GEAR Summit at Merus: A New Movement for Freedom and Self-Reliance
By Curt Staubach
At the end of April, overlanders and firearms enthusiasts from all across the country gathered in the second largest canyon in the country, at Merus Adventure Park, for the First Annual GEAR Summit, created and hosted by Gun Owners of America.
Situated 30 minutes outside of Amarillo, the endless flat farmlands and countless windmills suddenly open up to a breathtaking canyon rivaling the Grand Canyon in grandeur and beauty. People from all walks of life came together as strangers and quickly became fast friends after a weekend of off-roading, shooting, training, and connection.
But the GEAR Summit wasn’t just another event. It was built around a much bigger idea.
GOA keyed into the fact that overlanding is one of the fastest-growing pastimes in the country, estimated to exceed 13 million participants by 2028, up from just 2 million in 2020. And around 60% of those overlanders are also firearms owners.
That hard data backed up what our GOA team members who overland already knew. Just about every offroader and overlander is also a gun owner. And that mindset comes from the same place: self-reliance, preparedness, and self-defense.
So what exactly is overlanding? Overlanding started in the Australian outback in the 40s and 50s. The idea is vehicle-based exploration into remote areas. It really took off in the U.S. during COVID, when the only place people could go was out into nature. Since then, overlanding’s popularity has skyrocketed.
Overlanders approach their vehicles the same way firearms enthusiasts approach their rifle builds. Just like someone may build out a long-range DMR rifle versus a compact CQB pistol, overlanders build their rigs around specific needs and missions. Everything from Subaru Outbacks for mild fire road exploration to fully built Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators on 40-inch tires with rooftop tents capable of reaching deep into the backcountry.
Curt Staubach stated, “My goal is to find the places that 90% of people can’t get to. We often travel hundreds of miles offroad, never hitting pavement for days on end. It’s an incredible feeling to be 50 miles from another soul and seeing something that hasn’t been witnessed by anyone else for years, or possibly longer. But with that feeling of solitude comes a great responsibility for self-reliance. Nothing hammers the point home more than realizing you are truly on your own if something goes wrong. It goes without saying that along with food, water, and shelter comes tools, recovery gear, and a gun to deal with any four-legged or two-legged critters meaning to cause trouble.”
What we found was a knowledge gap on both sides. The overlanding community may own firearms, but many haven’t trained much or spent serious time shooting. Meanwhile, a lot of people in the firearms community are becoming interested in overlanding but have no idea where to start when it comes to gear selection, recovery equipment, or safely navigating difficult terrain.
So on April 24-26 of this year, we brought those communities together for a huge transfer of knowledge. And that’s exactly what happened.
One of the foundational principles behind GEAR was bringing people together to build friendship and community. But most importantly, it was about giving people once-in-a-lifetime experiences they would never forget.
Barrett Firearms came out and coached attendees through the process of shooting a .50 Cal out to a mile. Most people were already excited just to shoot a .50 Cal. But hearing that long-delayed ring of steel when they connected at distance was something entirely different. Watching people experience that for the first time was incredible.
We also watched people overcome fears behind the wheel as they pushed both themselves and their vehicles far beyond what they thought possible. Drivers pushed their rigs to climb over boulders, crawl up 4-foot vertical rock faces, and navigate obstacles they never would have attempted on their own.
One new overlander said, “The trail guides were amazing. If I were by myself, I would never have driven through that obstacle. Having an experienced guide show me exactly where to go and how to make it through was invaluable. I did things today that I didn’t think my vehicle or I could do.”
Training was another major pillar of GEAR. The GOA team brought in some of the best firearms instructors in the country with a major focus on helping new shooters. Free classes specifically aimed at first-time, female shooters, along with low-light/no-light shooting and situational awareness classes, were packed all weekend.
Many attendees talked about how valuable it was to train in a safe environment and work on skills they knew they lacked. One gentleman had struggled with accuracy for 20 years because he was right-handed and left-eye dominant. Any experienced firearms instructor immediately recognizes the issue. Our trainer, Ursula Williams, spotted the problem right away and had him consistently on target within five shots.
He kept saying, “Oh my gosh. Years of frustration solved right there. Thank you!”
He may have shed a slight tear, but we’re going with the fact that he just got some dust in his eye. It was really windy after all.
And we saw the exact same thing happen on the offroading side. We had “firearms guys” pulling up to giant trail obstacles looking like deer in headlights while guides calmly told them, “You’re all good. Your vehicle is more than capable. I’ll guide you through it. Trust me.”
It was amazing watching people go from cautious, jerky, and constantly braking…to trusting the process and smoothly driving through massive obstacles…while their vehicles leaned at angles that felt completely unnatural to them.
And then came the cheers when they made it through. Seeing the relief and excitement on their faces is exactly what GEAR is all about.
GEAR was created to get people off the couch and recapture the American spirit of exploration and freedom.
Monte Bowen, GOA’s Western Regional Director and one of the driving forces behind GEAR, put it best:
“When it comes to self-reliance and self-defense, we have to be prepared for everything. We all have a gun in case we find ourselves in a situation in the middle of nowhere. But the real concern is at the gas station. When you have a fully built-up rig worth over $100k, it makes you a target. Statistically, you are far more at risk while fueling up than you are in the backcountry.”
That’s why GEAR also included classes on situational awareness and how to move and shoot around vehicles.
With knowledge and training comes confidence, and it makes the entire experience far less intimidating. We found that a lot of people wanted to get into overlanding, but they knew they had a lot to learn and kept putting it off. GEAR was conceived to give people the tools and confidence they need to get out there and explore.
And just like we’ve watched our Second Amendment rights slowly eroded over time, we’ve seen the same thing happen with public lands and access to them. That made it easy for off-roaders and overlanders to connect with GOA’s message.
Monte stated, “Just like they want to take away access to land, even though you’ve been good stewards and done nothing wrong, we see the same thing happening with our gun rights.”
GEAR opened a lot of eyes and started many people down the road toward understanding the importance of protecting our Second Amendment rights and what GOA is fighting for.
We are excited to bring a whole new group of patriots into the fold and reignite the American spirit of freedom, exploration, and self-reliance for a wide range of people.
And this was only the beginning.
Not only do we plan on bringing the GEAR Summit back to Merus Adventure Park on April 23-25, 2027, but we also plan on expanding to multiple events across the country. And it doesn’t stop there. We will continue to grow the GEAR initiative through overlanding product reviews, firearms content, how-to videos, and real-world adventure content on YouTube.
Stay tuned. We’re just getting started.
