Here's our stock H2 SUT in Moab, Utah. Soon it will go to Cerritos Hummer in Cerritos, California, where it will be upgraded with a variety of genuine Hummer accessories. The list includes remote-reservoir Rod Hall shock absorbers, auxiliary lighting and a receiver-mount electric winch.
Click here to read the H2our De Force Blog!
Click here for the VIDEO introduction.
Beginning Friday, June 10, Four Wheeler Tech Editor Sean P. Holman and Senior Editor Ken Brubaker will hop into a Hummer H2 SUT and embark on a California-to-Illinois adventure that will span nine states. Click here for the blog. Their H2our De Force will find them exploring an off-highway trail in each state daily. We're talking cool places like Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. For them, camping every night is mandatory but eating the bark from trees is optional.
The even bigger news is that they will be uploading images and text daily to fourwheeler.com so you can track their progress and read about their journey as it happens. Expected to be totally riveting, the daily updates will begin Saturday, June 11, after they depart Hollister, California and run daily through Sunday, June 19, when they arrive in Illinois. This web coverage on fourwheeler.com is a precursor to a three-part H2our De Force series in Four Wheeler Magazine, which begins in the November issue.
Preparations for the H2our De Force have already begun. We've consulted with the camping experts at Coleman, and they've sent us some hot new camping gear; the GPS gurus at Garmin have hooked us up with some of their latest and greatest mapping software and equipment; and HUMMER has pimped our H2 with genuine Hummer accessories. Read on to get the lowdown on the official H2our De Force gear, and don't forget to log on to fourwheeler.com beginning Saturday, June 11.
Granola bars don't cut it. Coleman hooked Holman and Brubaker up with their new-for-'05 2-burner propane Perfectflow Instastart stove so they can have hot meals at the campsite. This baby offers consistent cooking performance even in cold weather, high altitudes and when fuel is low; two 22,000 BTU high performance adjustable burners; matchless lighting; heavy-duty nickel chrome grate that easily removes for cleaning; and a Windblock System that shields burners for maximum heat. Speaking of hot stuff, they'll be able to have their morning java, or hot chocolate, or soup, thanks to the Coleman Camping Drip Coffeemaker. This unit simply pulls heat from the camp stove to heat up the liquid. It has an easy-fill reservoir, removable swing-out filter basket, easy-pour 10-cup decanter and a patented steel base that fits on two- or three-burner stoves. Coleman also provided a pair of their Cooking Station tables so they can prepare food like the Iron Chef. These handy folding tables provide separate cooking and food prep surfaces; an additional rack shelf for underneath storage; and a reinforced hardboard table.
Stumbling around in the dark doesn't cut it either. Fortunately, the boys have a pair of Coleman's Floating 4D Spotlights (they hope to not have to test the floating feature) and two sets of Graphite Flashlight Combo's. The floating 4D spotlight not only floats, but also is weather resistant and has a Krypton bulb for long-lasting light. The Graphite Flashlight Combo features 2 AA and 2 D Graphite flashlights, and they boast a tough graphite composite housing that can survive almost any condition and a patented shock-absorbing bulb and battery suspension system. They're also adjustable from spot-to-flood beam.
A dry camp is a happy camp, and the new-for-'05 five-sided Coleman Geosport Shade will protect our guys from rain or snow while they're cooking or huddling together scared of bears. It sets up in minutes and stands 95 inches tall. It features a pocket organizer, ceiling vents to reduce heat buildup or wind lift, a rainfly and guy lines and stakes. Also part of our camp is Coleman's new-for-'05 58-quart Xtreme cooler. This bad boy can hold 75 cans plus ice and it can keep ice intact for up to 6 days at 90 degrees F. It features 2-inch deep cup holders; two-way handles and a channel drain for no-tip draining.
One of the guys will be sleeping in a Coleman 10x8 Sundome tent. This tent sets up in minutes, sleeps four, and has a center height of 70 inches, a mesh vent for increased ventilation and a rainfly for when the weather goes south.