Bringing back the spirit: Exploration Quarterly Field Camps

Fifteen years later we still get these emails.

“The Overland Expo is great, but we miss the first ones!”

“The Expo is still fun, but the camaraderie isn’t there any more.”

“Lots more stuff to look at and buy, but less community spirit.”

Of course Roseann and I were thrilled—and more than a bit stunned—at the success of the event she started in 2009. In fact it eventually became just too big for her to manage, and its very success hindered our own travels, which was not the plan . . .

Now we are back to our roots in journalism, field arts, exploration, and conservation with the debut of Exploration Quarterly, which encapsulates all our passions.

And yet, we still miss those first few Overland Expos too, and our original family—both the attendees who still write us and our core team: Graham Jackson, the Camel Trophy team members, the vendors who took a chance on us.

So we’ve decided to bring that spirit with the Exploration Quarterly Field Camps. Our first will be held in one of our favorite spots, the private Aravaipa Canyon Ranch. The group will be limited to a maximum of 45—thus making even the first Expo seem big. Our activities are going to span a range including skills clinics, equipment demonstrations and samples, vehicle topics including driving and recovery (the ranch has miles of private roads), natural-history hikes, and campfire happy hours. Our director of training for the Expo, Graham Jackson, will be there, as will Camel Trophy veteran Jim West, who is well-known to double as a stand-up comedian. We’re looking for old friends and new to join us. The signup link is right here.

I’ll have lots of equipment on hand to try—for example a Freedom Recovery becket kit to rig a three-to-one winch system:

Also an interesting new compact wall tent from White Duck:

And many other new products. There are sure to be many cool vehicles.

Given the beautiful location, we’ll be keeping a Swarovski spotting scope trained on the cliffs to look for bighorn sheep (and, later, planets). And you never know what other wildlife we might find.

We still have spots left. Please join Roseann and me for the start of a new tradition!

Do-it-yourself alignment with the Gyraline

Ever since we bought our 2014 Tundra, it has exhibited a slight pull to the right, despite the fact that the used-car dealer from whom we bought it claimed to have performed an alignment. Taking it in to a professional alignment shop was one of those tasks that are just so easy to put off—like for three years?

A few months ago I installed a complete parabolic suspension on our FJ40. After such a swap it’s smart to have an alignment done. Especially important is checking for caster, which will change with a suspension lift on a solid-axle vehicle and can significantly affect handling. (Caster is the near-but-not-quite vertical axis around which the front wheels turn.) Now I had two vehicles that needed an alignment. And now I was looking at around $250-$300 plus the time (x2) out of my day to have them both done.

Finally . . . right now I have another parabolic suspension kit waiting to be installed on the Troop Carrier. So yet another alignment, another day lost, and another $125-$150 minimum. Ugh.

Then I got an email from friend and master Toyota mechanic Bill Lee, about this tool.

The Gyraline comprises a deceptively simple plastic plate, apparently 3D printed, with a clamp that allows you to secure an iPhone (or Android) to it. The magic part of the device is all in the software, which guides you step by step in measuring—with the accuracy of a professional alignment rack—all aspects of a vehicle’s alignment on all four wheels: toe, camber, caster, even Ackerman angle.

Once the app is loaded you simply follow prompts to place the device against each wheel, level it using the central green diamond, the tapping the relevant wheel. Move to the other side and repeat, and you’ll have your toe-in or toe-out to a fraction of a degree. Thirty seconds max. Other measurements are nearly as simple.

I was so impressed that I intended to write an in-depth article, but honestly the thing is so easy to use there’s just not much more to say. The Gyraline is not only useful for general alignment but also when doing such jobs as replacing tie rod ends. Most enthusiastically recommended.

Canyon Cooler versus Oyster Tempo cooler: Premium ice chest versus super-premium ice chest.

We were early and enthusiastic adopters of the portable 12V fridge concept—first with the classic and dependable Engel, later a series of ARB models, and a superb National Luna model that rides permanently in our 70-series Troop Carrier. I wouldn’t want to travel without one, and I’d certainly never go back to the giant Coleman ice chests and the inevitable three-day slurry in the bottom as 20 pounds of ice melts its way into everything not hermetically sealed.

Day trips and picnics are a different matter. Then it’s nice to have a compact cold-box you can easily carry away from the vehicle, just large enough to hold lunch and drinks. However, most inexpensive ice chests I’ve seen are of terrible build quality and low efficiency—inevitably a throw-away item once the thin plastic shell cracks and the rigid foam deteriorates. We’d generally find at least one or two in the dumpsters after every Overland Expo, destined for a landfill or worse. (Obviously, the less said about the $10 styrofoam grocery-store versions, the better.)

A couple of years ago Roseann bought a 22-quart ice chest from Canyon Coolers, an Arizona company that got its start making rugged super-sized ice chests for river runners. And this mini-me version is indeed rugged, made from rotomolded plastic, with significantly thicker insulation than a standard Coleman-style cooler. It incorporates aluminum tie-down bars (those on the newer V2 version are molded into the plastic), a carry strap with a rubber shoulder pad, rubber feet, and a screw-in drain plug. The lid incorporates a thick rubber gasket and two strong, if somewhat fiddly latches. The price was on the high side at $150, or $170 with a fitted cold pack. (This cooler is made in the U.S.; Canyon’s larger coolers are molded in Taiwan.)

Stout doesn’t begin to describe the sturdiness of the Canyon Cooler. Not only can I stand on it, I can jump up and down on it with impunity. If you owned four of these things you could probably employ them as jack stands. Canyon Coolers offers a lifetime warranty that shows their confidence in the quality. And we found it efficient as well; although I never ran a test against a cheap cooler we both remarked on how long contents remained cold. Roseann used it on a 3,000-miles working field arts trip through five states, and only had to add a Big-Gulp-sized container of ice every two to three days to keep her milk, salads, and water cool.

Despite the cooler’s sturdiness, however, I was still a bit reticent about the plastic construction. Strong, yes—but if you ever do manage to destroy it it’s completely non-recyclable. And its very thickness and bulk would make a big chunk in a landfill.

Then, last year, I got a chance to try a whole new concept in a compact ice chest: the Oyster Tempo cooler. Manufactured in Norway from aluminum, and thus of course fully recyclable, it also incorporates a vacuum insulation system, like a Thermos bottle. The company claimed this provided cold retention superior to any standard ice chest design while reducing the volume needed for the insulation.

The Oyster cooler is certainly the most elegant ice chest I’ve ever seen, with a brushed gray finish and gently fluted sides and top. The latches and hardware are user-serviceable without tools; the lid removes completely, or you can leave the back latched and the lid will hinge up and stay open (although if you push too far the back latch will pop open).  The sealing surface of the lid is over an inch wide and incorporates a rubber as well as a foil seal. The Oyster felt nearly as sturdy as the Canyon; bouncing on top felt completely secure.

The Oyster comes in a bundle that includes both a rigid swiveling handle and a soft carry strap, as well as a pair of form-fitted cold packs that cover the inside bottom, and a cloth carrying/protective bag. It’s definitely a premium package—and it comes with the premium price tag of $495, three times that of the Canyon Cooler. The earth-friendly bonafides are a given; does the performance justify the rest of the price difference?

I first measured the weight, then the outside dimensions of each chest—i.e. the volume it takes up in the vehicle—and compared that with the interior volume.

Canyon: 13.55 lbs; exterior volume: 3,325 cubic inches; interior: 1,382 cubic inches.

Oyster: 12.15 lbs; exterior volume 2,731 cubic inches; interior: 1,472 cubic inches.

So, in addition to being 1.4 pounds lighter than the Canyon, and taking up 20 percent less volume in the vehicle, the Oyster has 90 cubic inches more interior volume, thus fully justifying that part of the manufacturer’s claims.

But what about actual insulating ability? I decided to test it by putting a one-liter Nalgene with 900 ml of completely frozen water inside each chest, and measuring how much melt there was after 24 hours. This put the Oyster at somewhat of a disadvantage due to its greater interior volume, but I decided to try it anyway without any sort of a handicap. Both chests were at ambient temperature when I started, both were left on the porch through a mild spring day and overnight.

The next morning I poured off 650 milliliters of melted water from the Nalgene in the Canyon Cooler—and just 500 milliliters from the bottle in the Oyster. Especially considering the Oyster’s volume “disadvantage” for this test, it resoundingly justified the maker’s claims of superior insulating capability, even compared to another high-end cooler.  We’ve confirmed this by several seat-of-the-pants tests on day trips using the fitted cold packs, remarking each time how seriously cold the contents stayed. Perhaps the Oyster should be referred to as a “super-premium” cooler.

650 milliliters melted in the Canyon Cooler

500 milliliters melted in the Oyster

Okay: the Oyster is better than the Canyon in every measurable aspect. Is it worth three times the price?

That’s going to be a highly personal decision. These are both excellent ice chests, and both should prove extremely durable. For me, the aluminum sustainability of the Oyster is a very powerful draw. The elegant style is just a bonus. I know this cooler is going to last the rest of my life and beyond; various scratches and dents will only add up to patina. And its efficiency is astonishing. The fitted cold packs completely eliminate the need for ice—I pulled a Coke out of ours on the afternoon of a 90-degree day and it was still refrigerator chilled. A super-premium cooler indeed.

Oyster is here. Canyon Coolers is here.