The Lizard Diaries: My Land Rover 110 “Perentie” Regional Force Surveillance Vehicle (RFSV)

To my mind, the RFSV is perhaps the ultimate 4×4 Perentie Land Rover model for the vehicle owner who wants to convert his or her Rover to an expedition/overlanding rig.

In-service they come with the following as standard:

• High Roll Over Protection System (ROPS)
• Power steering
• Disc brakes all round
• Dual fuel tanks
• PTO winch
• Onboard ARB air compressor
• Footwell vents
• Sankey-Benson split rims
• Snorkel
• Rear dual spare wheel carrier (post 2010 upgrade)
• Rear dual jerrycan carrier (post 2010 upgrade)
• Side pannier baskets, each capable of carrying 3 x fuel or water jerrycans (post 2010 upgrade)
• Narva driving lights
• Winch-up under-tray dual jerrycan carrier (post 2010 upgrade)
• Upgraded suspension
• Dual 12v batteries
• 1.123:1 ratio high range transfer case gears for extra torque
• Third seat (rear facing)
• Interior stowage racks for packs and webbing, ammunition, oil, water, etc.
• Interior stowage bins

That’s in addition to standard Perentie features such as long travel suspension, 3-inch factory lift, full convoy and blackout lighting, galvanised chassis, 3.9lt naturally aspirated 4BD1 diesel engine, LT95 4-speed gearbox, bullbar, cam net rack, de-ditching tools, etc.

In-service, the RFSV was used for long-range reconnaissance patrols and surveillance missions, in places where fuel, water and ration resupply was unlikely. Accordingly, the vehicles had to have a high carrying capacity. There were many instances where a full 200lt (44 gallon for our UK readers or 55 gallon for our US readers) steel drum of diesel was strapped down in the cargo area of the RFSV either for caching during the patrol or for refuelling the two RFSVs which typically made up a 6-man Regional Force Surveillance Unit (RFSU) vehicle-borne patrol. Add in camouflage netting, poles and hessian shrouds, spare parts, oils, ammunition, specialised optics and sensors, munitions, OP equipment, patrol crew-served weaponry, personal equipment and lots of water jerrycans, zodiac inflatable boat, engine, boat fuel and many of these vehicles were operated well over their weight limit.

Some RFSVs suffered chassis cracking, particularly due to majority inland operations with units such as the Pilbara Regiment, NORFORCE Kimberley Sqn and NORFORCE Centre Sqn. Some RFSVs suffered from rust in the firewall and footwells when operated by RFSU units such as the Far North Queensland 51st Bn Far North Queensland Regiment and NORFORCE Darwin Sqn. Thankfully mine has no chassis cracking despite its history with NORFORCE Centre Squadron, but it suffered some minor rust due to the previous owner living on the coast, which has since been repaired.

While I haven’t yet travelled as extensively in the RFSV as I have in my old Perentie FFR (Fitted For Radio), I have done several interstate trips and offroad work and I have no doubt the RFSV is capable enough to handle just about anything the Australian continent can throw at it, and the RFSV’s enhanced configuration gives it an edge over most of the other Perentie variants for the remote area traveller.

My only criticisms of the RFSV variants are the height of the ROPS, which needed to be high enough so the rear-seater wouldn’t smack his head on the roll bar, which makes the vehicle a bit too high for my liking, and the other issue I have is with the dual spare wheel carrier and the dual jerrycan carrier on the rear of the vehicle, since this adversely affects the departure angle of the vehicle. For civilian overlanding purposes, with a two-person crew, I’d be inclined to replace the tall RFSV ROPS with a ROPS from a normal GS or FFR Perentie, which would also have the benefit of being able to use a cheaper replacement canvas canopy and add a roof rack which can carry extra fuel and maybe a spare wheel without the vehicle feeling extra-tippy. I’d also delete the rear wheel and jerrycan carriers and replace them with the fold-down cargo platform seen on the Special Forces variant of the Perentie 4×4, the SRV-SF. This would allow the rear load to be customised as required.

So what modifications do I have on my RFSV? The previous owner made a few modifications, such as removal of the rear seat and modification of the cargo racks forward of the rear stowage bins which allowed a fridge to be carried. Under my care, I have also added infrared driving lights, dual UHF CB antenna mounts to the bullbar and an HF radio antenna at the rear of each side jerrycan pannier basket. Radio-wise I have a Barrett 950 outback HF radio in a vehicle installation for use when travelling as well as the capability to mount a PMR171 manpack UHF/VHF/HF rig which is plug and play for NVIS purposes and radio monitoring/SIGINT and my current convoy/club radio is a UHF/VHF Baofeng AR-152 which connects to either the high gain or low gain UHF antennas on the bullbar and is used for club frequencies and for monitoring but not transmitting on UHF CB channels.

What are my plans for the vehicle? The first thing I need to do is to rebuild the racking in the rear and reinstall the rear seat mounting plates and the rear seat itself as well as all cargo tie-downs, etc. This will bring the vehicle back to its basic configuration so I can confidently display it at military vehicle events and transport a Veteran during the Anzac Day march. the trick with the interior rear racking is to make it bolt-in/bolt-out so during times when the original configuration is not needed I can fit my 40lt Waeco fridge in there on one side and so my Kelpie has a place to sit on the other side, although I’m thinking she might enjoy riding in the rear seat if I bolt it in facing forward. I also have some bits and pieces to install on the exterior of the vehicle such as the canvas roll-up headlight and tail light covers. I also have an early RFSV steel bullbar which has a built-in hi-lift jack carrier, so I’ll probably install that at some stage soon. In order to mock up my RFSV from its upgraded model to the appearance of an early model RFSV I have a pair of SRV-SF half doors which each can carry a spare wheel, and if I remove the side baskets and replace the dual spare wheel carrier with another dual jerrycan carrier, the vehicle should look quite a bit like the pre-upgrade RFSVs. There’s a bit of modification required to fit the half doors though, but it should look great when it’s done. Aside from that I’ll replace the normal door frames with a better set I have in the shed and I’ll probably give the vehicle and rims a paint respray before Anzac Day.

New Army Style Dehydrated Patrol/LRRP Ration Main Meals

I figured this is a topic which would appeal to my fellow Australian readers. and it serves as a nice intro to a series of posts on Australian Army Lightweight/Patrol rations from the 1940s to the present day.

Before we get to the historical stuff, consider this a heads-up.

As one of its five standard ration pack types (that I know of), the Australian Defence Force fields a 24-hour individual ration known as the PR1M (Patrol Ration, 1-Man). This is basically the same as the common 24 hour individual combat ration pack we all know (the CR1M), except it swaps the “slop-in-a-bag”, MRE-style retort pouch meals for lightweight freeze-dried equivalents.

The PR1M freeze-dried meals are nominally about 110g which when re-hydrated bulk out to a 460g meal. They are tasty and filling, but are typically not as high in calories as retort pouch MRE style meals due to the fact that they don’t contain as many fats and oils, which reduce storage life. To offset this, the army patrol ration packs typically include an extra 50g chocolate ration to make up the calorie deficit.

These army patrol ration dehydrated meals were developed by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation’s Food and Nutrition section in Scottsdale in Tasmania and are available to ADF personnel in a wide range of flavours in the different PR1M menus.

I have a small stock of PR1M main meals, which I tend to use for emergency ration packs meant for family vehicles and for throwing into the daypack for day bushwalks. These emergency ration packs are contained either in surplus ADF Emergency Flying Ration containers or in Trangia Mini Mess Kits and also include a spoon, bic lighter, brew kit, Clif Bars, steak bars, chocolate, hydrolite and water purification tabs .

A civilian equivalent of these patrol ration meals has dropped in the past few months, from Tasmanian freeze-dried foods manufacturer Camper’s Pantry Pty Ltd (e.g. https://camperspantry.com.au/products/chicken-cacciatore-expedition ).

The new meals are called Camper’s Pantry Expedition Single-Serve meals. They use the same basic packaging as the PR1M meals – a foil pouch without a ziplock closure. The only real difference is the cardboard product sheet glued to the pouch and a printed paper label on the pouch itself. While PR1M meals are vacuum sealed into a solid rectangular block, the Camper’s Pantry Expedition meals are vacuum sealed without the crisp edges of the PR1M. I prefer these foil pouches to the usual stand-up mylar pouches used in Camper’s Pantry’s other meals and in meals sold by other manufacturers. The empty pouch takes up less space and is lighter than the zip-lock pouches.

The dehydrated weight of the Camper’s Pantry Expedition meals sans packaging is around 100g and it rehydrates to a 400g meal with a calorie count of about 460 calories.

These meals come in a limited variety of flavours at time of posting, but hopefully Camper’s Pantry will expand these as time goes on. Flavours are: Penne Bolognese, Cauliflower and Pea Dahl, Chicken Cacciatore, Chicken Pilaf, Spicy Mexican Beans. I’m hoping beef teryaki joins the lineup of Camper’s Pantry Expedition Meals since that is my favourite PR1M meal.

The meals are simple to prepare. Tear the top off the pouch and empty the inner paper bag containing the dehydrated food into the pouch. The inner paper bag should be familiar to those who have eaten PR1Ms or US Long Range Patrol rations. Add 300ml (approx 1 1/4 cups) of boiling water and stir. Fold over the top of the pouch to seal it and let sit for 5 minutes before stirring again. Reseal and leave for a further 10 minutes then tuck in.

So how do they taste? Well taste is a subjective thing, but out of the range I haven’t found one so far that I don’t like.

My favourite out of the Expedition range is Spicy Mexican Beans. As an accompaniment to the Mexican Beans I usually cut up a piece of drywors (South African dried sausage) and a cheddar cheese stick and throw them in to the pouch prior to adding the boiling water. It’s a good way of increasing the protein content as well as the calorie count of the meal if you’re doing hard work out bush.

Visit http://www.camperspantry.com.au for more information such as ingredients list and nutritional information for each of the varieties.

The Lizard Diaries: The 30-Year-Old Ex-Army Land Rover Perentie 110 4WD Still Packs a Punch

The most famous Perentie, Les Hiddins’ Bush Tucker Man Land Rover, ARN 48-001 seen here on display at its current home at the Darwin Military Museum.

As some of you may know, my steel steed of choice isn’t actually steel at all, but rather an aluminium-bodied Land Rover 110, a 30-year old ex-military “Perentie” 4×4. I rate these vehicles highly. Despite the fact that they were driven like they were stolen in service, they were impeccably maintained and no expense was spared when it came to maintenance, replacement parts and repairs. Most were factory rebuilt in the early 2010s, making that 30 year old vehicle more like a 10 or 15 year old vehicle which is a significant advantage. They remain great value for money, even on the secondary market where you’ll pay more for one which has been tricked out a bit by the owner by the inclusion of upgrades like power steering, disc brakes, turbo, hard top and sides, etc.

In fact, I rate these “Perentie” Land Rovers so highly that now I own two of them. My trusty modified FFR (Fitted For Radio) variant I’ve had for nearly a decade, and a rough but serviceable RFSV (Regional Force Surveillance Vehicle) variant I’ve had for almost two years.

My Perentie FFR in “expedition” mode at Normanton in Queensland’s Gulf Country on my way from Darwin to Cape York

So what makes an ex-Army Perentie Land Rover different from something like an English farmer’s Series III or a County 110 or a Defender 110? Well, it’s a bit more primitive to start with. There’s no aircon, no radio or stereo system, the heaters on them either work like a furnace or they barely warm your knee, they usually come with drum brakes and strongarm steering, but the biggest difference from most of the civvy 110s and Defenders is they are fitted with a 3.9 litre, naturally aspirated Isuzu engine mated to a 4-speed gearbox. The Perenties have a fully galvanised chassis and a 3-inch factory lift. They all come with one of several flavours of bullbar (or “brush bar” in military parlance) and they have recovery and heli-lift points front and rear. Some of the Perentie 4x4s came fitted with a Thomas PTO winch. Unless butchered by a previous owner they have blackout lighting and a set of “garden tools” in brackets on the bonnet. Basic Perentie 4×4 variants all have jerrycan mounts on the rear which are designed to allow the carriage of one 20 litre fuel jerrycan and one 22 litre plastic water jerrycan as standard equipment. They are just a good, solid vehicle and unless you get one which has been LAPES’d (Low Altitude Parachute Extration System) out of a Hercules or C17 a few too many times you won’t find many structural issues.

The engines are hard to kill and they just keep going forever if you service them at the correct interval. Gearboxes have the highest potential to give mechanical problems on a Perentie Land Rover, but once again, if you service them at the correct interval, you can avoid most problems. The suspension is a bit hard and they do benefit from the adition of long-travel suspension for improved handling on rough terrain.

Like all proper Land Rovers from the Series II to the now-discontinued 110 Defender, the Perenties are like a meccano set, with body parts and accessories interchangeable with not only other 4×4 Perenties, but also Series II, Series IIA, Series III, County and Defender, so you have an opportunity to really customise a Perentie into any configuration you like. Personally I tend to stick with military parts for my Perenties because they suit the mission, which is overland trips through remote areas rather than soccer mum ops through urban zones. Parts can be had at reasonable prices both within Australia and from overseas, and if you know where to look, military surplus Perentie parts can be had dirt cheap thanks to the army disposing of millions of dollars worth of bulk spares through the Australian Frontline Machinery auctions for a pittance over the past few years.

One of the most appealing aspects of these ex-army “Perentie” Land Rover 110s is their adaptability. These vehicles were designed to be modular, allowing for a wide range of configurations to suit various military applications. This modularity extends beyond just the body parts; it also includes the internal systems. For example, while the standard Perentie comes with a 3.9-litre, naturally aspirated Isuzu engine, you can easily enough turbo the engine and the engine bay is spacious enough to accommodate other power plants should you wish to swap it out. This opens up a world of possibilities for those who are mechanically inclined.

Now, let’s talk about the galvanised chassis. This is a feature that sets the Perentie apart from many other off-road vehicles. Galvanisation adds a layer of zinc to the steel, providing excellent corrosion resistance. This is particularly beneficial if you’re planning to take your Perentie through saltwater crossings or coastal environments where the salty air can accelerate rust. It’s a long-term investment in the durability of the vehicle, and it’s one of the reasons why you’ll find 30-year-old Perenties with their chassis still in excellent condition compared to their non-gal’d civilian counterparts of the same era.

Another point we shouldn’t forget is the vehicle’s off-road capabilities. The Perentie’s 3-inch factory lift provides additional ground clearance, making it easier to crawl over obstacles where necessary. The vehicle’s robust suspension system is designed to handle the harshest terrain types Australia has to offer. While the suspension may feel a bit stiff on the bitumen, it comes into its own when you venture off the beaten track. The vehicle’s steering bash plate and high approach and departure angles further enhance its off-road prowess, allowing you to tackle steep inclines and declines without the risk of damaging the undercarriage. When JRA designed the Perenties for the army they really knew what they were doing.

In terms of storage and cargo capacity, the Perentie is a utilitarian dream. The rear cargo area is spacious and can be configured in numerous ways to suit your needs. Whether you’re hauling camping gear, tools, or supplies for an extended overland journey, the Perentie offers ample space. The vehicle’s two rear jerrycan mounts are another practical feature, allowing you to carry extra fuel and water for those long trips into remote areas. And let’s not forget the various mounting points and brackets that can be used to secure additional equipment, from winches to antennas to auxiliary lighting.

Perentie Land Rovers are more than just an offroad vehicle; they’re a versatile platform that can be adapted to a wide range of uses. Its rugged construction, off-road capabilities, and modular design make it an ideal choice for anyone looking for a dependable and adaptable 4WD. Whether you’re planning an overland expedition, a weekend camping trip, or simply need a robust vehicle for work, the Perentie has you covered. And with the wealth of spare parts and upgrades available, you have the freedom to tailor your Perentie to meet your specific needs and preferences. It’s a vehicle that invites you to engage with it, to make it your own, and to explore the world on your terms.

If you have been thinking about getting one of these iconic ex-army Land Rovers, then now is the time to pick one up since secondary market prices are going down, after their stupid-high levels during and after the COVID-pocalypse. Prices at the Australian Frontline Machinery auctions have tanked as well, so it’s a perfect storm. Get one now because the auctions are on their last gasp availability-wise so the prices will rise on the secondary market again. I say this as someone who has watched the ebbs and flows of the Perentie market closely since I bought my FFR in 2017.

There will be further posts to this series where I’ll showcase my modified Perentie FFR (Fitted For Radio) and Perentie RFSV (Regional Force Surveillance Vehicle) as well as post a bit about my adventures through Northern Australia in the Lizard.