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Overlanding, off-road touring, four-wheeling—whatever you call it, traveling America’s back roads, the real back roads, the ones that aren’t paved and are rarely maintained, is an almost guaranteed adventure. Overlanding will take you out there, whether it’s Arizona’s famed Senator Highway, remote beaches in Mexico’s Baja peninsula, or rolling across the Australian outback.
However you define it, you’re going to need more than an awesome rig. That’s why we put together this guide to all the overlanding gear you need to make sure you and your vehicle make it back safely. Get what you need and load up your old Jeep, Land Cruiser, tricked-out Tacoma, or full on Unimog and get out there.
We bring you this expertise as two enthusiasts of backroad travel. Scott lives in an RV full-time and is a former Jeep owner, while Martin is a weekend warrior who’s on his second 80 series Land Cruiser. Don’t see anything you like? Be sure to check out our other buying guides, including our Best Sleeping Bags, Best Camp Stoves, and Best Tents roundups.
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Go-Anywhere Tires
B.F. Goodrich K02
The first time I showed up at an off-road camp, the Eureka Campground below Animas Forks on Colorado’s famed Alpine Loop, I asked the proprietor about whether I was equipped to tackle the loop. The man looked out the window at my ride. “Well, you can drive anything if you’ve got the right truck and the right tires,” he said. “An 80 series is the right truck; let’s look at the tires.”
Before you do any serious overlanding, you should replace your stock tires with something that has a thicker, grippier tread. I have owned two sets of factory rims since shortly after I bought my first 80 series and have had an embarrassing number of sets of tires since. The tires I had on during that Colorado trip were a set of General Grabbers, which the man at Eureka Campground proclaimed suitable for the task. (I looked over the edge just above Animas Forks and decided I was not.) On the highway, those Grabbers certainly sounded like off-road tires! And off-road, they were pretty good. But after putting a few thousand miles on the K02s, I can confirm that the difference between an OKish set of tires and a great set is very noticeable.
The KO2s have been around for a decade and are Baja champions, which, in my case, is sort of like me wearing Jordan 14s and trying to hit The Last Shot. Off-road they’re knobby, grippy, and steady. If you ask a guy at a campground whether you can do a trail with these tires, the answer will be a guaranteed fast yes. But, like most of us, I drive more on-road than off, and their performance getting to the trail is the reason to buy the KO2s. They’re as quiet as a regular set of passenger tires with excellent handling at highway speed. —Martin Cizmar
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Photograph: Radius Outfitters
The Best Tool Roll
Radius Outfitters Tool Roll
For seven years I lived in and repaired a vintage RV. This taught me the value of not just having the right tools but also finding those tools when you need them. For years I relied on plastic bins from whatever big box store was nearby when I needed one. There’s even a photo of my tools in these boxes in WIRED. But digging around in them was an exercise in frustration, and they did not hold up to being flung in the dirt or dragged across concrete underneath my engine. Enter the Radius Outfiggers tool bag.
I’ve written at length about how this tool roll improved my life on the road. It’s well-built, made of 1680D Cordura, with heavy stitching (bartack stitching to reinforce seams). I’ve used it for almost two years now, tossing it around under the bus and my Jeep, working on gravel, sand, occasionally concrete, and, unfortunately, in the mud. The tool roll isn’t very clean anymore, but otherwise it’s held up perfectly to all the abuse I’ve dished out.
There are three levels of tool sleeves on the inside of the roll, and it can handle up to 14-inch tools. There’s also a zippered sleeve that perfectly fits my shop manual. At one end of the roll is a single zippered pouch, and the other end has two identical pouches (these are where I keep my sockets wrenches). It’s enough organization to keep my basic tools neat and organized but not so many pouches that I forget where I put things. Getting this balance right is no small thing, so kudos to Radius Outfitters for finding the organizational sweet spot. —Scott Gilbertson
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A Simple, Sturdy Water Jug
Arrow 1 Gallon Clear View Refrigerator Bottle
Asked to explain the difference between overlanding and regular ol’ car camping, I often say it’s more like backpacking with a car. You’re in remote places instead of state campgrounds and you’ll remember that as soon as you get thirsty. Overlanding adventures often take you to remote places where there’s not a pump handy, meaning you need to haul water.
My first instinct on this was to buy a big 5-gallon water can. The problem with this is that it’s annoying and awkward to use around camp, and you can’t just refill it at a standard sink, so you’re looking for either a hose or a camp spigot.
I upgraded to three of these Arrow water jugs, which are very popular with RV folks because the BPA-free plastic is tough, the handle makes them easy to carry and pour from, and you can fill them in the bathroom of a Pilot Flying J if you need to. They won’t stack, but square edges mean they’re easy to line up in a row, and you don’t risk losing your whole supply if one gets a leak. —Martin Cizmar
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Photograph: OnX Maps
Best Off-Road Route Planning and Navigation Tool
OnX Off Road Maps
There are plenty of map applications available, but OnX is the best I’ve tested. The dedicated off-road version has tons of overlanding routes and is tailored specifically to four-wheel drive, expedition-style travel. Not only have its maps proved very accurate, and they’re available offline, but it also includes tons of useful extras like photos and difficulty ratings (so you have a better idea of what you’re getting into). The best feature is the private and public property boundaries overlay, which will help you be a better overlander.
The property boundary layer requires the “elite” subscription, which is a little pricier ($99/year) but well worth it to help you avoid accidentally camping on private property (which is not always clearly or accurately marked in the field). In some cases, you can even get land owner contact information, which can be helpful if you’re planning a route and want to make sure a road is indeed public access. —Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Rux
A Great Storage Box/Bag
Rux 70L Storage Container
The secret to living well in small spaces—as I have done for most of the past decade—is to be very organized. As the artist and filmmaker Van Neistat so eloquently put it, the key to being organized is to kit your shit. Of course, you need to have the right kits to put your shit in.
In a quest to create the perfect kits for everything, I have accidentally become a collector of bags, boxes, and bins. The Rux 70L waterproof bag/box packing system is one of my best finds. Rux likes to say that its 70L “packs like a box, carries like a bag.” I think that’s a fair slogan that gets to the heart of why I like it. It’s all the good parts of a box combined with all the good parts of a bag.
The firm top and bottom help maintain a box structure and give it the ability to stack. (Well, sort of. It really depends on what’s inside and what’s on top.) The lid is very easy to open. At the same time, the sides are soft, so the Rux ends up being only as tall as what’s inside, which means there’s no wasted space, a key point when packing everything you need into a small overlanding vehicle. —Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Amazon
Folding Shovel
SOG 18-Inch Folding Shovel
The paradox of an overlanding trip is that you need tools to get you through rough terrain, but space is always at a premium when you’re living out of a vehicle. That’s why I love this shovel, which folds down to a relatively tiny package and is still a totally usable, effective shovel when you unfold it. (Except that saw blade part; that’s mostly useless.)
This is a standard part of my camping gear, whether overlanding or not. It just lives in my Jeep. Why a shovel? I don’t care how all-terrain your tires are, self-reliant adventure travel means you need to be able to dig yourself out should you get stuck. A winch is important, as are some kind of traction boards, but I like to have a shovel around as well. It also helps with more mundane tasks, like clearing leaves and twigs to safely make a campfire. —Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Uncharted Supply Co
A Simple, Cheap Tow Strap
Uncharted Supply Co. The Extractor Tow Strap
This inexpensive tow strap is working perfectly. And by that, I mean I have not yet had to take it out of the crate. You keep emergency gear around, because when you don’t have it is exactly when you need it.
If you’re doing serious off-roading, you probably want a proper winch. But if you’re doing a little light overlanding on rutted logging and forest service roads, a strap like this is likely all you need for peace of mind and to make it easy to give you a helping hand if you get stuck. This strap is rated to 17,600-plus pounds, which is three times the weight of my Land Cruiser. It’s 12 feet long, which is likely the most you need—if you’re trying to rescue a vehicle farther away, you probably need a winch or a (gulp) recovery tow truck. Best of all, this strap has instructions printed on the inside fabric, so if you ever need to use it you don’t have to think too much about how.
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Photograph: Radius Outfitters
Our Favorite Under-the-Seat Box
Radius Outfitters Gear Box 3500
Another great storage solution from Radius Outfitters, the Gear Box 3500 is great for fitting underneath the seat of vans and other overlanding vehicles. The Gear Box is a solid, well-made, well-thought out storage box, with optional hook-and-loop dividers and a magnetic lock mechanism. The 21- by 14-inch interior capacity gives me room for bigger items, and it slides into the same spot the similarly sized cheap plastic bin used to fit.
Radius Outfitters also make smaller organizers if you have a set of tools that doesn’t require the full roll or box. It also makes some very heavy-duty-looking totes that might be nice for my larger items. —Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Sidiocrate
The Perfect Crate
SidioCrate Full-Size Crate With Lid
It’s true what they say: If you have lots of cargo space, you’re going to fill it. For a three-week trip, I have taken to not only loading up the back of my Land Cruiser but also filling a rooftop box. This requires some careful planning. You need multiple tents, so you don’t have to set up your big one for a quick overnight in a state park, and fly fishing rods that haven’t been used for two years.
I’ve used a lot of different crates over the years, and I have a soft spot for a basic milk crate from the thrift store and the ultra-sturdy Front Runner Wolfpack Pro. But the best crates I’ve used come from SidioCrate. They not only have a bevy of accessories (enough divider options to set up your box in any imaginable way, a bamboo cutting board cover) but come in various colors and sizes.
The simplest and best feature, though, is the clear plastic lid. This makes it possible to look inside the crate and spot your spork without having to stop and think about how you packed it. Why did no one else make a sturdy crate you could see inside without removing the top before now? They’re plenty rugged and stack into a stable little tower, but the real reason to buy them is that clear lid.
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Photograph: Goal Zero
Power Your Life
Goal Zero Yeti 1500X
Goal Zero’s Yeti 1500X is our favorite of the midrange all-in-one battery and charging systems. It’s enough power to run Goal Zero’s new Alta 50 fridge ($800) for about five to six days, based on my testing. If you’re charging devices as well, that number will drop some, but this is more than enough for a long weekend. If you want indefinite off-grid power, add some solar panels. Grab Goal Zero’s Nomad 200 folding panels ($500) and you’ll be able to charge your Yeti 1500X in about eight hours. Goal Zero claims four to eight. It will depend a lot on the time of year and where you are, in addition to the weather, but I find it best to err on the conservative side when planning. The Yeti 1500X has a USB-C PD point, 2 USB-A ports, a car charging port, a high power port (30A, Anderson connectors), and several charging ports. —Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Martin Cizmar
Light for Your Whole Camp
Goal Zero Yeti Skylight
Why fiddle with a flashlight when you can simply have light for your whole camp? If you’ve got the Yeti power station above, this companion light from Goal Zero will light up an area about half the size of a tennis court with impressive brightness. It’s a lifesaver when you’re setting up camp in the dark because your late off the trail, and for larger groups of people that will otherwise be blinding each other with headlamps while they try to wash up their dishes.
This light folds away into a tube about the size of a pair of skis and rises to 12 feet, flooding 6,000 lumens of light to your campsite. The LEDs are spread over six flaps, which can be folded to avoid annoying neighbors or lifted straight up for maximum range. It works with the Goal Zero Yeti range of portable power stations and will last a little over two hours on medium power, which is what I found to be the ideal in my weeks of testing.
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Photograph: Oru
A Foldable Camp Table
Oru SwitchTable
Oru’s main product line is foldable kayaks that are light enough to portage with ease and fold up as small as an inflatable (our mini review here). This table is a natural extension of that expertise, employing the company’s proprietary extruded plastic to make a table that will support up to 200 pounds but folds down to roughly the size of a 24-pack of cans.
Overlanding often means camping on forest service land where there are no stationary picnic tables at your site, so a table is key to having a place to make and eat your food. This table can be set up low like a coffee table or high like a dining table, which means it has a place at pretty much every campsite. I used it on the lower setting for a week in Maine, mostly for holding beer and snacks, but I’d have no problem putting a light stove on it. There are probably even sturdier tables, but not many come at this weight and size.
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Photograph: Ecoflow
Fridge for Your Food
Ecoflow Glacier Portable Refrigerator
Keeping food cool is probably the second most important part of overlanding (after getting in and out safely). A good cooler (see below) can do the job if your trips are short, but for anything more than a long weekend, nothing will improve your overlanding life like a 12-volt refrigerator. I like Ecoflow’s Glacier fridge (8/10, WIRED Recommends) because it has its own battery that will last about 40 hours on average (less when ambient temps are higher). That’s enough to get through an overnight trip without worrying about charging. I’ve even gone all weekend on just the built-in battery when it’s cooler (spring and fall trips). Throw in 200 watts of solar panels and you’ll be able to have refrigeration nearly indefinitely so long as the sun is shining.
The catch is that the Glacier can’t charge directly off solar, which means you’ll have to invest in a battery, like the Goal Zero above. It’s not a cheap setup, but seriously, nothing will improve overlanding more. Did I mention the Glacier can make ice? It’s sort of a gimmick, but when you’ve spent all day driving the hot, dusty roads of Utah, you’ll appreciate ice more than most people would. —Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
A Great Cooler
Yeti Roadie 15 Hard Cooler
Yeti’s new Roadie 15 hard cooler is the perfect size for keeping your drinks cool. and it now has a strap, making it easier to lug around camp (always get it out of your vehicle and out of the sun). I prefer the hard coolers, because they stand up better to life on the 4×4 road, and this Yeti has held up great in my testing. It’ll keep your drinks cool for days (two to three usually, less as ambient temps and humidity climb). My only gripe is that it’s slightly too small to fit a block of ice, which would last even longer. Even if you have the fridge above (maybe especially if you have the fridge above), a cooler is nice for drinks, because it saves you from opening the fridge every time you want a cold one. If you decided to skip the fridge, I’d suggest going with a larger cooler like the Tundra 45 ($300).
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Photograph: Martin Cizmar
What Is Overlanding?
Car Camping for the Well-to-Do?
Is it just car camping? Well, yes. And no. The definition of overlanding depends on who you ask. If you want to call driving your hybrid to your local state park campground overlanding, far be it for us to stop you. But before overlanding became a marketing term to sell you expensive stuff, it usually referred to self-sufficient car camping in remote places with rough roads or even none. If you’re picturing Land Rovers cutting across the savanna, parking in the shade of an acacia tree while the occupants watch a pride of lions eat a gazelle, then we’re on the same page.
More recently, overlanding now refers to off-road, four-wheel drive car camping, no savanna or lions needed. You still need to be self-reliant, though. The ultimate overlanding vehicle is probably the Unimog, a Mercedes-Benz truck chassis that is/was often used as military vehicles and can be converted into something you can live in. But you can find people overlanding in everything from Toyota 4Runners to Subarus. If it’s four-wheel drive and you can put a roof box on it, it’ll work for overlanding. A lot of people get hung up on their rigs (which is fine, this the Gear section after all), but the real point of overlanding is to get out and see the world.