Expo West Request - 100 Series Pictures

[Live to Ski]

w/r OE: A major aspect that I don't see pointed out are the symposiums. The speakers are the people who "walk the walk, talk the talk". Besides networking, I believe this is one of the three pillar reasons to attend: 1) stuff, 2) networking, 3) education.

 

[ih8everything]

This guy had a MUD sticker, hopefully he took great pictures!

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That's me! I didn't really take photos at the expo. My wife and I ended up leaving Saturday afternoon to go do some wheeling in Sedona instead. In my opinion the expo is good if you want to get hands-on with more general products (winches, rooftop tents, fridges, coolers, etc) or if you want to attend the seminars/classes. We are thinking of getting a RTT soon and the expo was great for being able to get inside and test out virtually every single tent on the market and now we have narrowed it down to a few models we'll consider. Vehicle specific products for the 100 series are pretty much non-existent. The only product I can recall seeing was Total Chaos had their upper control arm on display.

It's also good for seeing some new products before they hit the market and talking with the people who designed/created them. My favorite product I saw was the Deadman Offroad Earth Anchor. Look them up. Currently on kickstarter.

Overall, I was glad I went, but I can't see being there for all 3 days unless I bought their more expensive "Experience" package to get access to some of the higher level classes. This will probably be an every 2-3 year event for me and just for 1-1.5 days.

 

[nw_fj62]

I had the good fortune to go to both Expo West (first time) and NW Overland (second time) last year. Like someone wrote, it was fun to see the big trucks and the sprinter sportsmobile conversions in Flagstaff. Helped me understand the range of options - and I really liked looking at the common parts and being able to compare options.

NW Overland is fun and local-ish feeling - Seattle area shops like Mule Outfitters (Issaquah), Torfab (Everett) and Adventure Ready (now Ballard) all on site. Warn, MSR and ARB-USA all locally based. Mario came in from AT Trailers (Prescott AZ) - the current Habitat very practical and well built.

I enjoyed hearing the presentation by the impressive women of expedition overland (Bozeman) and also really enjoyed the chance to see the newly imported EarthCruiser GXL (Bend). Fun to talk with Aussie Lance about how he wanted to develop it for US market.

I enjoyed the chance to leave the compound after campfire, and camp in a quiet spot on the Wenatchee river. Then take a scenic group drive with the Northwest Overland Society.

Armed with both events in my mind, I concluded that a built up Sprinter 4x4 was ultimately impractical for my life (also $100K+), a built up Tacoma with Habitat would be awesome if I was 20-30 (and had $50K+) and that a previously loved Slee-built 100 was "just the right fit" for my aspirations and regular life following the FJ62.

And I'll be taking that truck to this years NW Overland Rally - June 15-18. Hope to see you there.