Hummer Guy

During one of Team Hummer’s recent trips to Baja, they took a little time off to play around in some silt beds. Josh and Rod Hall are Team Hummer’s primary drivers, and it looks like they have some stock units to ‘field’ test in between races. The stock H3’s performed pretty well considering how fine and deep that silt can be – imagine what it does to your air filter!

Even though the 2008 models have been out for a few months, Hummer hasn’t been promoting them since dealers are still trying to wrap up the 2007 model year.

Now Hummer is letting the masses know about the new ‘facelift’ on the 2008 H2 in a commercial called ‘Bandages.’ The 2008 Hummer H2 has an all new interior and powertrain. They even use a song from the Nip/Tuck soundtrack – a rare move from Hummer who normally uses lesser-known music. Check out the video here:

It’s got Hummer wheels, the unmistakable Hummer grille, and looks like it’s ready to hit the trails! However, this vehicle is not in Hummer’s future – in fact, as shown, it’s not in any manufacturer’s future. The vehicle is an artist’s rendering of the Jeep Hurricane concept vehicle that was unveiled in 2005 with some added Hummer-like features. Even though it was recognizable after a second glance, the photoshop skills used were definitely impressive! It was over a year ago that GM’s vice chair Bob Lutz announced that a “Hummer branded pickup” may be in the works, only to be followed by numerous sightings of a Hummer pickup mule vehicle. Lutz also confirmed that Hummer’s growth would be with smaller vehicles. However, for now, there are no sneak peeks of what Hummer has up their sleeve beyond what we’ve already seen.

The Dallas Hummer store has again wrapped a 2008 H3 to welcome in the Texas hunting season (See last year’s 2007 camo H3 here!) . This year, a ‘woodland’ camouflage wrap was chosen for more of a duck-hunting feel. In addition to the Hummer, the dealership set up a hunting boat, and numerous fake hunters throughout the showroom. One of the nice things about wrapping a Hummer H3 in camouflage is after the season is over (or after a few seasons are over!) the wrap can be removed and leave a finish that’s free from scratches and scrapes.

With off-road grille lights, super-swamper tires, fender flares, mud flaps, tail lamp & brush guards, and custom black wheels — this is the perfect vehicle to get you in and out of the woods easily and stealthily.

The camo H3 was recently featured at the Dallas Ducks Unlimited fundraiser banquet, and was under the tight watch of “Trigger” the dog and his trusty 12 gauge. We think this system of security was much far effective than ‘the club,’ and will likely catch on with hunters of all types.

After hosting several Hummer off-road events (see the write-up on our latest outing), we’ve used several different types of radios. The last few we’ve used two-way handheld radios that we experienced little success. And by little, I mean completely worthless outside of 50 feet. We needed something to communicate clearly between lead trucks, customer vehicles, and our home base, while keeping an eye on our pocketbook as well. We liked the idea of the Cobra “HH Road Trip” CB radio, which was a handheld unit that could also run on 12 volt power, and has an optional external antenna for added range.

The first test was on the way down when our 20 Hummer convoy was headed to College Station from Dallas. We had the lead and follow trucks equipped with the Cobra handheld, and they performed very well. If you’ve ever made the trip to College Station, you know it involves some back country roads that can create challenges for a large convoy. It also involved a lot of strange looks from the neighborhood locals who rarely see one Hummer let alone 20 at once! The first test, the road test, passed with flying colors at the 1 to 2 mile range.

Once on the trails we were more concerned with communication within our group – which way we were headed, tips on how to approach an obstacle, etc., were all topic of discussion on the CBs. Since we announced we were going to use CBs on our trip, we had a few customers that came prepared and had insightful questions to the trail guides like “when are we getting muddy?” and “What’s for lunch?” Kidding aside, it was an amusing time being able to communicate to several people at once clearly – at our next event, we expect more people will have their own CB setups. One of the customers that used the Cobra HH Road trip went by “Gunner” on the radio, and gave us some of his thoughts on the unit:

Cobra HH Road Trip - CB radio (HH-38WXST)

I had a chance to use the HH-38WXST on a recent Hummer outing and was quite surprised with it’s quality and performance. I needed something that was highly portable and that had no cumbersome wires to get in the way on our various trail rides. This little unit tucked very nicely into the space between the grab handle and inner door panel of my H3, allowing for handy retrieval and keeping the antenna as close to the window as possible for optimum signal reception. I opted to forgo usage of the external antenna and 12vdc power cable just to see what the unit would do on battery power alone. Nine generic drug store batteries yielded a full day’s operation with moderate talking. The audio remained crisp and clear while TX/RX distances stayed effective out to .75 miles line of sight. While more permanent CB options may have a better range, using the external power and antenna would at least double the unit’s effective range making it a low cost, less invasive alternative.

If you are looking for a communications solution that is highly portable and does not require a hard mount, I’d recommend this Unit.

Pros:

Small, highly portable, easy to use.
Works well as a talkie.
Works even better with an external antenna and running off of vehicle power.
Controls are intuitive.
Weather channels are quite handy.
Easy to read LCD display and useful battery life meter.
“Dual Channel Watch” feature proved helpful for monitoring our travel channel as well as channel 19.

Cons:

-Takes nine AA batteries for complete portability.
-Magnetic mount external antenna could use more substantial rubber padding at the base to protect the vehicle’s finish.

Recommendations:

For extra range, try upgrading to a larger antenna.

Even though some of the roads are a little rough in Dallas, you have to drive a little ways to get into some good, Hummer off-road territory. We drove a little further than usual to hold an event at the beautiful Tonkaway Ranch. And it really is beautiful, just check out the picture I snapped of the sunrise and early morning fog outside our bunkhouse – what a sight! Tonkaway is a working cattle ranch of about 2400 acres that specializes in bird hunting, but holds many corporate and special events. The Dallas Hummer event was the first of its kind on the ranch, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell by the course and the superb staff.

After checking out the land a few weeks prior, we knew that it wouldn’t take much to organize our off-road excursions. However, the ranch enlisted a bulldozer operator (who owns two Hummers of his own!) to create some moguls and side slopes for good measure.

This was our first two day event with an overnight stay, allowing us more off-road time with a more intimate group. What we didn’t plan on was having so many people wanting to spend and entire weekend with us! Even though the waiting list grew and grew, we ended up with around 30 customer Hummers in all – the perfect size.

After splitting into groups, we headed out on the first of three trails. One trail encompassed a mud pit and a very intense V-ditch (the remnants of an old creek). The next had some more sandy V-ditches and some muddy areas, and the final trail had man-made moguls (see below) and the side-slope or “S” curves that really tested drivers. I’m of the thought that if half the drivers get stuck, and half of them don’t – it’s just about the right difficulty level. There were some areas that were probably a little sloppy to drive through, but it gave us a good opportunity to teach some new off-road drivers proper recovery and safety techniques.

This was also the first time we used CB Radios instead of the two-way radios we used in the past. Much improvement! We used some Cobra hand-held CB units for keeping the convoy together coming from Dallas, and out on the trail to keep in contact with the other leaders and the group. Some of the best moments on the trails were in between obstacles when the chatter between the ranch staff, dealer staff, and customers got pretty entertaining! We’ll have a more in-depth review of the Cobra hand-held CBs coming soon.

I’ve posted a few pictures along with this post, but the folks in the Sewell Marketing department did a great job compiling photos from the event with a professional photographer. You should be able to get a good idea about the event from the 1000+ pictures on the special event page. If you can’t get a good idea from that, you’ll just have to come with us next time!

Even though Gareth Groves has repaired his Hummer to the tune of $15,000 (luckily he was only out of pocket for the $250 insurance deductible!), he’s refusing to bring it back to the Washington, DC neighborhood where it was vandalized. In July, environmental terrorists attacked the Hummer and carved “FOR THE ENVIRON” deep into the exterior, and Groves isn’t taking any more chances. He now has the vehicle parked at a friend’s house, and he’s planning to move into another part of town soon. Police say their still searching for the vandals.