Meet Gon Dirtin’:
Linhbergh and Karissa are full-time professional automotive photographers based in Los Angeles. Karissa first became interested in vehicles while growing up in her family’s car audio shop. She then developed a love of photography and attended college at the Academy of Art San Francisco. As for Linhbergh, a Bay Area native, he enjoys everything food and four-wheel related.
Their first rig was a 1999 Mitsubishi Montero, which they described as “rugged, reliable, cost-effective and so damn cool looking with a bit of dirt flung all over it.” They strived to make it minimalistic, lightweight, and reasonably comfortable for a feel that gets as close to nature as they could.
“One thing led to another when we started to modify the truck to suit our needs for living on the road,” said Karissa. “What was meant to be a simple ‘point A to point B weekend vehicle became a full-fledged adventure mobile to carry us and our dogs out on a trail for weeks or potentially longer.”
Now, with their newest purchase, a 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser Troop Carrier, known as a Troopy, Linhbergh and Karissa feel like they have more freedom to not have their travel dictated by the weather and changing seasons. Living part-time on the road allows them the freedom to work remotely without going into cafes or libraries. While they may have gained interior space, Linhbergh jokes that it isn’t as speedy as their previous rig, the Troopy proves to be a reliable home base. They love how they were able to also customize their rig with a pop-top instead of a higher roof, simply for aesthetic reasons and ease for shipping their rig to international locations.
“It’s also just like driving a farm truck and we joke that it’s more like you’re riding it, not driving it,” Linhbergh said. “Switching over into the left lane while driving an RHD rig is a little nerve-racking, we look over at our mirrors a million times before committing.”
As for their system, Linhbergh and Karissa are running two of our flagship model batteries, the BB10012. They’ve got a front starter battery and use our batteries as their house bank to run everything. Once they had a battery go out on them but were able to troubleshoot it back to life. They also utilize a DC-to-DC charger to make sure it’s less stress on their alternator. Overall, Gon Dirtin’ says it’s plenty of power for them to edit photos and run all the equipment they need. Cooking is also easier, and they’ve noted how more efficient they are at editing their clients’ projects!
Other small power draws onboard include a small fridge, cooking tools like food processors and blenders, and computers for constant editing. Linhbergh enjoys having fun appliances to try out such as their Camp Chef Mountaineer stove for outdoor dinners large and small. Their batteries were easy to install and they’re “stoked to try them out even more in the future!” The install was done at Karissa’s families car audio shop in Texas where they helped to properly wire up the batteries, take charge, and know that everything was done correctly.
“One thing we were surprised by was how fast the system charges and how smooth it was to replace the old batteries with the new,” said Linhbergh. “Having a system that only weighs 30 pounds is something very important to our rig because we need more power and less weight on board.”
Their recent blog post details the importance of constantly improving your rig and how a build is never truly “finished.”
For a system setup most like Linhbergh and Karissa’s, check out our Battle Born Energy 200-amp hour Kit for vans and overland vehicles. It comes pre-programmed with everything you’d need to power your adventures anywhere.
