Still mad at the guy at Moab who told me my rig was 'too nice' to wheel

Ran into him at the Slickrock trailhead last spring. He had a beat up YJ with more duct tape than paint. Told me I was ruining my Jeep by taking a clean TJ down Poison Spider. I get that he was proud of his beater but gatekeeping the whole hobby over some scratches? I ran the trail fine, got a few pinstripes, and had a blast. Has anyone else dealt with this 'it has to be ugly to be legit' attitude?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_simon1mo ago

Buddy of mine brought his pretty new Gladiator to a trail and some old timer in a rusted XJ laughed at him for having "mall crawler" tires. He swapped to some beat up take-offs and suddenly the guy was all friendly and giving him trail tips. It's weird how some folks need you to look broken in before they'll treat you like part of the crew.

ryan3691mo ago

Hang on though, isn't there something to be said for proving you're not just some guy who bought a lifted truck because it looks cool in the parking lot? I've seen brand new Jeeps scrape their running boards on a pebble and then the driver gets all Pikachu face. The old timer probably just wanted to know your buddy was serious about getting dirty and not gonna cry when a branch scratches his paint. It's the same reason you don't hand a brand new fishing rod to a guy who's never hooked a worm. You gotta show a little grit before people waste their time teaching you the good stuff.