Trail Recon got a new Gladiator

[Bonanza]

His goals are never-ending YT content. If he wants to keep his channel going, he almost has to put out continuously new projects. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, but there's something about him that I just can't watch. Regardless, I'm all for JT projects and I'll await the results. I'm sure it'll be nice.

He does seem like a nice guy, but his over-the-top positivity is unbearable. I want to call it overly obsequious to the viewer, but perhaps that's not quite right. Every view is "incredible, amazing, breathtaking", all the food is "delicious, orgasmic, incredible", each trip is "epic, once in a lifetime, life-altering" etc etc.

It's too much. Every video is nearly the same. It's some Jeep outing where he spends most of the video just machine gunning the highest praise on anything and everything. But I'll take his videos over "look at my breasts! have you seen my breasts? here are my breasts" litebright anyday.

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[Berserker]

I am glad to see Brad get back into a JT, though I am not a fan of theme builds. Makes me think of OC Choppers. When he sold his first Gladiator that's when I realized he'd be essentially flipping vehicles and to accept it. But as others have said, producing content is his business and that's what this is, but it has the benefit of being relevant to his previous MOS.

Regarding the state of off-road YouTube content, the space certainly has changed. I started my channel back in 2010, and my videos were just highlights of my wheeling trips. As interest in off-roading (and now overlanding) grew, so did the number of channels. Now you can't throw a stick without hitting a rig rolling camera off-road. Many, many channels are incentivized financially.

Between my work in internet marketing and producing my own YouTube channel, I've seen many ways companies sponsor content. The most common is companies give their products for free in exchange for a video. Some pay for product placement and others have trade deals. An example is the creator mounts/installs their product on their rig so it's visible in the videos. To sweeten the deal, companies then send them a few of those products a year to sell and keep the profits. For more expensive products, like a trailer, the company lends them to the creator. The creator gets content, and the company gets exposure. There are also contractual event appearances, like if a suspension company gives you a lift, you have to appear at their booth at an expo to show it off.

Unfortunately, many creators don't realize that any form of compensation, including receiving an item for free, constitutes sponsored content, and they forget to flag the video.

I stopped watching off-road trip videos years ago. So many are clickbaity or drivers purposely do things that give the rest of us a bad name. I'm also turned off by extreme or expensive builds because they're so unobtainable. I prefer more insightful content where I can learn something. Examples are The Road Chose Me, 4xOverland, Essence of Overlanding, and Expedition Portal (Regarding 4xOverland- Andrew stated flipping vehicles is part of his business. He buys a truck, contacts vendors to give him the upgrades for free, generates content, and then sells the rig in a year or two for a profit).

But overall, I think the off-road YouTube industry has become too profit-driven. It's compounded by YouTube's push for Shorts to compete with Instagram and TikTok. Viewers have overall shorter attention spans and creators have to be more out there and wild with their content to stand out. I think this has made many creators look childish.

Also, so much of today's off-road content is focused on the stuff instead of the travel. I don't care what fridge you have or your lift, unless I'm in the market. What was your experience?

I find I enjoy my trips more when I set my cameras down. So do my travel companions- we don't have to back up and drive by the camera for a 5-second shot.

/rant

 

[AustinL911]

He does seem like a nice guy, but his over-the-top positivity is unbearable. I want to call it overly obsequious to the viewer, but perhaps that's not quite right. Every view is "incredible, amazing, breathtaking", all the food is "delicious, orgasmic, incredible", each trip is "epic, once in a lifetime, life-altering" etc etc.

It's too much. Every video is nearly the same. It's some Jeep outing where he spends most of the video just machine gunning the highest praise on anything and everything. But I'll take his videos over "look at my breasts! have you seen my breasts? here are my breasts" litebright anyday.

Nailed it. It just seems fake. I had to tell YT to quit recommending his videos because every time I'd see a thumbnail of him, I couldn't help but think of that stupid thing he constantly does (usually while talking about coffee for the 600th time) wherein he talks about how much he enjoys something, closes his eyes, shudders a bit like he just nutted a little in his pants, while making an 'mmmm' sound.

It's creepy.

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

I am glad to see Brad get back into a JT, though I am not a fan of theme builds. Makes me think of OC Choppers. When he sold his first Gladiator that's when I realized he'd be essentially flipping vehicles and to accept it. But as others have said, producing content is his business and that's what this is, but it has the benefit of being relevant to his previous MOS.

Regarding the state of off-road YouTube content, the space certainly has changed. I started my channel back in 2010, and my videos were just highlights of my wheeling trips. As interest in off-roading (and now overlanding) grew, so did the number of channels. Now you can't throw a stick without hitting a rig rolling camera off-road. Many, many channels are incentivized financially.

Between my work in internet marketing and producing my own YouTube channel, I've seen many ways companies sponsor content. The most common is companies give their products for free in exchange for a video. Some pay for product placement and others have trade deals. An example is the creator mounts/installs their product on their rig so it's visible in the videos. To sweeten the deal, companies then send them a few of those products a year to sell and keep the profits. For more expensive products, like a trailer, the company lends them to the creator. The creator gets content, and the company gets exposure. There are also contractual event appearances, like if a suspension company gives you a lift, you have to appear at their booth at an expo to show it off.

Unfortunately, many creators don't realize that any form of compensation, including receiving an item for free, constitutes sponsored content, and they forget to flag the video.

I stopped watching off-road trip videos years ago. So many are clickbaity or drivers purposely do things that give the rest of us a bad name. I'm also turned off by extreme or expensive builds because they're so unobtainable. I prefer more insightful content where I can learn something. Examples are The Road Chose Me, 4xOverland, Essence of Overlanding, and Expedition Portal (Regarding 4xOverland- Andrew stated flipping vehicles is part of his business. He buys a truck, contacts vendors to give him the upgrades for free, generates content, and then sells the rig in a year or two for a profit).

But overall, I think the off-road YouTube industry has become too profit-driven. It's compounded by YouTube's push for Shorts to compete with Instagram and TikTok. Viewers have overall shorter attention spans and creators have to be more out there and wild with their content to stand out. I think this has made many creators look childish.

Also, so much of today's off-road content is focused on the stuff instead of the travel. I don't care what fridge you have or your lift, unless I'm in the market. What was your experience?

I find I enjoy my trips more when I set my cameras down. So do my travel companions- we don't have to back up and drive by the camera for a 5-second shot.

/rant

Can agree with most of that.
I started a youtube channel with my daughter like 10 years ago and we actually did awesome. It was way easier to get views and find a community then. We did bushcraft and knife reviews and outdoor hikes and fun stuff like that but I quickly found out companies give out knives (or other products) long before they get released and the big guys would just send the knife between them all and release the videos before you could even get it in your hands.
Currently I feel like Im clawing for every sub just to try and hit 1k. No matter how much ive worked to improve content creation someone else is doing something else with a camera crew or whatever and who is the general public going to watch? Not my ugly mug! lol
I am also tired of folks with seemingly infinite budgets to build with. Id way rather watch folks like me, just having fun with their families and finding adventure and sharing that more authentic journey.
I do some gear reviews but only stuff I really believe in. Nobody watches my trip videos really and only swing by the reviews or installs to find how that one bolt lines up or something. Ill keep plugging along I guess because I do think it is fun but its tempting just to fold my cards sometimes.

 

[Jglad15]

Can agree with most of that.
I started a youtube channel with my daughter like 10 years ago and we actually did awesome. It was way easier to get views and find a community then. We did bushcraft and knife reviews and outdoor hikes and fun stuff like that but I quickly found out companies give out knives (or other products) long before they get released and the big guys would just send the knife between them all and release the videos before you could even get it in your hands.
Currently I feel like Im clawing for every sub just to try and hit 1k. No matter how much ive worked to improve content creation someone else is doing something else with a camera crew or whatever and who is the general public going to watch? Not my ugly mug! lol
I am also tired of folks with seemingly infinite budgets to build with. Id way rather watch folks like me, just having fun with their families and finding adventure and sharing that more authentic journey.
I do some gear reviews but only stuff I really believe in. Nobody watches my trip videos really and only swing by the reviews or installs to find how that one bolt lines up or something. Ill keep plugging along I guess because I do think it is fun but its tempting just to fold my cards sometimes.

Yeah the infinite budgets is what really turned me off from lite brite and her god awful narrating. Rather see stuff that everyday ppl can achieve. Nate from dirtlifestyle does everything on his own and doesn’t go over the top with his builds. He’s prob easily my favorite channel.

 

[Geoarch]

I like his aspirations of turning it into a medical vehicle. I would be very surprised if he sold the JKU, he loves that thing. I’m sure he got a great deal being a 2023.

He was a Navy Chief Corpsman

 

[Hootbro]

Can agree with most of that.
I started a youtube channel with my daughter like 10 years ago and we actually did awesome. It was way easier to get views and find a community then. We did bushcraft and knife reviews and outdoor hikes and fun stuff like that but I quickly found out companies give out knives (or other products) long before they get released and the big guys would just send the knife between them all and release the videos before you could even get it in your hands.
Currently I feel like Im clawing for every sub just to try and hit 1k. No matter how much ive worked to improve content creation someone else is doing something else with a camera crew or whatever and who is the general public going to watch? Not my ugly mug! lol
I am also tired of folks with seemingly infinite budgets to build with. Id way rather watch folks like me, just having fun with their families and finding adventure and sharing that more authentic journey.
I do some gear reviews but only stuff I really believe in. Nobody watches my trip videos really and only swing by the reviews or installs to find how that one bolt lines up or something. Ill keep plugging along I guess because I do think it is fun but its tempting just to fold my cards sometimes.

Youtube is a fickled beast sometimes. Very early days one could get away with less polished and downhome type content. Nowadays, people want more polished content with people that seem more photogenic and with good verbal presentation. My fat ass monotone speaking voice would fail miserably if I was to make a Youtube channel and try to monetize the content.

 

[bleda2002]

If 600#s is "plenty of capacity." You didn't include the weight of the passengers.................conservatively 300#s...................so maybe 300#s left?????? Is he pulling that overpriced trailer? There's gotta be at least 300#s of tongue weight on that thing. THIS would be the reason I went back to a real truck. The Gladiator, while a fine vehicle and fun to drive, is nothing more that a grocery getter.

Many overlanders don't give a shit about rated payload. The door jamb number goes out the window once you add bigger tires, new springs etc anyways so it's not really considered. In many states that number isn't even used for legal purposes, for example Florida is purely based on axle weight rating, so the payload number for a gladiator is around 7500 pounds not the 6250.

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

Youtube is a fickled beast sometimes. Very early days one could get away with less polished and downhome type content. Nowadays, people want more polished content with people that seem more photogenic and with good verbal presentation. My fat ass monotone speaking voice would fail miserably if I was to make a Youtube channel and try to monetize the content.

yep! Ive tried to ask folks "what can i do better? what sucked about this video?" Nobody will ever say I presume i just suck

 

[Great Offender]

My fat ass monotone speaking voice would fail miserably if I was to make a Youtube channel and try to monetize the content.

You never know, that just might be the hot new trend?

 

[Jglad15]

Of course I said I liked a newer channel today called off the grind and the video uploaded was with Casey.

 

[JTGuy]

I like Brad because he seems like just a regular guy that enjoys the outdoors and his 4x4. I hope he is doing well $$$ wise as that's what makes the videos. Drone use seems to be the big thing and I like it. I don't do bouldering or extreme 4x4 routes but I do like to watch them. Brad has gone from one type tent to another. I wish I had a Marco to cook for me like he does. I hope the new JT is built for more camping than a hospital. I hope you are reading this Brad, my Berner and I will be looking for that new JT in Berrago soon.

 

[keithcroshaw]

Dude needs to move some place with a bigger garage... "It's gotta fit in my garage" Those things in the garage shot are almost touching the ceiling as it is lol.

 

[MPMB]

Many overlanders don't give a shit about rated payload. The door jamb number goes out the window once you add bigger tires, new springs etc anyways so it's not really considered. In many states that number isn't even used for legal purposes, for example Florida is purely based on axle weight rating, so the payload number for a gladiator is around 7500 pounds not the 6250.

When you dive down the rabbit hole of GVWR & truck classes, it becomes clear that mfgs build to the class designation (for our purposes Class 1 @ 6000#), which was created mainly because of road engineering and tax purposes. The actual capacity of the vehicle is higher. The weights are more like guidelines.

Youtube is a fickled beast sometimes. Very early days one could get away with less polished and downhome type content. Nowadays, people want more polished content with people that seem more photogenic and with good verbal presentation. My fat ass monotone speaking voice would fail miserably if I was to make a Youtube channel and try to monetize the content.

Verbal presentation is my hangup. If the presenter can't present or has bad speaking tics, I won't watch. I have misophonia (I think everyone has a little bit of this), and I can't stand some issues people have speaking.

But overall, it's not a lot of money to have decent production equipment (saying this as someone who hasn't produced any videos, lol).

 

[ecidiego]

his over-the-top positivity is unbearable.

This. Positivity is good, but he comes off so fake and spews meaningless platitudes.

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