Trip Report: Big Iron Overland Rally

Scott/kramttocs and I met up at the Big Iron Overland Rally yesterday.  It was a bit over 100 miles each way for me, and it was a fun trip!

If any of y'all are into overlanding then I highly recommend it the next time this event is held.  I've emailed Chris, who hosts it, and asked that he let me know how I can be alerted to the timing for the next one, so I'll let y'all know when I know.

Scott and I attended the four classes they held on Managing Trauma, Off-Road Recovery Gear, Overland Radio Communications, and Overland Navigation 101 - Gaia,  They were very helpful.  I'll let Scott speak for himself, but I know that I learned a whole lot.  As one presenter said, it was like drinking from a fire hose, and I ended up wet - but happy.

One class was particularly helpful.  I have Gaia nav software on my phone but have found it very, VERY complex and the learning curve is steep.  But this teacher talked us through the basics such that I now think I can use it.  And, I won a year's subscription to Gaia Premium!

However, the classes were held in a common pavilion on picnic tables with lots of other people around making noise such that it was very hard to hear the teacher.  So I emailed Chris at 10:08 last night about the issue, suggesting that he might want to move things around in the pavilion to make hearing easier.  To my surprise he emailed back at 1:30 this morning to say that he'd heard similar things from others and they are moving the classes into the museum today.  Wow!  It is astounding that he was so quick to get back with me, much less to have an even better solution than I suggested.  

There were lots of vendors there and I talked with most, if not all, of them and found them very helpful.  The manufacturer of Go Treads was there, as were people selling many other products for overlanding, like batteries, solar systems, awnings and tents, maps and mapping software, etc.

But I spoke extensively with one that makes "load bars", which are the cross bars on which you'd mount a tent or other such load.  This was Theo Ferreira of Rugged Bound, and he showed me their new load bars that are much stronger than the light-duty ones from other vendors.  More about this will be posted in Big Blue's Transformation thread, but suffice to say that he went out to the parking lot with me to look at Big Blue's bed rails and explained that the feet on his uprights will work perfectly with those tracks.

Anyway, here's a shot of Scott and I with our trucks in the parking lot - just before it started to rain:




And here's a shot of some dork with a foot-long corn dog, and Big Brutus in the background:

Looks like you had fun.  

Theo's name is appropo for a metal fabricator.

Glad the rain held off long enough for you to have a walk around the "Big Iron".
The scale of these shovels (and the even bigger draglines) is pretty humbling.

Sounds like a neat and fruitful event! I would enjoy something like that. Especially the corn dogs!

Agreed - it was a lot of fun!
Not to mention a peek into a world that I didn't realize the scope of.
I'd have to save the trauma was the most beneficial to me although the recovery one showed some devices I'd never knew existed. Particularly the recommendation to use a snatch block alternative with synthetic line or the woven pull strap (kinetic). It's primarily tractors that we get stuck so chains are still used although he said they come in massive WLLs but I could definitely see the need for something in over landing that doesn't pull the frame out from under you if you don't ease into it right.

Big Brutus is absolutely incredible in so many ways and I do wish there'd been more time to visit the museum as my daughter was a little too young time we went (last Garagemahal truck show) to appreciate it. Good excuse to hit it the next time we come back from OK.

I am glad Chris was receptive to your recommendation and had a plan to address it today. That should also make the projector setup for Gaia work a lot better.

I forgot to tell you but when I pulled in there were a couple of guys that I chatted with about our trucks ("some good looking 70's Fords"  ) and they were impressed by your winch bumper  

Yes, I'm wishing I'd gotten there earlier and been able to spend time in the museum.  But just seeing Big Brutus is awe inspiring.

Good looking 70's trucks, huh?  

Well, 20 years ago I might have said the same thing.  Oh well, they are good looking trucks, nonetheless.  But yours is much better looking than mine.  

As for the winch bumper, that gets a lot of attention.  It isn't perfect, but it sure is prominent.

There's a couple of gentlemen I'd like to have spent time with yesterday. Sounds like the two of you had a good time. Nice picture too! Scott, where's your windshield wipers?  

I wish you could have come, John.  Would be good to meet you and hang out.  As Scott said as we parted, maybe in September?  

Did I mention those are two very nice looking trucks! Nice trucks, fellas!!!  

Yes, would have been nice to meet you in person John

The wipers are on a shop table along with the rest of my exterior trim  I took them off awhile ago because I had small windshield leak that I was going to have looked at. That was postponed months because I figured, no matter how unlikely, I might as well wait until I get the new body mounts put in. I really need to get back to tracking down that leak and getting them put on. Fortunately we outran the rain easily...enough to spend some time walking main street in Pittsburg with some ice cream.