Rocklander - The New Off-Road Term For 2025

[Curious Hound]

For starters, my part of the country isn't conducive to overlanding. To go far enough for overlanding to make sense, I'd have to drive further than I normally have time to get away from work.

That's a bummer because you really aren’t very far away from some good opportunities. Georgia Traverse, Florida Adventure trail, western Carolinas, eastern Tennessee. There’s a lot to explore

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

That's a bummer because you really aren’t very far away from some good opportunities. Georgia Traverse, Florida Adventure trail, western Carolinas, eastern Tennessee. There’s a lot to explore

I dont think you have to be on hard trails or even gravel to overland. I think it's more being self reliable and enjoy the trip. I enjoyed the first part of the Vagabond trip when me and Jim just saw attractions. We didn't stay on gravel but made it more site seeing. We still setup and broke down camp every night in a different location. Still even though it wasn't remote or off grid. I would concider it an overlanding adventure. As far as his area there are tons to explore. I have to travel 2 hours from the house just to hit a trail. It's 3 to 4 for an overland adventure. It's at least an hour for a State Park with a campground. Most of my time is spent in North Georgia on east TN or KY when out adventuring.

 

[sgtsandman]

We would be dragged kicking and screaming into a pop up camper. We like the tent and RTT camping we are doing too much.

On the taking too much with us part of the equation, we are still figuring out the RTT side of things. Tent camping, it is getting to the point where things might need to be pared down. More on the number of tents and gear being taken since Jessica's son is out of state and her daughter is busy working and doing responsible adult things, with the realities of what adult life entails. So, the trailer doesn't need to be packed as heavy as it has been in the past. It would be nice not to have everything packed precisely so as to shoehorn everything in. That will require some weight and balance math though...

 

[dvdswan]

Glamping... If you pull out a 10x10 rug and place it at the door under the awning of your camper, you might be a glamper.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Glamping... If you pull out a 10x10 rug and place it at the door under the awning of your camper, you might be a glamper.

View attachment 134002

They really cut down on "stuff" tracked into the camper. We use it with our ground tent also.

 

[Snoranger]

Glamping... If you pull out a 10x10 rug and place it at the door under the awning of your camper, you might be a glamper.

View attachment 134002

What if you put one under your tent?
@Robertmangrum.rm

 

[Shran]

"Adventure camping" is the term my small group of friends was using.

The "overlanding" thing is kind of an enigma. It's not quite like the Jeep thing but it still feels like a race to the bottom to see who can buy the most expensive stuff and then never use it. I think my advice to anyone interested in this is, go camping, see what you need and start assembling your setup... you do not need a $300 set of pots & pans... but a $300 fridge is awful nice. Plan your big buys wisely, rooftop tents especially are a trap. I personally know four people that had them, tried to talk me into buying one, and then a few years later they have all gone to a different setup.

I think a lot of people get burned out because they spent big bucks on stuff that doesn't suit their needs. Then they spend all their time rebuilding their setup and not actually using it.

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

"Adventure camping" is the term my small group of friends was using.

The "overlanding" thing is kind of an enigma. It's not quite like the Jeep thing but it still feels like a race to the bottom to see who can buy the most expensive stuff and then never use it. I think my advice to anyone interested in this is, go camping, see what you need and start assembling your setup... you do not need a $300 set of pots & pans... but a $300 fridge is awful nice. Plan your big buys wisely, rooftop tents especially are a trap. I personally know four people that had them, tried to talk me into buying one, and then a few years later they have all gone to a different setup.

I think a lot of people get burned out because they spent big bucks on stuff that doesn't suit their needs. Then they spend all their time rebuilding their setup and not actually using it.

Exactly. I started with a 3 man Walmart tent a cooler and a cook stove. My last trip i dang near needed a trailer. Ive since revamped my setup. Hopefully simplified and reduced my gear down. We will see next trip.

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

What if you put one under your tent?
@Robertmangrum.rm

Hey. The rug makes it nice if your on rocks haha. ROCKlander term see haha

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Exactly. I started with a 3 man Walmart tent a cooler and a cook stove. My last trip i dang near needed a trailer. Ive since revamped my setup. Hopefully simplified and reduced my gear down. We will see next trip.

It kind of becomes a sort of a game, how to do more with less.

Hey. The rug makes it nice if your on rocks haha. ROCKlander term see haha

Mud too, I was glad I threw it in on our SD trip where it rained every day.

 

[Snoranger]

Exactly. I started with a 3 man Walmart tent a cooler and a cook stove. My last trip i dang near needed a trailer. Ive since revamped my setup. Hopefully simplified and reduced my gear down. We will see next trip.

Which item was the “over the top” item?
The 20 gallon water tank and heater system.
The 24” propane fire pit.
The 2 separate 4 person tents for you and Zane.

 

[Shran]

Exactly. I started with a 3 man Walmart tent a cooler and a cook stove. My last trip i dang near needed a trailer. Ive since revamped my setup. Hopefully simplified and reduced my gear down. We will see next trip.

My first "overland" trip was in 2017 and I was trying to do it for as cheap as possible so I was right there with you... cooler, $10 stove, a tote full of camping essentials, and a tote full of parts & tools. I had a bed set up in the back of the Explorer and just set everything outside under a tarp at night.

I'm pretty committed to the Explorer at this point as I don't really want to build another rig. That platform is a bit limited in its weight carrying capacity so I've had to be pretty thoughtful on what to pack and it's still a heavy pig. One of these days I will do a writeup on it - I do have a handful of things that cost some real dollars but overall I am very happy with the cost to benefit ratio of everything I have. It's just so easy to dive in, start placing orders and find out that there is an unfixable major issue.

I think the Explorer would sort of fall into the "rocklander" category... it has a ton of armor, front locker & recovery gear... but it's also on stock size tires with only a 2" lift. I've had a few people tell me to convert the crawler Ranger into a multipurpose camping rig but there's always give & take - if I added a RTT or stuff like that it becomes vulnerable on hard trails. I like RaceRanger97's build a lot, I don't think I would wheel it on some of the tight trails around here, but it's a really good compromise of camping utility & offroad ability.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Which item was the “over the top” item?
The 20 gallon water tank and heater system.
The 24” propane fire pit.
The 2 separate 4 person tents for you and Zane.

To be fair a four man tent isn't really that big. Really a practical minimum to have somewhere to sleep, store some stuff and have room to move around.

A four man tent is big enough for four people to sleep beside each other and is very a impractical way to measure a tent.

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

Which item was the “over the top” item?
The 20 gallon water tank and heater system.
The 24” propane fire pit.
The 2 separate 4 person tents for you and Zane.

Umm. Yeah what he said haha

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

T

To be fair a four man tent isn't really that big. Really a practical minimum to have somewhere to sleep, store some stuff and have room to move around.

A four man tent is big enough for four people to sleep beside each other and is very a impractical way to measure a tent.

He sad part is I own 2 different 2 room instant tents. 1 hub style and 1 Coleman style. Still brought 2. Main excuse I have is Zane was last minute and most everything was packed for 1 till the day before I left. But could have revamped still.