Field Interview with Jon Turner, Engineer and Overlander

Recorded on the Black Rock Desert playa after a day exploring northern Nevada’s Calico Mountains, this podcast episode features John’s path from a childhood of frequent UK/US and European travel to Army aerial reconnaissance and signals intelligence missions that took him from Key West to Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, and the Middle East. He explains how returning to college led to an electrical engineering degree and executive roles at GE (including a Budapest assignment during the Jack Welch era), Sony, and Johnson & Johnson through Six Sigma process improvement. The conversation turns to overland travel lessons learned from getting vehicles stuck, the importance of weight and choosing the right base platform, and why a true overland rig must perform on-road and off-road. John shares design priorities for expedition campers—comfort, capability, and security—along with advice on suspension setup, using quality components, getting driver training, and starting trips locally. Jon Turner is the Founder and Chief Engineer of Nimbl Vehicles. A lifetime traveler with a taste for adventure, Jon made his first international trip when he emigrated from England to the USA at 6 months of age. Since then he has traveled, lived, and worked as both soldier and engineer throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. As an electrical engineer (North Carolina State University) and a service disabled veteran (US Army - Gulf War), Jon has taught numerous overlanding classes at events like Overland Expo, and can be found most weekends out exploring the rugged beauty of northern Nevada. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.