can - keeps it dry and clean.
• Heater in it's case
• GOJO hand cleaner
• Wood chips for barbecuing

And most importantly an airtight coffee storage container - I have the short version

 

Looking good Richard! Normally, I save any bubble wrap or foam I find for filling gaps in storage containers. Especially the dish pan/cooking equipment container, usually cut a piece of foam that covers entire top section and gets compressed when you put lid on. I hate rattles. Things are coming together nicely, thank you for posting up the pictures.

Brian.

 

I am reviving this thread as a new year is upon me, and I am trying for Tuk again assuming I can find a co-driver, 1 more vehicle and clean bill of health from the doc (old guy issues). In addition the local club is going for a couple of 4 to 5 day trips this this summer.

As result of this summer's excursions I found me, my gear, and sleeping platform inside is not ideal for long trips. So the start of this is the great roof top tents search, I have no issues with ground tents, other than bears. But dry and clear space for a ground tent can be hard to find.

1st issue is weight up top Land rover recommends no more than 50-60Kg about 110 to 130 lbs when moving.
2nd is the vertical size of the tent more for clearance than fuel consumption.

Starting with load bars I have about 20 lbs currently and that double, if I need 2 more so 40 lbs
The awning adds another 10

So my base weight is 50 lbs before tent which leaves all of 80 lbs for the tent which is way light but gives me a guideline.

I am looking a 2 man tents generally I am alone so that is a ton of room

The current contenders are:

Smittybilt 2 man 2783 145 lbs - Cost CDN - 1100.00 Closed : 47"W x 56"L x 11"H
Tepui Explorer Ayer 2 95lbs - 1600.00 Closed 48" X 42" X 11" (WxLxH)
Freespirit 55 clone 160lbs -1200.00 Closed 83 x 52 x 11 (LxWxH)
Local Off brand 125lbs 1000.00 Closed 50" (long) x 48.5" (wide) x 15” (tall)

I am leaning towards the Tepui simply for weight savings and it can be a 4 season tent with addition of a liner, the lighter weight is also a bonus. As well it will fit with my having to adding additional cross bars - the cost however hurts a bit.
There are few other options that are local that may well work out, but they are larger tents than I need.

The Freespirit clone is interesting and what I was drawn to initially, but needing at least 3 roof bars and ideally 4 makes it 80lbs over the recommended load. Now that is unlikely to be a huge issue other than on really bad off cambers but still a consideration.


Freespirit

Freespirit


More to come