2023 California Overland Adventure and Power Sports Show
This weekend we took a trip to beautiful Pamona to check out the offerings on display at the 2023 California Overland Adventure and Power Sports Show.
Our goal, as always with these events, was to see if we could stoke the creative fires and maybe find someone that could help us with one of the two million projects left to do on the Unimog.
I am not trying to put these shows down in any way but they just never have anything that can help us. Unimog (and Monteros for that matter) owners are not the target market. If you have a mainstream small vehicle like a Tacoma, Jeep, Bronco, or full size pick-up truck then you are in heaven. Or, if you want or have a Sprinter van. Or if you want to tow a trailer camper you are also in luck. If you fit any of the above then you will have a lot of things to look at.
We are looking forward to the Overland Expo in Flagstaff so we can see some big truck stuff. Specifically expedition habitat makers, possible subframe fabricators, and all of the stuff that goes in the habitat. I was thinking we might at least be able to see stuff like diesel heaters at the Pamona show because on Youtube those seem to be everywhere now, even in the rooftop tent community. But… not a single diesel heater that I could see. Superwinch was another vendor that has something I could use but they had nothing to see over 10K Lbs. In fact, they only had one winch on display – quite an underwhelming presence.
Optima Batteries had their Unimog there which is a beautiful 1550L that I have seen in many photos/videos but never in person. We probably should have stopped to talk to them because I am in the market for two new batteries – but for some reason I didn’t. Sorry Optima.
We talked to a travel trailer company called Tribe Overland Trailers. They had a fully furnished small hardsided pop-up trailer for quite a bargain called the Expedition 500. We were thinking it could be a viable option to mount on the Unimog. After looking into it though it looks like it is a Chinese import which in itself is not a problem, but it means we probably would not be able to buy just the box.
Another box company was Enduro Campers. They make composite campers for the back of pick-up trucks. They are roughly the right length (8.5′) have cabover and pop-up (canvas). It looks like we could buy just a shell or fully kitted. I really liked:
- Super Light weight
- No wood used in interior
- Clever interior design – including an almost king size bed
- Willing to possibly work with us to make it fit on the Mog
Here are some photos from the show:
Some close-ups of the Optima Unimog of areas I need to address in the future – Fuel tank, battery, box, exhaust, tail light brackets, steps, and air dryer.
