CompetitionX attended the 2016 RC Jamboree hosted by none other than RPP Hobby. The setting was the beautiful Lake Mendocino, with lots of vendors attending to show off their wares.

1. RPP RC Jamboree 2016 – RC Crawling Around Lake
Mendocino
www.competitionx.com/news-feed/rpp-rc-jamboree-2016-rc-crawling-around-lake-mendocino/
October is the perfect time of year for crawling, especially if you get to do it bordering a beautiful body of water like
Lake Mendocino. Well, that’s exactly how the 2nd Annual RPP RC Jamboree went down! Loads of scale
enthusiasts gathered in Northern California for this wonderful 2-day event that allowed participants and spectators
alike to not only compete on a pretty technical offroad excursion, but also meet some of today’s top manufacturers
and see some of their latest products.
Friday – RPP Day 1
Day 1 of the event happened on Friday, located out front of the RPP’s brick and mortar building in Ukiah. Several
supporting manufacturers set up shop out front for everyone to stop by, say hi and see what was new and exciting. I
had a chance to visit with RPP (they had a booth out front as well), RC4WD, Pro-Line, RC Mayhem Garage,
MadDog RC, Lost Coast Backwood’s RC and Wertymade. All of these companies welcomed visitors to stop by,
check out their goods and ask any questions they might have.
RPP also had a semi-permanent crawling area out in front of their shop. There was a large mountainous area with a
functioning water feature; there were multiple ways to the top and a small bridge to cross the stream flowing down.
There were also various bridges and other obstacles to tackle – all laid out to create a fun environment for crawling.
Some notable items:
1/6

2. RPP had their acrylic table stands out with their entire RPP
Hobby line of Gear Head RC wheels on display. There were
almost 40 different designs to choose from; if you can’t find
something you liked, you’re WAAAAY to picky. I noted several
designs I’m interested in for future builds; the detail is really top
notch.
RC4WD had a TF2, a Defender, a fully-built Chevy Blazer
complete with V8 engine installed and a pretty sick looking Jeep
on the table. Tucked in the back was another TF2, however the
body was completely covered in camo. When asked about it,
Tom Allen, VP of Sales and Marketing for RC4WD, told me that is something new they’re doing; dipping the hard-
body ‘Yota into camo. The final product is amazing!
Paul Willhite was in attendance and manning the Pro-Line tent. They were displaying their line of crawler tires
mounted on a few different rigs and, of course, resting with one-wheel up on their concrete K-rails. These are really
cool and if you haven’t had a chance to see one in person, you’ll be blown away. They’re pretty heavy (being real
concrete) and look so cool covered in graffiti. Also on display were their new Hyrax 1.9″ G8 Rock Terrain tires. These
have a pretty aggressive look and, according to anyone using them at this event, they’re one of the best PL crawling
tires out right now. Yes, I have some on order!
The guys in the next booth over, RC Mayhem Garage, had a 6′
table out front and were busy assembling some of their scale
products. Now, unfortunately, I hadn’t heard of them yet but I
have a feeling they’re about to explode. RC Mayhem Garage
3D prints some incredible scale parts, everything from
cinderblocks to generators, portable propane heaters and car
batteries. The detail is pretty amazing – they even had a large
diorama in their booth showboating all of their parts they offer.
Very impressive to say the least – if you’re into super scale, give
them a look!
MadDog RC was also in attendance and had some nice,
machined products on display. They had an acrylic case with
smaller parts including a ton of winch parts, shackles and some
folding sand boards. A standing display also had all of their light
bars – they had something for every need; long, short, bright
and super bright. They even had a pair of circular lights which,
in my opinion, looked pretty bad ass on their RR10 Bomber
display rig!
Another small company made an appearance as well with some
pretty cool parts. Lost Coast Backwood’s RC had some
aluminum battery boxes and 3D printed inner fenders for Axial’s SCX10 II. The boxes come in silver or can be
painted black for a more stealthy appearance; the inner fenders come in gray. Both attach without any surgery to
your rig. I’m really diggin’ the inner fenders!
2/6

3. The final booth housed the one and only Wertymade. They had
a few of their new bumpers and sliders on display for a couple
different rigs, but the main attraction was the seriously sweet
new rear end for the Axial SCX10 II. This custom rear was
developed to give this rig an unmatched range of articulation;
You can see from some of the pictures below just how much flex
the SCX10 II has now! I was told that there was only going to be
a limited amount of these made so if you want one, you better
head over there and put your order in now. I mean it – go NOW!
Saturday – RPP Day 2
The actual crawling event was on Saturday and moved to the
shores of Lake Mendocino. The group gathered in the AM to go
over a few things; driver’s meeting, score cards, trail markers
and, of course, donuts! Along with the standard gates, RPP had
set up a few optional points along the route; you were not
required to take these optional routes, but doing so would give
you extra points. These optional routes included the Wertymade
bumper test, Winch rock and a couple photo opp spots.
The course itself was a bit grueling, challenging both 1.9 and
2.2 drivers – even the Wraiths and RR10 Bombers had a
difficult time in some locations. The one thing I did notice, though, was that the drivers that made it through a
particularly tough section always hung out for a second to help out if it was needed, whether it was a verbal pointer
or a full-on winch assist. No one was left behind – that was a great thing to see with the varied skill level at the
event.
I’d also like to give a shout out to a new online mag dedicated directly to scalers – Scalers Magazine. It features alot
of scale rigs as well as some cool builds – take a second and check it out!
If you live in the Ukiah area, you owe it to yourself to check out
the RPP RC Jamboree. In addition to meeting some new faces,
you’ll also have a chance to win some awesome prizes from the
supporters of the event. Plus, what better way to spend a
Saturday than some sun, beautiful scenery and a little offroad
fun with the family. I’ll be back next year for sure – and this time
I’m bringing my crawler with me!
Event Sponsors
RPP Hobby, www.rpphobby.com
Axial Racing, www.axialracing.com
Beef Tubes, www.beeftubes.com
Crawler Innovations, www.crawlerinnovations.com/
Gearhead RC, www.gearheadrc.com/
Incision, www.vanquishproducts.com/brands/Incision.html
JConcepts, www.jconcepts.net
3/6

4. MadDog RC, www.maddogrc.com
Pro-Line, www.prolineracing.com
Pull Pal, www.pullpal.com
RC4WD, www.rc4wd.com
RC Mayhem Garage, www.facebook.com/Rc-Mayhem-Garage-829340423752008/
SSD, www.ssd-rc.com
Tamiya, www.tamiya-usa.com
Team Fast Eddy, www.teamfasteddy.com
Team Ottsix Racing, www.ottsix.com
Vanquish Products, www.vanquishproducts.com
Vaterra, www.vaterrarc.com
Wertymade, www.wertymade.com
Pictures
I’ve added a few pictures from the event here. To see the full photo gallery, visit the CompetitionX Photo Gallery
page.
4/6

5. 5/6

6. 6/6