If you Jeep anywhere worth Jeeping, you know the feeling: You’re stuck, and grab the hook on the end of your winch line, running it out to whatever anchor point you need to use. And you have a hook.
What the heck are you supposed to do with a hook!?
Enter the product line of winching accessories from Factor 55.
I was interested in their Prolink “thimble” that acted as a quick attachment point for the end of the winch line. After the install, I noticed it protruded out quite a bit, and I worried about that first careless person that nosed into the parking spot a little too far.
When jeeping for a long period of time, nothing is more important than a hearty breakfast. On our recent trip along the Rubicon Trail, we woke to a chilly Sierra morning and I decided to warm up with some breakfast burritos.
Said chilly morning at Rubicon Springs.
These are a twist of my friend Andy’s amazing breakfast burritos from Moab.
So what do you get when you merge the Rubicon with burritos? Ruburritos (thanks Jesse!)
Yesterday, I was fortunate to hear a great piece on veganism and Masculinity (I highly encourage you all to check it out). Of interest, was a quote by Triathlete Dominic Thompson,
“Compassion is the new cool.”
And while there is a bit of Ghandism and cliche in that statement, personally I feel it really defines my interest and core of being vegan. Not the cool part, (I could care less about being cool) but the fact that being compassionate is in the open. It’s OK to care for something insignificant. It’s the new closet us men can come out of.
I remember way back (in my meat eating days) when a fly was drowning in a day old cup of coffee on my desk at work. I asked a co-worker to quickly grab a fork, while I tried to rescue it with a pen. My coworker ridiculed me for weeks, for “saving a stupid fly,” calling me “Fly Guy.”
Image courtesy djltaga on DeviantArt
At the time, it was a source of embarrassment and I found myself questioning my actions. Maybe my friend was right. Why was I worried about this “stupid fly?”
Initially, my defense was based on karma. Maybe some day I’ll be drowning and I’ll wish for someone to take a moment of their day and pluck me from the proverbial cup of coffee. But over time, I realized that saving that fly was good for my soul. It made me feel good to help something else without placing a value on it first.
I moved on in my compassion journey from insect saving to a fully vegan lifestyle. Knowing that my diet causes no animals any suffering or death is more nourishing for my sanity than my waist line.
So how exactly can we as a society fall on such polarized ends of this issue? While mainstream marketing screams at real men to eat beef (It is, after all what’s for dinner) and meats, the other side eats soy and smoked tempeh strips.
A recent google image search for “Man food”
Some of my friends actually refuse – flat out refuse – to even try a vegan meal. I am not sure if this is out of concern I am attempting to “convert them” or out of a fear they might actually like it and would have to think about a lifestyle change. Ignorance is a precious resource in this world and even harder to get back once lost.
Personally, I feel they worry about their man card. That someone they know might see them biting into a Veggie Grill Buffalo Bomber and sound the man alarm, agents streaming in, taking them away only to waterboard them with A1 steak sauce and chicken stock while watching all the Rambo movies.
So how do we turn that corner? How do we show to men on the larger scale that it is OK to be compassionate, healthy, AND actually enjoy good food?
The NPR piece mentioned a new blog that I think is really making headway in this space. It is called The Discerning Brute and it is a high-end men’s vegan blog.
The home page of TDB.
Another great point of the article was that confidence has always been “manly” in our society. Ex butcher and now vegan chef Dan Strong stated,
“There’s an illusion that manhood is this confidence that is exuded at all time,” Strong said. “Veganism is that kind of confidence. It really is. It’s a choice that we make that guides us on our lives. I can’t think of anything more manly than that.”
I’d also add that as vegans we must have thick skin. We need to deal with ridicule and ribbings. And I think that even makes us more resilient.
Golden Spike trail is part of the trifecta of trails in Moab which consists of Gold Bar Rim, Golden Spike, and most of Poison Spider.
On our recent mantrip to Moab, Andy and I actually ran all three of these trails (alone) and (almost)without incident. There were many cases where we took the easier option as we had no other rigs with us.
The trail officially “begins” on the Poison Spider side, but we ran it in reverse from Gold Bar Rim. The area is very well signed. I am actually glad we traversed it in this order, as some of the descents we made off ledges seemed pretty difficult if we were climbing them. The “point of no return factor, however was a bit daunting.
UPDATED 10/30/14: I received new resistors from Anzo. And while they told Northridge they were a “new design” they look identical to the ones that failed, so time will tell. This company has some pretty abysmal customer service, so be forewarned. At least I have the crew at Northridge at my back for this! I did replace the resistors and will report back on any issues.
UPDATED 10/20/14: Since the install, both the passenger and driver side resistors have failed. While the lights still work, I get the fast flash and errors in my EVIC, where the computer thinks bulbs are blown. ANZO USA did not respond to my contact request for support, but thankfully Northridge 4×4 did, and held them to fix the issue. Anzo is sending me two new (apparently redesigned resistors) for me to install. Hopefully this fixes the problem.
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My Jeep has been visited by a really annoying gremlin – the failed right rear blinker. It is a pretty common problem across the forums, yet there doesn’t seem to be a single fix.
Essentially, the blinker will work once the Jeep is started, then about 5-10 seconds later it fails, going to a rapid flash and throwing an error in the EVIC.
The bulb filament is fine, and the bulb actually works in the driver side tail light. So it was something else.
Rather than mess around with bulbs and electrical stuff, I opted to just replace the tail lights with an LED option. Based on what Northridge 4×4 had to offer, I chose the Anzo USA Black tail lights.
They arrived in a non descript box, after an extended drop ship time. The box included two lights and nothing else.
The packaging wa odd, but everything arrived just fine.
Installation was straight forward and easy. But since there were no instructions, I figured I’d do a little write up.
Last Saturday, our small convoy of Jeeps left a Starbucks in Vancouver, for the 4 hour drive to Manastash. Leaving at 7:00AM, we made great time on the way North.
We decided to fill up on last minute supplies and top off the tanks at Whistlin’ Jack’s in Cliffdell.
Stop for fuel and firewood.
We took the second right after Kaner Flats campground (off FS 19), airing down just off the road before Kaner Flats trailhead (trail 676).
The following images are a collection from that trail.
There are many cases today that the adage “you get what you pay for” really applies. However, it seems the only time that logic applies is when you are contemplating a pretty expensive purchase. Hence this review of the ARB 50 quart Fridge Freezer.
As a Jeeper, I must say that having an actual refrigerator (or freezer) has been “offroad life changing.” I am no longer running out to get extra ice, or dealing with soggy food, or having water sloshing in the back of the Jeep.
As a vegan, however, my actual life has in fact been really changed by this amazing fridge.
When campin’ or Jeepin,’ there isn’t anything better than a nice warm, hearty meal – especially one that is super yummy and easy to make.
One of my favorite camping sandwiches is this BBQ Chicken sandwich courtesy of Beyond Meat!
You’ll need a whole pack of Beyond Meat chicken strips and whatever else you like on a sandwich (avocado, lettuce, toms, Veganaise, etc). Grab your favorite BBQ sauce too.
UPDATED 09/11/2017 with something new! I was delaying changing out the positive terminal, due to all the aux wiring and everything. I found a set of “Battery Terminal Shims” at my local auto parts store, and they work awesome! Just remove the stock terminal ring, slide on the shim, and use a mallet to gently tap the ring back over the new shim. No gap, no movement!
UPDATED 10/8/2014 with a very important update! Even though I applied this fix to my battery terminals, there must have been a very tiny gap that remained between my terminal and the battery post.
On a recent offroading trip, I was winching another vehicle and the additional strain on the battery caused a spark to arc and actually fused the terminal to the battery, causing battery failure. The ground winch cable was too hot to touch. I was lucky to get out under power and make it home. It remains an expensive fix (the OEM battery was only a year old) but if you are stuck in the woods, the costs and risks increase. Based on the temperatures, I would not rule out a fire risk. Please REPLACE your terminals immediately to prevent you from getting stuck, or worse.
Battery post with molten lead, fused terminal.New battery, new terminals. I do plan on upgrading the terminals. These are temporary.
Original post follows:
The forums are ablaze with questions around concerned Jeep drivers, that their gauge cluster will suddenly light up, chime, and do some weird things – but only for a second or two.
I found myself dealing with this exact same problem in both my 2012 and 2013 Rubicons (the videos above are mine). Taking the 2013 in under warranty, the dealer was just as perplexed as I was. Eventually they changed the electronic sway bar disconnect motor (claiming it was not sealed for water and thus causing the short).
![Trail Review: Golden Spike [UTAH]](https://offroadvegan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/cover.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
Off-road Vegan 