TemboTusk Doesn't TreadLightly

You know how sometimes, something gets under your skin and it just irks you... well this is one of those times for me.

First off, yes, I am a supporter of Tread Lightly.
Secondly, if you disagree with me at all in this, lets have a discussion, I am open to it. I think it creates change and who knows may open mine or your eyes up for something new.
Third, social media is such a huge platform now and with overlanding now a meme and their being dedicated meme pages for it... stuff spreads.

So onto why this thread even exists... the first screenshot is how it originally was captioned, the following two are with the updated caption...






So, this stuff, it just irks me, I don't know why it does so much but it does... I don't care if you have a patch and are taking a picture, or holding the sticker, or something like that. But to actually place the sticker of the company onto the sign... WHY? What is the point? For the cred I guess? So it will be shared by the company I guess? So maybe they will send you some awesome swag? Well good for you and your vandalism... you go girl! Atta boy!

I don't care if it is a business, company, or individual... this stuff just isn't cool and it ruins stuff for the next person to visit it and take a picture with it, hopefully someone is smart and removes the sticker from the sign, if they do... I will make a $25.00 donation to Tread Lightly in your name... I am that annoyed at this...

I am not going to get into the politics about the sign either on this, but I don't have a damn clue on if the sign is supposed to be there or not?

This is the same as the people that spray paint, etch, chalk, etc rocks at National Parks, you are that low in my book. You are supposed to be following Leave No Trace, but come on? What are you doing here? Honestly?

Leave the sticker placement to places that encourage your stickers and want them, like taco shops, bars, food trucks, etc... (just ask permission first!)

But honestly, out of all of this, what makes me the most frustrated with this. I had direct contact with Tembo Tusk via IG and asked them to correct their mistake on this and honestly, it felt like they didn't care and that they encourage this type of stuff.

See for yourself... I have put the screenshots in a spoiler, so just click the spoiler button...

Spoiler

So, I will let you form your own opinion from there.

I will say that yes, Tembo Tusk, did update the caption on the IG post to the following.



Do I think it is enough? Not one bit. The comments on the post are all negative and Tembo Tusk realizes that but I don't think they care honestly, but then again, I am not them.

I also think they deleted a few of them as their were more of them... but I am not 100% positive on that.

I do not own any Tembo Tusk products
I will not own any Tembo Tusk products for sure now and encourage you to read this thread, form your own opinion about and go from there.

If I attend an event that Tembo Tusk is sponsoring in some form, their materials will be returned to them and I will explain to them why. If I ever win something of theirs, I will raffle it off and donate the proceeds to Tread Lightly or the charity the event is supporting.

I attempted to post a little bit of this in a very well know and popular Overland Facebook group based in Texas that I am apart of, but the admins shut that down and I understand why, so it is getting posted here because I think it needs to be somewhere at least. If anyone would like to post this link in there... be my guest and damn kudos to you on that!!! The name is is like... Overland Texas but flipped...

So in the end to me, Tembo Tusk does not follow the Leave No Trace principle, and does not support Tread Lightly values.

Simple as that.

I would love to know your opinion on this matter, so please let me know.

Sincerely,
Steven S.


P.S.
While we are at it...
https://www.treadlightly.org/
https://lnt.org/

Support your National and State Parks in some form by visiting, donating, license plates, memberships, etc...

Support your local 4WD organizations like Cal4Wheel, UFWDA, CORVA, Texas OHV, and so many more, but that is all I can think of right now.



If this gets me a ban somehow, at least it was in the name of Tread Lightly...

 

You go, girl!

 

Stop crying about nothing. It’s a sticker on a sign post not tire tracks through wilderness that will never heal. There’s signs covered in stickers like this all over destinations in the far north.

 

The way the company responded to you was tacky and unprofessional. The “apology” was hardly recognizable as an apology and leaving stickers in national parks is nothing short of leaving trash. It’s trashy. But on the other hand, don’t overwork yourself over it. There’s far worse going on in regards to polluting the earth.

 

Its litter.

 

No different than tagging but on the other hand, both the sign and the sticker on it deface the wilderness and the sign is bigger. If the sign wasn't there the sticker wouldn't be either so IMO, both things are litter.............putting signs up does not equal leaving no trace of passing. Lead by example comes to mind.

 

Should he have put that sticker there?

No, definitely not.

Should you really let it upset you that much?

No, definitely not.

You just spent god knows how long typing up this thread and typing up your respond to tembotusk. Take a deep breath, and move on.

 

#1stworldproblems

 

this reminds me of mallsquatter or overlandbound fake for some reason.

Definitely get where you're coming from, but I don't think personally it's a big deal.

I think a picture of the skottle being used near the sign would have been cooler IMO.

 

So my question is why get so mad at tembotusk for posting a pic someone else took. While yes they came across as supporting this sticker placement, isnt the real issue with badlandsexpeditions for putting the sticker up? In the end even bad publicity can be good publicity so while it may have irked you it will most likely draw in more business than is lost.

 

“Me too movement” overland edition

 

That's kind of fucked up but I admit, I laughed.

 

That's really fucked up, and no, I didn't laugh, I cringed.

To me OP has a point, and I agree with it. Just because you don't doesn't mean you have to try to take down and lambast a critically important women's movement. That's a childish and sophomoric tactic. Even if it's sarcastic or in jest, it's not okay.

For the record this sticker placement is in direct conflict with tread lightly and leave no trace (and the OP's beef is that the vendor whose sticker it was didn't seem to care). The bigger this hobby gets the more stickers get placed because "what's the big deal? someone already put one there" or "everyone is doing it". We need to self police and I think the op is doing the right thing. We want trails and areas to stay OHV friendly for decades to come, then we need to hold each other accountable.

 

Ight so OP is cool in my book but being dramatic as fuck with this.

The post and sign was man made. What’s bigger? A 4” sticker or a 4 foot sign? What has more of a impact ? What’s the sign gonna do in 20 years and what’s the sticker gonna do?

So people put a sign in the ground and nobody cares. Put a sticker on the post and everybody loses their mind? Dumb.

Atleast with the post, the stickers won’t be spread out everywhere or on the ground or on rocks or whatever. Whether the post has 1 sticker or 1,000. The post is still gonna be there and so are the stickers.

Can’t pick and choose when to be okay with “littering”

And as for tread lightly stuff, you wheel at off-road parks that have tons of man made trails. That’s directly against “tread lightly”

If I made a new trail at barnwell today , you’d lose your mind. But if someone made a trail 5 years ago, it’s fine to wheel on and shit.

Its all a huge contradiction. So sit down and drink a craft beer and relax OP. And if this bugs you that bad then I hope you reuse bags when you buy groceries and clothes and I hope you carry a water bottle around that you refill everywhere rather than buying and drinking a new bottle. If you’re gonna be all eco friendly you gotta be about it all the way.

 

Its a post, they aren't stickering trees and rocks and spray painting shit.its always interesting coming across places or signs and seeing all the stickers and looking for some that you recognize or a place your from.

Trying to publicly humiliate and bring down someone or a company by blasting them on social media and the internet over a sticker?
@weldertaco kind of nailed it.

Its a reused nail thats eco friendly its ok

 

Like for instance @ETXTacoma does this not trigger you?

You liked it on IG I see. No negative comments. And that’s a picture of literally cars buried in the ground.


But one sticker on a post makes you this mad? This doesn’t make sense.

 

I would never deface property that is not my own. I think what the guy did is wrong and that Tembotusk should have discouraged it.

But just so all the facts are present. The guy put the sticker over an existing sticker if your check his post and most the signs up there are covered in stickers. The only reason this one is not is because it is brand new.

Again, I think what he did was wrong.

 

Eh, I dont think it really violates Tread Lightly as its a man made sign. I am a pretty big proponent of TL and leave no trace, so I understand anything can be seen as a potential impact to our access rights.

 

“Tread lightly” *drives vehicle off into wilderness*

Meh, it’s a man-made sign. Just don’t go carving shit into trees, spray painting stuff, tearing up things unnecessarily and littering everywhere. Make things a little cleaner when you go to leave than they were when you arrived when feasible and don’t leave a massive footprint in your wake.