Can you do an Africa expedition in a stock 4x4? — featuring ASPW 4xOverland

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1:09 yesterday was the the most difficult drive um of the trip in fact one of the most difficult drives I've had in in many years the roads were the the tar roads are typical quite slow goinging but they're build rebuilding the main East Road and for 76 k K it was bumps and detours and trucks

1:33 and dust took us over 3 hours to do that 76 km we had been warned about another section that was even worse between and chapata and so we took the back road now we were told it's quite rough but actually going to be more pleasant and really a relief from the trucks dust and bumps and we did that and it

1:59 was a rough road it was tough going was very very slow very very rough the vehicle took a hammering we took a hammering but what a reward I mean at the time I was thinking oh you know this is really oh you know and trying to make our destination and I realized after a few hours of the rough

2:20 stuff uh where we were going to which is a place called Flat dogs near a town called muui which the gateway to the the South luanga National Park was out of our reach we would get there well beyond Nightfall and I'm not prepared to drive in this kind of um country situation in Nightfall really I avoid it like the

2:41 plague but look at the reward what an amazing campsite this will go down as one of the best that I've ever enjoyed it's fantastic

3:08 so again the question is why do we go to the national park and pay those very high fees when we can sit just outside the in a national park what do we seen we've seen elephant warthog Ley giraffe all in the last hour and we've just been

3:34 sitting eating our cereal as part of the minimalist theme of this Expedition where we're traveling with a vehicle that is very lightly equipped we have not modified the suspension we have not um added any protection underneath the vehicle not even a bullbar we haven't replaced the rear bumper we have simply

3:59 put a canopy on on it because can canopy is absolutely essential to keep out um dust and thieves uh rooftop tent um and a fridge and that's about it very light on camping equipment um I couldn't imagine being lighter no battery second battery system and we are running a fridge and I'm

4:24 running it all night so as part of the minimalist project I'm I'm carrying an insurance policy in terms of uh having a flat battery in the morning which is always a risk when running the fridge now I am being sensible I do not I'm not freezing my food in the fridge so the the fridge Duty uh during the night is

4:45 quite light however it is running and it is draining the battery and and I'm in a very very remote place here I mean for me to Now find if my battery doesn't start this morning I've got a serious problem it's a very serious problem so this is my insurance policy it's a battery it's called a

5:09 genius boost made by Niko in the United States I haven't used it for its full purpose yet and I'm hoping really that I never needs to but it's supplied with those now as in Congress as you might think that can start a large diesel engine maximum output if

5:34 I read on the back is 400 amps and all I do is I plug it in the back here if I get it the right way around clip that onto my battery switch on the controls which is there and connect it to the car and fire it up

6:01 now I am taking a bit of risk I suppose in uh putting I wouldn't say our lives that would be melodramatic in the hands of this little thing but it does do the job we will be testing it later later on in the Expedition we're heading off to Malo where we're going to be away from the

6:23 car for a couple of days and I'm going to leave the fridge running knowing that the fridge that the car might not start the the part about this and reason why I've been we've been using it almost every day we've been charging it every day and using a very very small amount of its current it has a a torch function

6:42 and it gives a brilliant broad flat light perfect for a campsite okay if I need to charge my cell phone I can plug it in there that's a lot of power packed into that little box and I charge it same way using the USB connector this has been such a nice piece of kit that we've taken with us another piece of Kit we've

7:08 really been enjoying is our easy orn roof tent most people select a roof tent for such a trip because of the additional safety from animals but is that a valid reason to use one does it protect you from animals I suppose so but then again I have to ask the question well what is the uh what are

7:32 the risks from animals are they real will an elephant tread on your ground tent truth is an elephant is as likely to tread on your ground tent as knock that over there's no difference elephant are extraordinary they can walk around guy ropes from ground tents and not even trip over them so against elephants to

7:58 me it's equal there's no difference hippopotamus actually about the same story hippos have so so unbelievably rarely being a threat to campers in a ground tent and the same goes for lion and leopard and hyena as long as the tent is zipped up particularly with hyena so is it protecting you from

8:22 animals well I suppose it is but it's more protecting you against the perceived threat than the real threat so I look at and say well because the difference because the threat is so negligible that's not a that shouldn't be a main reason for buying a rooftop tent but for many people it is even the

8:47 perceived idea that the threat is reduced if that gives you a better night's sleep then that's a good reason to buy a rooftop tent however there was one item that for for this ambitious Expedition I was not prepared to compromise on going out and buying tires um is a grudge purchase for many

9:11 people but motor enthusiasts 4x4 Enthusiast included buying tires is often really really enjoyable thing to do and that's because we have a relationship with these big black round rubber things that we attach to our vehicle and we have such a relationship because they've served us well theyve

9:35 they've delivered on a promise and they they they've given us pleasure even though they're tires I I have a relationship with with tires and it's taken many years to form and that is why for this particular Expedition I wanted to drive the tires that that I've grown to

10:03 trust it's a this is a sponsored vehicle um quite a bit of the kit is sponsored and but I I I I wanted I wanted my tires on the car what I've got here is the new ko2 it's the new model bef Goodridge my concern was I mean I always like the BF

10:28 Goodridge Al Terin because there so tough they take a hammering I can load the vehicle they get hot I can do I've done so many trips with them with so few punctures I first fitted them in 200 uh 9 2009 what do you suppose is different about this trip and why do I think that this time I'm going to

10:48 succeed well firstly different vehicle not that the vehicle had anything to do with me failing on the last trip but it was the tires and this are now fitted what I consider to be the strongest allterrain Tire available and the second major difference is I have a different hat so I fitted them because I I didn't want

11:10 Flats I don't want punctures I want a tire that's going to be able to take a hammering and these have taken a walloping on this Zambia trip the amount of Road works the amount of um hard driving heavy braking um and gravel and we' done sand work work done a little bit of rock work not too much of that

11:33 first class first class and it gives me a warm fuzzy they made them better they've made them even better thank you for watching if you would like to take our relationship to the next level support me on patreon just $1 a month to support our video productions download everything I've

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