HELP! 2 Door Overlander - Am I foolish to think it will work?

[crashmtb]

Which MSR tent did you get? Thinking of doing this too and it would double as a backpacking tent, free up the roof, and if a group decides to go overnight hiking from base camp I could go with them

I’ve had a hubba hubba for...10(!) years. Cozy 2 person tent, or spacious 1 person.
we use the same tent for backpacking and “overlanding”. Change the sleeping and cooking setup depending on packing requirements.

we did a two week trip with lots of camping along the way(and our little dog too!) with this setup. (Borrowed car)

Overlanding by crashmtb, on Flickr

My wife hates ground camping. I am going to 100% get one of those fancy trailers you see overlanders use because it has all the creature comforts she will enjoy. A overlanding tent on top of the 2-door Bronco. That's not a ton of real-estate. I know some have leg braces to extend further out but ehhh just not my thing. To each their own.

off grid trailers look neat. Made in Canada, too.

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[RBF 1401]

Coming from a lifetime of motorcycle camping, A 2 door will be just fine as long as you keep the mindset of a backpacker. Go to your local outdoor supply and talk to them about minimalistic set ups. You would would be surprised by how comfortable you can be with your load out if you do it right. If you are in the Tucson area, We used to live in this place https://www.summithut.com. If in Phoenix, REI as well as others can give you some great advice.

I love Summit Hut! But we have an REI in Tucson now, too.

I agree with the comment about having a "backpacker mentality". Nobody really NEEDS a 3-burner free-standing Camp Chef stove.?

I wouldn't recommend diving into an "overlanding lifestyle" unless you are already an experienced camper. You don't want to be a novice off-roader AND a novice camper.

Get some basic camping gear (there's a cool YouTube video about getting all the basics at a Walmart. You can always upgrade if you decide to get serious), and start doing some camping. You might be surprised how little you need. Or you might find out you hate sleeping away from civilization.

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

If people can hike cross country with just a backpack, you definitely can do it with a two door and two people. Maybe remove the rear seat, but my view of overlanding is it seems an exercise in how much expensive stuff you can add to your vehicle, when lighter simplicity is probably the smarter way to go.

 

[Apples]

You can survive literally on a pack with a water filter, tiny camp stove like Pocket Rocket 2, and some dried Mountain House food for easily 3-5 days etc.

Survive is a great word here. Backpackers survive on freeze dried food and whatever water they can carry on their back because that's the limit of what that form of transportation can accommodate. They count in ounces because every ounce is going to be weighing their backs down.

I, however, have a vehicle that can haul many times my weight, so I don't need to just survive. You're free to continue to eat rehydrated mush from a bag, but I'll be cooking bacon, eggs, and hash browns for breakfast, or BBQ chicken for dinner. I'll pour a bit of whiskey into my aluminum camp mug from the glass bottle that you can't carry in your backpack. Then I'll climb into my RTT with the 4" memory foam mattress for a great night sleep. Maybe I'll read from my tablet for a bit before plugging it into the charging system incorporated into the tent and powered by the vehicle battery.

Enjoy your hammock.

 

[BroncoJay]

I was waiting for someone to post this thread. Some points that I hope can sway us both to stay with 2 door at purchase:

Less is more. Have you ever gotten so obsessed with the tangible gear for a hobby, that you spent more time researching, buying, testing new gear than ACTUALLY enjoying the hobby? I've ruined a few hobbies that way in the past, and was only able to come back to the hobby by SEVERELY cutting back on the amount of physical gear I was bringing with me. It's a mental thing that clears out the addiction issues and makes you enjoy it all again. I also just went backpacking for the first time and REALLY experienced how less is more. You can survive literally on a pack with a water filter, tiny camp stove like Pocket Rocket 2, and some dried Mountain House food for easily 3-5 days etc.

Less is more. Preparing for your weekend suddenly gets SO MUCH easier and stress free, when you have cut out HALF of the crap you never needed to prepare. Don't worry so much about charging up your gopro's, topping off your unnecessary cooler etc. I used to spend 5 hours the night before a big airsoft game, my other hobby. I'd be tired and stressed when the actual game day came around. Now I spend only 10 mins to get ready for a weekend, and I enjoy it all a lot more.

If I cannot carry all of my gear to the car in 1 trip, I have too much. That's how I treat that hobby and it's worked well.

Edit: another way to look at it, which a friend taught me is, instead of having a piece of kit to answer EVERY need, part of the fun in minimalism is improvising using the few things you do have.

Another edit: a technique I learned to get over the gear obsession which ruins your hobbies do this: you have to EARN dollars and time to spend researching new purchases. For every 1 hour of actually DOING your hobby (overlanding etc), let yourself earn $15 and 15 minutes of research time. This way lets say you go outdoors driving offroad 4 hours per weekend. You are only allowed 1 hour of internet research, and $60 to spend (in addition to gas/food/water). This keeps things in balance nicely. Those numbers are subjective of course, but you get it. After this initial massive research period is over, create a ratio for yourself to avoid the massive obsessions with gear

This^
Right here earns best post to a thread all year!
Love it and I couldn’t agree more

Me and my wife agonized over the 2-4 door thing and she finally said 2 doors less stuff more fun.

I’m an avid long distance mountain biker and trail runner I’ve learned over the years of doing this less is more. Really it is
The more shit I’ve carried the more I stress
Do I have spare batteries, did I pack enough fuel, do I have spare this or that. Sucks the life out of the trip, the adventure, the race. Improvise and pack your stuff into a backpack and say to yourself can I survive and thrive.. most likely yes you can.
Trust yourself and learn the key to any trip or adventure less is more

The two door is sexier, more authentic to the heritage bronco..
4 doors are cool but are they necessary? For some maybe but I know for me they are not...

Good luck
Man this shit is fun ...

We are lucky to be deciding what we want in our new Broncos...
Life is good

 

[OverlandOnTheFly]

For cooking I either cook over a open fire, or on a skottle. I can basically cook whatever I want on my skottle with out having to pack any pots or pans. Downfall is it packs down nice, but still an awkward size that a tad big. Pros outweigh the cons.
You can buy yours here, or build your own out of a plow disk.
https://tembotusk.com/collections/skottles/products/tembotusk-adjustable-leg-skottle-grill-kit

 

[BroncoJay]

Survive is a great word here. Backpackers survive on freeze dried food and whatever water they can carry on their back because that's the limit of what that form of transportation can accommodate. They count in ounces because every ounce is going to be weighing their backs down.

I, however, have a vehicle that can haul many times my weight, so I don't need to just survive. You're free to continue to eat rehydrated mush from a bag, but I'll be cooking bacon, eggs, and hash browns for breakfast, or BBQ chicken for dinner. I'll pour a bit of whiskey into my aluminum camp mug from the glass bottle that you can't carry in your backpack. Then I'll climb into my RTT with the 4" memory foam mattress for a great night sleep. Maybe I'll read from my tablet for a bit before plugging it into the charging system incorporated into the tent and powered by the vehicle battery.

Enjoy your hammock.

If I wanted all that shit I’d stay in a friggin hotel..
I like a little less fluff and al little more being outside. I don’t need tablets, Cush, and whatever frill apparently you need...

Rock on...

 

[bluezombi]

You can do it with a 2 doors and some organisation.

but if you have a wife like mine, better be a bus... not even a 4 door with trailer would make it fit. She brings sooo much stuff, its crazy!

ps inspiration for the cyber orange?

 

[The Driving Viking]

Why wouldn't you be able to use a 2 door? Keep in mind the 2 door Bronco is bigger then most 2 doors. It also has a longer door compared to the 2 door Jeep Wrangler. The leg room in the interior is exactly the same as the 4 door Bronco. Your Basically only giving up some cargo space behind the rear seat.

Also the 2 door is more Offroad capable. It will get you through some tight extreme trails much easier then a 4 door with a longer wheel base. Too some thats important when Overlanding because they like to camp waaay off of the beaten path in places that are hard to get too. Thats kind of the point of it. If not your just camping.

 

[BroncoJay]

I’ve survived and thrived for 28 days along the continental divide trail with this bike and whatever I could pack into the bags... one of the best experiences of my life

A two door bronco will be luxurious for any adventure and shit I will need to carry..

 

[Beach_Bum]

If I wanted all that shit I’d stay in a friggin hotel..
I like a little less fluff and al little more being outside. I don’t need tablets, Cush, and whatever frill apparently you need...

Rock on...

Huh? Kush is the first thing that is packed.

 

[dejones64]

This^
Right here earns best post to a thread all year!
Love it and I couldn’t agree more

Me and my wife agonized over the 2-4 door thing and she finally said 2 doors less stuff more fun.

I’m an avid long distance mountain biker and trail runner I’ve learned over the years of doing this less is more. Really it is
The more shit I’ve carried the more I stress
Do I have spare batteries, did I pack enough fuel, do I have spare this or that. Sucks the life out of the trip, the adventure, the race. Improvise and pack your stuff into a backpack and say to yourself can I survive and thrive.. most likely yes you can.
Trust yourself and learn the key to any trip or adventure less is more

The two door is sexier, more authentic to the heritage bronco..
4 doors are cool but are they necessary? For some maybe but I know for me they are not...

Good luck
Man this shit is fun ...

We are lucky to be deciding what we want in our new Broncos...
Life is good

Yes! And no one says you can't stop at a roadside store or whatever to quick pick up a few things if you run low.

 

[rotorwrench]

I love Summit Hut! But we have an REI in Tucson now, too.

I was born and raised in Tucson. Summit Hut and Bobs Bargain Barn were the shite when I was a teenager but that was back when Moby Dick was a Minnow. Still do a lot of hiking and horseback riding when ever I get back there to visit the clan.

 

[Apples]

If I wanted all that shit I’d stay in a friggin hotel..
I like a little less fluff and al little more being outside. I don’t need tablets, Cush, and whatever frill apparently you need...

Rock on...

I was being a bit facetious but the opinion that you need to give up eating and sleeping well just to get out to the middle of nowhere is ridiculous. I backpacked all through my childhood and early adulthood. I had the same attitude toward lighter is better as you. But I'm not carrying everything on my back. It's going into the back of the truck.

- If you want to stay away from civilization for days at a time and not eat dried food, you need a cooler. You need some way to cook that food. You need to clean the dishes you use.
- You need somewhere to sleep. It needs to keep you dry and warm.
- The best way to ensure you know where you are and are going is to have a GPS unit that needs to be powered.

This stuff takes up space, and guess what, you aren't constrained to what you can carry. I can enjoy nature much better when I'm well fed, rested and know where I'm headed.

 

[RBF 1401]

Huh? Kush is the first thing that is packed.

Like this kind of kush?

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