My buddy Matt decided to send me a critique of an episode of my podcast last month. I wanted to share this conversation with those of you who might be interested. While I am flattered Matt is a regular listener, I know it takes time away from begging people to support him. However, as you will read in the screen shots of our conversation, he likes to try and bully those who call him out. I am not going to stop what I do. I am not afraid to say what most are afraid to say publicly. As you read along, don’t forget, Matt is HUGE in the Overland Community, he has his share of sheep that follow him and support his endeavors, yet he is concerned with little ole me.
There was a bypass used. Whether it was created or not, is not the point. You should NEVER EVER leave the trail or use bypasses. That hillside was destroyed once all the rigs made it through. It was a poor choice to not turn around. I don’t place the blame on Ben. Matt did not scout this section of trail prior to the event, I know this because I pulled my Patreon support from him after this vlog came out. Matt sent me a message asking “are you leaving me” I said yes, I am going to use that money for other causes (Tread Lightly), he asked why and I told him I had a real issue with what I saw in the video. I asked him why he hadn’t scouted the trail, which he mentioned he was doing in a vlog prior to the event he said, “it was clear in March when I last rode it”. Well Matt, this event was held in October, you decided to not scout a trail that you had not ridden on in 7 months, totally irresponsible.
As far as Patreon supporters being hand picked, there were people sent direct messages, of which I was one, on when the “sign up” went live. This gave certain people an unfair advantage. Those are the FACTS.
The “mistakes” blog was surprising to me and I honestly thought I’d never see him do one. I am only basing this on his arrogance. I told Matt, at a Rigs and Coffee event in Little Rock, that I liked his wheel choice on his Gladiator and his response was “yeah, I like them too”. What an arrogant twit. So when someone like this puts out a biggest mistakes vlog, I just had to watch.
Now, the personal insults start. He states he’s always admitted his mistakes. This is laughable. Those of you who have seen Matt’s antics on FB group pages, IG, YT comments etc, you know how petty he can be and how he personally attacks people who call him out.
He wishes me a “Merry Christmas” following his little snide comment on how he still gets paid because I watch his videos. How nice of him to remind me of that. It’s all about the money with this “guy”. He is so wrapped up with himself he actually has no clue I was being sarcastic when I said he made my day. WOW!
Oh the slanderous accusations wrapped up in personal insults. He does get something right, one of my biggest mistakes was trying to ignore his arrogance and pettiness because of my desire to learn more about camping and wheeling in the Ozarks. I have to admit I was pretty entertained during this little back and forth.
I mention the people who have sent me “info” and gossip on Matt’s past and it isn’t pretty. If it’s true, and I have heard some of the same things from multiple people, wowser, what a history Matt has.
Well isn’t that big of Matt to want everything on his terms if we were to have a conversation? There is no way I would give Matt the ability to do exactly what he assumes I would do, edit things to make him look bad. That is the exact reason and I am sharing these screenshots. I wanted to share this conversation that just showed up in my inbox out of the blue.
I have asked friends if they remembered me talking about weight loss surgery of someone specific, where I named them. Without exception the answer was no. Several said you didn’t specifically mention a name but we all know who you were talking about. Honestly, I took a wild guess on the surgery after Matt mentioned in a vlog that his wife couldn’t climb up into the RTT because of recent surgery. Thanks Matt for confirming this.
People like Matt just don’t get how absurd these exorbitant “guide fees” are to “nervous newbies” as he likes to call them. If you truly enjoy riding the trails and you truly want to help newbies, why the ridiculous cost? I can answer that…GREED. It’s a gravy train that has worked out well for Matt and others so these guys want to jump on and get their piece of the pie. I believe there will be a bubble burst in the overland community and over time it’s popularity will wane. Then what will these overland welfare recipients do? I will be around to talk about it. I am not going to change what I do. I am not going anywhere.
There have been other unsolicited comments from this former youth pastor in the last few days that I will post next week. Stay tuned!
Kevin