Overlanding Crossover Adventurers Part 1 - Mike and Mrs. Rugged

Overlanding Crossover Adventurers Part 1

We are a veteran family with homegrown values, living the life of adventure and running a social media presence known as “The Rugged Outdoorsmen.” We have three sons that are now grown and out on their own adventures, and Mike, our youngest outdoorsman at 11 years old.

We love to explore new places that are off the beaten path, primarily in the rugged Southwest. We use back country by-ways and dirt roads traveling deep into our national monuments, preserves, national forests and other public use lands. I’d say that we are part-time overlanders, traveling to lesser-known places where we’re free to roam, with few restrictions.

Our objective is to set up camp in these places, so we can freelance hike and explore where few have gone, on the paths we create. Freelance hiking is the practice of exploring the wild where there are no trails, and in doing this, having navigational skills is a requirement. Exploring these places has allowed us to immerse ourselves into the wild and experience all the outdoors has to offer.

With that being said, we also enjoy visiting places of historical significance as well as our state and national parks around the country. As with many other overlanders and outdoorsmen, our passion is not limited to just one activity, we also kayak, paddleboard, rock climb, rappel, and go whitewater rafting. We trek across the country to the East Coast for six weeks every summer, where we stay at Camp Riverview, our rustic fishing camp in the mountains of upstate New York. Our camp is off-thegrid and nestled on 11 acres along the banks of the AuSable River, a premier trout fishing and kayaking waterway in the Adirondack Mountains. This journey from Nevada to Camp Riverview is filled with exploration as we navigate across the country. The summer in the mountains is spent on the river fishing and enjoying watersports. We schedule frequent day trips from camp to explore the surrounding mountains and places of historical significance. In early August we begin our journey back across the continent to our basecamp in Southern Nevada.

We’ve been overlanding for many years now and traveled with several different vehicles. Jeeps are our favorite and we now own our fifth, a Wrangler Unlimited. We’ve tented and

towed many different styles of campers through the years, from hybrids to hard shells, and even had a 31-foot motorhome. With all our travel and through years of experience, we’ve come to realize that we needed a more practical, functional adventure rig to fit an active lifestyle of two adults and a soon to be teenage boy. A rig that could carry enough adventure gear for three people - inflatable paddleboards, kayaks, all our hiking gear, backpacks and mountain bikes, etc. Something small and nimble enough to get on length restricted roads, but large enough to suit all our needs. We also had to consider the economics and feasibility of the long highway journey across the country to the East Coast each summer.

Michele, my wife, was adamant about certain creature comforts that one would typically find in a small tow behind or motorhome. She wanted a small kitchen equipped with an oven and a double sink. A fully functional bathroom was also an absolute must on her list. I wanted something that could carry a significant amount of equipment, with plenty of power, that we could use off the grid for a week or more. Mike, becoming a young man, wanted to have his own space.

Our annual trip across the country, which requires a lot of highway miles for several days at a time, was another factor to consider when choosing a base rig for overlanding. We decided that a small Class C motorhome with the right footprint (22-25’) and floorplan would make a great base to build out our adventure rig. Michele found a floor plan on a 24’ platform that would meet all of our expectations. One with ample interior storage, a cabover bunk that gives Mike his personal space and a large storage bay with outside access for all our gear. It also has an 11-foot slide-out on the driver’s side that really opens up the interior cabin when it’s deployed.

Last year we scoured the internet until we located a 2017 Thor 24’ Class C with 35,000 miles on it at a dealership in Colorado. This small ‘C’ cabin sits atop of the very rugged heavy framed Ford E-450 chassis. It’s powered by Ford’s massive, big block V-10 with six-speed transmission. With this truck as our base, we began the overlander build.

The first step was to gain some ground clearance. Doing a ton of research, we decided to have a custom lift kit built and installed from Weldtec Designs in El Cajon, California. They built us a custom 6” lift specific to the weight of the truck. This suspension lift included: • Ford E-series Extended Radius

Arms and Brackets • Skyjacker 188 coils • Ford E-series Sway Bar Drop

Brackets • Fox Shocks Rear & Reservoir

Shocks Front • Fox Shock Steering Stabilizer Kit • Rear shock Mounts • Ford E-series Lift Kit for Class-C • 7 BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 235/85/16 Load E tires (These tires raised our overall lift an additional 1.5in for a total lift of 7.5in)

The next step was to add functional bumpers. We had Weldtec designs build us a custom rear bumper. The left-side swing arm was designed to carry the oversized spare tire. The right-side swing arm was designed with a platform to mount a large cooler and extra gear. The platform also doubles as a grill platform.

We decided on an Aluminess front bumper with a built-in lockable box for a Winch and Recovery Tool Storage. The Winch we chose as part of our Recovery gear is a 12,000 lb Warn Winch model VR EVO with synthetic cable.

Our Recovery gear also includes: • Black Off-road Traction Boards • 20ft 1.25in Kinetic Recovery Rope rated at 52,000lbs • 2 -8ft Tree Saver Straps with a 10

Ton Snatch Block • 4 Heavy Duty D-Ring Shackles/ 2

Mounted on the Front Bumper

Then, finally, we added some tech gear and creature comforts. For navigation we installed an Alpine Stereo navigation system with a 6.5in screen for the rear camera. We also have a Garmin RV 780 Advanced Navigation System with front record camera. We have solar on the roof married with a Cobra Pro 2500-watt inverter. The truck also came equipped with an onboard Onan 4000-watt generator.

We refer to our rig as “The Adventurer,” and Mike lovingly calls this truck “Hercules.”

This build has truly enhanced our overlanding experience. The rig is about the same size as an extended cab pick-up with a bed camper installed. It’s definitely not a jeep, but it has enough ground clearance and power to tackle some truly rough back country roads.

Mike and I have a Dot com business, www.theruggedoutdoorsmen. com, where we manage our social media presence, our merchandise and blog. In all actuality, The Rugged Outdoorsmen brand is a father, son and occasionally mom too. (Mom or Mrs. Rugged as she is also known, is an absolute key component of this tribe, although she sometimes pretends otherwise.) She is our photographer and trip navigator, and she’s damn good at both.

Our mission as The Rugged Outdoorsmen, is to motivate others to get outside and set the example for others to follow.

A lot has happened since we began this journey documenting and sharing our adventures on Instagram and our Facebook business feed just a year ago. We started meeting great like-minded people on both platforms, created friendships, and a growing following of incredible people. We love the feeling of belonging and community that we’ve experienced on Instagram - a rugged thank you to all who support and follow us. Creating a healthy balance on social media has led to other brands reaching out to us to promote their products, and we’ve managed to reach out and create a rapport with several brands on our own.

We currently promote, review, and field test products on our explorations as The Rugged Outdoorsmen, with seven active accounts and an ongoing collaboration with RWC - Rugged Wear Clothing. We have created an IGTV live television show called “Thurro & The Rugged Outdoorsmen” with our partner, friend and producer, Thurro Alexander. Our show runs every Tuesday without interruption. As this story goes to print, we are on episode twenty-five. On our show we provide a platform for other outdoorsmen to share their stories and experiences with like-minded people. If they have a small business, we also give them the opportunity to share that information with our viewers during the episode. We are actively working on the direction of our brand, and we’re excited to see new growth in the future.

JB | Mike and Mrs. Rugged

In Closing

Being outside and overlanding together is an incredible bonding experience for our family, and we cherish that experience. We believe that the world was meant to be explored, and that as a people, we should be outside enjoying the beauty of the earth, and we want to encourage more people to do the same. We’re a family of outdoorsmen, freelance hikers, and overlanders who love adventure. We take pride in doing what’s right, leaving places better than we found them - pack in and pack out - and we believe in karma and providence.

Get Outside - Hike the Earth - Be Rugged

The Rugged Outdoorsman LLC theruggedoutdoorsman

www.theruggedoutdoorsmen.com