Supersnoredom
Brubaker will be snoring in a Coleman 10x8 Sundome tent. This tent sets up in mere minutes, can sleep up to four, and has a height of 70 inches. It has a huge mesh vent for truly impressive ventilation and a rainfly to keep rain or dew out.
Master Bedroom
Holman will be dreaming of another helping of yummy canned beef stew in Coleman's new-for-'05 Crestline four-person tent. It features a Variflo adjustable venting system, Cool-Air port, and power cord port. Both Coleman tents will be firmly affixed to terra firma via genuine Coleman tent stakes.
Laying Down on the Job
We don't expect to get a lot of sleep during the nine-day H2our De Force, so what we get has got to be good. We're packing along two new-for-'05 Coleman sleeping bags-the Granite and Colossal. Both are king-sized, have 5 pounds of Holofill 808 fill and a cotton flannel liner. Both also boast ComfortSmart technology (this means it's guaranteed to keep you comfortable), a Comfort Cuff (surrounds your face with softness), and Thermlock (reduces heat loss through the flannel liner). To further ensure our comfort we each have a ComfortSmart Quickbed twinsize airbed. These shockingly luxurious tall airbeds have ComfortSmart coils and a soft suede top to enhance comfort. We'll air them up in seconds using either Coleman's battery-operated Deluxe Quickpump or 12-volt Inflate-All Quickpump system, the latter of which can inflate everything from airbeds to car tires.
A Helping Hand
Sometimes, when you're wheeling in the middle of nowhere in a heavy stock truck, there are times that you might find yourself stuck-oh-so-hopelessly stuck. Yes, even a team of Four Wheeler magazine editors can be mired so successfully that no amount of pushing from their bratwurst-like muscles is enough to free the rig. So, to mitigate any opportunities for fate to leave us for dead far from home, we hooked up with Hummer to get our hands on the Hummer/Warn XD 9000i genuine accessories multi-mount winch, which was installed by Cerritos Hummer in Cerritos, California. Not to give too much away, but we actually had to use it-several times.
Night Vision
When trying to make time crossing the country, it was inevitable that some of our travels would take place at night. Knowing the dangers of deer season in the northern states, and not wanting to be out on the trail without auxiliary lighting past sundown, Hummer also hooked us up with their roof-mounted off-highway light kit, which really aided in night-time driving maneuvers. More importantly, they helped us to pick out deer lining the highway ahead of time to avoid serious collisions. These 55-watt auxiliary lights are 6 inches in diameter and can be independently aimed, so we pointed two ahead to complement the brights, and angled two toward the sides.
Ironing Out The Bumps
The Hummer H2 SUT already has a smooth and comfortable ride on the highway, but feeling it is a tad soft in the rough stuff, we convinced Hummer to send us four of its Rod Hall genuine accessory reservoir shocks, also installed by Cerritos Hummer. These monotube, remote-reservoir shocks feature IAS valving and extra oil capacity for cool runnings. We noticed no loss in highway comfort, but benefited from a more firm and controlled ride off-pavement, and best of all, these shocks never faded, even when the H2 was fully loaded in an area filled with miles of undulating whoops. These shocks are definitely a worthwhile upgrade for the Hummer H2 SUT.
Ken's 5 Pre-H2our Rules/Goals
1. Don't kill Sean
2. Don't break the Hummer
3. Ignore bug splatter on windshield
4. Exhibit an irregular, non-linear driving style
5. Don't kill Sean
Sean's 5 Pre-H2our Rules/Goals
1. Don't kill Ken
2. Don't break the Hummer
3. Verbally analyze bug splatter on windshield
4. Exhibit a smooth, linear driving style
5. Don't kill Ken
Read the Blog
You can read about H2our De Force as it happened by logging onto www.fourwheeler.com/h2our. Each evening following a stellar day of adventure, Holman and Brubaker dug out their laptop computers, found a site with Wi-Fi (or not) and uploaded a diary and photos of that days adventures.
Next Month
It's game on next month as Holman and Brubaker officially hit the road. In Part II of "H2our De Force," they flee the wildfire-infested hills of Hollister, California and blaze north and east into the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Will Holman and Brubaker wimp out on camping and get suites at the Four Seasons? Will one of them suffer a head injury and go on a mini-California crime spree? Will the powerful Pacific Ocean attempt to swallow up the Hummer? Can two dudes travel together for nine days without killing each other? Next month, we'll answer these riveting questions and more!