Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
Click play to listen or grab the direct download.
On May 20th, 2013, a massively destructive EF5 tornado, with winds of an estimated 210 mph, blew through Moore, Oklahoma which is a suburb of Oklahoma City. In less than an hour, the tornado completely destroyed a path over a mile wide and 17 miles long. Very few of the homes had shelters and the storm killed 23 people and injured 377 others. As soon as the storm had passed, Bryan Hutton, who was visiting his parents from Ohio, emerged from the 3/4 buried storm shelter to render aid to his neighbors and community.
Stomper in the aftermath
Bryan describes himself as just a regular guy who was just doing what he thinks anyone would have done. Bryan had the foresight to park his 2012 Jeep Wrangler, nicknamed “Stomper” after the toys from the 80’s, inside the garage already in 4lo, which proved to be incredibly helpful. The tornado collapsed the garage on top of the Jeep but when Stomper needed to get out of the rubble and put the
Warn winch to work pulling debris away to help extract people for the collapsed mess of what used to be homes. For all the details on the storm and the recovery effort, check out Bryan’s interview with the XJ Talk Show.
At some point during the recovery efforts, someone caught a picture of Stomper with an American flag in a picture that clearly shows the resilence and determination that has made Jeep so beloved. That picture was seen on the Forbidden Jeeps Facebook page by Camp Crocker of COP4x4 and thousands of others. It was such an inspirational image that is truely captured the hearts of people around the world. Camp is such a great American and a fantastic vehicle builder and he was motivated to say “thank you” to Bryan for his heroic actions after the tornado hit in a way that no one else could. Camp jumped in a truck, picked up a trailer and headed off to Oklahoma to lend a hand in the recovery efforts and to take Stomper home for a rebuilding. The rest of the story is still being played out and you can follow along on Facebook on the Rebuilding of Stomper community page.
The Rebuilding of Stomper
The helmet that will revolutionize offroad racing
In the news we talk about a helmet that could revolutionize offroad racing. This helmet is still not yet a working prototype but if it hits its funding goal on IndiGoGo, then you’ll be able to spend an estimated $2,000 for this helmet. For more info on this project, click here.
If you’re looking to use a VW Vanagon Synchro van as an overlanding platform, you might want to pick up an automatic locking differential made by Weddle Industries. This differential unit will surely allow you to spend more time exploring instead of getting yourself unstuck. For more info check out the story on race-dezert.com.
The last news story we talk about is the Bantam Jeep Heritage festival in Butler, PA. The event took place on 14-16 June, 2013 and brought together about 1,500 Jeeps for a weekend full of fun with the whole Jeep community. For more info, check out the story on the Kaiser Willys Jeep blog.
Photo from Kaiser Willys Jeep Blog
Photo from Kaiser Willys Jeep Blog
Additional links mentioned on the show:
- http://www.everytrail.com/guide/backway-to-crown-king-4×4-trail
- http://www.kodiakinc.com/powersystems/dualbatterykits.html
- http://www.weddleindustries.com/products/new-products/new-vw-094-atb-locking-differentials
- http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/livemap-motorbike-helmet-with-navigation?browse_v=new
