I realise the above remark was meant to be sarcastic, but on a more serious note regarding same; I think you would get a lot of arguement on that statement from those implied to be non real wheelers world-wide.

As I see it, dents are the result of any of 6 things: inexperience, unavoidable occurances, not paying attention, poor/foolish/ill-informed driving decisions, unnecessarily hard driving, or just plain vehicle abuse. For those who have strings of unavoidable occurances, maybe you should review your driving habits or skills.

Only two of those items listed would fit into the "real wheeler" catagory. The rest are what most "real wheelers" strive to discourage.

Just what are everyone's views on dents and damage vs what a real wheeler is and how they drive? I am willing to bet they are in no way related as implied above.

Let the debaters debate...

I would say that dents are bound to happen eventually no matter how good or experienced a driver you are. To assume that you are that skilled a driver that you will never dent your rig off road is just plain ignorant, and naive.

I think it boils down to driver mentality, even more than skill and experience. Even an inexperienced driver with an attitude of not wanting to cause damage to land or his rig will cause that much less damage. A skilled driver who drives with a blatant disregard for safety, his rig, and the land will inherently cause more damage!

When you overlook the un-natural damages, yes I agree to a certain extent. That is where unavoidable occurances, and sometimes inexperience due to poor judgement calls, come in to play.

For example, I have a small dent in the forward and lower portion of my front left fender where a branch had bounced up, missed the bumper, and slapped the fender through the space between the two. Unavoidable, who would have guessed it? Likewise a friend back home (Alberta) was winching up a slippery slope and the Jeep went sideways and struck a stump = dent to fender. Again, unavoidable. Compare that to the scrape I have down the passenger side where rather than stop get out and trim the branch, I squeezed through and sufferred the consequences of a 4 foot long backwoods pinstripe. Foolish decision on my part. One that I never forget when in tight brush now.

I'm not trying to imply or make claim that any "real wheelers" (I hate that kind of terminology as it is) are so perfect that dents or damage will never happen to them, that would be preposterous at best. I certainly am not, and I hope that I am not taken that way as that would be incorrect. All I'm trying to say is that the topic subject base as in the quotation, is not a valid means to determine who or what a "real wheeler" is.

There is a story behind every dent and ding. They tell the real tale, as I have shown with a couple of mine. However, on the personal side of things, I don't consider dents and dings the measure of a "real wheeler". To me they are a record of mistakes, bad judgements, and "whoops, maybe I shouldn't have done that's", with a few unavoidables thrown in as par for the course. But to say an undented or undamaged rig is less of a "real wheeler" than a beat to crap one is like saying "real 4x4s are built, not bought". Another childish phrase I am not fond of.

X2

I think you said it best right there!!! Except the last part... I think the thing that "Built not bought" phrase is speaking about the natural inclination to make changes to improve the capability and durability of one's rig. I doubt there is a single rig out there that sees any amount of trails or back country that it's driver would prefer to keep everything stock... Specifically exactly the same OEM equipment it left the factory with. Even the guys with old MB's that they have restored to exact specs have essentially been built by the owners...

But I digress... No, a dent is nothing more than a story, not a trophy... Well, maybe a little

Some might say that cutting a tree when you don't need to would be a foolish decision. And that more stripes would make your Jeep look better.

If a person doesn't care about resale, I don't know why he would care to keep his body panels as if they just came out of the factory. Especially if he knows that next weekend he might get some of that accidental branch whipping or sliding into a stump.

because who wants their ride to look like a wreck

Agreed, makes the most sense to me so far...

I thought of another catch phrase, "If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand".

You select your line so you don't hit that big stump. If your rig looks like a raisin, I beg the question, WHY?? They make body protection so your rig can take those hits and come out unscathed. It's one thing to understand that a dent will happen, and it's another thing to say since it's gonna happen anyways, I'm not gonna care.

For the record; it was a dead branch on a dead tree that was windfall from the tornado 3 years ago. I was just too lazy to interupt my travel to stop and deal with it. I/we don't cut live trees.

As for more stripes... Why wreck the Jeep when I don't have to? I'm not an abuser, I can't afford it on a DD. If it was a trail only rig that was already a bunch of years old and damaged, then the situation changes a bit, but even still, why wreck stuff if you don't have to, new or otherwise? I was always taught to take care of my stuff or suffer the consequences. That doesent make me any less of a wheeler than anyone else AFAIK. But maybe that's one of the differences between off road styles and groups of recreationists. Like any sport or activity there are many ways and versions of partaking in same. Some rougher than others. In the end they all accomplish the same thing - enjoyment of the sport.

It's all good.

We all like a different look on our rigs. I love my dents, It's not just how I customize my truck, it's real proof that my truck isn't just for getting groceries.

Clicking on bits of chromed plastic, now there is a way to truly ruin a vehicle.....to me.

Dunc, I wouldn't accuse you of cutting trees for fun. But I do believe it can be ok to cut live branches. If a trail is plenty wide for a vehicle one year and five years later it's too tight, that's just trail maintenance.

I agree. It's one thing to cut down a live tree, and another to trim some branches from an overgrown trail.