Top Ten Experiences at Overland Expo East 2018

TEXT AND IMAGES BY BRYON DORR

EVENT INFORMATION

OVERLAND EXPO 2019 SCHEDULE

OVERLAND EXPO WEST

MAY 17-19, 2019 FLAGGSTAFF, AZ

OVERLAND EXPO EAST

OCTOBER 2019 SOUTHEASTERN REGION, USA

OVERLANDEXPO.COM

The big gathering of the overland tribe in North America is a bicoastal biannual thing these days. The east coast version of Overland Expo was in its fifth year in 2018 and was held at an all-new venue, Oskar Blues Reeb Ranch, in the mountains of southwest North Carolina. As seems to be par for the course, no matter the time of year, the event experienced some pretty extreme weather.

Even through the wet and cold conditions, there was an impressive turnout of vendors, travelers, instructors and participants. Let’s have a look at the Top Ten things that truly stood out to us at Overland Expo East 2018.

1 MUD

The area got many inches of rain leading up to and during the opening days of the event. This, of course, turned the event site into a pretty insane deep slick mud pit. Great effort was required to move by vehicle or on foot around the site the entire long weekend.

The standout part for me about the deep mud and tough conditions was how much everyone was willing and ready to help each other out. From pulling, to pushing, to directing and providing knowledge and tools for recovery, everyone stepped up and helped out everyone else. We’ll also say that knowledge and the right tools for the job are key. Don’t elect yourself the leader of someone else’s recovery when you don’t really know what you’re doing, especially in a concentrated talent pool like Overland Expo. Also don’t buy cheap knockoff recovery tools. Proper quality tools work when you need them to, and are good for more than one recovery. I saw more than a few ineffective and cheap traction boards break and fail at extracting vehicles throughout the weekend.