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Customer Spotlight: Baxter Schanze

Customer Spotlight: Baxter Schanze

67 Designs Team |

Baxter's Jeep along the mountains
On this “episode” of 67 Designs Customer Spotlights, where we share the stories of some of our customers, we get to know Baxter Schanze. Schanze, from Raleigh, NC, is an industrial designer for a large technology company. For him, overlanding is an all encompassing hobby—a way to satiate his love for design, jeeping, traveling and photography. 

 

Proud owner of: Natural Green 2011 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited JKU.


Featured upgrades: Baxter’s Jeep is decked out with the following mods...

  • Interior:
    • 67 Designs JK Mount with MagMount G3
    • Midland MXT275 Radio
    • Blue Ridge Overland Gear Jeep Attic
    • Safe Jack The Sergeant Off Road Kit
    • ARB Single Compressor - Portable
    • Handmade Tailgate Table
  • Exterior:
    • AEV 2.5” Dualsport Suspension
    • BF Goodrich KO2 315/70r17
    • AEV Onyx Pintler Wheels
    • PowerStop Brake Z23 Kit
    • Steer Smarts YETI XD Sway Bar End Links
    • Rubicon Hard Rock Front Bumper
    • Warn VR10s Winch
    • Factor 55 FlatLink E
    • Maximus-3 Classic Grille Guard Hoop
    • Baja Designs Squadron SAE Amber Fog Lights
    • Rhino-Rack Pioneer Platform and Backbone System
    • Hi-Vis Overland Awning
    • AEV Rear Bumper
    • Maximus-3 Modular Tire Carrier
    • RotoPAX 2gal Reserve Gas Can

 

67 Designs from overhead shot of vehicle

 

Customer of 67 Designs since: July 2020.


Inspiration for buying his Jeep: Baxter’s family was handed down a 2001 TJ, which sat in the driveway for quite some time until his dad taught him how to drive the stick shift vehicle. After that, he fell in love with the Jeep and began getting his hands dirty with mods—which is what peaked his interest in design. In college, keeping with his love of Jeeps, he sold the old TJ and bought his current model. 

 

67 Designs set up in Baxter's Jeep


First adventure with vehicle: October 2017. Baxter bought his JKU specifically to go on longer adventures and the first was to the Maroon Bells Wilderness in CO. It was a spur of the moment trip, on which he embarked solo. He threw together a bunch of camping gear and made the 8 hour trip from Lawrence, KS (where he was attending college) to Aspen, CO. He got there very late at night, so he was not sure of the scenery around him. The next morning, he woke up to a perfect crystal clear lake during sunrise and the rest of the day he explored the ghost town (Ruby, CO) near his campsite. For Baxter, the coolest part of the trip was going a bit off trail and ending up in a valley where there were 360 degree views of mountains. 


Most recent adventure: November 2020. Around Thanksgiving, he and his girlfriend, Emily, went to Shenandoah National Park. They went for a couple of hikes and checked out Monticello, where Thomas Jefferson presided for the majority of his life. 

 

Crystal Clear lake mentioned above in Aspen, Colorado


Most memorable adventure: September 2018. When Baxter graduated, he did a long trip through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Utah. He saw Sand Dunes, Black Canyon and Arches National Parks. He also traversed the Yankee Boy Basin Trail in Ouray, CO. Throughout the trip, he learned a lot, like how to adjust to different environments because it was 93 degrees in the middle of the night in Moab compared to the lower 40s experience in Colorado the night before.


Upcoming trips: This summer, him and his girlfriend are going to either the Virginia mountains or the Outer Banks with the Jeep!

 

Beach camping in the Outer Banks, NC


Dream trip: Baxter would love to go to Iceland and drive through the rivers and then head over to Germany to discover some of his roots. 


Advice for those who are just beginning overlanding: “Take your time in acquiring gear, you don't need everything at once.”

 

Baxter's Jeep through Moab, Utah


#1 place he has camped: At the campsite just outside of Maroon Bells on his first trip.


Fun fact about: He was born in the same hospital as Eminem! 

 

A complete whiteout in Montana


Notes from the writer: Baxter’s love for the outdoors started at a relatively young age and was augmented on a trip for one of his (coolest) college courses to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a weeklong camping trip where he focused on design in the outdoors. Hearing about this trip, I think this is where the Jeep bug was placed because he realized what more he could see with an offroad vehicle. When he first started focusing on overlanding, his trips were solo. Now with his growing Instagram presence, he meets up with others from social media—no wonder, he is a rad dude!

 

Multiple rig overlanding trip


Check out his work here: You can check out Baxter’s Instagram accounts below! There are some super awesome overhead shots that you cannot miss out on:

 

© 67 Designs, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Spotlight by Kate Della Pietra.