[Despite my misgivings, the midnight Stonerocalypse never happened. Or maybe I slept through it? Regardless, I had an excellent night’s sleep and hit the road. While on the road, I decided to type up a post about my, as yet untested, overland gear.]
People say they make decisions rationally. People are liars! It takes considerable self-control to make rational decisions and that’s rarer than hen’s teeth. Most folks take a good look at that low bar, and dive into the dirt beneath it.
Choosing my overland gear, despite my best intentions, was a semi-emotional purchase of sight unseen stuff that came via Amazon. Lacking perfect knowledge (who has perfect knowledge?) I pondered specifications and whatnot but had to lean heavily on the emotional side. I surfed up an array of likely candidate choices, then bought the shit that looked cool.
In February I had the kind of cabin fever that makes The Shining seem realistic. I couldn’t get further than 100’ from my door so I kicked back and watched videos on The Emporium Outdoors. I don’t know how many hours I spent watching Michael, a well-spoken Canadian outdoorsman, and Esme, his charming dog that steals the show, but it kept my dreams of overlanding alive when nature was trying to freeze my ass to death. The videos aren’t rocket science but they’re soothing: they drive an Argo through the snow and sit around campfires and try various camping gear. This is interspersed with pleasant drone footage and a nice soundtrack. They were a light at the end of the cabin fever tunnel. It was enough to sell me on some of the equipment he demonstrated.
First of all, I decided I would die if I didn’t buy a 6 x 6 Argo immediately. Lucky for me, I came to my senses before I financed a ten-grand mini-sized personal semi-aquatic tank. Sigh… Maybe someday I’ll go nuts and Argo up, but for now I’m staying fiscally sane.
I lust for one of these!
However, I did buy a TETON Sports Outfitter XXL Camp Cot.
Remember I said that my back has taken to complaining about sleeping on the ground? Well, you can bitch about cruel fate or you can gear up differently. In my case, I bought a cot.
The TETON Sports Outfitter XXL Camp Cot is huge. A backpacker would cry just thinking about carrying it. Michael in the videos carries it on an ATV or his cool new Argo. It’s big enough for him and his dog. I tossed mine in the back of the truck. Don’t even try to pretend that this monster is going much beyond arm’s reach of whatever internal combustion engine is hauling it.
However, beyond the “no backpacking” caveat, it’s excellent. I hate flimsy cots. I sleep poorly in them; spending all night wondering when (not if) the thing is going to bend or collapse or (because most cots are narrow) I’ll roll off. The TETON XXL locks together exceptionally well; like you could drive a truck over it. (Not that I’m recommending you do something that dumb!) It’s also huge… damn near double the size of many cots.
I decided it was ideal for my new overlanding world and ordered one on Amazon. It arrived just before my departure. I’d assembled it once, in my basement, as a test. Then, I folded it down and wrapped it in a tarp (because it was snowing) and started my walkabout. This night I was finally going deploy it!