Rig 

Carrying all your gear either in or on top of your vehicle is key for overlanding—after all, it’s basically backpacking with your vehicle.  

How We Choose A Rooftop Tent  

A good rooftop tent will last for multiple seasons, so spending a little extra now yields more comfortable experiences for years to come. After all, this is your home away from home we’re talking about. All rooftop tents have quick setups, and many include a built-in mattress, so how do you choose? Here are a couple of specs we consider:

Soft shell tents unfold like a pop-out book. When opened, a tent like you’d pitch on the ground pretty much assembles itself. Setup time takes around 3–5 minutes, depending on if you’re using your rain fly or not. When closed, these tents are generally bulkier than their hard shell brethren, which can impact your vehicle’s aerodynamics or make it difficult to park in a garage. A key selling point for soft shells is their lower price tag.

For hard shell tents, streamlined is the first word that comes to mind. When shut for travel they have an incredibly slim profile compared to soft shell tents. The decreased height has less of an effect on aerodynamics and overhead clearance when it's time to park at home. A durable plastic cover protects the tent when closed and serves as a wind-proof wall when open. Hard shells are generally more expensive, but they are also lightning fast to set up (around 1 minute, depending on the tent). 

Best Rooftop Tent For Overlanding

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More hard- and soft-shell tents that go everywhere you do.

How We Choose A Rack   

Factory mounts on your vehicle may work for your bike, but they just aren’t strong enough to support a rooftop tent (seriously, we’ve learned this the hard way—sorry, 2010 4Runner!).

When choosing a rack, the first step is to make sure it is compatible with your vehicle. If you drive a crossover, for example, a rack designed for pickup truck bed rails will not do.

The second factor is how much cargo it can safely support. Check the weight of your rooftop tent, then add your weight plus any other nighttime residents and daytime accessories like paddle boards. Round up as you add to figure out the minimum weight capacity your rack needs. 

Our top pick is designed for pickup trucks (many a Gearhead drive a Tacoma), but that doesn’t mean it’s the only great option. See the runners up section for great racks compatible with other vehicle types.

Best Truck Rack For Overlanding

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Not in the pickup posse? There’re more rack options in our runners up.

Sleep

Whether we’re spending a week or a weekend on backroads, we treat the whole trip as vacation time. We lock in that five-star experience with the warmest, coziest sleep systems that make us eager to climb into bed at the end of the day and jump right out again to greet every stunning big-sky sunrise. 

How We Choose A Sleeping Bag

Bedding choices for overlanding largely come down to personal preference. We still have a few rules of thumb to help us get great sleep in the backcountry. Just like for any camping excursion, pack bedding that will insulate below the forecasted nighttime low.  

Regular bed sheets and blankets give you a true home-away-from-home experience, especially when nighttime temperatures are close to room temp. Meanwhile, a standard mummy or double sleeping bag helps you ensure thermal insulation on colder nights.   

Remember, a sleeping bag’s temperature rating is not a comfort rating—it’s a keep you alive rating. If the low is in the 30s, we pack a 15- to 20-degree bag that keeps us alive and comfortable. 

• 20- or 15-degree bags are what we choose for all-around three-season use.

• 30-degree bags are great for general summer use.

• Bags rated for 0 or –15 degrees are ideal for winter.

Best Double Sleeping Bag For Overlanding

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Dreaming of something else? There’s room for more.

How We Choose A Sleeping Pad

When you sprawl out in your new rooftop tent for the first time, you may feel utter delight or total discomfort depending on the built-in mattress. If the factory install is causing you to lose sleep—or if you’re packing a traditional tent for your overland adventure—you’ll want to add a sleeping pad to your packing list. Because we have plenty of cargo space in the rig, we don’t mind bringing along a larger, more comfortable sleeping pad. Our picks for overlanding are double-wide for cozier cuddling, self-inflating for easy setup, and extremely insulative for all-weather camping. 

Best Double Sleeping Pad For Overlanding

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Not into our top pick and don’t want FOAMO? There’s more sleep squish to go around.

Eat

Little luxuries go a long way when you’re out on the range. That’s why we don’t skimp on cookware and on-the-go kitchen equipment.

How We Choose A Camp Stove 

When choosing a stove for far-off overlanding destinations, we like a setup with multiple propane burners for cooking more complex dishes (or multitasking!). We also look for sensitive dials and high-BTU outputs (10k is a great place to start), so we can customize the temperature for a cooking-at-home feel.  

Best Overlanding Camping Stove

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We were cooking with gas before, but we’ll cook over open flames, too.

How We Choose A Cooler

Over the years, we’ve tried a lot of coolers, from mini mart Styrofoam numbers to trendy hard-shell ice chests. For environmental reasons, we avoid single-use coolers or chests that won’t stand up to a full year of use. When it comes to durable hard-shell options, we’re always on the hunt for a cooler with a secure seal and lengthy insulation duration to keep food fresh longer. Added bonuses include organizing trays, split cooling zones for sorting food from fire-side beverages, and tech innovations (battery-powered, for example) from our wildest dreams. 

Best Overlanding Cooler

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More high-tech coolers and sticker-able standard insulators to keep food fresh.

Explore More Overland Content

Top Picks From The Backcountry Bulletin 

Organize 

Save the feeling of chaos for sitting in traffic on the way home. Get your gear sorted with some clever storage solutions. When there’s a lot of gear to pack, we like having both hard cases and soft storage options. 

Best Overlanding Hard Case

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More rugged, stackable cargo solutions for readying your rig.

Best Grab & Go Organizer For Overlanding

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More rugged, stackable cargo solutions for readying your rig.

Power

Is it really overlanding if you don’t bring some extra juice along for the ride? Portable power stations and solar panels allow you to keep useful outdoor electronics fully charged for your entire overlanding trip.

Rather than picking generators fueled by our gas tank, we like portable stations that we can recharge at home and bring along for the ride. Here are a few considerations to think through when buying a lightweight portable power bank for overlanding.

• Battery Capacity: The higher the watt-hours, the longer the power station can juice your cell phone, eBike, on-the-go appliances, and camp lights.

• Output Ports: Most power stations have a versatile array of ports for plugging in all your electronics. We like a combo of USB-A, USB-C, AC outlets, and a car socket.

• Weight: These mobile generators can really rack up some poundage. For heftier models, we like a solid handle or wheel system to enhance portability.

• Input: Solar panel charge input on the go? Sign us up!

• Phone Compatibility: Some power stations have cellphone apps for monitoring and managing energy from anywhere.

• Safety Features: Temperature control, robust cases, and protection against overloading, short circuiting, and voltage variances are all important features for safe use.

Power Banks
Portable energy for wherever you roam.

More Overlanding Essentials

Don’t overlook this crucial overlanding gear.

Best Portable Shower For Overlanding

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So you can clean up good anywhere.

Recovery Gear
Fuel containers & recovery boards.

Overlanding Extras