Gear Reviews:
At almost four months into our trip I decided that it was high time to review some gear. Firstly I have to mention that the most useful thing I found so far is a long sleeved, 100% cotton, buttoned bush shirt. Those who know me will laugh at this as I would normally not be caught dead it something like that. However, on a trip like this, it keeps the mozzies off my arms, it's phenomenally cool when worn with the buttons open and sleeves rolled up and it serves as a light weight jacket over a T-Shirt when it gets chilly. The most useless thing so far... Well, it has to be the four-stage reverse osmosis water purification system we are yet to turn on. Water thus far has been easy to find on a regular basis and mostly clean. Touch wood, neither one of us have had any stomach upsets in the four months we've been on the road.
Rocky: (Sponsored)
Rocky gave us samples of a few different things with their shoes being the most used. Historically I have exclusively worn Rocky Sandals for at least 8 months of the year, only ever replacing them out of fashion changes or because I lost one. I have only ever managed to use up one set after 9 years of wearing and some insane amount of abuse. Their first magazine advert said: It is not our fault your feet stink, but it is our fault the shoes last so long... or something to that effect. My sponsorship proposal to everyone stated very clearly: “I will put your products through the paces and use them as stated on the tin. I will give an honest and objective review of what I find.”
So here goes:
I selected three different pairs of shoes:
Sandals, which historically had been my favourit shoes, and favourite Rocky product. I have NEVER been able to wear out a single pair of these and had great hopes for the new pair. They have been fantastically comfortable since the first time I used them and the soles have shown little to no wear in the months of abuse in the African bush. I might ad that I wear them almost exclusively when its warm enough not to need shoes. I did unfortunately manage to wear out the Velcro on the straps around the ankles, but it was easy enough to replace and continue wearing the shoes after. I do love my Rocky sandals!
I received a pair of Hiking Boots which I was impressed with from the start. I put them on for the very first time in the Cedarberg and went for a 20km hike. There was no sign of blistering or rubbing and I was very impressed! I used them on and off over the next few months and discovered two small issues. The first was that the soles were pretty soft and I started feeling stones and rough surfaces through them. I’m sure the solution would be a simple inner sole, but have not had opportunity to find some. The other issue for me is that the tongue of the shoe is fabric and not leather. This means that when you’re walking through tall, wet grass, the water seems to be attracted to the inside of the shoe, which is bnot ideal. This characteristic alone meant that I did not have the confidence to hike up Kilimanjaro in them. To be fair, my rented mountain boots also had fabric tongues and they gave me massive blisters, which the Rocky boots would not have done. Kilimanjaro was dry for us, so they would have been a better option, but if it had been wet… I vowed to climb the next mountain in them and during our Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda, they were great.
The third pair was trainers with netting sides. This was, in retrospect a mistake. They are superbly comfortable, but obviously not waterproof. You can also not really use them in long grass as the seeds just love to get stuck in the netting and rub on your skin. I use them in cold places around the camp site while wearing socks mostly and for that purpose they are fantastic!
Off the shoes and onto the Sleeping Bags. The label on the bag talks about a -4 to -8 temperature rating. On our 250g bags, the correct square was never marked, so I’m not sure what their rating should be. Within the first few weeks of travelling we were constantly camping in +6 to +4 and they were not really warm enough for that without the help of a blanket. In temperatures between +10 and +20 they are comfortable and soft and good though. The bags they come in are made from very thin material and did not strike me as very durable. We have however abused them for almost six months now and only sustained one small rip from over tightening. I would not honestly recommend these sleeping bags for cold climates, but for general use they are absolutely fine.
We received some clothing from them as well. From the bottom:
They gave us a few pairs of socks which have worked well in all conditions. They are not specialised socks, but general purpose ones and have lasted well through everything we have done, including Kilimanjaro. The cotton trousers I have have been great! I lost a mass of weight since our trip started, so they are a little baggy on me now, but I use them mostly to put on over shorts at night and to keep the mozzies off my legs. They seem well maid and have shown no signs of wear in the time I have used them. The shorts I have reminds a little of Schoolboy shorts and wouldn’t be my personal preference in design. However, they too have survived my abuse without issue and also show no wear after six months. I have a total of four pairs of shorts of which three are Rocky, so I do wear them a lot! Their long sleeved bush shirts have been my favourite and most used piece of clothing. They are also 100% cotton and thus cool in warm weather and warm in cold weather. I use them daily to keep mozzies off my arms and use them as lightweight jackets when it gets chilly. I also use them when its really hot and open the front for ventilation. I have two of them and have rotated them for six months. They also show no signs of wear and I have been impressed.
Lastly, they gave us a dome tent. This was more a back up than anything else and we have sued it when staying in one place for a few days at a time. Catt’s parents used it extensively for three weeks in Malawi and it has proven comfortable and functional. It barely survived a massive storm with very strong wind and the poles sustained some structural damage. However, this would have been expected from any such dome tent. We fixed it with ample Gaffer tape and have been using it like that since. In Nyika Plateau we used it in massively strong winds again and pegging down every available rope securely solved the wind issue entirely. The bag, once again seems flimsy and has ripped in one small place, but has survived the usual abuse.
Conclusion:
If you are the proud owner of an old pair of Rocky sandals, guard them with your life! If you need a new pair, you can buy them with confidence. As far as the other shoes are concerned, I have to honestly say I believe there are better products on the market for the same price. The clothes are well made with quality fabric, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy this specific brand. The same goes for the sleeping bags and tents.
Bridgestone D673 Mud Terrain Tyres: (Sponsored)
When we first received the new tyres I was very impressed! They looked sexy and ran quiet on the tar roads around town and in the Kruger National Park. The felt slightly loose at high speed around the bends, but never enough to worry about and not unexpected for such an aggressive tread. We had done about 10 000km on them before the start of our trip and I could not fault them at all. The one thing that had changed was that our speedometer and odometer suddenly became GPS accurate as the tyres themselves had a slightly higher profile than our old tyres. This gave the impression of 10% higher fuel consumption, but if you keep the 10% error of the old tyres in mind, our consumption actually stayed exactly the same, which I found pleasantly surprising.
The South African part of our travels took us though the Richtersveld, the Cedarberg the Tankwa Karoo and the mountain passes of the Eastern Cape. All these places are renowned for being rubber eating, tyre destroying hells and from the wear we noticed on our rubber, the reputations were not unjust. To be honest, we did have a puncture in the Tankwa Karoo. I also have to ad that the tyres were probably over inflated, the load probably too heavy and I was driving way to fast for the conditions. The puncture happened as we went through a dip with sharp rocks in and the rear suspension almost bottomed out. It was reparable, and we are still using the same tyre now.
Through our travels I have purposefully not engaged 4x4 unless totally necessary and I have been absolutely astonished at the incredible off road performance we have managed. I have to concede that the Land Cruiser must have something to do with it, but I can not help to think that the grip of the tyres must have a lot to do with it as well. Through Zimbabwe we encountered all kinds of road surfaces from a Muddy Gonarezhou to a sandy Hwange, a pot holed Binga road and all of the above in Mana Pools. We managed it all without ever using the front wheels to help with the load. In Zambia we saw a lot of mud and a surprising amount of loose river sand. There again the tyres simply kept us afloat on the sand and gripped enough in the mud so I could stay lazy. On the road from North Luangwa to South Luangwa National Parks along the eastern side of them both we did need 4x4. We managed a mass of river crossings and even had to winch out a local Land Cruiser on standard Tyres. On that occasion I kept the revs high, the momentum going and the steering wheel straight, but made the crossing without as much as a blink of hesitation. I was wildly impressed and attributed the ease to the tyres as well.
In South Luangwa we got stuck in the mud. This was 100% due to our won stupidity and as the car was laying chassis deep in mud without any traction on any of the wheels, I don't think any tyres would have made a difference.
Now, 4 months into our adventure and some 30 000km on the tyres, we have still only had one puncture despite the utter abuse we have shown to the rubber. Although there are very obvious signs of wear and quite a few superficial cuts due to the array of sharp rocks and tree stumps we have driven over, they are holding strong and look like they will serve us at least the same distance again before needing replacing. Although people have reported as much as 100 000km on one set of tyres, keep in mind that we are driving more than 60% off road and always on the brink of overloaded.
Bridgestone Tyres gets a huge thumbs up from us!
Fever Tree Anti Mosquito Candles: (Sponsored)
I was very excited to test the Fever Tree stuff on our trip. We left with a bunch of scented candles, some lotion, some soaps and some of the concentrated oil to mix into what we wanted at a later stage. To us it is no secret that the candles work. You do need to keep in mind that they work better inside than outside, but even around our camp fire we found their efficiency quite phenomenal... for mosquitoes and normal flies.
The lotion worked great as well. Through Zimbabwe and well into Zambia we were using that almost exclusively as anti Mosquito stuff with a 100% success rate when applied. The soap surprisingly became my favourite fever tree product. In Mana Pools we showered around mid day and always came back to camp at last light, pitching the tent before anything else. On the days I used the Fever Tree soap, I kept bite free until I had time to apply the lotion or cream we had mixed. On the days I used normal soap, I was dotted with bites by the time I did that.
In Zambia we used the candles inside a safari tent which was great. On Zomba Plateau in Malawi we used them as a light source in a cabin we rented. Needless to say that there was not a single mosquito in sight and the place smelt lovely. On Likoma Island we burnt one in our room with great success and every once in a while I burnt one in the car when we were stationary to chase the hiding mozzies and flies out. So all and all, it does what it says on the tin, and it does it really well.
However the things not affected by the Fever Tree oils are:
Tsetse Flies: They are so stupid, so hard and so aggressive that the only thing that kills them is Doom and the most effective thing to keep them off you is a string solution of Dettol and water. They were completely undeterred by the candles, the cream or the lotion.
Mopani flies: These are small little irritating midge like flies found near water and around fruit trees. I'm sure that are called by different names in different regions. They seem to be attracted by the scent and fly at your head and into any orifice in your head in noisy irritating masses. After experiencing them I finally understood how people can actually go insane.
Sand Flees:
Mana Pools and the lake side beaches were full of them and they love eating at your ankles. Fever Tree products did not deter them one little bit, but then again, they never claimed to.
Conclusion:
If you are after something to keep away mosquitoes and flies, especially inside a contained environment like a tent or a room, Fever Tree candles is all you need. If you need to keep all sorts of other bugs away from you as well, sorry to say, but bring on the DEET!
Eezy Awn Roof Top Tent (Bought used)
Our model is a canvas tent of 1.4m wide. It has a marine ploy floor and a loose rain cover. It is one model older than the current one you see in the shops.
My thoughts: Well, It is by far the best roof top tent we have had, and we have tried four different ones. The extra width makes a huge difference and I can not believe that we used to travel with a 1.2m wide tent. We replaced the mattress with 3cm thick high density foam glued to the bottom of high density eggshell foam. We also have self inflating mattresses for extra comfort. The whole setup works wonders! We used to get tired of sleeping on bad mattresses after about two weeks on the road, but I have to honestly say, that this setup is as comfortable now as it was the first day we tried it and not far behind our very expensive queen size mattress we used to sleep on.
The canvas and stitching is of high quality and I can’t fault it. The waterproofness of the tent is surprisingly good. We have seen some ridiculous amount of water fall from the sky and up to now have stayed completely dry. We have also camped in close to zero degree temperatures in comfort as well as plus 40 degrees in equal comfort.
There are three criticisms I have for the tent:
It’s heavy! Weighing in at over 50kg, it’s quite hard for Catt and I to manhandle it if we need to. On the other side, all the canvas tents seem to weight roughly the same and the Featherlite we had before this, which was much lighter, wasn’t waterproof.
The rain cover almost seems like an afterthought. It doesn’t look or feel as if it fits really well and in windy conditions the poles designed to keep it off the tent are useless. The wind simply lifts the cover off the poles and leaves it flapping until you decide to get up and fasten them down.
Most concerning of all is that the tape they used at the bottom of the mosquito netting to sew Velcro onto it is so sharp that it has started destroying the netting on the seam. This is solvable by restricting the netting, but I would have though that someone else would have picked up on this problem before our tent was made and they would have made a plan by now. Then again, we have possibly used this tent for more nights on this trip than the average Joe will in a lifetime on annual tripping around Southern Africa.
Conclusion:
As a foldable Roof top Tent I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a better one that the Eezy Awn or Howling Moon which seems similar. We dismissed the wedge shaped tents (Hannibal makes one) as we needed some roof rack space, but having now seen a few people who have successfully put a roof rack on top of their wedge tents, I think we may change to that system for our next trip. The stuff on our roof is not heavy, so the tent will easily support it.
MRS Dragonfly Multi fuel Stove and Bugaloo Pot set (Bought new)
WOW! This thing is a machine! We elected not to use a gas stove as we did not want to carry a gas cylinder or have the headache of finding a place to fill it. Our initial solution was an Optimus Hiker + liquid fuel stove. For the older people, it’s a simple primus stove. For the younger generation… Its most commonly used in high altitude mountaineering and you can use any petroleum based liquid fuel to run it. You pressurize a container to spray a fine mist of fuel through a jet that ignites under a burner. Once it’s heated up, the fuel vaporizes as it leaves the jet and then the good stuff starts. The Optimus developed an air leak after the third use and we could never get it working properly again. In Cape Town we sourced an MSR Dragonfly for R2 400 (They are cheaper in any other country) and never looked back. It runs on almost anything that is liquid and burns and will boil a litre of water in about 3.5 minutes. Next time you put the kettle on, time it and you’ll see how impressive this actually is.
As fuel we started on Paraffin which worked OK, but took some time to prime the jet. At some stage we switched over to Benzene which worked fantastically! The Optimus can not do this as they don’t supply an Alcohol Jet for it. The MSR has a different jet you fit to accommodate different types of fuel. The Benzene primed in a fraction of the time and it seemed to be easier to control the flame level. It also burns much cleaner and evaporates so fast that if you do spill some on your hands; it’s gone before you can walk to the tap. The only issue is that we have not able to find benzene outside of South Africa. We tried mentholated spirits, but that did not work so well, so we had to change jets and turn back to Paraffin again.
The running cost is really low! We use on average about 500ml per week which includes the normal boiling water on a daily basis as well as two meals per week cooked exclusively on the stove. Paraffin costs about $1 a litre, so our cooking fuel costs us $0.50 per week.
The bad side:
The only bad thing I can say about the stove is that it is noisy. It kind of sounds like a jet engine when fully open and you have to be careful not to disturb other campers. That however is a small price to pay for its robustness, running cost and efficiency.
The two hiking pots from Bugaloo weigh absolutely nothing and have a Teflon coating that seems very hard wearing. We use them often and for a veriety of things and even after four month’s use they show almost no wear at all. For the R600 price tag you would expect that, but still, it is rare to find something as good as the description on the box. These really are that good!
Conclusion:
MSR is a fantastic brand and we have a few items from them. After many months of research into stoves I made a bad decision to go for the Optimus. I should have chosen the MSR in the first place! We’re over the mood about the pot set and will stick to that brand as long as we can find it.
Frontrunner Ammo Box Drawers and Fridge slide: (Bought new)
We have six ammo boxes on a sliding packing system in the back of the car. We weighed up many options, including the popular Outback Drawers before settling on these and we are not sorry! The 6 ammo boxes offer enough space for most of our catering needs as well as some hardware and everything is super easy to get to. It keeps us and our stuff neat and clean and organised. The drawer was design so that you leave the lids on the boxes, unlike the Outback system which has no space for the Wolfpack Crate lids.
The fridge slide has impressed my greatly. We have a 60 Fridge/Freezer which gets filled to the brim every time we find good supplies. I don’t even want to guess how much it weighs when it’s half full of raw meat and half full of liquids. The slide takes this in its stride with9out some much as a hesitation when trying to open or close it. A few people we have met along our way have commented on how smooth our fridge slides in and out.
Both the slides are smoother and easier to move than any of the others we have come across. Make no mistake; they take a huge hammering with the constant weight on the runners and the ridiculous amount of dust that gets in through closed doors. Up to now, they have shown no signs of wear at all.
They share one irritating problem: The catch that locks them into place is a simple metal piece that pivots around a 6mm bolt. The locknut works its way loose on rough roads which in turns means that the catch jumps free, releasing the drawers as soon as you hit the slightest bump in the road. For us to re lock the slides means that we have to unlock both spare wheels and swing them open before getting the barn doors open to get to the slide to lock it again. Not the most fun thing in Tsetse fly infested woodland with bad roads! Up to now the solution has been to over tighten them. This means that for the first three days after a tightening session, Catt can’t work the catch, but at least they don’t jump open.
Conclusion:
We’re very happy with our choice of packing system and even though we may modify the layout slightly to accommodate future needs, the basic materials and engineering has proven well worth it. I hope that Bobby, the owner of Front Runner reads this and changes the locking mechanism which would make it the perfect packing system.
Engel 60l Combination fridge/Freezer (Bought new in 2006)
Not a lot needs to be said for the trusty Engel. It works every day and works very hard some days to freeze the mountain of meat we load into it. We have now travelled Botswana’s sand and mud, Namibia’s extreme corrugations, all over Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi and this machine has not had a single issue apart from the wearing out of one deep cycle battery. We have shown it some amount of abuse yet it seems completely reliable and completely bullet proof. I honestly can not see that we will ever need another travel fridge.
The 20l Freezer compartment holds enough meat for at least 3 weeks for the two of us and the 40l Fridge compartment enough veggies etc to keep us happy for about 14 days. We set it to around -5 deg C in the freezer which is cold enough to freeze meat and warm enough to keep the cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce from freezing on the other side. With the confusing mass of fridges and freezers on the market you can buy many cheaper ones and many more expensive ones which we don’t have much experience of, but for my money, you can’t beat an Engel.
