Dusty Times - Issue 03

Dusty Times

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Issue 03, 2020

DT III Throughout history there have been challenging periods in mankind that have caused men to go underground, to hide in plain sight. The current obligatory distancing between humans is an ideal edict for those with membership in a secret society deliberately existing in inaccessible places. Pledging oneself to devotion of dirt is not a doorway to a shadowy cabal but a commitment to escaping routine living while celebrating the great outdoors.

Often in near isolation, a lone vehicle well off the popular path is preferred without mandate.

The spirit of shared adventure displayed by this select group is not unlike the congenial brotherhood observed in the sanctums of neighborhood clubs, although contrary to the exclusive membership of those invitation-only clubs, ours is awarded by mere participation.

In these uncertain and tenuous times, our rank in society as a whole is judged by our activity, or the willingness to curtail our activities. The contemptuous act of recreation outdoors can now be seen as an act of rebellion, a secret rite best not advertised for fear of ridicule. While “secret” societies are known to meet undercover, their very existence and member ranks are out in the open. What we may keep from view could be that trail only your best friends know or the moto track where entrance is an exclusive affair.

Now more than ever these secrets are kept close to the chest; but next time you pass another while off-pavement, miles from civilization, nod your head and recognize them as united in the Free Order of Dirt.

TOGE THER IN DIRT, WE ARE EMBODIED BY THREE CORE AMBITIONS; THE EXPLORER, THE BUILDER, THE STORY TELLER; EACH PURSUANT BY THEIR PL ACE IN OUR COLLEC TIVE NARR ATIVE.

THE

EXPLORER

THE

BUILDER

THE

STORYTELLER

RIMOR

AVC TO R

R ACONTEVR

The road less traveled is not enough. We, the Explorers, must find new throughways into unexpected experiences and uncharted landscapes. Ours is a spiritual study with exploration as a means to igniting our internal wonder and awe. There are those who will follow; those who will model their journey after our pioneering precedent. To those we say: welcome. We are nothing if we are not champions of what the human adventurer can be; but, be forewarned. Not for the weary, true human experiences of discovery are those beyond the shackles of a guide. Venture forth, untethered and unafraid.

There is that which has existed before, and experiments in fabrication that have not yet seen origin. We are promoters of progress.

The Builder’s creed is alchemy. While our forerunners sought to bend the laws of the material world to their will, we too seek the extraordinary from the mundane. We turn steel, petroleum and mathematics into visceral celebrations of passion. While our brothers and sisters revel in our output, we live in a perpetual paradox of striving to make our own creations obsolete. We will never settle. For we know it is the Builders who make possibility from limitation. And we do not rest.

Today is a world of fleeting video validation and low resolution moments. We, true Storytellers, unite under the banner of a better narrative. The spoken word, the written record, the carefully captured image; all these wait as surgical arrows in our quiver. History is evaluated based on testimony and the future is forged with visions built on learnings from the past. It is our calling to document and dream.

We give meaning to the indescribable. We give voice to feeling. And we bind our brotherhood with knowledge. Live in the moment, but stories are woven into legend through our voice, letter and lens.

15500 Cornet St Santa Fe Springs, CA 90221

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR

DESIGN DIRECTOR

Boyd Jaynes

Brett McMillin

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Dave Shively

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Andrew Norton

William Woodward

Marty Fiolka

Dan Grec

PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Custom Wheel House

Tensor Tires

Method Race Wheels

GMZ Race Products

10 Master Of None 26 Banquet Bronco 36 Building The Next Mousetrap 46 Future Classics 58 Blue Hour 70 Behind The Curtain: Gymkhana 11 80 No Problem At All 94 Running On E 110 Hammer People

Photos & Words

WILLIAM WOODWARD

This feels like an article that should be pecked out on the keys of a portable typewriter,

but

manuscripted

in

a

handmade leather-bound journal finds itself a reasonable option. For, you see, we’re analog enthusiasts, chasers of a tangible, tactile life, VW Vagabonds.

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Ruby is her name, and she found me in the Fall of 2014.

There is an unspoken culture of the VW owner, or maybe it is told, and I just had not been privy to the conversation. Then, one day in my late 20s, I unknowingly stepped into the friendliest of cult followings, a proud parent of a Volkswagen. My van is a Vanagon, part of the lineage of the Westfalia, Bus, Bay, and Split, a family of vehicles tracing back to the 50s.

Ruby is her name, and she found me in the Fall of 2014. By March I had loaded up a modest amount of camping, climbing, skiing, and photography gear and set out to attempt my own Kerouac story, life on the road. Since then, my community of VW ‘lifers’ has grown, and we often find each other in different parts of the country throughout the year.

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Creative studios, art galleries, home offices; these four-wheeled relics are much more than simply a mode of transportation. Belonging to a VW isn’t done out of practicality, it is a commitment to a slower, more hands-on way of life. As it was once eloquently said “it’s not a slow car, it’s a fast home.”

While we often make time to get together off the grid to wrench, ride, and create together over the years, COVID created an unexpected change to the “full-timer’s” way of life. Our homes away from home on BLM and NF lands were being closed down, and

the

freelancer and o d d - j o b enthusiast were quickly finding idle hands.

Coming together during a time of social separation just seemed natural for us, as when something goes wrong with a VW, there’s always someone there to give a helping hand. With access to a small cabin in the juniper and sage forests of East Zion, we could be isolated together. Eli and Danny were both working on rebuilding the interiors of their buses;

O F MAS TE R

explored the longer moto tours the forests and hills had to offer.

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his bushcraft and traditional bow and arrow skills; while Sam and Drew

N O N E

Jacob and Trey were wrenching on old dirtbikes; Jimmy was tending

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Provider of Feasts

If you’ve ever owned a VW, or even lived a more nomadic lifestyle, you know that there is always some type of project either on your rig or something you’ve been scheming to start building. There was no shortage of engines to maintain, bikes to fix, and custom woodwork or art to be made that brought light to special talents in each of us.

Weeks on end, then eventually months went by. Adventures were had, new things were built, old parts broke, then fixed, fish caught, meals shared, rocks climbed, canyons descended, and plenty of cold beverages consumed around many a campfire; life went on.

Eventually, the outside world seemed to be returning to normal, and the normal obligations began to pull us in different directions.

Climbing in Escalante, mountaineering in Washington, family in Indiana, dirt biking the Oregon Coast; life as we know it sent us in our different directions on the wind, until these same winds bring us back together

somewhere down the road.

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MAS TE R

O F

N O N E

again,

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Tester of Handiwork