Author: Dean
Event Report
Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival 2026 – Overland Demo Area
I am no stranger to the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival in Butler, PA. I first went in 2013 and 2015 as day-trips to check out the show. In 2016 and 2017 I had a small booth there promoting ECOA, the NHT books, and teaching some classes. I wasn’t able to go in 2018 due to […]
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Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! – Bald Mountain Jeep Trail with VA4wdA (2026)
Even though I have been on tour for the past few months for my day job, there are certain events I am taking time off for. This is one of them. The annual Bald Mountain Jeep Trail cleanup project with the Virginia Four-Wheel-Drive Association has been one of my favorite events of the year. Going […]
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Opinion/Educational/Humor
2026: Hitting the Reset Button
Things have been quiet here lately and, at least for the time being, that is not going to change. The last few years have been a bit of a struggle for both ECOA as a brand and me as a person. Without going into too many personal details, it’s been a bit of a comedy […]
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Sponsor: Door Prize
Sponsor: Product Review
Viking Bags XL Tactical Motorcycle Backpack
There are changes coming to East Coast Overland Adventures. We are currently in the process of re-designating the company from a for-profit LLC into a 501 non-profit. This will not affect the frontside of things here at ECOA. Our core mission isn’t changing, and we will continue to focus on education, but we are going […]
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Tread Lightly
Tank Hollow Revisited – Again – For the 3rd time
They say, “the third time’s the charm.” The first time in 2022 a larger group of volunteers under the leadership of Scott Ammerman (then the local Regional Coordinator for Tread Lightly!) put a big dent in the pile of trash that had been dumped over the hillside off Tank Hollow Road. The second time, earlier […]
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Event Report
2025 Adventure X Fest
There are a small handful of events I would bend over backwards to attend. At the top of that list, tied for first place with the Virginia Rooftop Tent Rally, is Adventure X Fest. For the sixth year in a row I managed to make it down for the event and, as usual, it did […]
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Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! – Spruce Knob Lake (AXFest ’25)
For the last three years the team at Mountain State Overland has worked in conjunction with Tread Lightly! to do a service project in Monongahela National Forest prior to their annual Adventure X Fest event. Since 2023 AXFest has been held at the Experience Learning outdoor education facility on the backside of Spruce Knob along […]
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Event Report
2025 Toledo Jeep Festival Overland Skills Area
Each year I have the privilege of being invited by the Toledo Jeep Festival to set up an “Off-Road and Overland Skills Area” showcasing a mix of overland vehicles as well as a number of off-road and overland themed workshops. I usually end up on the main stage as well. This has been going on […]
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Event Report
Tread Lightly
Behind Enemy Lines – Destination Defender, NY
It’s no secret that I am, was, and shall always be a “Jeep Guy.” As outlined in Season 2, Episode 2 of the Echoes of Adventure podcast, the LS LJ is my 8th Jeep. Since then I’ve added the ’06 LJ “stock+” build, which is the 10th Jeep I’ve owned (so far). In the family […]
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Electrical
Auxiliary Electrical Systems – Introduction
In our previous articles on vehicle electrical systems we talked a lot about the OEM components and some basic upgrades dealing with adding things like lights and associated switches. This article series is going to focus on auxiliary electrical systems, their components, and ultimately designing and installing an auxiliary electrical system into your vehicle — […]
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Opinion/Educational/Humor
The ECOA Patron Support Team is back!
If you’ve been paying attention to the last few blog articles, you’ve seen a footer at the end of each article talking about the 2025 ECOA Patron Support Team. Yes! The ECOA Patron Support Team is back for 2025 and the foreseeable future. In the past we made use of external platforms like GoFundMe in […]
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Tread Lightly
Three projects in one week: A tail of Collaboration, Cooperation, & Compromise
As a former student of linguistics, and someone who reads as much as he writes, alliteration has always been one of my favorite literary tropes. Alliteration is when the first letter of each word in a sentence or phrase is the same. So in the case of this article’s subtitle, “Collaboration, Cooperation, and Compromise” is […]
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Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! – Pinnacle Creek with USF&W
While first in chronological order, the Pinnacle Creek project was the last one added to my list. This was a project I only had cursory knowledge of having been put in motion a few years ago. I heard it was finally happening during the West Virginia Motorsports and Adventure Travel Day event at the West […]
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Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! – Tank Hollow (Revisited)
My buddy Walt was approached to take point on a return to Tank Hollow Road in George Washington and Jefferson National Forest outside Natural Bridge Station in Virginia. This was a project site I had visited back in late 2022 with a very hardworking team of volunteers. On that project we not only picked up […]
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Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! – Bald Mountain Jeep Trail with VA4WDA
Every year around Earth Day the Virginia Four-Wheel-Drive Association hosts a project day on the Bald Mountain Jeep Trail. I first attended this project back in 2017 with John of New Horizons Overland. We did our typical “work hard; play hard” thing by incorporating a multi-day trip called “The Shadow of the Parkway” I had […]
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Event Report
WV Motorsports & Adventure Travel Day 2025
There’s a particular musical number from the hit Broadway show Hamilton that always makes me chuckle. It’s when Aaron Burr laments he wishes he could, “be in the room where it happens.” In that moment he was on the outside looking in as Alexander Hamilton secured his position as Treasurer and negotiated for the nation’s […]
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Event Report
Event Report: 2025 Southeast Adventure Vehicle Expo
I have been to four out of the five years of the Southeast Adventure Vehicle Expo. It has become one of my top-three favorite events of the year. It’s also the event that kicks off each year for me since it’s one of the few spring events on the east coast. The best part is, […]
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Event Report
Opinion/Educational/Humor
10 years, 100 events, 1 long adventure
Milestones were first used by the Roman Empire on their empire spanning network of roads. As the saying goes, “All roads in Europe lead to Rome.” That’s not rhetoric or hyperbole. The vast majority of modern highways and core roads in Europe were first laid out more than 2,000 years ago. In modern times milestones […]
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Product Install
Product Review
[Product Review] Quad Lock® 360™ (Non-sponsored)
Let me start off by saying I 100% unequivocally despise social media ads. I hate how social networks have devolved into captive marketing platforms. I hate it. I really do. So when I say I got suckered into a social media ad and that I actually like the product, ugh. It pains me to have […]
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Opinion/Educational/Humor
Tread Lightly
Why I volunteered with the Foundation at Expo East this year
For the second time in just as many years I did not teach a single class at Overland Expo East (go ahead and gasp). Last year didn’t leave me with much choice. For those that don’t know, on the first weekend of 2023 I was hit by a car leaving me on the sidelines for […]
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