Like any automotive lifestyle, there are always people who grab onto something for style over substance. Something that they think looks good used one way over the intended purpose for the item or taking an item to the extreme.
D-Ring Dangle
The humble D-Ring is an integral part of any good recovery setup. Needed to connect winches, straps, and other recovery items to each other it is the simplest and most durable part we use.
So why is it that people continue to disrespect this simple recovery device by making them “bling” for their ride? Once a D-Ring rusts and the locking pin can no longer be removed they are practically useless for recovery.
Those same folks who want to color match their ring also complain that they rattle. What?!?!? There is now an entire industry dedicated to selling plastic color matched isolators so your recovery point doesn’t rattle. Do you know what else keeps it from rattling? Putting it in your recovery bag where it belongs.
Light-bar-palooza.
I am not against lights, auxiliary light bars, fog lights, rock lights, more light bars…
That’s where it gets lost. You end up looking like an electric light show with strobes, multicolored beams, lasers, and who knows what else.
The primary question is why? Fog lights have a purpose, it’s in the name. Bright white LED lights are terrible in bad weather, most people who have them don’t use them to hunt, fish, or otherwise light up the night to drive.
Considering that many states require covers on any light above the bumper it’s a poor argument to say you need them to drive.
Naming your own vehicle.
It seems that everyone decides their own nickname, they name their vehicle and even come up with cutesy tags for everything.
What happened to earning a nickname? I was called Wild Bill growing up. Not a very creative given that my name is William and Wild Bill Hickock existed to create the moniker. I did earn it by doing tons of less than intelligent stuff that involved either jumping over or riding under things on my bicycle and though I made the majority of the attempts when I failed it was spectacularly.
Not being inclusive.
This last problem is less tongue in cheek than the others. Off-roading should be an all-inclusive movement. No one should be excluded. We should not care what someone looks like, what they wheel, how they look, or what their religion is. The only people that should be shunned are those who show up and hate someone else.
I am not talking about perceived group . I mean individuals that show up and act an ass.
