Testing a few new Overland Outfitters and Auxbeam products

[jscherb]

I've been encouraging Overland Outfitters to do some TJ/LJ-specific products when they get some production time and this week they sent me a few preproduction samples to try out. They tell me their seat-back bags for the JK and JL have been very popular (Quadratec even used them in their Anniversary Jeep build) and they're going to offer a seat-back MOLLE/Zip & Go mount for TJ/LJ/YJ seats. The bands slip over the headrest part of the seat and have a PALS strip and a Zip & Go zipper on the back.

I slipped a preproduction band over my seat and took a few photos. A Zip & Go bag in my LJ:

Zip & GO bags attach with a zipper; the seat bands also support MOLLE pouches on a leather PALS strip:

There are versions for early and late model seats; this is what it looks like from the front on an '03-'06 TJ seat:

And what it looks like from the back on a '97-'02 TJ or a YJ seat (this is a YJ but the same band also fits the '97-'02 seats):

I've been using an earlier prototype version in my LJ for a while, in this photo from the summer I've got a Cool Bag picnic cooler hanging from the Zip & Go zipper on the passenger seat:

Zip & Go bags in the Quadratec Anniversary Jeep:

Another new product OO will be releasing soon they call "Roll Bar Buddies". There are two versions - a pocket version and a "tactical" version. They plan for the production ones to be all black, but just to see what they'd look like in a different color they sent me two in tan. I'm including the tan ones in the photos below because it's easier to see the detail on those than on the all black ones.

The pocket version has two 7" x 3" x 1.5" pockets. They're perfect for sunglasses, masks, tools and many other things.

The Tactical version is intended to hold a tactical flashlight, two pen-sized items, and two other items in pistol-magazine sized pouches. In this photo I've got a Leatherman multitool in one pocket and a Swiss Army Knife in the other and the pocket flaps are open.

The tactical version also has a strip of PALS webbing to hold a small MOLLE pouch in the event that a smaller tactical flashlight is used (photo below).

Checking them out in my LJ...

The tactical version with the same items and the pocket flaps open to show the tools and a photo with the flaps closed:

In this photo a smaller tactical flashlight is in the holder and a small MOLLE pouch is in the center:

I've got a few small suggestions for improvements to these before they go into production but they are small changes so these are very close to production-ready.

About the tactical flashlight in the last photo - when OO told me they were about to send me some preproduction Roll Bar Buddies to test, I got in touch with AuxBeam and asked them if they had any new tactical flashlights that would go well with these. They suggested these: https://auxbeam.com/products/led-ha...high-lumens-for-camping-outdoor-emergency-use. Seemed like a good fit so I asked them if they would send me two to test.

One nice feature these flashlights have is a USB port (micro USB) for charging the battery. In this next photo it's just completed charging from my laptop. The light turns green when it's charged, it's red when charging.

Also in the photo above is the correct battery - the flashlight doesn't ship with a battery (I suspect because of regulations restricting shipping of products with Lithium-Ion batteries), so the buyer will need to source a battery themselves. It's a standard 18650 battery; these can be found on eBay and many other online sources if you can't find them locally (I couldn't find them in my small town so I ordered them from eBay).

The flashlight has three modes:

- One click of the power button: bright
- Second click: half power
- Third click: "SOS" strobe mode. Could be useful as a warning flasher for roadside troubles.

The lens slides in and out to focus the beam narrow or wide; a nice feature.

The AuxBeam web site lists the brightness at 800 lumens, which is pretty bright, especially for a flashlight that only lists for $11.99. I did these two photos after dark - the camera is set to manual exposure mode so both photos accurately depict the before and after illumination. I set the manual exposure to approximate what I was seeing with the naked eye:

Then I turned on the flashlight:

I like these flashlights. They're compact, very bright, very affordable, conveniently rechargeable through USB (and they fit very nicely in the Tactical Roll Bar Buddy ).

 

[Turdworlder]

Eventhough our jeeps are small, i carry 5 litres fire extinguisher. I just put it at bavk since no back passenger seats. Once i go out of asphalt it makes bangs to the floor. Its between back floor and ehind the front passenger seat. I couldnt think of better place for it.

 

[jscherb]

Arrived yesterday - production Roll Bar Buddies and TJ seat back Zip & Go/Molle attachments (probably not production packaging though, the plastic bags seem too big). And a new catalog:

There are two versions of the TJ seat back attachments - '97-'02 and '03-'06. I checked out the later model version in my LJ this morning. Empty on the left., you can see the PALS/MOLLE strip and the zipper; on the right a black production Cool Bag (insulated to keep drinks and lunch cool, also one of their new products) is zipped in place:

The Cool Bag is an insulated bag designed to carry lunch for two. You're on a trail, it's getting close to lunch time and there's a great overlook a half mile hike from the trail that would be a great place for lunch. Unzip your Cool Bag from the back of the seat and hike to the lunch spot. The bag has PALS/MOLLE grids on three sides so if your lunch is bigger than will fit in the bag, strap more storage in place.

I've had a prototype Cool Bag for a while; sometimes I just hang the bag on the back of the seat and fill it with drinks and a few ice packs. Very handy.

Also I've been using preproduction Roll Bar Buddies in all 3 of my Jeeps for a few weeks now. I've got the tactical version on the driver's side and the pocket version on the passenger side. I've got them all outfitted like this:

In each Jeep there's a multitool, a pocket knife (both in the pockets), a flashlight (the ones from Auxbeam I wrote about in my last post), a tape measure (I often need to measure something when I get a design idea ), a tire pressure gauge and a charge cable for the flashlight all conveniently accessible above the driver's door. On the passenger side pocket version my copilot keeps her sunglasses, extra masks and I don't even know what else.

And Auxbeam just sent an email about a new version switch panel with Bluetooth control:

More info here: https://auxbeam.com/products/qp008526

They said they're sending me one of these new ones for testing. When it arrives I'll test it and post a review. Might be a while because these haven't arrived in the U.S. yet, they'll be sending it from China.

 

[jscherb]

Overland Outfitters sent me their new paper catalog, they tell me they're including it in the package with all of the products they're shipping now. They say if anyone wants a paper copy it can be requested from their contact page (https://www.overland-outfitters.com/contact.html#/). A PDF version is also available for download on that page.

With the recent addition of some TJ products I encouraged them to do, there are quite a few items in their catalog that could be useful to TJ folks. I'll keep encouraging them to add TJ products to their lineup - if anyone has an idea they'd like to see implemented for the TJ let me know and maybe I can get them interested in the idea.

Here's a small version of their new catalog...

They borrowed some of the photos from me, you might recognize some of them I've posted before.

 

[Sancho]

A first aid kit might be a good idea. One that is well marked and easily detached. (like hook and loop?)


Edit: Nevermind.. looks like they already have one.

 

[jscherb]

A first aid kit might be a good idea. One that is well marked and easily detached. (like hook and loop?)


Edit: Nevermind.. looks like they already have one.

Yes, it was one of their first "Grab & Go" products. It's got standard MOLLE straps on the back, but it also has a belt clip style attachment for easy and quick detachment - all of their "Grab & Go" bags have those quick clips. Their Grab & Go bags (including the first aid bag) are shown in this video from Quaratec in which they demonstrate the quick attach/release feature:

I thought I had made a video of the inside of the bag when I first tested it but all I can find right now are some stills - one of the nice features of the bag are the "pages" inside that you can flip through very quickly to find what you need. Speed is important when it comes to first aid and this is a lot quicker than digging through all the stuff randomly inside a bag.

BTW they also have a "First Responder" first aid bag that's larger and includes provisions for hanging and a table. The haven't put these in full production yet but they tell me they've sold a few as special orders.

 

[PCO6]

This is good to see. I've dealt with Overland Outfitters for a few things and they've been great.

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

I've been encouraging Overland Outfitters to do some TJ/LJ-specific products when they get some production time and this week they sent me a few preproduction samples to try out. They tell me their seat-back bags for the JK and JL have been very popular (Quadratec even used them in their Anniversary Jeep build) and they're going to offer a seat-back MOLLE/Zip & Go mount for TJ/LJ/YJ seats. The bands slip over the headrest part of the seat and have a PALS strip and a Zip & Go zipper on the back.

I slipped a preproduction band over my seat and took a few photos. A Zip & Go bag in my LJ:

View attachment 286803

Zip & GO bags attach with a zipper; the seat bands also support MOLLE pouches on a leather PALS strip:

View attachment 286804

There are versions for early and late model seats; this is what it looks like from the front on an '03-'06 TJ seat:

View attachment 286805

And what it looks like from the back on a '97-'02 TJ or a YJ seat (this is a YJ but the same band also fits the '97-'02 seats):

View attachment 286806

I've been using an earlier prototype version in my LJ for a while, in this photo from the summer I've got a Cool Bag picnic cooler hanging from the Zip & Go zipper on the passenger seat:

View attachment 286807

How do the bottom of the bags keep so close to the back of the seat?

I'd have thought with the single suspension point at top they'd be leaning away from the seat back due to gravity.

 

[dbbd1]

How do the bottom of the bags keep so close to the back of the seat?

I'd have thought with the single suspension point at top they'd be leaning away from the seat back due to gravity.

These are similar, they have a strap at the bottom that goes around the seat as well.

https://www.quadratec.com/products/14070_1010.htm

 

[astjp2]

I can so see that guy who packs so much shit that when they roll their jeep, shit is scattered all down the trail!

 

[jscherb]

How do the bottom of the bags keep so close to the back of the seat?

I'd have thought with the single suspension point at top they'd be leaning away from the seat back due to gravity.

The design is such that the center of gravity of a typical load in the bag is outboard of the zipper attachment that hangs the bag to the seat, so the leverage with the CofG outboard of the "hinge point" pushes the bottom of the towards the seat. In the illustration below, the red line is the zipper that hangs the bag to the seat, the yellow 'x' is the center of gravity of a typical load in the bag, and you can see how the CofG is forward of the "hinge point" created by the zipper location.

I've got a heavy tool bag zipped to the back of my LJ seat and it does just fine.

The tool bag isn't an Overland Outfitters product, it's a Rothco bag that I sewed a zipper to so it can zip to the Overland Outfitters Zip & Go seat band.

 

[cliffish]

The design is such that the center of gravity of a typical load in the bag is outboard of the zipper attachment that hangs the bag to the seat, so the leverage with the CofG outboard of the "hinge point" pushes the bottom of the towards the seat. In the illustration below, the red line is the zipper that hangs the bag to the seat, the yellow 'x' is the center of gravity of a typical load in the bag, and you can see how the CofG is forward of the "hinge point" created by the zipper location.

View attachment 297191

I've got a heavy tool bag zipped to the back of my LJ seat and it does just fine.

View attachment 297192

The tool bag isn't an Overland Outfitters product, it's a Rothco bag that I sewed a zipper to so it can zip to the Overland Outfitters Zip & Go seat band.

This stuff looks cool, Rothco is down here on Long Island NY

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

The design is such that the center of gravity of a typical load in the bag is outboard of the zipper attachment that hangs the bag to the seat, so the leverage with the CofG outboard of the "hinge point" pushes the bottom of the towards the seat. In the illustration below, the red line is the zipper that hangs the bag to the seat, the yellow 'x' is the center of gravity of a typical load in the bag, and you can see how the CofG is forward of the "hinge point" created by the zipper location.

Alright, that makes sense. I knew I didn't see a strap around the seat at the bottom of each bag. So it's all the angle of the dangle and gravity at work. Cool.

Additionally, you can custom fit bags by adding half of a zipper on the back edge of whatever bag you may want. Very cool.

Thank you for sharing and replying!

 

[Fulton_Hogan]

These are similar, they have a strap at the bottom that goes around the seat as well.

https://www.quadratec.com/products/14070_1010.htm

You can't tell in any of the pictures Quadratec shows that there's a strap at the bag's bottom. Which is pretty tricky. That's why I was curious about these Overland Outfitters bags.

@jscherb explained it; and even with an empty bag, it looks like by putting the zipper lower on the back of the bag, and not the rear top edge, it then makes the top of a bag a pseudo-stop, limiting the outward angle the bag's bottom can reach.

 

[jscherb]

OO tells me they're about to offer limited edition all-black Saddlebags for the JKU, JK and JL 2dr - they sent me a pair and asked me if I would take some photos in my JKU for them. I took the photos they asked for and I also decided to try them in the LJ...

OO doesn't make tub-side attachment zippers for the LJ, so I made a few attachment zippers just for my LJ and the bags zipped right in place. I made an extra zipper and gave it to OO so they can make more if they have LJ people wanting them. The zippers can be used for any of their Zip & Go products, so maybe they'll be interested. Or maybe not, they sell tons of products to JK and JL people but very few TJ/LJ people seem to be interested in their products - maybe I should stop pushing them to do new TJ/LJ products?

Also in the photo above, hanging from the seat back is a pair of pouches (not an OO product) that I sewed the other day to hold shackles. My LJ spends its time from Thanksgiving through the end of March with the plow installed and I also carry tow gear in case I come across someone who needs help getting out of a ditch or snowbank. My recovery strap lives in a bag either on the back of the driver's seat or now on the new tub-side zipper strips I mentioned above. In the past I just kept the shackles for the strap on the floor behind the driver's seat but I decided to make a pouch for them. It has a Zip & Go zipper on the back so it can hang on the seat back as in the photo above (or on the tub-side zipper that the Saddelbag in the photo above is zipped to), but it's also got MOLLE straps so it can hang on any MOLLE panel.

I don't have any plans to suggest the shackle bag to OO as a product, but since it was in the photo along with their all-black Saddlebag and because it's hanging on OO's new seat-back MOLLE/Zip & Go attachment for the TJ I thought I'd write about it too.

 

[CV04TJR]

The saddle bags look very nice are the bags all the same with different zip and go attachments. My wife has a JLU and I have a TJ. I do upholstery for a living so I could easily make the tub side attachment for my TJ if the same bag would work. I really like the products that you come up with.

 

[Mark K]

Thanks for the heads up, Jeff. I got on the site, requested a catalog and ordered a pair of tactical roll bar buddies. Most of my TJ roll bar real estate is already festooned with pouches and such, but, ya never know, these things might work better, or perhaps in another vehicle.

 

[jscherb]

The saddle bags look very nice are the bags all the same with different zip and go attachments. My wife has a JLU and I have a TJ. I do upholstery for a living so I could easily make the tub side attachment for my TJ if the same bag would work. I really like the products that you come up with.

They make two sizes of Saddlebag - a larger size is for the JKU, JK 2dr and JL 2dr and because the JLU has less space over the inner fenders, the Saddlebag for the JLU is a bit smaller.

Here's a photo of a JLU Saddlebag in my LJ. Comparing it to the photo in the earlier post you can see it's smaller.

All of the zippers are YKK #10 Vislon, sewed into a double layer of 1.5" webbing so if you wanted to make extra zipper strips for yourself it wouldn't be hard. The good news about the JLU zippers is that the spacing of the holes is very close to hole spacing in the LJ - in this next photo I have a JLU zipper bolted in place in the LJ. It's a tight fit, the JLU holes are slightly closer together than the LJ holes, but with the webbing pulled tight it can be installed in the LJ. With zippers in both the JLU and the LJ, the same bag could move between the Jeeps as needed.

I don't have a TJ but I should try a JLU Saddlebag in a TJ - might be just the right size for the TJ.

Another use for those zipper attachments... in the first post of this thread I included a photo of the Overland Outfitters "Cool Bag" - an insulated picnic bag that zips to the seat back using their recently released TJ Zip & Go seat attachment. That bag is in production and now I'm trying out another insulated bag idea - this one is designed to keep drinks cold - either 3 12-ounce cans or 2 16-ounce bottles plus an ice sheet.

It's sized inside so that ice cube sheets are a close fit around the cans/bottles. You can see the edge of the ice blocks in the photos above, in this next photo the ice cube sheet and cans are removed.

This bag is also a test bed for a bunch of attachment ideas. It's got a Zip & Go Zipper on the back so it can hang on the back of the seat using the OO Zip & Go attachment.

There's also a PALS strip on the back of the bag, that's meant to be used to hang the bag from a PALS/MOLLE panel using short detachable MOLLE straps.

Similarly, the PALS strip on the back can be used with roll bar straps (longer than the MOLLE straps pictured above and with cam buckles instead of snaps) to hang the bag from a roll bar.

On each end of the bag are webbing loops. Those can be used to attach a handle or shoulder strap if needed.

The working name for this prototype is the "Cool Roll". Not sure if they'll make it a product, but I've been testing it and it keeps drinks quite cold, and the drinks are easily accessible from the front seat (this staged photo taken in my JKU):

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I dunno, some of those look like a lady's purse hung on the head rest.

 

[LONGJP2]

I dunno, a few of those look like a lady's purse hung on the head rest.

Have you seen who buys Jeeps these days?