ImNoSaint's H3 Build

Imnosaint

Adventurer
Blue Ridge Overland Gear

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I'll admit it. Most my OCD is manifest in putting stuff in the right spot. The H3 is short of spots and in my quest to sort out its interior I came upon Blue Ridge Overland Gear. They're a company out of Virginia who make high quality MOLLE, hoop and loop, pouches and accessories for most any storage application in an adventure vehicle. Some of their stock is custom made to upgrade existing gear like fridges and store Goal Zero battery packs, and that's what caught my attention.

I have neither, but I could see how I could adapt their products to my needs and get things where they belong.

Blue Ridge makes an eight-inch headrest panel of loop material on the backside and a smooth, blank panel on the front. It creates a foundation to configure pouches for storage needs of items kept readily at hand.

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I added their Goal Zero 10 Battery Charger pouch to hold handheld two-way radios with their headsets, and a 4x8x1 Medium VELCRO front zip pouch to the headrest panel. They both take up most of the loop real estate but provide ample room for smaller adventure necessities.

Craftsmanship is excellent, materials are military-grade, and each piece came with a card signed off by cutters, sewers and checkers. Nice touch. I bought a pair of each.

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I also wanted to make better use of the rear door space and wanted to adapt a MOLLE system for versatility in configuring storage. I had previously modified the hatch on the door into a work space for food prep and searched for a MOLLE panel that would still allow its deployment.

Blue Ridge makes a 12x24 panel for the Engel Fridge, just the right size, or close enough for my application.

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It's made of 500D Cordura with an eighth-inch padding, and mounts with five marine-grade screw-in snaps and a strip of VELCRO for reinforcement at the top. Same quality as the items above. Very pleased with fit, finish, stitching and materials.

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Here it is loaded with packs, and with the workspace deployed.

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While the above modification worked well to keep essentials handy, it encroached too far into the cargo space, since the overland gear packs in filling the space completely while securing the load.

The Fiskars axe has been relocated across the driver-side cargo area storage compartment and the MOLLE panel has been moved up above the rear-door utility shelf.

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Now the packs clear the load when the door is closed, yet they're still accessible.

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adventr

Adventurer
My last ergonomic issue with the H3 is the placement of the power accessory switches on the driver's door, they're too far back. I don't know what considerations had to be made in the design of the door, but I can't imagine what is in the way fore of the arm rest that required its position so far aft.

DriversDoor.jpg


As it is, in order to hit the driver's window switch, the elbow and shoulder have to lift back and up to get the hand in position, even more awkward for the rear-window controls.



Great pics! I'm really jealous of your geographical location.... :drool:



On a side note, I noticed this pic that you posted. I had no idea that some H3s came with the window controls in that spot. Certainly does seem like it would be awkward to actuate the controls there... GM apparently woke up at some point and realized this, as on my H3, the window controls are located right underneath your mirror control switch.
You may be able to find some door panels from a later model to toss onto your rig? Mine is a 2009, but not sure when they changed over.





Quick interior shot from mine showing the different placement:



 
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Imnosaint

Adventurer

Right, now I have door-panel envy. :bowdown: I've read that GM made the switch in 2009, both driver and passenger side. Yours look awful nice and ergonomic, though, the way they should have all along. I've learned to live with it, especially when the view outside my windscreen looks like this:

Coyote Spring.jpg
 
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Imnosaint

Adventurer
Really digging your creative uses of interior space!

What first aid kit is that? I'm looking for something similar.

Thank you. Making my OCD useful.

The EMT pouch is made by Voodoo Tactical. It's a clamshell design with two-way zippers and silent pulls.

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It has triple-row length MOLLE tabs and a grommet on the bottom for drainage.

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Great pouch, excellent construction.

Inside is a kit adapted from an old medic kit for wounds, burns, bleeding and trauma. I've put together contents that include:

Sterile gloves
Antimicrobial hand wipes
Tegaderm Pads - 3
Eye Pad
Mole skin
Wound Medic Closure Pack (Actually in the breakaway bag)
WoundSeal Powder
Assorted fabric adhesive bandages
3”X3” Sterile pads - 6
Alcohol swabs - 12
3.5”X3.5” QuikClot - 2
OccuFresh sterile eye wash
Antihistamines
Decongestants
Ibuprofen
Acetaminophen
Aspirin
Utility/bandage scissors
Tweezers
Safety pins
Sterile specimen tube
Antibiotic ointment
2” medical tape
2” ace wrap
2” gauze wrap
½” Medical adhesive tape
Dental floss
Carmex
Instant cold pack
Instant hot pack
Bottled antiseptic

More than you probably wanted to know. The short answer is, it's not a kit, but a combo of stuff I've used before, suited to the area we explore in a nice little pouch.
 

Colorado_Outback

Adventurer
More than you probably wanted to know. The short answer is, it's not a kit, but a combo of stuff I've used before, suited to the area we explore in a nice little pouch.

Not at all :) and thanks! Ive been looking for an off the shelf solution but haven't been able to find what I wanted. I really like how bright that pouch is, easy to visually locate when needed.
 

Jason911

Adventurer
It is with great fondness and longing I read you postings. I too was once bitten by the H3 bug - as it offered and afforded me a chance to explore, and it appealed to my inner child. A tonka toy it was not(but I imagined it to be). I procured what was one of the last H3's ever built, save for the Avis fleet order, and I drove out to Hummer of Sioux Falls to get it. 2010 Hummer H3 Adventure, every option save for leather and the V8(alpha), and then loaded up with full under carriage armor, better BFG tires and bilstein 5100 shocks. Factory electric locking rear AND front diffs were a wonderful if rarely used option. The atlas I5 I too found whimsical at best. Factory 285 tire size was great, factory 4.56 gears less so. Drove it for a year of fun and dismal fuel economy. Jumped into the Jeep camp in 2011 and here I remain. Think your storage in a H3 is abysmal? You'd scoff at trying to stack that much gear in WK2 - but the 28.9 mpg (in the city!) of the EcoDiesel really shines - thats a story for another thread. View attachment 286825
 

superbuickguy

Explorer
It is with great fondness and longing I read you postings. I too was once bitten by the H3 bug - as it offered and afforded me a chance to explore, and it appealed to my inner child. A tonka toy it was not(but I imagined it to be). I procured what was one of the last H3's ever built, save for the Avis fleet order, and I drove out to Hummer of Sioux Falls to get it. 2010 Hummer H3 Adventure, every option save for leather and the V8(alpha), and then loaded up with full under carriage armor, better BFG tires and bilstein 5100 shocks. Factory electric locking rear AND front diffs were a wonderful if rarely used option. The atlas I5 I too found whimsical at best. Factory 285 tire size was great, factory 4.56 gears less so. Drove it for a year of fun and dismal fuel economy. Jumped into the Jeep camp in 2011 and here I remain. Think your storage in a H3 is abysmal? You'd scoff at trying to stack that much gear in WK2 - but the 28.9 mpg (in the city!) of the EcoDiesel really shines - thats a story for another thread. View attachment 286825

how are the tow hooks on your Ecodiesel?

I had a 2007 H3, I have a 2008 H3 Alpha, and my wife drives a 2014 JK Jeep 4 door. MPG - 2007 was best, then the Jeep, then the Alpha. We looked at a Ecodiesel, but it simply doesn't work....for mpg, we have a Jetta TDI when a car is all that is necessary.
 

superbuickguy

Explorer
I really like this
DSCF1823.jpg


I think I'm going to combine your ideas - I have a chest harness with my radios in it, so they need to stay in their pouch, but using the idea that you have with the bob to fasten that to the headrest seems like just what the doctor ordered... thanks!
 

Jason911

Adventurer
how are the tow hooks on your Ecodiesel?

View attachment 287051

As of yet I have to encounter a situation where I need to use them to be rescued - driving within my abilities and within the limits of the vehicle is the norm. I wanted the rear e-locker, but did refused to accept the air-ride suspension, so I use the onboard traction management system - which is surprisingly competent on a multitude of different terrains. Full factory skid plates, mopar rock rails, tires/wheels from a wrecked trailhawk. Limited model, but with just 4 factory options - essentially a stripped down model. I should mention that between the H3 and the WK2 I did have a previous generation 2008 WK with the Mercedes 3L turbo-diesel, so technically this is my second Jeep. Sorry trying hard not to hijack the thread. Keenly interested in the continuing improvements the OP is doing.
 

Imnosaint

Adventurer
The ride versus the drive.

It is with great fondness and longing I read you postings. I too was once bitten by the H3 bug - as it offered and afforded me a chance to explore, and it appealed to my inner child. A tonka toy it was not(but I imagined it to be). I procured what was one of the last H3's ever built, save for the Avis fleet order, and I drove out to Hummer of Sioux Falls to get it. 2010 Hummer H3 Adventure, every option save for leather and the V8(alpha), and then loaded up with full under carriage armor, better BFG tires and bilstein 5100 shocks. Factory electric locking rear AND front diffs were a wonderful if rarely used option. The atlas I5 I too found whimsical at best. Factory 285 tire size was great, factory 4.56 gears less so. Drove it for a year of fun and dismal fuel economy. Jumped into the Jeep camp in 2011 and here I remain. Think your storage in a H3 is abysmal? You'd scoff at trying to stack that much gear in WK2 - but the 28.9 mpg (in the city!) of the EcoDiesel really shines - thats a story for another thread.

Jason, that's a great looking H3. I like how you've integrated the auxiliary lamps in the lower grille. Blacking out the main grille and adding the OEM brush guard is perfect, balancing out the design throughout the whole rig.

I feel about my Montero the way you do about your old H3, but I've reached a point where I don't think I'd go back to it, mainly because, for me at least, it's not about the ride as much as it is about the drive. I know I had as much ego invested in the Montero and the H3 as I do cash in their mods, and dare anyone say anything contrary to our beloveds and we're ready to defend. I think you've nailed it in your subsequent post, "driving within my abilities and within the limits of the vehicle is the norm." That's what it's about, but we seem to adhere to vehicle branding as much if not more than political affiliations.

I've learned to compensate a bit for the H3's lackluster performance with a PCMofNC flash and install, improving shift points and off-the-line oomph. What it hasn't lacked, before or after the PCM mod, was torque. Fully loaded with gear it hasn't failed to move, even with the slightest articulation of its fly-by-wire accelerator. Deep sand, slick rock, lime stone, thick wet clay, no terrain, and no pitch (under 45 degrees, I'm not that ballsy), has stopped its progress anywhere. Torque combined with its approach and departure angles make a great combination, one the Monty didn't have in its departure.

I read Expo almost daily and drool over the latest offerings from Jeep shown in my own backyard, and Land Rover from across the pond. Diesel offerings are abounding now Stateside, and I've often thought of searching for a swap, if it even exists. But why? I've yet to be let down by what's in my driveway, it's that damn cognitive dissonance that makes us temporarily unhappy with what we have.

I finished the auxiliary lighting on my H3 this week and photographed it last night, all the while beaming about my truck.
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Imnosaint

Adventurer
View attachment 287051

As of yet I have to encounter a situation where I need to use them to be rescued - driving within my abilities and within the limits of the vehicle is the norm. I wanted the rear e-locker, but did refused to accept the air-ride suspension, so I use the onboard traction management system - which is surprisingly competent on a multitude of different terrains. Full factory skid plates, mopar rock rails, tires/wheels from a wrecked trailhawk. Limited model, but with just 4 factory options - essentially a stripped down model. I should mention that between the H3 and the WK2 I did have a previous generation 2008 WK with the Mercedes 3L turbo-diesel, so technically this is my second Jeep. Sorry trying hard not to hijack the thread. Keenly interested in the continuing improvements the OP is doing.

After that longwinded previous post, I want to add, that's a great looking Jeep, tricked-out just right. Thanks for following along.
 

Imnosaint

Adventurer
I really like this

I think I'm going to combine your ideas - I have a chest harness with my radios in it, so they need to stay in their pouch, but using the idea that you have with the bob to fasten that to the headrest seems like just what the doctor ordered... thanks!

Thanks for your feedback. Glad to be of help here.
 

Jason911

Adventurer
Thank you for the kind words. My build out of the WK2 is about as slow as molasses in January, but still a work in progress. I will admit to having a strong predilection to winter - hence most of my photos are in the cooler months. Looking forward to more of what you might do. On my former H3 I did add a few pieces of armor that were from the aftermarket community, made by then-current owners. I also ordered a factory paintable grill and had it color matched to the H3. The Canyon Metallic paint is one beautiful color I've not seen since. I'll have to check my archives of to see if I have any more pictures to share. I know through deep-dive research that my H3 was only 1 of 5 built in that color with the Adventure package for 2010.
 

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