02 – Equipment

I had a bit of difficulty dividing Equipment and Preparation. In the end, I included work done to the car in preparation whilst the equipment section means everything carried in the car. These 2 sections need to be read in conjunction with each other, and there is a significant crossover between Equipment and Preparation.

Here I should point out, right at the start, that I took too much stuff. The same rule applies for travelling by road as it does for backpacking ie lay everything out on the bed, then take half of it away.

The same warning applies to Equipment as it does to Preparation – don’t do what I did and back yourself into a corner by leaving everything to the last minute. You will involve yourself and those you deal with in unnecessary stress. You will also find you end up having to buy things at a higher price because you need them by a certain time, rather than having time to wait till they come up on ebay etc.

Fridge-freezer
- I wouldn’t recommend one just for food as, in most ‘overlanding’ countries, there are so many places to buy food, it’s so cheap that it’s easier just to buy it at a restaurant/stall/dhaba etc rather than cook and in any case surely the point of traveling is to experience local food/everything else, rather than have what you have at home. This is thrown into sharp relief by where I am sitting as I write this – an all-inclusive resort in Tunisia – whose main aim appears to be to recreate as far as possible the comforts of home for its European visitors.
- National Luna, Engel or Waeco seem to make the best ones. Mine was a Waeco. It had a plastic casing, rather than the metal ones of National Luna or Engel’s offerings.

- I had difficulty in getting the fridge to work – initially this proved to be due to voltage drop due to insufficiently heavy-duty wiring, because I tried running it from the cigarette lighter socket. But even after I wired it directly to the battery, I never got it working properly and this was because a split-charge system and an insulating jacket was needed. It would run the batteries down too fast if used when the engine wasn’t running, but didn’t stay cool enough if not kept on overnight. Harry P, who bought it, has had no such problems. As with the water issue, something I would make a better fist of next time around. I wouldn’t have carried food in it, as my ‘model’ of travelling didn’t involve cooking very often, but a ready supply of free, filtered and ice-cool water would have beat bottled water hands-down.
- Fridge-freezer suggestion – get it wired properly, put a jacket around it to keep it cold (especially if you don’t power it through a split-charge system, meaning that it can’t run when the engine’s off) and use it for storing bottles of water that you’ve put through your purification system – see below. See Preparation for more on split-charge.

Water Purification. I bought a Nature Pure First Need Portable Water Purifier. I never used it but this was a reflection more on my laziness, poor wiring of the freezer and a liking for cold bottled water. Bad move – it would have made FAR more sense and saved a LOT of money to set up the filter system, get the freezer working properly and enjoy the cold water!

http://www.generalecologyeurope.com/firstneed.html

First aid kit. I had an unfair advantage with mine, as Chris in Hannover made one up for me:-

The medical kit was supplied by emergency-project.com:

One doctor I met commented that it was like a pharmacy in a suitcase. BUT LEARN HOW TO USE IT!

Wolf boxes - I had 4 like this – but treat the plastic clips holding the lids on gently – they are brittle.

I had tyre levers, inner tubes, and a Rema Tip Top Puncture Repair kit – all unused. But that is more of a reflection of the good BF Goodrich tyres and the easy availability of tyre repair anywhere in the world where vehicles drive. Not to have this would be like saying ‘My house hasn’t burned down since I took out insurance, so I shouldn’t have bothered having it’.

Air Compressor. I had a little TMax one – http://www.mm-4×4.com/t-max-heavy-duty-portable-air-compressor-2422-p.asp
This, like the Kelly Kettle, I liked so much I kept it after selling off all my other equipment. Very, very useful little piece of kit, whether you need to deflate your tyres to get out of being stuck in sand (I’ve tried this – it works), pump up a tyre enough to get you to a puncture repair place, check your pressures, inflate mattresses, whatever. Highly recommend.

Tools. The usual toolbox with pliers, screwdrivers, a socket set, a grease gun (for the UJ and front hubs on a LC 80 series) a torque wrench etc. You don’t want to have to go to a garage just to get an oil change or tighten a loose bolt, but on the other hand you will probably need assistance for anything major in any case.

Spare parts. Depends on the vehicle – you probably need more for a Landrover than for a Landcruiser! I carried 3 sets of air, oil and fuel filters, 1 front and 1 rear propshaft UJ, 1 front and 1 rear wheel bearing, bulbs, a full set of brake pads, belts and 1 set of front hub swivel bearings. If anything is replaced on the car when you give it a deep service before your trip, keep the old widget as a spare in case the new one packs up. The www.overland-underwater.com had an incredibly useful spreadsheet list of Landcruiser spares which even had the Toyota part nos for them, but the site seems to have become partly defunct – am sure Martin would respond favourably to an email request for a copy though. That’s the vehicle-specific stuff – I also had, naturally, lots and lots of nuts and bolts and things like jubilee clips.

Jump leads. Essential as above, whether your battery runs down or you come across someone else with a flat battery – both happened to me. Bear in mind the 12v/24v issue with diesel LC 80s.

Cooking gear
- Primus stove – I never managed to get mine working properly ie it would work, but coated the underside of every pot put on it with greasy soot (or smeech, as my mother used to call this). Suspect this was because it needed cleaning, but it was rarely an issue because I preferred to buy food locally rather than the fag of cooking.
- Pressure cooker – worked very well on the rare occasions it was used.
- Kelly Kettle – an absolutely wonderful invention and I used it all the time – hot water by burning leaves, twigs or newspaper. I like my Kelly Kettle so much I’ve kept it even though I’ve sold most of the other stuff.

http://www.kellykettle.com

Table/chairs. Rarely used. If pressed for space, don’t bother. You can sit on the tailgate, inside the vehicle or on rocks (unless you’re in a place where something will bite you if you do that!)

Jerry cans. Essential. Even if you have an auxiliary fuel tank, there may be cases where you still run out or need to help someone. I bought mine from a MOD surplus place, but you can probably get brand new ones just as cheap if you shop around.

Water containers. Essential as above. Mine were plastic versions of the jerrycans above, bought from the same MOD surplus place. They were OK, or you can use the rather more snazzy built-in tank solution. One overland tour leader I met (Hugh, of www.saharanexploration.com) remarked that individual containers were better than a big tank as, if you got some bad water in one, you only had to clean out that one and not the whole system.

Recovery gear. Essential as above, whether you get stuck or come across someone else who is – both happened to me. I had a set of straps and a pulley bought as a kit from Brownchurch. Even if you know you don’t have the ability to use the jack/sand ladders/straps/hi-lift jack to get yourself out, still carry some recovery straps so that if you do get stuck, you can attach them to another vehicle.

Sand ladders. Don’t make the mistake I did of buying ones that are too cheap and flimsy!

GPS. Essential, but bear in mind not everywhere has detailed GPS street maps. There isn’t really much I can add to what’s already on the internet about GPS.