Category: camping

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Sometimes Things Don’t Go Your Way (Post #473) 3/23/2014

I once blogged that every time I touch the Range Rover something goes wrong. Well yesterday was no exception. Mr. Fisher and I were sorting out our two camping kits. We were trying to determine how much gear we were going to be hauling to S.C.A.R.R. We determined that we had a fairly large amount of kit. Mostly lots of pieces that don’t necessarily fit efficiently in the back of the Range Rover. Let’s be honest, it takes a lot of gear to make two 50-year-old guys comfortable for two days of camping.

I decided it was necessary to remove the 70% seat out of the back. I know Bill Burke removes his 30% seat to house his ARB refrigerator. So with that idea in mind I went to remove the seat. Basically it is four 10mm bolts and the seat comes out. I flipped the seat up and started to work on the bolts. It took some figuring to sort out they were 10mm. I took 10mm sockets to use but my 12 point socket in 3/8ths didn’t turn the nut. I wondered what size the nut was if 10mm didn’t work. Turned out my 12 point socket was stripped. That’s disappointing but not a show stopper. I had a 10mm in 1/2 that was 12 point and narrow walled. That narrow wall was very necessary because the nuts are very close to the seat bracket.

IMG_4580

I got the socket set and made one turn and bingo, the bolt breaks. Continue reading “Sometimes Things Don’t Go Your Way (Post #473) 3/23/2014”

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Gearing Up for SCARR, Part One (Post #459) 3/10/2014

I’ve been getting my kit together for S.C.A.R.R. the past few weeks. I am going to be putting up a few posts about new, new-old, and old kit for the trip.

Coleman Cooking Stove

colemanstoveI’ve been reading posts from Land Cruising Adventure. Karin-Marijke, Coen, and their Toyota Land Cruiser BJ45 have been overlanding since 2003. An amazing fete’ if you ask me. So amazing, Expedition Portal named them Overlander’s of the Year for 2013. I subscribe to Overland Journal and love to read and see the adventures. Their reviews of gear each issue and in their yearly Gear Issue are most of the reason I am a subscriber.

They have a great site and I highly encourage you to go over and visit. In a recent post they were featured in Overland Journal’s gear issue. Overland Journal asked Overlander’s what was their  “Most Valued” gear. Karin and Coen picked their Coleman Camp Stove.

After reading their post about their Coleman stove I had to go find the one my dad left to me. It had been in the attic of the Newcastle house since we moved back home from Guam in 1971. I think my dad used it once on a hunting trip with my Uncle Ben in the early 1970s, but I need to confirm that. I have my dad’s Coleman Lantern too. I know we used it a few times in the early 1970s when our power got knocked out from some blizzards and a thunderstorm or two. It’s safe to say it hasn’t been lit since 1975. Continue reading “Gearing Up for SCARR, Part One (Post #459) 3/10/2014”

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#Hibernot (Post #439) 1/28/2014

What a great bit of advertising. I love the dog not moving when called with that, “I’m not getting back in the truck” defiance and little girl at the end trudging on behind her mum. Where do I get a #Hibernot bumper sticker? I’m all in.

I first saw this video on the Hooniverse website. I snagged this snippet from Land Rover UK’s website explaining Hibernot (Land Rover UK).

Winter. Hibernate? No Chance. #Hibernot

#Hibernot is about embracing the British winter, about enjoying winter in all its glory.

Explore what other people have been getting up to, tell us what #Hibernot means to you and search #Hibernot trails in your local area.

Doesn’t that make you want to go out in the 30 mile per hour winds with 48 mph gusts and experience the -10 F wind chill of the southern plains circa January 26th? Well no. But it does make me want to take my Land Rover somewhere remote and get out and enjoy, if only for an hour, the crisp clean air of winter and the sting of winter cold. The sting that reminds you of February, 1987 the winter that you stood in knee deep water running barbed wire for Dr. Kammerlocher. The sting that reminds you of the weekends you stood on the back of a M110 howitzer in freezing rain while serving your country in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. The sting that reminds you of camping with your friends (just for the fun of it) in period clothing from the 1750’s on the the Javine Farm near Barnsdall, Oklahoma when it dipped to 12 F overnight. The sting that reminds you of the cold air and snow down on the river below the dam at Bull Shoals Lake, Arkansas when you took Mrs. Okierover on her first camping trip in 2013. Simply, hell yes.

Hibernot means not shunning exposure the elements, but embracing them. You would not know winter if you did not have summer. If sweat had never run down your brow while you were standing in the 120 F heat of the high desert of 29 Palms, you could never appreciate the winter blizzards on the southern plains.

We will never be as “hard” as we thought we once were back in our youth. We will never be as foolhardy again either. So get out and enjoy the winter. Get out and let the snow or cold rain fall on you with a “devil may care” (Idiom) attitude. Then get in your Land Rover, turn on the heater, and if they still work your heated seats, and drive to a coffee house or diner and get a warm drink, then drive home remembering the good old days.

Toby Keith said, “I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.” (Youtube video)

Get out and enjoy your old self.

Thanks for reading, Happy Rovering, and Hibernot.

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Honey Springs 150th Anniversary, Veteran’s Day Weekend – Part 1 (Post #410) 11/11/2013

Whit Edwards,
aka Thomas O’doule

Reenacting

I recently lost a long time friend, Whit Edwards, who was a great reenactor/historian/actor/friend. My first reenacting was with Whit and many other great historians serving in the 10th Kansas Company A. We had a great time. In 2003 with family responsibilities and an ever more troublesome spinal cord, I gave up Civil War reenacting.

With the passing of Mike Adkins a few years ago and now Whit’s passing this fall it just doesn’t hold the same magic as it once did. Thankfully a few members are left that remember the good old days and I dearly love to see them when I can. Unfortunately the last time I saw them all together was Whit’s funeral. They all encouraged me to come to Honey Springs this year.
Reluctant but needing to put the unpleasant feeling behind me I turned the Range Rover east on Friday evening to attend the event. Continue reading “Honey Springs 150th Anniversary, Veteran’s Day Weekend – Part 1 (Post #410) 11/11/2013”
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Rust and the Art of Welding: Part Deux, Electric Boogaloo (Post #333) 4/23/2013

Here are the pictures of the install and the damage from the rust. I like the silver gray color. The front shocks went in with very little trouble.

The corrosion and abuse are evident on this shock.

Here’s what’s left of the rear shock mounts. Look closely at the one on the left in this picture. That is terrible. The threads being destroyed are evident in this picture too.

I’ve got lots of stuff coming to the hacienda de OkieRover. My buddy JagGuy is letting me swap him a lunch at Earl’s Bar-B-Que for a sand blasting cabinet. It needs new gloves so I ordered those today as well.

I also ordered two Tennier Industries Intermediate Cold Weather Sleeping Bags from Uncle Sam’s Retail Outlet (http://www.unclesamsretailoutlet.com/). Basically they are extra long -10 degree Fahrenheit sleeping bags and should be a nice addition to our camping kit.

More as the parts start arriving.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Rovering.

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