Being a full time, long-term overlander is wonderful. Machetes, jerry cans, maps and sunburn are part of your everyday life. Most days are spent doing amazing things and almost every day on the road is an adventure. But even the roughest, toughest overlander will sometimes miss the simple luxuries of a home without wheels, of a couch and a remote control and a day with nothing to do but watch every movie in the Lord of The Rings saga, back to back. Chilling in your rig watching a movie or two on a laptop is fine, better if you are wearing earphones but if there are two of you (and you don’t have a headphone audio splitter) the little microphone on your Mac is not going to do justice to the great battleground scenes or the deep, dark voice of Saruman. Neither will the speaker on your smart phone be up to the task when you are standing next to a fire, in the middle of nowhere, tanning some meat, swigging a beer and swaying to the beat. Using your rigs audio system when not driving is not advisable as you run the risk of running the battery dead and it already has so many other important jobs to do.

 

 

 

 

We love this speaker. The battery will last for days if used at low volume and it charges very quickly using the same cable connection as a Samsung Galaxy. Imagine that, a chargeable electronic device which shares a common port. The sound is so rich and deep it is difficult to imagine that it comes from such as small device (about 15cm tall with a 15cm circumference) and is perfect for both movies and music. They come in various colours and are so tough that even Mr. Roughntough overlander will struggle to break it. The only thing I do not like about the UE Boom is that is cylindrical and likes to roll around.

 

 

 

 

 

The Bose is the Boss, but we prefer the UE Boom. The Bose is priced similarly, is not as pretty, the battery does not last as long, the squishy buttons are fiddly to work with, the sound is not as good and the Bose charges on a crappy plastic cradle which will not charge if not connected perfectly. That said the Bose is still a great speaker. Ok, maybe not great. It is a decent speaker. Which sucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If Bose is the Boss, the Marshall speaker is the King of Cool. So retro, so #Vanlife, so bloody good looking, the perfect compliment to your colour coded, surf board carrying, skate board equipped Westfalia. Much larger and more expensive than the other two speakers mentioned here, the Marshall is not as practical nor is the sound quality so much better as to negate the size or price. The girls will love it though, as you lie together after an epic session, she twirling her fingers in your beard, admiring your sad Jesus tattoo as you listen to Mumford and Sons, again.