I wish they still advertised vehicles with the words studhorse, and tank-tough.

"For unstoppable, grab-hold-and-go power, professional 4-wheelers depend on the TOYOTA LAND CRUISER. It's the rugged pro-rig that goes where the others get hung up. Only TOYOTA - world's champion of 4-wheel drives in 78 countries - gives you the BIG 6:

TRADE UP TO TOYOTA'S BIG 6

1. POWER 6 - cylinder, 135-studhorse engine

2. SPEED cruises 85 mph on the highway all day long

3. GRADEABILITY only 4-wheel drive that climbs 67% grades

4. HI-LO GEARING 9 forward, 3 reverse gear combinations

5. RUGGEDNESS heavy duty, tank-tough TOYOTA construction

6. COMFORT carries 7 men on foam rubber seats, plus gear"

What is your favorite vintage 4x4 advertisement? Tell us here in the forum

Click "Read More" to view a few more vintage Land Cruiser ads.

All photos: Nik Schulz

Via West County Explorers Club: While driving past the Warehouse Bar & Grill near Jack London Square in Oakland a couple of months ago, I spied what I thought was a perfectly nice, WWII-era, Willys jeep. Upon talking to the owner, a gentleman named Eddie, I learned that it was actually a Ford GPW. W for Willys.

How did this combination come about? Well, back in the late 1930s, while the US government watched stability break down in Europe, it hurried to update its aging fleet motorcycles, sidecars, and Model T’s. By the summer of 1940, when they finally formalized their needs for a general-purpose utility vehicle, the war in Europe was already underway.

The Overland Travel Industry is growing rapidly, with great new companies sprouting up it seems every day to serve people who love Overland Travel. Over the last few weeks, I've been lucky enough to watch one of those new companies come to life. The father-son team of Charles, and David Nordstrom have been hard at work launching ExpeditionApparel, a clothing company focused on applying the expertise of two world travelers, to the overland community. They've travelled enough to know what works, and what doesn't work - that's why they only carry the best from companies such as Mountain Khakis, ExOfficio, and Outdoor Research. There's finally a one stop shop for all of your ExpeditionApparel needs.

They're offering 10% off for their grand opening if customers use the coupon code fnf100139 

I know it's where I'll be shopping from here on forward, check them out at www.ExpeditionApparel.com and don't forget to sign up for their newsletter!

About ExpeditionApparel

Packing clothing for an overland expedition is always a challenge— style, weight, functionality, available space, and climate all influence your choices. The best gear may not be available locally, and searching online may only make things more confusing. Many companies in other industries make expedition-quality apparel but it can be difficult to identify since it’s not marketed with the overland traveller in mind.

The Spot Connect - Connection Optional.

Review and Photography by Matthew Scott

Just a few days ago, I was exploring an area that was relatively new to me. I was using my iPhone and a topographical map application I had installed - all was well. That is until the batteries died, and I had no clue where I was. It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have mixed my essential kit, the maps, with my non essential kit, the iPhone.

Much of the same can be said for the Spot Connect. It takes the features that we’ve known and loved from the original Spot satellite personal tracker, and integrates them with your smartphone. The addition of the smartphone allows Spot to offer some additional services that weren’t available previously. When you’re off the grid, you can actually use the Connect to send custom text messages up to 41 characters (messages you predefine can be as long as 120 characters). You’re even able to alert your Facebook and Twitter followers if you have an issue in the field, allowing them to rescue you. 

Arminius on Tour - June 2010

Photos and Text Courtesy of Ingrid & Joerg Bareuther

More photos and information can be found on their site here.

Amqui, Québec – Rebuilding for Arminius

1.6.2010

Arminius slightly changed his appearance. There are only two aluminium boxes left on the roof, a third one is now situated in the rear above the spare tyre on an especially made mounting. Mike can weld, he’s got a welding gear, and so he and Joerg build a new back-box-support. We leave the fourth box including content behind; sometimes you have to separate something. We knew from beginning on that the roof load – despite only lightly packed boxes – would be probably too heavy overall. But we had to test off-road to be convinced. Fortunately Mike and Mélie found us (searching information about Unimog on the internet he got our e-mail address via a network from Ian from Dartmouth), and we could solve a problem, eat tastily for three days, enjoy wine and beer, weld, inflate children’s swimming-pools, get the cat in and out, and whatever has to be done.

In the evening we set off. Lots of these convenience stores with gas station have a nice plot in the back. So we go the “gas-station-act”, ask friendly, put diesel, and may park overnight free of charge.

Here's the wallpaper of the week, enjoy!

Within the Frame: A Journey of Photographic Vision
by David duChemin
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-60502-3
ISBN-10:     0-321-60502-0

I'm fairly new to the technical aspects of photography. About 3 months ago I purchased my first DSLR camera. Prior to that, I had only owned point-and-shoot cameras, and had some exposure to nice DSLRs here at work. I've learned quite a bit from friends and coworkers, but never took a structured course on photography. For me, photography seems to be a mix of both art & science. The science of knowing which buttons to push, which dials to turn -- all in order to have the appropriate settings for the desired outcome. And then the art of capturing a moment, frozen in time, within the frame.