For the Love of Overlanding
Lane Butz has a busy and complicated life. He is an in-demand professional who manages online presence, e-commerce, and social media for clients in different industries. Many of his clients are household names, and among his recent efforts is work that he did for the E3 Associations. Working with E3 Offroad and Overland was especially easy for him because he is an active offroad enthusiast and often lives the overland lifestyle.
But this wasn’t always the case; getting offroad and overlanding was an accident, albeit a happy one.“To be honest with you,” said Butz. “I bought a truck that had a power wagon on accident. I had another pickup, and I like to do offroading stuff with that one. Then when I got this other truck, it had many features that started me YouTubing more about the truck, which got me into overlanding and lined up with a group of guys you might have heard of called E3 Overlanding. I signed up with them, and then it took off from there. I got into it and built up a truck that I can live in on the road if I want to, work in, and, uh, basically carry-on life.”
His overlanding rig is a 2020 Ram 2500 PowerWagon, outfitted with a 6.4 Hemi, full-lockers front and back, electronic disconnectable sway bar, 35-inch tires, 4-inch lift (standard on a PowerWagon), Goal-Zero Power systems and Solar, Roofnest Condor XL Rooftop Tent, Yakima Road Shower, Bedslider, Dometic 75 quart fridge, KC fog lights and chase lights, and more.
“I recently added StarLink, and now I can work from anywhere,” Butz said. “It’s a total game changer.”
To hear Butz tell his story, it’s clear that the resources available through E3 Offroad and Overland were crucial to his successful lifestyle adaptation.
“E3 has been very educational for me. For someone who gets into it, I've only been into this for a couple of years, so for someone just getting into it, E3 is a great opportunity to learn how to do much stuff. I've done offroading, but not to the point where you will stay out for weeks. It’s so important to know what to do with everything from what tires to get, how to do this, how to keep your food the longest time, toiletries, etc.” said Butz. “And there are just so many things to do overland that you might overlook your first trip out. You don't want to get out there in the middle of nowhere and be unprepared. E3 got me ready to go and helped me avoid rookie mistakes.”
According to Butz, one of the most critical pieces of equipment to have is good portable lighting sources of different kinds for alternative missions. Fortunately for Lane, he has a long and close relationship with one of the most trusted brands in that arena, MAGLITE®.
“I do use a lot of Maglite products. I have a large ML 300L 4D that will last a very long time on one set of batteries. I believe it is around two weeks of continual use in Eco Mode. It throws more than 1,000 lumens and can put light on something up to a quarter of a mile away. Useful when you are out in the hinterland. And it has an emergency signaling mode if you need help,” Butz said. “I also use the Spectrum Series lights, mostly red and green. The red light is great for night vision and doesn’t attract mosquitoes. I have on my truck some lights that I built around it that light up the outside of my truck in red.”
Butz said he also thinks the red light keeps you a little safer. “There are times when you don't want to advertise. You are out alone in the middle of nowhere in a hundred-thousand-dollar rig. It's nice to use a little bit of low light and enough for me to see just fine. I can cook with the red light and everything else. It's just a little security built into not having too much light.”
Lane was introduced to the owners of MAGLITE® and began working for the company, mostly centered around various forms of digital marketing. He made it clear that Maglite is a family affair. “The company’s founder, Tony Maglica, who is in his nineties, is still running the show, which impressed me,” Butz said. “His two sons, John and Tony Jr. are intimately involved with the day-to-day as well, so you have the family-owned qualities as with the small company, but in a globally recognized brand. It made it an enjoyable place to work.”
Butz has been helping his wife with her cancer battle, which has limited his adventures recently. However, he still occasionally gets out on the road and finds it a soothing experience and respite from what his wife and he are going through together.
“Getting out on the trails for me, it's a great way to center; life is stressful with stuff going on. We are dealing with cancer in our family.” Butz said. “When I get an opportunity to get away for a few days, refocus, you know, it's nice. And I can do that in a pristine setting, right? I'm up in the middle of a mountain with no one. So, for me, it's just a great way to relax. It's peaceful; it’s beautiful. I can go to places other people can't, and I love it, you know?”