Essential Gear
Pick up a glossy catalogue from any of the 4WD accessory companies and as you flick through it you can’t help feeling overwhelmed and that’s even before you’ve seen the price list.
Filled with a plethora of mods and accessories for everything and anything off road, a naive newbie like me can’t help feeling overwhelmed. The “what if” scenario whispering in my head and the fear of somehow putting your life at risk, causes you to think you need them ALL.
Well you don’t!
The best piece of advice I got from a salesperson with a reputable 4WD accessory company was “when you first start out, you will need some essential accessories , don’t buy it because you think you may need it. However the essential gear you do purchase needs to be reliable.”
Based on our plans and rig he recommended the following basics:
- Bull bar
- Snorkel
- Recovery kit (including snatch straps, recovery hitch)
- Air compressor and pressure gauge
- Dual battery system
- Tyre puncture repair kit
- Cargo barrier
- Hema maps
- Maxtrax
We added the following. This is a choice we made based on our travel plans.
- Roof racks
- Cargo draws
- Fridge
- Solar panels
- General tools
- UHF radio
- Satellite phone for emergencies
Wish list… I’m hearing the whisper
Caravan Checklist
As quasi newby caravanners we soon discovered that relying on our memory when hitching, unhitching and packing up a van was a recipe for disaster. Here’s a checklist I put together that outlines the process for our setup. Caravan hitch unhitch checklist
Steve and I now go through it to make sure that nothing has been overlooked. The one time we didn’t use it, we forgot to remove the tap connector. We now carry a spare!