All right, white on the set camera, speed down production, take one. So, over the years, I’ve brought you all sorts of videos, whether it was in my Landcruiser 80 series or in my fifth gen forerunner. But I’ve always tried to document and chronicle all the events that I’m involved in, whether I’m on a really cool trail ride or at the top of a mountain or I’m completely stuck in the middle of nowhere or simply destroying my cameras, things of that nature. But in this video, you’re gonna see me get so stuck, I thought it was a wrap.

I literally called in reinforcements, because I’ve never been as stuck as I was ever. Now, over the years, you may have noticed that I’ve developed a penchant for videography. I’ve been on YouTube for 15 years, but I was always a commentary channel. I didn’t really have much use for cameras. Well, since I really started focusing on jailbreak overlander a few years ago, I’ve taken a great deal of interest in getting as many amazing shots from really tough to get at places as I possibly can. And again, over the years, I find myself in Colorado, west Texas, California.

But almost all the time, I return to the Ozarks. And in this video, I’m going to explain why I always go to the Ozarks, and I’m going to show you, with a 360 camera, me putting my truck into a five foot hole and finding myself in the worst position that I’ve ever been in, ever. So, with all that being said, here we go. Welcome to jail break. Nice. Nice. Thank you, ladies. So, people always ask me two questions. Where’s my favorite place in the United States to go off roading? And if there was a calamity, where would I go as a bug out location? Well, after a lot of consideration and after reviewing the tapes, I’d have to say my number one answer is the Ozarks.

Now, I started going down to the Ozarks about seven years ago, and I met a fella named Jason Harris, and he happened to be starting a shop called Ozark Overland Outfitters. And his shops been doing pretty well over the years, and I go there. It’s kind of a home base. I’ll go down to the shop. I hang out, work on the truck if need be, and then I head out, and I always let Jason know where I’m at. And Jason works on so many different land cruisers, it’s insane. And it’s amazing because land cruisers are a passion of his, and he managed to find a way to make something that he was passionate about his livelihood.

While also employing people from the community, including his family, to work with him. You can’t ask for better than that. You can, but you won’t get it. At any rate, here’s a look at the shop. So that right there is a pretty good snapshot of the shop. You’ve got 100 series. You’ve got 80 series galore. You’ve got lots of troopies. You’ve got right hand drives. And you’ve even got him in there working body work on an old willys. Because the owner of the shop has a penchant for willys. Even though he drives a troopy a 73 series.

And whatever else he’s rolling these days. Because he stays. Stays buying new Land cruises. He. He loves them. And you can’t blame him if you got a place to store them. Get more horses. And he’s got a pretty big corral. He also does paint work. He has a professional spray booth. And he lays down serious spray jobs. Like this beautiful 80 series. That is fully blown out. Corvette motor turbocharged, Shielman threw out. And it’s a hog hunter. It’s one of them Texas or Arkansas boys. Money’s no object when it comes to hunting hogs, apparently. At any rate, before I show you how badly I got my truck stuck.

Let me introduce you to all the guys in the shop. In case you’ve got a Toyota. Or you plan on getting a Toyota. And you want it to be worked on by someone that is very familiar with all aspects of the vehicles. So here we go again. First off, we’ve got Jason Harris. You can see him right there. Putting a fifth gen forerunner. That is very similar to my own. That he built for the owner up on a lift. Now, Jason’s been in at least a half a dozen videos on my channel. So there’s not really much more to say about him.

He’s the owner. He keeps at it. And his shop keeps growing. Second guy we’ve got is a guy named Eric. Eric is an all around guy in the shop. But he mostly does bodywork. And for as long as I’ve known him. He seems to have been working on that Willy series. Because it’s an immaculate conception. It was an absolute basket case when it came in. And Eric’s been working on it basically since I’ve known him, to tell you the truth. And Eric was the guy that was following my forerunner. At Glade top down in the Ozarks.

In his forerunner, if you recall. So what year is this? This is going to be this. This is going to be a serious, open budget, two wheel drive Willys hut Rod. Yep. How long you been working on this thing? Because I’ve been here a month. And you’ve been working on this thing pretty much every day. In between other things, but I couldn’t tell you how many hours are in it right now. But I know this week’s been three days straight, so it’s amazing. I told you when I got here that another shop, redline Land cruisers working on a very similar body style in year.

But it’s a Land cruiser, and it is going to be four wheel drive, but this is going to be pretty sick. Is this the white Chevy guy? No, it’s not the hot rod guy. Right. All right, all right. Cool, cool. What year is it? It’s a 62, Willys 62. And how bad was this? With a total basket case when it came in? Honestly, this is a very solid rig. Seriously. It’s got some rust spots, but overall, it’s really solid. So you stripped it down, sent it to the sandblaster? Because I went and picked up the parts, and you’re just trying to get it all put together.

I wish this would zoom out more. Man, this is badass. So, as you can see, Eric is a very low key guy. He’s not very boisterous like myself, but he’s a hard working, proud american, and it’s a hard thing to find these particular days. So I actually donated my. My old Alucab rooftop tent to Eric, and it’s now on top of his Toyota four runner that he’s currently building up. But I’ll tell you what, that truck kept up with us all day long on glade top it. Only it couldn’t make one particular obstacle. And the only one that actually made that obstacle first try that day was me.

Not bragging, but it is what it is. At any rate, let’s talk to Matt, because Matt gets to work on the crazy stuff. So take a look in the back of this troopy. Notice the stack of battle born lithium batteries, the air conditioning unit, the heating unit, that’s all built in Ozark. Overlanders did this. And this is an old troopy, and this is actually a world famous troopy, this troop. He’s been on every continent, if memory serves. Africa, Alaska, South America, etcetera. This truck has been around. Ready? Give me a holler, because I’m gonna do this.

This is insane. Yeah, no. So, Matt, let me. Let me ask you real quick, before you get on that train, what was the reason that you did all this. I mean, extensive electrical in this troopy, but stuck with the original carpentry. We’ll call it cool factor and comfort. Cool factor in comfort. But wouldn’t it have been easier to do the twelve volt with those massive batteries? All that. All the electrical components up there wouldn’t have been easier to build the cabinetry around it? It would have, but then you would have lost the whole 1980s german aesthetic.

So you got it done. You’re confident in this, right? Yeah. How many volts, how many amp hours are those two battle borns together? 540 amp hours. And what’s running it? It’s the red. It’s the red vision. And the manager 30 screen. Okay. By the tvms and a manager, 30. Wow. And that’s all necessary because you’ve got. I mean, you turned on the air conditioning this morning. We tried it yesterday, and it was really awesome. And then realized today we didn’t even have it on high. That’s crazy. That’s crazy. Have you ever done a setup in a truck this small, this complicated? This is.

This is serious, correct? Yeah. I mean, the wiring, everything looks beautiful, man. It’s really good work. I’ve seen a lot of builds in my lifetime. You know what I mean? This looks really good. So now then, we got the stainless tank for water. It holds about 25 gallons. Fresh. Oh, that’s a stainless water tank. I forgot all about that. And you’ve also got a gauge on that, so you can tell how much water’s in there. Correct. That is crazy. That is in a 1985. Troopy. And rumor has it this thing’s been all over the world. Yeah.

Almost every continent. Antarctica. Wow. That’s crazy. So, I mean, you’re doing a really good job, brother. You do. It’s amazing seeing you going from regearing to electrical to body work if you have to welding. Right, right. So Jason said that he’s looking for one more guy, but you’re gonna have to find someone that actually you guys all gel with. Yeah. Because you guys got a really good flow going here right now. You just need a little more horsepower, right? Yeah, we just need one more guy. Cool. Cool. And it was used as for photography. So it’s got the.

The bar work on it and everything. In Ozark, overland is going to strip off the bar work and redo it all. And I can’t wait to see what that looks like. But here’s a look at what Matt does at the shop. He gets to do all the fun stuff, all the high end stuff. The people that, you know, this is all the. The bling, without a doubt. This is all the stuff that you just dream you could have in your truck. And for some reason, the boys down in Texas, Arkansas, etcetera, when they go hog hunting, they build a serious land cruiser to take them there.

It’s no joke. Wow. And this is the truck you had to build custom mounts to make. These rears work. Yeah, but they work. And you’re a big good. You’re a big dude, and you can fit in there. This is probably the most beautiful shield, man. I’ve. Look at that. Matt’s a big kid, and he fits in the backseat of an 80. And the driver’s seats all the way back, mind you. And he’s got armrest. Stand by. Stand by one sec. Oh, these are beautiful, dude. Nicely done. Nice build. He did all this and. And Turbo’d an 80 series with his own special sauce, too, right? That’s.

Is that fair to say? That’s yours, right? So you see what I’m saying? This is an extreme build Schielman front and back. The armrest. They built custom mounts so that a grown man can actually sit in the backseat of an 80 series. That freaks me out. It’s got gull wings, custom Shielman doors. And, of course, Matt also builds turbos from scratch. Whether that’s a good thing or bad thing, time will tell. But he does it, and they work. And there that is. You know what I mean? But this is an insane build. And this is on 37s.

It’s all Delta Shielman. And everything else is basically custom. This 80 series makes my 80 series look like an old pile of crap. I’m gonna put that right out there. My 80 was. It was the shit in its day. And it’s sitting in a barn someplace in Alabama right now, if memory serves. But, I mean, this is serious. It’s a beautiful, beautiful build. As long as people can pay, they can build it. You know what I mean? Because this stuff is not cheap in any way whatsoever at all. There’s also a new guy at the shop named David.

He’s doing body work, and I didn’t get an opportunity to get a camera in front of him. But the shop is growing. And if you’re in the Missouri area, people come from all around. Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, et cetera, blah, blah, blah. You see what I’m saying? But, I mean, look at this. This is very, very nice work. I’m duly impressed. At any rate, that’s. That’s the long story. Short of it, my favorite place to off road in the United States has to be the Ozarks because of the numerous water crossings, the constantly changing terrain due to the water crossings, and there’s all sorts of stuff there.

There’s not a lot of mountain climbing, but there’s a lot of shale, there’s a lot of good rock climbing. There’s a lot of mud, and there’s a lot of just really awesome trails. And I’ve been doing these trails for seven years in both vehicles, and I knew them like the back of my hand. So I stopped by the shop one day, told. Told jason that I was heading out to the power lines. He knew what I meant, and I headed out there. No big deal. What I wanted to do was actually test a 360 camera on the truck on a trail that I knew.

So that’s what I did, and this is what it looks like, at least. So the promise I could either burn or cut off my pride and buy some time. A head full of lives to my waist river of the sea goes down yeah pain self chosen at least I believe it to be I could either drown pour out my skin and swim to shore now I can grow a beautiful, chill world to see the river of the sea goes down so every video I make has chapters, but I’m gonna play this in real time so you can see how long it took once the truck went into the ditch and landed on its side.

This is how long it physically took me to get out of the passenger door. The entire time the truck is on its side, I’m trying to get out, but I’m climbing straight up. And bear in mind I’ve got $20,000 worth of canon camera lenses on the passenger seat, first aid kit, everything else like that. And I’m 245 pounds, and I’m trying to climb out of the truck without destroying everything. But it’s almost impossible. Simply getting out of the driver’s seat was next to impossible. And then contorting my body so I could get up and push the drivers, the passenger door open, which was like trying to get out of a tank.

The door tried. It kept trying to close on me. This absolutely sucked. I had never done this before. When the truck went over, I looked out the driver’s window. I’m looking straight at the ground, can’t open the door, can’t climb out that window because the truck’s laying on its side. It took me quite a while. It took me this long the moment the truck hit the deck, it took me this long to actually get out of the vehicle. And when I got out, I was not stoked. This looked really bad. And I mean, I was in a five foot deep trench that I never saw coming in a million years.

Are you kidding me? Fuck. Holy shit. Am I stuck? Holy shit. Nice stuck. So a little bit stuck. I went off the trail because of the grass grown in. And I am way, way stuck. This is the trail. I didn’t see this because of the grass. Look at the size of this ditch, man. I mean, that’s, that is stuck. Stuck. So after looking at this entire thing, it’s 630 at night. It’s going to be dark in a half an hour. I call Jason and I can’t believe I’ve got a signal. I’m so. I’ve only been on the trail for two minutes.

So I’m still in cell phone range. I call him, I send him a picture and say, dude, send a couple of trucks. Because none of my tires are making contact with the dirt of I have. There’s no way to get this thing out. Plus all my extrication gear, my toe straps, everything is inside the truck. And getting at them is impossible because everything is basically, it looks like the truck flipped over upside down. Everything is thrown all over the place. I was bumming. But then I started looking at it and I found out there was a tree that I could reach.

And I figured if I could get the nose to move slightly, the tires would have something to bite on. So I started dragging through the thorns and the weeds and the bugs and everything else. I had exactly enough toe straps, bubba, rope and toe straps along with my winch to actually make it to a tree. And I did put it in four wheel low, low, lock the front and rear lockers and threw all my max tracks under the truck. Set up two gopros. One of them was on photo that I didn’t notice because I was stressed out.

And the other one didn’t record at all. So I didn’t get me pulling myself out just the before and after. But when you see that thing on the 360 camera, just hit the deck. Boom. I didn’t see that coming. I didn’t see that coming at all. I know this trail like the back of my hand, but with the grass grown in, I did not see that enormous trench and fell right into it. That is the stuckest I’ve ever been. Literally bent the bumper. That is a deep ass hole. And I slid right down and I managed to somehow grab a piece of a tree way over there using every rope I had.

And I extricated myself. Unreal. Look how deep that hole is. I’m pretty sure I destroyed a maxtrax. Definitely. But I mean, that’s a max. Tracks. Yeah, yeah. Front and rear locker. Once I got the rear end out, killed the locker. I think I’m good. There it is. On the trail for less than three minutes. Boom. So what did I learn from this entire exercise? Well, I learned a few things. If you’re gonna go someplace way off the beaten track, like I always do, tell somebody. Now that’s the pot calling the kettle black because I never tell anybody.

But this time I did and fortunately I got myself out before he was already almost there. So I was able to call him and tell him I was good. And he didn’t believe it until I showed him pictures of the truck back on four tires. Second thing I learned from this is where I keep my extrication gear, all my spares, toe straps because I carry about 100ft of extra toe to go along with 100ft on my winch. I kept it in the back and unfortunately when I went over, all four tires were off the ground and I bent my tow hitch.

Literally I bent it to the passenger side. It was almost impossible getting that stuff out of there. So if you’re gonna go off road, make sure you can get your hands on the stuff you’re gonna need if you happen to get stuck. At any rate, I hope you enjoyed this video. I hope you enjoyed me answering where I would go in a bug out situation and make sure you hit that like share and subscribe hit the little notification bell next to the subscribe button. Leave a comment below. I will try to return the favor. It’s Sunday afternoon.

I am in Colorado Springs and I am out.
[tr:tra].

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