Aisles after aisles of vendors. Looking down the rows they look like they never end. Where do you even start? That is what it felt like when we looked out over the sea of vendors from the hill above the showgrounds. That is what was going through our minds when we attended our first Overland Expo, Expo East 2022 on October 7th, 8th, and 9th, at Oak Ridge Estates in Arrington, VA. Overland Expo claims that over two hundred and forty vendors were in attendance but it looked more like a thousand. If you really think about it, two hundred and forty is a lot of vendors. We were like kids in a candy store!

Ford, Toyota, GM, and Rivian were all in attendance. As were all the big offroad product manufacturers, ARB, AEV, iKamper, 23 Zero, Dometic, Redarc, Battleborn Batteries, Alu-Cab USA, BF Goodrich, Maxxis, Milestar, Four Wheel Campers, Garmin, and Goose Gear, just to name a few.

I found it thrilling, I knew most of these products pretty well, but I have never seen them in person. While most of them started to blend together after a while; a few unique offerings stood out from the others. We are not necessarily saying that they are earth-shattering, they just had something about them that made us remember them.

To be clear, we are not sponsored by any of these companies (although, if you’re reading this, we’d love to!) all of the products that we use or bought, we paid for full at full retail, or at least retail prices offered at the show.

LEDLENSER

LEDLenser is a great example. We had seen them advertised and read about them for years but had never owned any of their products. LEDLENSER, a German company, was started by two ingenious brothers enthusiastic about the idea of harnessing the power of LED technology and bringing light to the darkest of situations. Portable light solutions are their core focus, from flashlights to headlamps, and area lights.

We have used Black Diamond headlamps for years and have been extremely happy with their performance. Our only concern was that our models were battery based and were not rechargeable and we were blowing through batteries. We were not actively looking to replace our, but it was something we were keeping an eye out for.

We ended up picking up four MH5 rechargeable headlamps, two for our RV, and two to be left full-time in our Jeep. The MH5 is a solid headlamp that has a similar performance to the Black Diamond Storm 400’s that we were currently using. 400 Lumens on high for both. 400 Lumens for 4 hours for the MH5, and 5 for the Storm 400. The MH5’s low setting is 20 lumens for 35 hours, vs 8 lumens for 150 hours for the Storm 400. Both of them also have a red light setting which is one of the reasons we went with the Storms in the first place.

The MH5 is somewhat unique in that it can be unmounted from the head strap and either be handheld or clipped to clothing. But what really caught our attention was their new Powercase.

While the headlamp comes standard with a magnet mount power cord, you also have the option to add their Powercase. The Powercase has a built-in 5,000 mAh power bank, so not only does the case provide protection for your headlamp it also provides magnetic charging as well. When fully charged, it can charge your headlamp up two 6 times. With the included USB you are also able to charge any other USB-compatible electronic device such as a cell phone.

One of the concerns of a rechargeable headlamp is that if you are away from power and your headlamp dies, you are out of luck. With a standard headlamp, you can just pop in a set of batteries and you are back in business. Now you can drop the Powercase into your pack and could have a supply of light for close to 28 hours (4 from your original headlamp charge and 24 from the powercase) at full power and 245 hours at the lowest setting. We picked up four of the powercases as well. It was something truly innovative that we hadn’t seen before. We have not yet used them extensively but have been extremely happy with them so far.

PowerBrake

PowerBrake is a great example of a product that I had read about and seen online, but never in person. Powerbrake claims to design and manufacture the very best brake upgrade kits on the market for 4x4 vehicles. Based out of South Africa, PowerBrake started by supplying brakes to many of the offroad racing teams and then took what they learned to the civilian performance offroad and street markets. “Our civilian X-Line 4x4 big brake kits feature direct technology transfer from our R-Line off-road race brake systems that have been used by works race teams to win multiple FIA Cross Country World Championships as well the infamous Dakar Rally, which is regarded by many to be the most grueling motorsport event on the planet.”

When you see and get your hands on it, the first thing you’ll notice is that these things are massive, really massive. To be honest they look like they won’t fit behind a standard wheel, even though they claim to work with most 17” and above wheels. The second thing you’ll realize is for their size they are quite light. Machined out of X-Line Billet Aluminum, the fit and finish on both the calipers and mounting brackets are top-notch. The high-tensile caliper cross-bolts used in the assembly of our X-Line 4×4 calipers are European sourced and coated with a silver zinc flake coating.

All six caliper pistons are machined from stainless steel. While more expensive than stainless steel which most pistons are made from, stainless steel brings significant heat reduction and strength benefits leading to a higher-performing overall brake assembly. Their calipers feature internal fluid crossovers and hidden bleed screws for protection against damage from stone impacts.

Their MTR system, composed of thermometers on each one, provides a permanent record of the maximum operating temperature reached by the caliper. Based on the data gathered, you can make adjustments in regard to what you are running for pad compounds and brake fluid. This feature is unique in the market.

The 1-piece discs used in the Jeep Wrangler JK big brake kits are cast from a proprietary high-carbon cast iron alloy that provides excellent durability and stability under the high thermal loads experienced under fast-street or off-road driving. The discs feature 48 x curved, directional cooling vanes. The design significantly increases cooling vane surface area and airflow when compared to factory/OEM disc designs, resulting in vastly improved cooling.

Clearly, they have thought through every last detail. Once you see them for yourself the attention to detail in design and manufacturing becomes evident. These brakes scream top quality. The only possible drawback? Price! At $2,675 they don’t come cheap. But when does high quality ever do? With just a quick Google search I found a similar big brake kit from Wilwood for just over $2,000. Wilwood makes excellent products, but in this case, I believe that PowerBrake has the superior product. The Wilwoods have four-piston, while PowerBrake’s sport six, and come with a whole of additional features.

Genesis Offroad

Genesis Offroad has been making dual-battery kits since 2010. While dual battery systems have been around for quite a bit longer, they were the first ones to come out with a complete dual battery kit for the Jeep Wrangler. Since then they have expanded their lineup to include Toyotas, Polaris, and universal applications, but their strength, in my mind, is still the Jeep market.

It is a fully comprehensive solution, including a mounting bracket for two Group 34 AGM batteries, and a top cover plate that includes all necessary wiring and solenoids and comes pre-wired ready to mount and connect to the batteries. Power and ground bus bars make it easy to connect accessories including large-capacity accessories like winches. The Smart Isolator automatically handles all charging functions isolating all vehicle systems to the starter battery while additional accessories run off the second battery. Run your auxiliary lights too long at camp and it kills your battery, no problem, your main starter battery is still charged and ready to go. Leave your dome light on and kill your starting battery. Still, no problem, use the built-in Boost switch to jump the main battery from your second battery.

We have been running one in our JK for over three years without a single issue or failure. We have used the Boost function several times and the vehicle has started right up every time. So what’s the big deal? It has been out for almost thirteen years. Well, they just came out with Gen 3!

So what’s new? According to Genesis Offroad:

New heavy-duty battery combiner Allows your engine's alternator to charge your cranking and accessory batteries. Connects batteries together in parallel while driving, then separates them once the voltage drops below 12.7v to protect your cranking battery from getting drained by your accessories. Rated for 300 amps of continuous current flow, and spikes of up 2500 amps for 10 seconds to handle anything you can throw at it. Compatible with all modern high-output alternators. Uses NO power to keep batteries connected, allows batteries to stay fully charged when not in use, and runs accessories even longer. Generates NO heat, since no current is flowing through it while the batteries are connected, the battery combiner produces no heat at all. A more robust and more reliable design means more worry-free adventures

New boost button Now includes 3 user-selectable modes - Auto, On, and Off 'Auto' mode automatically connects batteries when either one is above 13.1v for 90 seconds, and disconnects them when they drop below 12.7v for 30 seconds. 'On' mode will manually connect the batteries together. Use this to jump-start the engine when the cranking battery is low, or manually provide extra run time to your accessories by using both batteries together. 'Off' mode will manually separate the batteries. Use this when you want to leave the batteries isolated for any reason. Note the alternator will not charge the Aux battery while in this mode. The green halo light will turn on to indicate the batteries are connected, and the light will be off when the batteries are separated.

New bus bars Now include 3 tall studs and 3 small screws for power & ground wire connections different stud sizes 1/4", 5/16", and 3/8" give you more flexibility for connecting your heavy-duty accessory cables such as a winch, stereo amplifier, air compressor, fuse panels, etc. Lighter gauge wires such as LED lights, CB, etc, can use the 3 small screws for connecting #10-sized ring terminals. Any accessories connected to the bus bars will run from the Aux battery and will not drain down the cranking battery. The protective cover flips up for easy access for routing your wires.

New Heavy Duty Cables Higher solid copper strand count for more current carrying capacity and more flexibility. Thicker insulating jacket for even more protection from the elements. Heavy-duty adhesive-lined heat shrink protects the wire from corrosion. Tin-plated copper lugs and post clamps for superior conductivity.

New Cover Our most requested feature! Completely covers all the electronics and wiring for protection and a cleaner look easy flip-up access to your bus bars.

I had a good discussion with one of the Genesis Offroad reps at Expo. He walked me through the new innovations of the new generation product. I told him that I was a current customer and have been happy with the Gen-2 version, and asked for his opinion if it made sense to upgrade to Gen-3. His answer? If it is working well for us, stick with it. I really respected him for that. He could have tried to tell sell me the new version but he didn’t, this is a sign of a great brand.

Lithium is all the rage these days, and many people are moving to Redarc for DC-to-DC charging. Genesis only works with AGM. I have high respect for Redarc and considered making the move. But, just like the rep said to me, if it is working well for us why change? It is nothing flashy, it just gets the job done, and has given us the confidence to continue to explore solo even further off the beaten path.

Are you currently running v2 and it’s working well for you? Stay with it. Are some of the new features important to you? Go ahead and upgrade. Haven’t made the jump to dual batteries but are looking to put one in your Jeep? I would take a serious look at the new Genesis Gen-3. It is a complete solution that is easy to install and drops right in. To me, if you travel alone it would be shortsighted not to.

Goat Box Co

While most of these products I would consider evolutions of current products and not major leaps in innovation, GOAT BOX, on the other hand, is a new entrant to the market and is looking to do something truly innovative. When you walk into their booth all you see is a wall of coolers. The obvious comparison is to Yeti, the clear leader in the cooler market. When I asked how they differentiate from their competitor, his response surprised me. He said that they don’t feel that they have any true current competition and that they don’t consider themselves a cooler company, they consider themselves a mobile food and gear storage system looking to redefine how you store and access your gear for all your outdoor experiences.

Their true innovation is their HUB and RACK systems. At each of the four corners of the cooler, you will find one of their GOAT CANS. They are as they sound, removable storage compartments that you can store whatever you want, food, fishing gear, first aid gear, hygiene, power boost, hunting, hydration, or whatever you might think of. They also have a RACK system that can hold up to eight CANS. The idea is that you store your RACK and CANS in your garage, basement, or shop, and when you are ready to head out you pick the CANS that are most appropriate for your specific adventure, and you are ready to go. Kym asked them if they had a mounting system for their RACK so that you could take it with you, and they said that it is something that they are working on.

While their focus is on their CAN and RACK systems, they are built around a solid high-quality cooler. They currently have two models, the H50 and the H70, with the H50 coming in at 36L and weighing about 25 lbs. and the H70 coming in at about 59L and weighing 42 lbs. . According to GOAT BOX they provide commercial-grade cooling performance, “Freeze Frame™ insulation maximizes cold or heat retention at the highest level for keeping your frosties cold and ready for game day or preventing them from turning into blocks of ice on a January duck hunt.” They come in four colors, white, desert orange, gravel gray, or sand dune. And yes they are made right here in the USA.

These things are tough. In order to have your coolers allowed in Yellowstone National Park you have to have them bear-tested and certified. You literally have to load them with food and leave them in with a bear for over an hour to see if they can get into it. They had the actual cooler there and you could see some of the bear and tooth marks on it, but to be honest, you would have expected more, that’s how tough it is.

While the standard HUB systems come with four empty cans that you can fill as you see fit, they do also offer pre-built CANS to fit a variety of needs and activities. The CANS are stuffed with premium gear from GOAT’s partner network so you can be sure that you have the best gear on hand for any situation. Some of their CAN KITS include:

• Basic First Aid KIT

• Advanced First Aid KIT

• Hydration KIT

• Hygiene KIT

• Power Boost Plus KIT

• Field Dress KIT

• On The Go Fire + Grill KIT

• Game Bag KIT

• Solo Shelter KIT

• Advanced Hydration KIT

To name a few, and you can assume that they will have more coming soon. It’s an interesting new product in the market and if you are in the market for a new cooler or gear storage system I recommend that you check them out.

Honorable Mention: INEOS Grenadier

Last, but certainly not least, is the INEOS Grenadier 4x4. A new entrant to the 4x4 market, this is a purpose-built vehicle meant to be driven hard off-road. While primarily targeted at the NGO and commercial market, it is ideally suited for off-road and overland travel. This vehicle is tough inside and out. Being focused on off-pavement travel allowed them to make decisions that most on-pavement vehicles have moved away from. Best-in-class engine. Ladder-frame chassis. Permanent four-wheel-drive. Three locking differentials, front, rear, and center. Solid axles front and back.

We won’t go into too many details as we will be writing a separate post solely on this new vehicle. What I will say is that seeing it in person made us fall in love! While they are now producing these in the UK, they are now accepting orders and expect to deliver them in the US in late 2023. I can tell you that we might be close to placing an order…

Stay tuned to find out if we do!