Equipment list

Equipment list

To take or not to take ?

The following page is for those of you who are planning a similar trip as well as to those who are wondering what kind of stuff we have taken along. We have added the used/unused columns as well as a few comments that should prove a little less tedious to read..

You will find the following categories :

- Car modifications

- Car spare parts

- Tools

- Camping

- Clothes

- Food

- Books & maps

- Electrical

- Miscellaneous

What we did not take with us

Car modifications	Used or unused ?	Comments
Battery management system		Meant to charge the auxiliary battery after the first had reached 13.6 v this system never worked. After a short-circuit drained our 2 batteries in no time in Gwalior (India), we disconnected it. In Teheran, we had the 2 batteries put in parallel giving us a total of 170 amps.
Electrical converter (12v to 220v) up to 300w
Extra battery
Extra halogen brake lights
Extra Hella front beams		Essential (despite the fact you swear you'll never drive at night !)
Extra horn
Extra mirrors (wide-angle)		There's nothing like seeing what's behind you. These were broken off on 2 separate occasions in India to our great anger.
Head light protection grilles (front)		For 5 years, Christian had noticed this small one-man shop on his way to the office making all sorts of frying baskets for HK restaurants. One day, we took Troopie's front grille to him. With a piece of paper and a pen, it took us half an hour to explain to him what we wanted.
Jerry cans (2)	unused	The only area we were hoping to go to that has fuel shortages is Central Asia that we skipped because of our late departure. We left our 2 jerry cans in Kathmandu with friends and used the space for a big souvenir box ! Our two standard 90 l. tanks (giving us a range of 1000 to 1400 km depending on conditions) have been more than sufficient for the rest of the trip.
Lamp + 10 m. extension cord		Meant to be used for repairs, we used to work to get ourselves out of the snow in Turkey.
Mul-T-lock		Blocks the gearlever in reverse.
Padlocks on doors (inside)		Physically blocks the front doors from inside. We have taken the habit of locking these and exiting the car from the back door (that has no wind-down window) whenever we feel the area is unsafe. We would lock ourselves in every night we slept in the car.
Reverse light
Sand ladders (2)		Used once only as we got stuck above our first serious dune in Libya. (Bought in Egypt)
Security box in engine compartment		To store a few worthless wads of banknotes as well as (equally worthless) coins of European countries since all of these have to euros during our trip.
Snow chains		Used on a few occasions in Turkey during the month of December 2001. (Bought in Turkey)
Towing cord (15 meters) + 2 D-shackles		Used once in China because Troopie would not start due to the cold weather.
Voltmeter with dual reading		Very useful until both batteries were connected in a parallel.

Spare parts	Used or unused ?	Comments
Air filter	unused
Assorted bolts
Assorted nuts
Assorted screws
Brake fluid	unused
Brake pads (front)
Bulbs	unused	The only bulbs that have kept needing replacement are the front side lights. These were the only ones we had no spares for !
Bushings (shock absorber)	unused
Diesel anti-freeze (2 bottles)		Transported in cabin luggage to Hong Kong (which does not see freezing temperatures very often) ! Used in China after the diesel in our tanks had frozen one cold -15 degrees C. night.
Diesel filter
Fuses	unused
Oil filters
Paint		One small pot of white paint to protect Troopie from the rust
Plastic replacement windscreen	unused	With current laminated windscreens, there is no need for a replacement.
Spare inner tubes	unused	The 3 flat tyres that we had within 10 days in Turkey were repaired on the spot by "oto lasticki", one of the first Turkish words we learned !
Spare tyre		Tyres were rotated every 5 or 10 thousand km to spread wear on all 5 tyres
Tyre repair kit	unused
WD40
Wheel bearings	unused
Wiper blades

Tools	Used or unused ?	Comments
Coolant measurer
Fibre glass repair kit		On our first rainy night in China, we soon found out how badly our tent had been handled in Hong Kong's container terminal.
Foot pump (Hella)		We had not planned to use it much but it came in quite handy when needing to inflate our tyres after driving in soft sand.
Grease gun		(Bought in China)
Hammer
Hi-lift jack		Used once in Turkey to get out of the snow. Unfortunately, we had not taken care to make sure that Troopie was equipped with points on which to use the jack. The result was that we bent the rear bumper !
Riveter + rivets
Saws (wood & metal)
Set of pliers
Set of ropes & straps
Set of screwdrivers
Set of sockets
Set of spanners
Shovel		Used on two occasions in Libya. (Bought in Egypt)
Sponge		You will also want to wash your car once in a while !
Starting cables		Used once to help a Tunisian landing in Naples with his exhausted Ford Escort.
Tyre levers
Tyre pressure gauge
Welding paste (cold welding)		Used to fix a hole in the exhaust and a crack in one of the roof racks

Camping	Used or unused ?	Comments
Bamboo pole		Our 2.5 meter Hong Kong construction bamboo pole has been used twice ! To break snow from under the car (when stuck in Turkey) and to take a shower using our solar shower ! In the back of the car, however, it is proving very useful to store posters rolled around it !
Binoculars		Used a few times (in Jordan to watch birds in the Eastern desert)
Buckets		2 square buckets
Camping chairs (2)		On loan from Christian's father for the trip. These 2 chairs as well as the camping table are 60 years old !
Camping table
Compass
Cotton sheets		Folded up and stitched together as a light sleeping bag, to be used whenever hotel sheets looked more like disease than cotton.
Cups		Two large aluminium Chinese cups
Duvet		Probably the best item we could take with us : a good quality double-bed duvet !
Fresh fruit juicer
Fridge 12v (12 l.)		Used a few times in India but pretty useless. There are plenty of tricks to keep things cold.
Grater		Used for cheese and carrots !
Ground sheets	unused	2 single beach mats, 1 cotton carpet as well as a large 5x5 meter plastic sheet, all unused !
Hot water bottles		For those really cold nights in the tent. Very handy in China where boiling water is available everywhere.
Insect spray
Kettle (volcano kettle)		Will boil water by burning paper, wood or cow dung !
Medical kit (complete)		That we have used surprisingly little. There's nothing like good sleep.
Mosquito repellent		In all types and shapes
Roof-top tent	slept in 150 times !	There is nothing like being able to sleep anywhere. Together with a very expensive but very useless winter kit (a simple extra layer of polyester)
Set of cutlery
Set of plastic glasses
Set of pots and pans
Set of melamine plates
Set of Tupperwares
Sleeping bags (2)		In addition to our duvet for those freezing nights.
Solar shower		Used once whilst camping in the desert. A strong 2 liter soft drink bottle has done the job perfectly with less fuss.
Stove		We only took one small gas stove with 4 small gas canisters (the blue "Camping Gaz" type which proved just sufficient for our 13 months on the road
Survival blanket		Two light aluminium/gold blankets to keep our bodies warm in case of emergencies
Tea towels		Yes you also need those
Thermos flasks (2)
Toaster	unused	The ultimate toaster ! A round pierced piece of aluminium to be deposited on a campfire.
Velcro strap
Water bottle		The Sigg aluminium type
Water canisters (20 l.)		Fixed in the back of the car. 2 x 20 liters.
Water canister ( inflatable)		1 x 15 liters. Very useful for non-drinking water.
Water pump (electric)	unused	It was our intention to link the pump with the filter but no-one was able to tell us whether the pressure would be strong enough or too strong.
Water purifier (portable)	unused	We have obtained water from trusted sources and occasionally used purifying tablets (Micropur) and liquid Micropur

Clothes	Used or unused ?	Comments
Caps		For the sun
Clothes soap		Liquid stuff bought in Europe as well as more useful bars of soap bought in China
Swimming suit		Christian used his in Iran where it was forbidden for women to swim
Sleeping hats		Soft cotton hats, especially made by Kathleen. After a first night in the tent in Belgium at 2 degrees C. we noticed that our heads were cold !
Thermal underwear		For sleeping in the tent at -15 degrees C.
Towels		We took 2 small and 2 large towels but only used the small ones

Food	Used or unused ?	Comments
Bovril cubes chicken	unused	Sorry we are not great cooks !
Cereals		From China onwards, we always had cereals with us. Useful for bargaining prices down in hotels that include it in the price of their rooms !
Cheese		Spread cheese such as "La Vache Qui Rit". Can be in all of the countries we've been to from China to Tunisia in one form or the other.
Chocolate		There's nothing like Belgian chocolate !
Chocolate spread		Bought whenever we could !
Coffee		Instant coffee, can be in all of the countries we've been to from China to Tunisia.
Dried fruit		We tried to have dried fruit during the whole of the trip. In Hong Kong we purchased dried raisins, mango and apricots. In Iran we found dried peaches.
Dried tomatoes		To be prepared with olive oil, spices and pasta : the recipe of our journey !
Hermestas		Several little boxes of artificial sugaring, very useful.
Jam
Lentils	unused	This is the main source of proteins in many of the poorer countries we have traveled through. Unused as these take a long time to cook.
Multi-vitamins
Olive oil		Can be in all of the countries we've been to from China to Tunisia.
Pasta		Can be in all of the countries we've been to from China to Tunisia
Peanuts		Christian's staple diet
Powder milk	unused	U.H.T milk has been readily available in all countries. In warm countries, we would buy 1/2 liter cartons and drink them at once.
Rice	unused
Soup
Spices		We took salt & pepper as well as garlic and herbes de Provence
Tea		Tea & herbal tea

Books & maps	Used or unused ?	Comments
Asia overland		Very useful planning guide for the whole of Asia (except the Middle East). The book concentrates on route planning which is OK if you have other country-specific guides to work with. Trailblazer Publications.
Maps		Of each country or the traditional 953 and 954 for North Africa.
Phrasebooks		For each possible language
SAS survival book		In pocket book edition. How to collect water in the desert ? Luckily, it did not have to be used in any emergency as it contains nothing on fixing a computer or obtaining a Libyan visa.
Sahara overland		The new bible for travel in the Sahara written by Chris Scott. It is also the book in which the most detailed information can be found on which vehicle to choose and how to prepare it. Trailblazer Publications.

Electrical	Used or unused ?	Comments
Battery charger		For AA and AAA batteries used by our digital camera and GPS.
Camera Canon EOS 650		With only one 100-300 mm lens.
Camera Canon IXUS II		For panoramic pictures.
Cassettes (100 of them)		We copied several of our CD's but also asked our friends in Hong Kong to record a cassette for our journey !
Digital Camera Kodak 240		We have taken more than 15,000 pictures with this camera during this trip and it has never failed us. With a memory card of 8 Mb, this average 1.3 Megapixel camera can store between 15 and 120 pictures.
Calculator
Camcorder
CD atlas (Delorme Global Explorer)		To be used together with the GPS receiver. This CD that includes the whole world on map was copied on the computer's HDD and has been used to draw maps of our journey on the web page. Also very useful is the software's ability to give GPS co-ordinates for any point on earth to be used with a traditional GPS.
CD-RW writer (Iomega)		We bought this CD burner in Islamabad after our notebook had started to fail in order to save our thousands of pictures. (Bought in Pakistan)
CD's		Troopie also boasts a CD player for CD's (fake & original) bought along the way.
Extra modem PCMCIA card	unused	Given to us by a friend in HK should our integrated IBM modem fail. The modem did not fail, the whole computer did.
GPS receiver ( Delorme)		Used a few times with our first IBM computer. Driving with a notebook computer open is not the best of ideas.
GPS ( Magellan) + external power supply		The option of an extra antenna will be necessary with cars with a very steep windscreen. Essential however is an external power supply (cigarette lighter). (Bought in Egypt)
Notebook computers (2 !)		Our brand new computer stopped working after 7 months of which only 2 on the road. It took 7 visits to IBM in 2 Asian countries, 4 "repairs", 2 new motherboards and 5 months of harassment for IBM to accept to replace it.
Satellite phone (Thrane & Thrane)		There is nothing like being able to phone from anywhere at reasonable cost. The phone was used mostly to call home to give news. On several occasions, this was the only means of communication that was available.
Scanner (Canon)		Used to copy all our documents before departure. Christian had also intended to scan all official forms presented to us on the way and put them on the internet ! The scanner was sent home when our parents visited us. According to Kathleen, this is THE most useless item we have taken along !
Set of electrical adaptors
Short wave radio		Used in Nepal after the Royal family was massacred and following the September 11th attacks.
Torches (2 small)		To spot thieves lurking around the car at night !
Torch (1 huge)		1.5 kg and something like 35x20x10 cm, this is a torch that doesn't need batteries as you can wind it up ! According to Christian, this is THE most useless item we have taken along (but he did not manage to have it sent home as it was a gift of Kathleen's brother !)
Tripod	unused	We never used our small camera tripod. A rock or our backpack always did the trick
Watch (Casio)		Besides time, this watch has been most useful as an altimeter and ... as an alarm clock !

Miscellaneous	Used or unused ?	Comments
Belgian flag		To be attached to the car on our return to Belgium
Business cards		Made using our home-made " HK to Brussels" logo and printed on pre-cut paper. These have been useful on many occasions : as a souvenir or small gift for kind people or as a "look-I-am-serious" business card when approaching hotels for sponsorship.
Cigarettes (2 packets of Marlboro)		Prepared for the occasion when we needed a "gift". One was handed to a road worker in India who didn't even thanked us, the other one is still in the glove box gathering dust.
Glass hammer		Small emergency red hammer
Office kit		Yes you do need a stapler, glue and a pair of scissors on a trip like this !
Photo album		Pictures of your family, friends and home country is most useful when language does not get you very far.
Playing cards	unused	How on earth did we think we would ever want to play cards during this trip ?
Sets of keys (3)		One each + one set in our backpack. The only time we locked ourselves out was in Egypt and all 3 sets were in the car ! Luckily, the tent was up and Christian was able to climb into the tent and open the car !
Several wads of banknotes	unused	Real but worthless banknotes from Brazil's and Peru's central banks. Prepared by Kathleen's uncle Christian de Beco, these were meant to be handed out to potential robbers.
Fix-it kit		Filled with elastic bands, pegs, straps, corks, clips, knives, scissors, a cutter, Velcro, wire, large tape, duck tape, locks etc

What we did not take :

Mobile phone	Keeping a mobile phone with an expensive monthly fee seemed useless with a satellite phone. For roughly 50% of our journey, there has been no coverage. Besides, even when there was coverage, using the satellite phone for international calls and local phones for local calls were much cheaper alternatives.
Bull bar	Expensive and heavy.
Winch	Expensive and heavy. We did not think there would be many occasions to use it and we were right.
Roof-rack	We have decided not to put anything on the roof except our 60 kg tent in order to keep the weight as low and the car as balanced as possible.
Jacking wood blocks	We managed without but they would have been a good idea

Of course, this list does NOT include anything we bought along the way : food, souvenirs, books, carpets, paintings.... All in all, we estimate that Troopie carted along around 300 to 400 kilos of luggage during our 60,000 km !


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