🏕️ How we live & travel

David and whoever's riding shotgun, three months on the road. The rig sleeps two (hatch-tent + pad system) with a tent for overflow when the crew grows — brother Derek rolls his own solar camper, so we rendezvous along the way. We stay cool (and warm) off-grid with the EcoFlow Wave 3, run all our power off Delta Pro 3 batteries topped up by an 800W alternator charger while we drive, and stay connected anywhere on Starlink. Climb by day, cook and recover by night, chasing slack toward the Aug 1 wedding.

🔩 The build-out

AC

Factory AC runs ICE COLD ❄️

Comms

Rocky Talkie std + 5W w/ CB mic, inReach Mini, goTenna pair

Glass

Tinted all around

Power

EcoFlow Delta Pro 3 x2 + 800W EcoFlow alternator charger

Tires

265/65R18 Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus — fresh set of 4 + a collapsible full-size spare on the hitch (matching VW valve-stem caps)

Winch

Badlands APEX 12,000 lb synthetic on a EUROWISE stealth mount behind the bumper

Engine

4.2L V8 (2006 Touareg)

Towing

8,000 lb capacity

Wipers

New RainX wipers, front & rear

Bedding

Cooling sheets + pillowcases

Climate

EcoFlow Wave 3 (cool & heat)

Comfort

Cold-weather pkg — all 4 heated seats + heated steering wheel; AC up front AND in the hatch

Exhaust

A properly sexy V8 note 😎

Storage

Thule roof box + hitch carrier

Glovebox

Factory chilled wine-bottle cooler 🍷

Lighting

HID Night Breaker 6500K headlights + 5000K neon-yellow fog lights

Moonroof

Vents the EcoFlow Wave 3 out custom cutouts

Recovery

Soft shackles, snatch-block pulleys, recovery boards

Traction

True 4x4 — center + rear locking diffs, low-range transfer case, updated diff carriers

First aid

Emergency kit built into the hatch

Rope light

Solar-powered rope-light setup

Suspension

Air suspension w/ EUROWISE protection + EUROWISE upper & lower control arms

Under-seat

Lockable gun cabinet (for some reason 😄)

Convertible

Quick-converts bed ↔ 4-passenger, cooler riding in the middle

Onboard air

Factory compressor in the vault (spare-tire well)

Connectivity

Starlink Mini

Seat cooling

DIY beaded seat covers + downward cooling fans for driver & passenger — beats ventilated seats, zero swamp ass 😅

Water & shower

8.2-gal water jug + Flextail power shower on the rear

📻 Crew radio

FRS Ch 7 · privacy code 12 (Rocky Talkies)

📻 Radio range

Line-of-sight only — in the alpine, get to a notch/ridge to reach the rig

📻 Monitor / emergency

FRS Ch 1 · no privacy code

🧰 Tools on hand