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Arctic Ocean Expedition: March-April, 2007

Expeditionswest wrote:The route: From Prescott, Arizona to Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories and the Arctic Ocean: 24 Days and 8,481 Miles

Our Team:
Scott Brady
Chris Marzonie

An amazing set of circumstances occured yesterday. I actually got to meet Scott, Chris and Pasquale on their return trip from the Arctic Ocean Expedition.

Tuesday nite is drill night here at the station. Things get a little crazy. All the personel were dressed in uniforms for photos.
I walk downstairs and who is there...Scott Brady. BLEW ME AWAY!
We go outside to meet Chris (BajaTaco) and Pasquale.
Made my month!
Finally to meet after all this time and in such a happenstance way.
The odds had to be astronomical. One of the fulltime staff was sick. With 15 minutes notice I stepped in for a 24 hour shift. My partner need dress slacks a size or so larger for the photos to be taken tonight. His must have shrunk in the closet . We went downtown , in the Rescue and who do I see cross the intersection...Expeditions West Tacoma. I explained to Jared, my partner, what that was and what they were doing.
When we returned to the station I posted to their forum. I did not get the reply as I too had to get changed into the Class A uniform for photos.

I got the chance to show them around the station and finally check out that Tacoma in person. First class all the way!

Picture


What a wonderful experience!

To think, this guy lived around the corner from me in AZ.

Very nice people! You missed out on meeting them. Oh, what could have been.

Someday I am headed down that way for sure.

Chris I have know since the early ZR2.com days. Known over the internet. Now we have shaken hands.
Both Chris' truck and Scott's have been vehicles I have taken inspiration from. Ideas taken where applicable.

Pretty awesome. I am glad I joined the forum to see what was going on and to enjoy the photos. Thank you for sharing!

I met them briefly at a Zafari get-together back before we moved back to IN. Good group of people.

HJ, is that the same tent that you bought? It seem to be easy to set up.

Very close. Mine is Campinglab his is Eezi-Awn
There may be some differences in construction materials, but the biggest difference is the cost.
The Eezi-Awn is $1100 more plus shipping costs.

With the extremes that were encountered, the extra cost woe worth be worth it.

rlrnr53 wrote:With the extremes that were encountered, the extra cost woe worth be worth it.

It is a pretty sizable investment. If you look at it as just buying a tent, it seems a little crazy. I had to look at the big picture.
Personally other than just laying out more cash, I see no real difference in the two. Eezi-awn uses canvas. Campinglab uses ripstop. Eezi-awn uses a wood floor, Campinglab uses fiberglass sandwich composite. The Camping lab cover is heavier and I believe some of the Eezi-awn owners have ordered those covers as a replacement.
The Eezi-awn is made in South Africa, the Campinglab in China. That is where the price difference comes from. I actually like some of the Campinglab features better.
If you look around there are probably half a dozen tents that use this same design. Subtle differences, but all pretty close.
There have been problems with the wood floor and hinges. Moisture in the wood deteriorates and warps it. The hinge failures I don't recall the issue. I did research for a couple years before making the jump. I had the chance to see three of these first hand, including Scott Brady's on the Chaser as he traveled south.

Australia is the place to look for this kind of stuff. I read that we don't need an offroad camper. Our roads are paved to our vacation destination. That is not the case in Australia. Their roads are not maintained and can get very rough. That is why they have some very capable offroad trailers. They have quite a few nice rigs over there. Might be fun to visit some day.
Africa is another place to watch. Same thing, unimproved roads for travel and long distances. They may not be quite as affluent, or maybe just not as interested due to conflicts. I don't see as many recreational campers over there.