Red Oxx at The BIG Thing, XOVERLAND Ranch

Out Here, It’s More Than a Show

Trade shows can be a grind.

I have worked convention halls from coast to coast: neon lights, endless noise, and too many folks in logoed polos trying to hand you coffee you do not want. So when Clay and Rachelle Croft invited us out to the X Overland Ranch, just down the road in Three Forks, Montana, I said yes before I could even look at my calendar.

Sometimes the best gigs are right in your backyard.

The Location

If you have not been, the X Overland Ranch is about two and a half hours west of our shop in Billings. But it is worlds away from the usual scene. This place is the real deal, built for those who know their way around mud, mosquitoes, and making the most of a Montana sunset.

Clay and Rachelle are old friends of the Red Oxx herd. I met them years ago at an expo, back when their operation was just gathering steam. They told me about their new venture and I sent them off with Red Oxx gear. Turns out, good bags find good people.

These days, our kit has logged more miles with the X Overland team than most folks rack up in a lifetime.

Keep an eye out, season eight will see Red Oxx again front and center in their next run of globe-crossing adventures.

Preparing for the Adventure

Getting ready for this gig was its own trip. The Big Oxx Sprinter van had not undergone a complete cleanout since the last run down south, so I rooted through crates brimming with camp gear, cots, sleeping bags, stoves, and the works.

Some of these things have more passport stamps than most travelers, and a few made the one-way trip overseas, left behind with guides in Africa or outfitters in New Zealand who, like us, appreciate gear that refuses to quit.

On this run:

The Big Oxx is not your average booth on wheels.

By day, she transforms into our Red Oxx headquarters for the herd, part product gallery, part refuge when the weather turns.

At night, it is my home on the range.

No five-star, but the stars above more than make up for it.

Experience at the Ranch

We rolled into X Overland Ranch early and got the lay of the land. Cabins, off-road training grounds, ponds for a post-show swim, a roundhouse for gathering over Montana-sized meals.

This event was not about who could show up with the biggest rig or the loudest sign. No semitrucks blocking the view, no corporate mob drowning out the real makers. It felt like a throwback to when expos were about the people, not the circus.

Sure, I forgot a couple of things. Happens every trip. Gas line for the stove, shelves for the display, you name it. That's when neighbors become friends, half a meal cooked on borrowed gear, half a display held up with bungee cords and zip ties.

You adapt, you improvise, and you laugh about it while swapping stories around the fire.

Montana’s heat baked us by day. Nothing an evening dip in the pond could not fix.

Paddle board, sunset, and that feeling you only get when the workday ends and a quiet hangs over the camp.

Clay and crew know how to host; their boys zipped around on ATVs, picking up garbage, making sure everyone had what they needed, and treating vendors like family. That is the mark of folks who care.

Building Community

Vendor dinner was a bit like a family reunion, a bit like a strategy session with the best in the game.

Caught up with Paul May from Equipped One and Matthew Scott from Overland Kitted—an industry friend and fellow conspirator. There are some big ideas brewing between Red Oxx and Overland Kitted, and I will leave it at that for now.

Also caught up with a handful of old friends you do not see nearly enough. Picked up a copy of Scott Brady’s new book, Overlanding 101. Bet it is already on its way up the charts.

After a long day, I hiked up the canyon wall as campfires blinked on below, smoke drifting up as people settled in. Geese on the river, a coyote’s bark, an owl on the hunt.

A proper Montana soundtrack. You stand up there on the second bench, looking down at the valley filled with tents, vans, and firelight, and you get it.

This is what matters.

The herd comes together, then heads out, each carrying a bit of that memory on the road ahead.

Reflections

Packing up at sunrise, I remembered why we do this.

Not for the circus, not for the crowd, but for the community. For a weekend when old gear gets new mud, when new friends become family, and when Red Oxx bags do what they were made to do, endure.

Thanks to Clay, Rachelle, and the entire X Overland crew for setting the bar high and reminding us all what makes Montana, and this community, worth every mile.

Images courtesy of the X Overland media team.

Keep an eye out for our next adventure. Trail dust not included.