Welcome back! And thank you for following me on this journey! This past weekend we headed down to Coppell, Texas to 4 wheel parts for an overlander meet. This was an absolute blast! I was meeting with the company that I am a Brand Ambassador for; Crusader Overland. So if you haven't heard of them, you should go check it out! And if you want anything, let me know and I can give you a discount code. But enough about that. Lets get to the meet!
Living in Wichita Falls, Texas, I had a 2 hour drive ahead of me. The meet was slated to begin at 8am. This meant for me to be there on time, I needed to boogie by 6am at the latest. Luckily, the night before I packed everything in the truck that I wanted to take with me. This allowed me to wake up, get the morning brew, grab the doggo, and head out. I used to be a morning person, but I have been on a night shift for the last year, and mornings are no longer my thing. However, I do love getting out and getting started with the day. Especially if it means I will be meeting with friends and meeting new people to share ideas, trails, and base camp ideas. I was pretty excited to say the least.
The trip down started around 6am, Sadie and I were packed and headed to Coppell. Sadie is a fantastic riding companion. She sat in the passenger seat the whole 2 hour drive just watching the fields full of rolling hills and cows.
Upon our arrival at the meet I immediately found the Crusader Overland Rig and pulled up beside him. We chatted for a few minutes discussing the new tent that was just released and now on pre-order for a discounted price on the site. I then walked back over to my rig and started setting up a "basic" base camp to show off what I use as of now when I am out camping. What do I use? Well, the basics as of now and soon to be changing: Kamp-Rite Compact Tent Cot, a sturdy Walmart table, two Magellan Outdoors fishing director chairs, Camp Chef Everest camp stove, and just some cheap dishes, pots, pans, cups, and silverware from Academy Sports and Outdoors. I also brought out the Crusader Overland Recovery Boards to show off some product so people can see what we offer. The boards were a hit for sure! We had many people asking about them, and were surprised to hear that all the studs in the boards were completely replaceable. Now that I'm all setup, more overlanders are beginning to roll in, so I think its time to walk around and meet other people, doggos, and see other setups.
We started walking around and found a few people that follow and recognized me from my @crusader_zr2 instagram page and was able to talk shop with them about the ZR2 and their rigs as well. It was so awesome to meet everyone there and finally put a face to all the names that we see on social media. I also was able to talk to a few people that do custom work or own their own businesses and talk a bit of business strategy with them. I was able to talk to the 4 Wheel Parts salesmen, which I must say, these guys were absolutely awesome. Such a great group of people that work there and an amazing meet that they had setup. But i'm going to save my praises for later. There was such a huge variety of rigs there, some you'd never expect but were absolutely awesome to see. It really goes to show that it doesn't matter about the rig. It is the trip/destination you want to get to. And of course the driver! I made a few good friends while I was there and will be planning some trips with them in the near future when it decides to cool off a bit. Have a look at some of these amazing rigs and setups that was at the meet!
Living in Wichita Falls, Texas, I had a 2 hour drive ahead of me. The meet was slated to begin at 8am. This meant for me to be there on time, I needed to boogie by 6am at the latest. Luckily, the night before I packed everything in the truck that I wanted to take with me. This allowed me to wake up, get the morning brew, grab the doggo, and head out. I used to be a morning person, but I have been on a night shift for the last year, and mornings are no longer my thing. However, I do love getting out and getting started with the day. Especially if it means I will be meeting with friends and meeting new people to share ideas, trails, and base camp ideas. I was pretty excited to say the least.
The trip down started around 6am, Sadie and I were packed and headed to Coppell. Sadie is a fantastic riding companion. She sat in the passenger seat the whole 2 hour drive just watching the fields full of rolling hills and cows.
Upon our arrival at the meet I immediately found the Crusader Overland Rig and pulled up beside him. We chatted for a few minutes discussing the new tent that was just released and now on pre-order for a discounted price on the site. I then walked back over to my rig and started setting up a "basic" base camp to show off what I use as of now when I am out camping. What do I use? Well, the basics as of now and soon to be changing: Kamp-Rite Compact Tent Cot, a sturdy Walmart table, two Magellan Outdoors fishing director chairs, Camp Chef Everest camp stove, and just some cheap dishes, pots, pans, cups, and silverware from Academy Sports and Outdoors. I also brought out the Crusader Overland Recovery Boards to show off some product so people can see what we offer. The boards were a hit for sure! We had many people asking about them, and were surprised to hear that all the studs in the boards were completely replaceable. Now that I'm all setup, more overlanders are beginning to roll in, so I think its time to walk around and meet other people, doggos, and see other setups.
We started walking around and found a few people that follow and recognized me from my @crusader_zr2 instagram page and was able to talk shop with them about the ZR2 and their rigs as well. It was so awesome to meet everyone there and finally put a face to all the names that we see on social media. I also was able to talk to a few people that do custom work or own their own businesses and talk a bit of business strategy with them. I was able to talk to the 4 Wheel Parts salesmen, which I must say, these guys were absolutely awesome. Such a great group of people that work there and an amazing meet that they had setup. But i'm going to save my praises for later. There was such a huge variety of rigs there, some you'd never expect but were absolutely awesome to see. It really goes to show that it doesn't matter about the rig. It is the trip/destination you want to get to. And of course the driver! I made a few good friends while I was there and will be planning some trips with them in the near future when it decides to cool off a bit. Have a look at some of these amazing rigs and setups that was at the meet!
With the meet coming to a close 4 Wheel Parts held a gear giveaway for all the people that attended. And it was awesome! They were giving away, hats, t-shirts, recovery straps, soft shackles, and even some recovery boards! They went through all the gifts and called my name for the Smittybilt recovery boards! How cool! once the meet came to a close they asked us to stay around and talk shop, check out the store, grab some coffee, etc. As I was starting to pack up my stuff a fellow Overlander came up to me and politely asked if i'd be willing to trade my Smittybilt recovery boards for a very large recovery strap, and I obliged. I know what you're thinking, "Kyle, that's insane!" but is it really? I have recovery boards already through my ambassador program and I adore them. If I wanted more i'd prefer supporting the company and buying another set. I had no use for the Smittybilt ones. Plus the only recovery strap I have as of now is a Walmart cheapo. This recovery strap is a 3", 30ft, 30,000lb recovery strap, which is a very sturdy strap and one I could really use. Not only that, but he has offered to help me setup a system to hold my Crusader Overland recovery boards on my bed rack more securely and making them easier to access. I have a total of 10 bungee straps holding them on right now which does it's job well, but it takes about 5 minutes to get them on/off. So yeah, I feel it was a beneficial trade for me. That's what this community is all about, we help each other out and keep each other exploring this beautiful earth we all live on and share.
In closing I just want to thank 4 Wheel Parts Coppell, and 4WP Overlander Facebook page for putting this meet out there and hosting such an amazing event. I cannot wait for the next one! and look forward to meeting more people and planning more trips.
