News and Blog posts around overland travel, open top vehicles, mods , gear and adventure travel safety.
The Long Patrol Update
PPE has been busy getting organized for the Long Patrol expedition to Algeria in November 2026. We have ten crews signed up, with eight CAT 1 Land Rovers and two CAT 2 Toyotas. Our partner on this expedition, Desartica, may also have a couple of CAT 2 trucks joining. So with support vehicles we look to be around 15 vehicles total. A big group, but manageable.
Wannes and Alan, two of our members, have been working on our mapping. Wannes has taken the old 1941 maps and run them through software that tidies them up, corrects the Lat/Long overlay and adds in modern roads and tracks. We plan to continue our normal practice of navigating by sun compass, map reading and dead reckoning. There will be back up sat navigation available, but this will be good for crews to test their nav skills against some truly epic, long distance legs.
Ferry bookings, visa applications and transit logistic planning us underway!
New Batch of Sun Compasses
Bill Morgan, our chief mechanic and metalworking genius, has been working on a second batch of sun compasses. The first of these will be ready by mid-July and available for sale here on the website when the online store goes live. Pricing is yet to be determined, but given the high quality, handmade nature of the units, and the fact that as far as we are aware, these are the only new sun compasses of the Bagnold type available anywhere on the planet, they will come at a premium. Badged PPE members will have a discount and possible rental access for expeditions, but others will be available for collectors and enthusiasts.
Future Expeditions: 2027 and Beyond
While PPE has now become a business and we need to generate enough income to remain solvent, we won’t be planning massive numbers of tours just to generate revenue. Our objective remains to ensure that every expedition or tour remains unique and developed with a clear objective and mission statement in mind. As we did in April, we will run ‘tours’ that are less minimalistic and more suitable for CAT 2 trucks and even spouses, but these will still aim to achieve an objective, whether historical or geographical.
Our expeditions on other hand are going to be continued to be planned with the same focus we have always maintained: to conduct desert expeditions the old school way with simple, rugged vehicles, stripped down and sent to accomplish a mission of research, reconnaissance or exploration.
The Sand Sea Circumnavigation-Tunisia, April 2027
Our expeditions in Tunisia have been primarily focused on locating and documenting historical locations related to the WWII special forces; SAS, LRDG and PPA. But the inner sand sea beyond the berm has largely remained a mystery to us. Despite all their years of desert travel expertise, the sand sea defeated the WWII special forces. So far, it has always defeated us as well. So in April 2027 we are going to challenge ourselves: to finally go where those desert units could not and explore the inner vastness of the great sand sea. This expedition will be for CAT 1 trucks only, and only those that can travel extremely light. So the heavier Wolf’s and WMIKs will be setting off on a different adventure later in the year. Lightweights, Jeeps, Series SWB’s and similar is what we are looking for.
For WWII special forces enthusiasts, the deep deserts of Libya hold a unique mystique. However, for years now their sands have been off limits to travelers. Desartica, who we have engaged to support us in Algeria for the Long Patrol, have been running forays into the western Libyan desert for several years now. So, for PPE, we intend to seek volunteers for our own reconnaissance by joining a scheduled Desartica trip. Definitely only for those with a real sense of adventure! THis will be a CAT 1 and CAT 2 trip.
Eastern Rekkam Expedition-Morocco October 2027
PPE has not been back to the Rekkam Plateau in eastern Morocco since 2018, so it is likely time. In previous trips we did set nav points on old military history sites, but never with the level of research we now normally bring to these adventures. There is a great deal of military history in Morocco and we intend to put in the study time to identify objectives for this expedition. We will start with a crossing of the Atlas mountains by small mountain tracks before crossing the lowlands and ascending the escarpment up onto the Rekkam. From there we will head east towards the border villages of Iche and Figuig. Along the way we will seek out French Foreign Legion forts, sites of historical battles and assess whether Morocco has more mysteries to explore. This will be a CAT 1 and CAT 2 trip.
Western Libya Reconnaissance 2027
The Willys Special Forces Tour-Tunisia April 2028
PPE has mused for years about organizing a trip back to Tunisia and taking a group of WWII jeeps into the Sahara to follow the actual routes used by the SAS, LRDG and PPA. We will return to Wilders Gap, seek out Qaret Ali and all the relics still lying there, the Roman fort at Ksar Ghilane used by all the special forces, and follow the T1/PPA reconnaissance routes up past Bir Amir to the Tebega Gap. We will organize transport of the vintage vehicles as far as the desert and then provide all the usual support during the expedition. Post-war jeeps, Mahindra’s, early Series Land Rovers and perhaps even a Chevrolet 30cwt or two will be welcome as well. Planning will get underway in early 2027.
Adventure Overland 2018
Just back from another successful Adventure Overland show held over the weekend of 28-29 April in Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK. Despite the weather being less than ideal (cold, wet and grey) the show was a success with a pretty good turn out of overlanders, clubs, traders and presenters.
I presented again, as I usually do on personal security on the road...always well attended and topical, as it is something everyone planning a trip worries about at least a little bit. Given that I am a global security advisor for humanitarian NGO's in my day job, much of that knowledge transfers easily to the adventure travel sector.
I also had a fun presentation titled: "The Benefits of Traveling Light" on the Sunday where I got to poke a bit of fun at those overlanders who try to cram every shiny, expensive accessory onto their trucks...a personal pet peev of mine obviously. But the session went over well and I saw quite a few nodding heads as our messaging about looking at how successful motorcycle travellers are travelling around the world with virtually no gear came through. So, if they can do it with just a couple of side panniers why do 4x4-based overlanders feel they need so much gear?
Met some cool people and enjoyed the event immensely. Looking forward to the fall show on 22-23 September from which we will then set off on our next Morocco trip.
Welcome to the PPE News and Blog section!
Well, this is the first post on our new website, so welcome! I am writing in the expectation that at some point someone might actually stumble upon this site and stay long enough to find something interesting. We don't really expect many people out there will ever decide to take up the open-top overland lifestyle but even if we only reach a small community then we will consider it worth the effort. So what are we hoping to achieve here?
- First and foremost, pay tribute to the memory of Popski's Private Army, that little-known band of WWII adventurers who accomplished amazing deeds while living and operating out of their stripped-down jeeps.
- Find others who might enjoy an open top adventure or link up with others who may be doing this kind of thing now.
- Offer seats in our vehicles for those who would love to experience this kind of adventure but don't want to build their own open top overland vehicle.
- Promote safe adventure travel through delivering personal travel security training.
- Have fun and document our travels!
So, over the comings weeks, months and years I will be posting articles about our previous trips and upcoming expedition plans, how we modified our vehicles, issues affecting the overland community and anything else that strikes us as interesting.
So, we hope you join us and enjoy what the PPE has to offer!