The 2021 Rimrocker Round Trip Overland Trek

[Montecresto]

If anyone has the time to write up a full synopsis of the trip from their perspective, I would love to hear it to see if there are tips I can glean from the experience

What’s that job pay????

 

[Admin]

 

[WhiteLightning]

Baby wipes for the nights when a shower isn't available. A wet Chamois cloth for cleaning windshield.

 

[Keebler]

If any of you that went on the trip could help the poor souls that couldn't attend, that would be great.

1. Any lessons learned for supplies?
   1. so far I have seen fuel considerations as a consideration
   2. Was water an issue for anyone?
   3. Facilities were likely not had until Moab, correct?
2. Any lessons learned about equipment?
   1. anything you guys wish you had, but didn't?
   2. Anything a true life saver? Looks like the winches came in handy...
3. Camp considerations? Set up or teardown?

The last item is about the Honda's themselves. I saw that the P500s didn't go some of the places the bigger guys did. Is this truly an issue? If you look at HP to weight, the P500/P520 has almost the same ratio as the larger machines. Now I will concede that a 1000 will haul a lot more in comparison to a p500. Kind of like a big guys carrying a 50 pound pack vs a smaller guy carrying the same weight.

If anyone has the time to write up a full synopsis of the trip from their perspective, I would love to hear it to see if there are tips I can glean from the experience

Thanks!

Rob.

As one of the two P500s on the trip I can assure you that the P500 was capable to going everywhere the other UTVs went. I did forgo some of the side trips, but only because this was our first long UTV trip and the wife and I enjoyed socializing with others and a bit of rest. Water was not a problem, we took 5 gallons. I took 8 and a half gallons of fuel and could have gotten by with 2 and a half. Tent setup and tear down was about 30 minutes each and not overly burdensome, however I need to devise a better method of attaching stuff to the P500 because strapping everything down took as much time as camp setup and teardown.

I would not recommend pulling a trailer with the P500. The power is adequate for trail, however with a trailer it would be very hard keeping up on the higher speed road sections.

I will be looking into a better seat cushion before the next long trip.

Dust was an issue, but I don't know how to get around that, just wear a gator when needed and clean the windshield often

 

[crewcabrob]

What’s that job pay????

How much beer will it take? I'm happy to buy...

 

[Montecresto]

How much beer will it take? I'm happy to buy...

Hopefully the anecdotals posted by all of us will suffice and answer your questions. A nice one was just posted by @Keebler …..👍

 

[Pilgrim]

I haven't shown her the tear drop issues yet. I showed her the rig you had and she said can we do something like that instead of the tent I have? So now I will be looking at options: small trailer with a roof top tent, small teardrop I buy, some sort of trailer I make... (not out of wood). Aluminum and either skinned with aluminum or with some sort of fiberglass sandwhich material.

A lesson from a old man…. A couple of years ago I found out when camping that didn’t have to crawl in and out of a backpacking tent like I had been doing for thirty years……
I went camping with some guys who had cots and stand up size tents…..
whole new world….. you can get a tent with six foot ceiling…. Carry a couple of cots and maybe a pad on top of those if necessary…… still easy to haul on a UTV and not even close to the hassle of dragging a trailer…..
now…. I say that because my wife did not go nor did she have any desire to go on this trip….
but I don’t know what your wifes camping experience is…..sitting on a cot to dress and put on your clothes….. not having to crawl out …. Those things make a difference….

 

[WhiteLightning]

I built a rack for the pioneer and everything had a place., Was pleased with how it worked out.
I did realizeI need to buy an extra battery for the hand held radio.. or a 12 volt chargerfor it.. a good ice chest is a must have. For days without a store

 

[Pilgrim]

The yellow tent is a big Agnes….I forget the model…. But pretty easy to set up…. There are lots more out there

 

[Pilgrim]

My setup the first two nights….. no rain … no bugs….

 

[Pilgrim]

I

i found this funny looking scat with berries and stuff in it about ten yards from first nights camp….. must be from a Bigfoot

 

[crewcabrob]

I would not recommend pulling a trailer with the P500. The power is adequate for trail, however with a trailer it would be very hard keeping up on the higher speed road sections.

Thank you for your reply and letting me know the P500 was able to keep up with the larger machines. I assumed it would be fine keeping pace by itself.

I wonder if the power bump the P520 got would help with the load? I'm going to have to test a few options before I really put to bed the idea of a small trailer. But now it looks like I need to reduce the weight and footprint a bit more to make sure I have a fair margin of error. No more dreams of having a fully loaded trailer cap out at 1,000 pounds. Now it looks like I should shoot for about 1/2 of that fully loaded.

With speeds of 30mph, I would think a heavily loaded P520 would be able to keep up.

Rob

 

[crewcabrob]

I built a rack for the pioneer and everything had a place., Was pleased with how it worked out.
I did realizeI need to buy an extra battery for the hand held radio.. or a 12 volt chargerfor it.. a good ice chest is a must have. For days without a storeView attachment 294218

I like this idea. Might be a winner with a very light roof top tent on it. At lease my wife wouldn't be sleeping near the ground that way. And I can see how it would make it easier to secure stuff with more tie down points.

Rob

 

[crewcabrob]

Hopefully the anecdotals posted by all of us will suffice and answer your questions. A nice one was just posted by @Keebler…..👍

Works for me... I very much appreciate all of the great info you guys have shared.

 

[crewcabrob]

A lesson from a old man…. A couple of years ago I found out when camping that didn’t have to crawl in and out of a backpacking tent like I had been doing for thirty years……
I went camping with some guys who had cots and stand up size tents…..
whole new world….. you can get a tent with six foot ceiling…. Carry a couple of cots and maybe a pad on top of those if necessary…… still easy to haul on a UTV and not even close to the hassle of dragging a trailer…..
now…. I say that because my wife did not go nor did she have any desire to go on this trip….
but I don’t know what your wifes camping experience is…..sitting on a cot to dress and put on your clothes….. not having to crawl out …. Those things make a difference….

Great advice! I have good tents, some MSR tents and cots as well. My wife liked the idea of increased security with the trailer. the whole lions, tigers and bears syndrome...

Rob

 

[TripleB]

View attachment 294226I View attachment 294226View attachment 294226i found this funny looking scat with berries and stuff in it about ten yards from first nights camp….. must be from a Bigfoot

Did you do a taste test on it to confirm?

 

[Montecresto]

A lesson from a old man…. A couple of years ago I found out when camping that didn’t have to crawl in and out of a backpacking tent like I had been doing for thirty years……
I went camping with some guys who had cots and stand up size tents…..
whole new world….. you can get a tent with six foot ceiling…. Carry a couple of cots and maybe a pad on top of those if necessary…… still easy to haul on a UTV and not even close to the hassle of dragging a trailer…..
now…. I say that because my wife did not go nor did she have any desire to go on this trip….
but I don’t know what your wifes camping experience is…..sitting on a cot to dress and put on your clothes….. not having to crawl out …. Those things make a difference….

Gotta love that…..😍

 

[Montecresto]

Great advice! I have good tents, some MSR tents and cots as well. My wife liked the idea of increased security with the trailer. the whole lions, tigers and bears syndrome...

Rob

Well, women are women and need a voice. To me it’s a small price to pay to have her with me doing something I can’t convey how much I enjoy….👍

 

[Montecresto]

I like this idea. Might be a winner with a very light roof top tent on it. At lease my wife wouldn't be sleeping near the ground that way. And I can see how it would make it easier to secure stuff with more tie down points.

Rob

It worked really well for him. Nicely planned.

 

[ByronM]

A lesson from a old man…. A couple of years ago I found out when camping that didn’t have to crawl in and out of a backpacking tent like I had been doing for thirty years……
I went camping with some guys who had cots and stand up size tents…..
whole new world….. you can get a tent with six foot ceiling…. Carry a couple of cots and maybe a pad on top of those if necessary…… still easy to haul on a UTV and not even close to the hassle of dragging a trailer…..
now…. I say that because my wife did not go nor did she have any desire to go on this trip….
but I don’t know what your wifes camping experience is…..sitting on a cot to dress and put on your clothes….. not having to crawl out …. Those things make a difference….

I wish you would of shared that wisdom before the trip Stan, since I haven’t tent camped in over twenty years it took me less than one night to figure out crawling out of a small tent is not in the cards for me anymore much less trying to get up off an air mattress at my age. Also bring a warmer sleeping bag than you think you need, the ”elevation” makes a big difference in how cold it gets at night.

 

[Montecresto]

Did you do a taste test on it to confirm?

Reminds one of an old Cheech and Chong skit….