Pick the right tool for the job:
From Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
If the shovel is your pick, here’s a good one.
Category: Equipment
Socks for Life
How Darn Tough makes their socks in Vermont, via Gear Patrol.
Customizing a 2016 Tacoma
“Tacomas are well-documented to last 300,000-plus miles of hard driving”
A 2016 Toyota Tacoma DoubleCab for the backcountry: Tool of the Trade
OMG the next Toyota Tacoma comes with a snorkel
Toyota calls it a Desert Air Intake, but it’s a snorkel. Only available on the top of the line 2019 TRD Pro. As Toyota says:
The most eye-catching of the Tacoma upgrades, no doubt, is the available all-new TRD Desert Air Intake. Designed to sustain consistent off-road performance no matter how silty or dirty the terrain gets, the TRD Desert Air Intake takes the 278-horsepower 3.5L V6 engine’s air intake away from dust that hovers inside the wheel well (where traditional air intakes are located) during off-road operation. This allows for air ingestion to occur in a cleaner space above the windshield, therefore, helping to benefit filter longevity and, ultimately, engine health.
Barbour X Land Rover Defender – Sweepstakes
Barbour, Orvis, and Land Rover have combined to offer via sweepstakes a classy 1995 Land Rover Defender, restored by East Coast Defenders, green paint and canvas on the outside, saddle leather, tartan, and waxed cotton on the inside. That’s the American version. Over in Barbour’s home country, they have another custom Defender available.
Overbuilt for Archaeology
Some interesting ideas (like folding seats/cots sourced from helicopters) in a pricey-looking work van custom built for archaeology: The Archaeologist’s Backpack: Building the Ultimate 4×4 Office
As for its being significant to archaeology, it sure ain’t no 1991 Ford Transit van.
See also: The Van/In Transit.
Everyday Carry, Anthropology Edition
Multiple cameras, two pairs of reading glasses, one Munsell soil color book, and a plastic trombone: six anthropologists on the things they carry, in “What’s in Your Bag?” at Anthropology News.
Buy a Jetta, Get a Bike: The 1990s VW x Trek Collab
Back in 1996, Volkswagen partnered with Trek bicycles, offering a special VW Jetta Trek edition that came with a Trek mountain bike and a roof rack to put it on. The following year, they also offered a VW Trek Golf. One of those bikes turned up at a charity bike store, and, although I’ve never owned a VW, I picked it up because, as it says on the frame, it’s a Limited Edition.
The 1996 Jetta Trek Limited Edition Sedan started under $16,000 and came with either a five speed manual or four speed automatic. The VW Trek bike came with 21 speeds and custom seat, handgrips, and special graphics: a dude on a multi-colored rocket, orbiting the VW logo, and holding…something?
Details on the bikes are a bit harder to find. The 1996 ones had a steel frame, but this one has an aluminum frame, which may be the 1997 version. The OCLV on the rocket stands for Trek’s patented carbon fiber, but it’s unlikely that there’s any of it on this bike. A few parts had been replaced in the past twenty years, including the saddle (which also would have had that rocket boy logo), but it still has the original VW hand grips.
It’s definitely in better shape than some of the Trek Edition automobiles out there: Junkyard Gem.
Update: It’s 2022, and someone is selling a never-used VW Trek bike and branded gear in NJ.
Still on the lookout for a Jetta Shepherd edition, though:
Land Rover with a Landing Pad
Project Hero is a Land Rover Discovery with a Landing Pad on the roof for your drone. The drone can land on the roof while the Land Rover is in motion; a powered cover keeps it from getting blown off the roof. Use it to find out why you’re stuck in traffic on the highway, or, as originally intended, to assist Red Cross emergency response teams. Details at Land Rover.
Redesign Underway
I’m working on redesigning this website so that it looks better, is easier to find content, and has more useful and interesting content. Please bear with me as I experiment!