Archives for category: FEATURES
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My New Membership Offering: The Intermodal Spirit

November 18, 2022 //

Hello WCXC Subscribers, my apologies for the the lack of posts since the spring. In the balance between work life and personal life, WCXC has been taking a back seat. I have a new membership offering though that you may be interested in. It’s called The Intermodal Spirit. It’s a hub for stories, tools, and ideas at the intersection of exploring, relating, and being.

The first big piece I’m featuring is The St. Agnes Journal, collection of dispatches from the time I overwintered on a mile-wide English island. It’s also about how we relate to each other in community and one-on-one. It’s tools that help us do that better.

I hope you enjoy it and invite you to subscribe.

The Intermodal Spirit

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Categories - Projects, FEATURES, The Library

Spotted: Hymer VisionVenture 4×4 Van Concept

February 17, 2022 //

This 2020 Sprinter-based, off-road van concept from German manufacturer Hymer looks capable outside and like a stylish apartment inside. It features an indoor kitchen and fridge, a folding desk/workspace, stairs to leading to an insulated, pop-up sleeping loft, a very cool convertible bathroom/shower area, and a rear tailgate deck with a slide-out grill/outdoor kitchen. It’s amazing how far RVs have come. I could go for something like this.
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Categories - Campers, - Spotted:, - Videos, FEATURES, MEDIA, VEHICLES

DIY Overland Truck Drawer Builds

January 6, 2022 //

If you’re looking for a winter project in order to get ready for camping season, these two excellent drawer projects might be the ticket. The Blake Weber video details “the ultimate overland truck bed kitchen drawers for camping” and to me that seems like a pretty good description. The project incorporates a grill, propane stove, sink, and pressurized water tank, among many other clever features.

The GVM Corner video, below, offers a clever take on a fold-out bed and basic kitchen set up. Hat tip to Nathan Donnelly from Northwest Resilience for passing this video along.

My only suggestion, if you build one these is to make sure the silverware and kitchen tools are stored in a way that will keep them from banging into each other. Otherwise the rattling on rough trails may drive you nuts.

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Categories - Projects, - Videos, FEATURES, GEAR, MEDIA

Singer Releases an All-Terrain 911

January 5, 2021 //

Singer has released an all-terrain version of its reimagined 911 which was developed in conjunction with Tuthill Porsche in Britain. It’s called the All-terrain Competition Study (ACS for short) and pays homage to the 1980s 911 Safari.

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Categories - 4x4 / SUV, - Videos, FEATURES, MEDIA, VEHICLES

Spotted: A Porsche Built for Overlanding

May 3, 2020 //

It’s not every day that you see a Porsche 924 built for overlanding but this is just that. Mods include a 40 mm lift, 500 watts of lights, roof rack, custom MaxTrax holders, and, the piece de resistance, a custom sleeping setup for two complete with a Webasto cabin heater. Amazing! What a build! And it looks the business to boot.

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Categories - Cars, - Spotted:, - Videos, FEATURES, MEDIA, VEHICLES

Spotted: Unimog Enthusiast Build

January 28, 2020 //

I’ve been on a bit of a Unimog kick lately. Here’s a very nice, 60s-era Unimog, with some well-thought-out features, built by a guy named Mike Day.

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Categories - Spotted:, - Trucks, - Videos, FEATURES, MEDIA, VEHICLES

Baker Lake Snowday

February 21, 2019 //

Last week we got a bunch of snow in the Pacific Northwest. We made the most of it by having an off-road adventure day at Baker Lake in the North Cascades. Our destination was a foot bridge suspended over a river north of the lake.

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Categories - 4x4 / SUV, - Difficulty: 2 of 10, - Pictures, - Trips: The Western US, FEATURES, MEDIA, VEHICLES, — Washington

Wiring Harness Upgrade Brightens Headlights

February 10, 2019 //

If you have a Jeep and haven’t done this upgrade, keep reading. This wiring harness enables your truck to send power directly from the battery to the headlights via a couple of relays instead of routing the electricity into the dash and through the light switch. In Jeeps I’ve been told routing the electricity through the switch robs a lot of power and causes dim headlights.

In this excellent video from YouTube user BleepinJeep, he finds that this $25 upgrade more than doubled the light output from his stock headlights. That was even better performance than he got from his upgraded LED lights on the new harness (and the LEDs didn’t put out enough heat to keep themselves free of snow). He takes you through the whole install.

You can get this harness from a place called K Suspension Fab but they were backordered at the time of this post. Here’s a link where you can find it on Amazon. That link is for H4 headlights. Check first to see what kind of headlights you have.

Thanks to my good friend Nathan for the tip!

Categories - 4x4 / SUV, - Projects, - Videos, FEATURES, GEAR, MEDIA, SKILLS, VEHICLES

H2OT, a DIY, Pressurized, Solar, Rooftop Shower

January 5, 2018 //

If you’re looking for an interesting winter project, you could do worse than taking inspiration from this excellent DIY solar shower video. The shower is designed to fit on a roof rack, be heated by the sun, and provide a 30 psi stream of water with pressure generated by an air compressor. It’s reported to get to about 95˚F after a day of driving around in mixed sun and clouds. Not bad.

I don’t think I’ve seen a more well thought out project. And the project’s creator calls it H2OT. Watch him explain and demonstrate the whole thing in a sub-six-minute video. Excellent!

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Categories - Projects, - Videos, FEATURES, GEAR, MEDIA

Illabot Creek Rd.

December 18, 2017 //

Last Sunday I took Illabot Creek Rd., in Washington’s Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, up to the Slide Lake trailhead for some winter fun and snow driving. Here are some photos and some trip notes at the end in case you go.

Chained up and ready to go.
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Categories - 4x4 / SUV, - Difficulty: 2 of 10, - Pictures, - Trips: The Western US, - United States, FEATURES, MEDIA, North America, PLACES, TRAIL RATINGS, VEHICLES, — Washington
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