Overland Expo East

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Weekend of October 7th in Asheville, NC.

Anybody going? I have a few friends driving down from here and since my WENT plans got ufcked. I'm thinking this might be fun.

It costs about $100 to attend. My buddies have campsites set up in a national forest near Ashville. The thought being that the on-site camping would be ridiculous.

http://www.overlandexpo.com/east
 

Jack Stilts

Skid Plates
Location
Michigan
Yes. Again, late to the party on responding to you, but I'm attending all weekend.

I'm unfortunately not taking the Xterra, but I'm okay with its replacement. Saves me the maintenance and wear & tear anyway.

My plan is to head out of MI on Thursday morning and swing by Pittsburgh to pick up a good friend and camp somewhere for the night. Arrive in Asheville on Friday and camp onsite (though ridiculously priced) with Jonny and his Xterra. I'm looking forward to it.

It's $100 to attend, but don't forget the extra $50 for the Biltmore Estate fee. It's crazy expensive, but the more I research the place, the more excited I get about it. It's 120,000 square feet and the driveway is 5 miles long. Just think about that scale for a minute. The fee includes access to the grounds / gardens and a tour of the estate itself.
 

JeffPro4x

Hot Pipe
Super Moderator
Supporting Member
Location
Glenside, PA
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sent from a crawlspace...
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Whatever. Ufck you guys.

The Biltmore was a pretty crazy place to have an event. And paying $100 to get in seemed excessive, but let me tell you. I've never been more impressed with a man made structure in my life. That place was insane. I'm going to plan a weekend back just to see more of the house and the grounds.

Anyway on to the show.

Here is an aerial shot of the entire thing.

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Dunno why that one section is circled in red, but whatever.

The Biltmore itself is on the left hand side of the image. The show and on-site camping is the middle section right next to the river.

The actual show was only from the tree line that splits the open area to about where that red circle is. It wasn't huge.

But it was definitely chaotic.

The camping was at both ends. So all day people were driving through the event area where people were walking.

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Some manufacturers had legit setups.

BFG for example. They had a whole course that you could go and drive with a Jeep, a Taco, and a RHD old Land Rover.

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The local Land Rover dealer brought this over.

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This was super cool. There's a company in California that is taking old International Scout IIs and completely rebuilding them from the ground up. This one had a Caddy CTS-V power plant, atlas 2, D60s, and looked showroom fresh. Total price tag, about $150k

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There were also some monstrous rigs there.

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There was a converted 5-ton. It was for sale. $120k.

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The inside had a set of bunk beds, full kitchen, two safes, full shower and residential toilet.

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There were too many people in it to take good pictures. But it also had a rooftop deck.

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I was super impressed with this Defender 130.

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One of the better trailer builds was this company from Indiana called Hiker Trailers (www.hikertrailers.net) this was their off road teardrop.

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As equipped with AC, power, propane, and 33s, came in about $10k. And it was worth it from the looks.

These were super cool. They're like Maxtraxx but you can fold them up. And while you can't bridge with them, the guy said they can get you out of damn near anything.

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Saw these Goal Zero batteries everywhere.

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You pay like $450 for this and connect a $250 solar panel to it and it can run your campsite for days. No gas, just the sun. Pretty badass.

This looked like essential camping kit.
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$60 from Frontrunner Outfitters.

Those were all the pictures I took. I'll ask my friends to send theirs over so I can post them.

Also, Brian should have some as well. He actually camped at the event site Saturday night. And he can share some insight on that.

Overall, it was a good event. But it felt very thrown together. Nobody knew what was going on, the camping was kind of mixed in with the exhibitors. It was strange. I got some really good ideas for where I'd like to go with the camping and travel setup.

I don't think I'll go next year. But maybe the year after.
 

thecoalition

Call me Daddy
Location
Richmond, Va
I've been looking at the goal zero stuff for a couple years now, but simply can't justify the prices for something I would use only 2-3 times a year. Love their items though.
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
You went the wrong way.

I'd have taken 75 straight down to Knoxville and then east.

But did you lean anything that weekend? Maybe about listening?
 

Jack Stilts

Skid Plates
Location
Michigan
You went the wrong way.

I'd have taken 75 straight down to Knoxville and then east.

But did you lean anything that weekend? Maybe about listening?

I had to stop in Pittsburgh to pick up that nice young man Steven.

Listening? Nah, not sure what you're referring to :D

Yes, if I return next year I will camp offsite. Mingling with everyone was cool, but I like my privacy. Packed in a little to tight for my liking.
 

caseycamby

Suspension Lift
Location
Marion, NC
Coming from a guy who's never been, it's always seemed so expensive. I'm sure super, super awesome. But I think if they could make it a little more cost efficient they'd get tons more people in.
 

Jack Stilts

Skid Plates
Location
Michigan
Coming from a guy who's never been, it's always seemed so expensive. I'm sure super, super awesome. But I think if they could make it a little more cost efficient they'd get tons more people in.

Definitely this. Especially for those of us who traveled a bit to get there, it would make a huge difference. Well worth the money, just for the estate alone. The grounds are beautiful and all the history is fascinating. For anyone who's not a history nerd, it would be great to get the cost down.
 
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