For a moment, Cale thought the van was going to flip as it rocked side-to-side. We were being buffeted by winds over 70mph coming off of the great mountain of Denali, parked in a tiny parking lot just north of the Denali National Park as temperatures plunged into the negatives and the blizzard raged around us.
Kelly and Cale (and Atlas!) had just took the Káravan into remote Alaska and spent the weekend in some deep snow and ice. This included hosting another couple for the first time in the van and braving biggest snow storm yet! During the weekend we pushed Kára to the limits. We got stuck for the first time in snow doing our first recovery of a vehicle in a sketchy place, slept four people inside the van and visited our first hot springs in the van. Now we were tucked away in a remote town waiting for a massive blizzard outside to calm down before we move along.
Eventually we would leave that tiny parking lot during a break in the storm to keep driving the several hundred miles back to Anchorage. However, Alaska's a brutal place. We drove straight into another massive winter stormfront and helped yet another vehicle that was stranded in the middle of nowhere before we pulled over to wait out the storm again.
We made a list of all the things we found helpful or that we wanted to added after a several long days of hosting, rescues and blizzards. As full-time vanlifers exploring the Alaska extremes, you may find this list helpful! If some of this seems.... extreme.... remember! We are Viking Sojourners!
Here's our big 14 takeaways! Note that any Amazon links are Amazon Associate links to help the gas fund but we only link to products that we ourselves use and can actually find on Amazon.
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1. The Guest Bed... Works!
Four people in the van worked surprisingly well! Our couch is still in rough draft form but slept someone without issue. Once we have it built to transform as a bed it will be very comfortable and roomy for a third person! The trip confirmed our choice was right one in making that it a priority to comfortably sleep a guest or two.
We added a sleeping pad that can be in the walkway for a 4th and it worked pretty decently. We originally planned on a 4th sleeping spot via hammock and will be building hammock sling points for the center aisle. This will make it totally doable for 4 people to crash. We ate, had drinks and played games comfortably for four people and slept all night no issues!
2. Weather Radar!
Cale has a Baron Mobile Threat Net account through his work, which includes satellite imagery and weather radar. We use an app on his phone to help look at storm masses and see what is happening on the road ahead. However, we want to get a large Android tablet mounted on a swivel arm on the dash so Kelly can look at real-time weather information as we make go/no-go decisions. Our eventual roof weather station will also help as the software will provide hyperlocal forecasts.
We plan to expand our weather intelligence with XM Satellite Weather that will provide off-grid weather information and NEXRAD weather radar as well as an ADSB receiver that will include FAA FIS-B weather information from transmitters.
We continue to run into extreme weather and wanting to chase prime riding conditions on our bikes and snowboards means we need as much stormchasing techniques and technology as possible!
3. NOAA Weather is Essential!
Having the CB with the NOAA weather station was extremely helpful as we listened for each area throughout drive and kept making go/no-go decisions as the forecasts and observations changed for areas ahead. We currently use a Uniden Bearcat 980 SSB CB radio and can't recommend having a CB enough! If you are spending a lot of time on the interstates it can be helpful to talk to the big rigs as well as NOAA weather.
4. Spotter Radios!
The use of spotters is common in many off-roading communities and is as simple as it sounds... People around the vehicle letting you know how close you are to obstacles, ground clearance issues or overhead clearance issues. Many times Kelly or a passenger will jump out of the vehicle to call out tree issues for our multitude of antennas or to look at snowpack to see if we may get stuck. However, due to the amazing sound isolation in Káravan and the distance the outside spotter needs to be from the van it’s very hard to hear their callouts.
Handheld GMRS radios for spotters to take outside while spotting would greatly assist as Cale carefully navigates tight corners or unplowed roads. Radios that charge in van will be extremely helpful as they can talk to the driver due to mobile GMRS base radio in the van! Cale already had a bunch due to work and other hobbies so this was one of the first thing we added back home.
GMRS stands for General Mobile Radio Service and is a radio frequency that's popular in offroading communities. It has adequate range and decent coverage of mountainous areas or forests.
We have found the cheap BTECH radios that you can buy on Amazon work well for GMRS and have used them for years. They are a bit low-power compared to other models, as GMRS is allowed to go up to 20watts output, but the radios are cheap. We are using them primarily as "shore party" radios for communicating while outside the van and for that purpose they work well. It's also great to toss a radio to another vehicle you are traveling with to talk!
You can charge the radios in the van using USB power by purchasing this simple cord which works with the included chargers.
5. Emergency Lighting!
Our emergency traffic hazard lightbars were crucial in keeping us safe! As we drove through the snowstorm the air currents we created whipped snow and moisture on the back of the van where it then iced over. This meant you could not see our brake lights, clearance lights and more. We blended right into the whiteout conditions!
However we installed some traffic lighting earlier that we installed earlier in the back windows of our van. We bought some cheap ones from Amazon that have a small keychain RF controller and a ton of lighting modes. We had used them to mark our location in dense fog coming up through the Yukon earlier in our trip. Now they were able to let other vehicles know where we were and make us much more visible in whiteout conditions. They also came in handy as we stopped for a vehicle that went off the road in the middle of the blizzard. The lights were able to signal for vehicles to move over into the next lane as we worked to get people out of the stuck vehicle! Currently these cheap lights work well enough and eventually we'll replace them as we add additional, more professional emergency lighting all over the van.
Because of our experiences now in several low-visbility conidtions we want to add a chase lightbar to the back of the van. These are traditionally used in offroad or overlanding vehicles when riding in a group and kicking up dirt or dust. Chase lightbars help signal when a vehicle is braking, turning or just it's location when the back is covered in mud. Very similar to what we need!
We plan to add a powerful chase lightbar on top of the van that will be on the roof rack and stick out a little to be shielding from the vortex that's created as we drive. It'll also be high up and very visible in the highway by vehicles approaching us. This is needed to allow better signals of brake, turning and hazard during whiteouts or storms. Most chase lightbars are designed for jeeps and so are small but we are planning on buying this tailgate lightbar that is 60" with reverse, running, brake and turning lighting. We plan to have it sit just underneath our roofrack and fingerboard above the rear doors and clearance lights.
We also noticed that up in the Arctic a lot of vehicles had marker beacons for whiteouts or parking. We liked that idea and Cale was already planning to have a small flip-up mast with some directional panel antennas. We may add a signal beacon so we can flip up the mast and activate during storms.
Our new roofrack will also have bright LED rope lights all the way around it to further increase our visibility, plus just look cool! Who doesn't want to go to a festival with a decked out van and strobing lights?
6. Different Conditions, Different Lights!
We installed some basic LED light pods on our mirrors but we need much more lighting options. Different styles and colors of lights are definitely needed for different weather conditions. Having yellow snow light pods and a low-level snow light flood bar would help significantly in the low visibility situations. The lighting design of the van is getting more and more complex!
7. More Cameras!
Our new PTZ ballcam helped immensely navigating clearance issues. The night vision on the camera helped judge snowpack height a lot better than flat light of flashlights and being able to check back tire placement when doing a tight turn with snowberms on either side was key. Currently we just are using a cheap Reolink Wireless PTZ camera that we bought when it was on sale but we plan to upgrade as we've used it so much! More PTZ cameras with high-quality night sensors will help significantly in navigation and security. Our camera has survived all kinds of horrible weather! We've also used it extensively to look around the outside when our window covers are up and we don't want to remove them if it sounds like someone is outside!
8. Deicing!
Our two MaxxAir fans iced over in the storm. For our roofrack design, having a taller roofrack with sides will help protect fans from snow and icing. This definitely confirms our plan of a higher-profile roofrack with fairings and side protectors as the right choice. The future big roofrack with spots to walk on will help access fans, solar, folded antennas, etc for de-icing. It's not common in van builds to have a taller roofrack but the amount of storms we find ourselves in means we need to protect our expensive fans and skylight. We also need to de-ice in the mornings or periodically.
9. New Winter Wipers!
We learned that the stock wiper blades are terrible and ice quickly. Aftermarket heated blades would help significantly. We are looking at getting Everblades heated windshield wipers.
10. Ice/Snow Shielding!
We recently added heavy rubber line protectors on our Eberspächer undermount electrical and fuel lines. We need to add plastic shielding and aluminin skid plate to protect the fuel pump, vents, dropouts and so on. Especially when massive snow drifts are in the highway or we have to go through snowberms to reach our destination.
11. Recovery Boards Higher!
Our recovery boards that we carry with us in case we get bogged down in snow need to be mounted high on the exterior of the van. Currently we have them sitting in garage which iced over in the storm and made quick access not possible. Having them on side of van higher up would help to get them if in deeper snow. We plan to attached them on the side of the van by bars dropped down from roofrack.
12. A Winch!
We definitely want a winch. A front winch would enable a lot more exploration and make certain roads less sketch and recovery of vehicles a lot easier.
13. WiFi Booster... Is a Necessity!
We thought the WiFi extender we bought for work purposes was going to be unnecessary after getting our mobile router. However we quickly learned otherwise as we stayed in Chena Hot Springs Resort and other areas that had no cellular coverage but WiFi was available for guests. Having a high-gain amplified WiFi extender definitely goes back on the list as necessary. It allows us to boost signals from distance hotels or resorts while in parking lots.
We are currently using an Alfa Network Camp Pro 3 as our big WiFi booster which works great as a plug-and-play option but we are building a bigger and more secure WiFi driver ourselves using a few large 10dbi wifi antennas and a RaspberryPi. We'll post more about this project later!
14. Permanent Ladder, Not Removable!
We waffled on the ladder but this trip definitely confirmed a permanent ladder on the side to clean roof in storm conditions. A removable one would slide around in wind/storm. It also would be a huge problem trying to haul it out of garage during bad weather. We have yet to find one we like but it's back on the list of things to research!
15. The Rescue/Recovery Aid Box!
Because we travel for adventures and Cale's background is rescue, emergency medicine, disaster response and public safety... we are realizing we spend a lot of time encountering people in need of aid. Our goal has always been that we build something that not only can chase adventures but also respond to needs. We want to be useful on the road by volunteering, helping when we can and maintaining ability to assist where possible!
We are fairly well stocked with emergency tools (axe, sledge, folding shovels, saw, crowbar, recovery boards, trauma kits, etc) but we need access to be better. Right now it's in our garage and when we open the doors on the side of a remote road in whiteout conditions with hurricane-force winds the chances of our bike parts or important outdoor adventure gear falling is too great and being lost forever.
We plan a basic overlanding box on the back door and that definitely needs to become our tool and aid box. Rescue and recovery gear will be stored there like flares, signals, our vehicle tool box, straps, machete, come-along & pulleys, road triangles, fire suppressant, chocks, etc. A locking rack on one side will hold the ax, full-sized shovel, crowbar/halligan/rescue hook, maul, bolt cutters, etc. The other side we'll most likely store our 5-gallon jerry can with emergency fuel.
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That's our big takeaways from our crazy adventures! We hope to see you on the road!
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