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Thom, yes, I'm aware of the economic costs associated with centralized power production and distribution, but the pollution produced is at this time still lower according to my sources. The move to more localized production to cut transmission losses and infrastructure costs (as well as to...

Gene is right - centralized power production (large electricity plant) will virtually always be more efficient than 10,000 individual power plants (a bunch of gas-burning cars). Much as I love internal-combustion engines, we need to plan for the future, not wait until it clubs us over the head...

Not to hijack this thread, but check this out, I have one of these on order: http://www.teslamotors.com/ You do not!

I'd want to see some kind of statistics on that claim, that it's a one-for-one good-luck/bad-luck balance. I don't believe it. Mark, that claim comes from 25 years of testing equipment of all kinds, starting with reviews in Outside Magazine, most recently Overland Journal and then Overland Tech...

Pretty much anything from George at Extreme Outback is good. ViAir is another good brand. And the newer twin-compressor ARB is good too. The problem with the cheap compressors (or fridges, or winches, or . . .) is that there's always someone - sometimes more than one - who'll swear to having...

John, Airing down does have advantages in terrain other than soft sand or mud. Moderate reduction in tire pressure increases traction on hilly dirt trails, and reduces trail erosion by reducing wheel spin. Reducing wheel spin benefits your tires and drivetrain - it's a cascading effect. The...

Great! Please let us know how it works for you.

Peter, Even a standard lead-acid battery in good condition wouldn't lose nearly that much voltage in a month. And an AGM wouldn't drop more than a half volt. It's almost certainly the battery.

Chnlisle, As someone mentioned, the Sea Eagle boats are okay for putzing around in harbors or lakes, but if you're used to hard-shell sea kayaks, I can bet you'd get bored with the performance pretty quickly. If you want a pure inflatable kayak that is fully capable I'd suggest the Aire Sea...

Tom, This was something I wondered about 15 years ago when we had our first FWC, but never pursued. I'd love to try a set to see if it works, and I'd be happy to reimburse you the purchase price as well. I'm at jonathan AT overlandexpo.com. Cheers, J.

I agree - you could talk yourself into or out of virtually any truck, camper, or ancillary piece of equipment in the world depending on whose individual "expertise" you listened to. You have to learn to separate the anecdotal chaff (I bought a Tacoma and it was a piece of junk; Chevy rules" -...

Steelhead - what, you're tired of my opinions already? :-)

Steelhead, Concerns? I don't think I'd label my thoughts on the issue as concerns. It's definitely something I've considered and addressed where possible, in terms of adding suspension capability via the air bags and shocks, and ensuring we have high-quality tires mounted. Beyond that, I don't...

Steehead, I should clarify. I think the extra capacity and durability of E-rated tires is worth the slight trade-offs; however, I know many people who have had perfect experiences with D-rated tires as well. Since we'll have the FWC on our Tacoma full-time, we can use the heavier-duty tires...

I'd second or third the advice on E- rated tires. We've owned two FWCs; the first had over 150,000 miles on it when we sold it. We used air bags on the stock rear springs, with uprated shocks, on both the Toyota trucks it rode on (a 1992, and a 2002 Tacoma), and that's the way we've gone with...

Yeah, it's about time! This is a wonderful resource.

Thanks for the link, Stan. We're now just back from nearly a week in Mexico, and had 12V power to burn (or sell? Now there's an idea . . .). We were testing a few other things too, including a BGAN satellite system, which I'll report on soon. (And we loaned Brian a portable 125-watt solar panel...