Boys and their toys.
It’s a phrase often applied to grown men fascinated by cars, trucks and machines of all kinds, and the Aripeka Sandhill Crawlers embrace it.
The group is a loose community of radio-controlled rock-crawling hobbyists who gather Sunday mornings at Aripeka Sandhills Preserve on Aripeka Road in Hudson. The preserve is the site of a former limestone mine, and the dredging left behind a deep, clear lake and, next to it, the spoils: a 30-foot-high mound of sand and rock that makes an ideal course for battery-powered model trucks and Jeeps. It is a crawler’s paradise, and a rare one in mostly flat Florida.
About two dozen regulars turn out each week. The community’s Facebook group has 1,200 members.
“Yeah, we get that,” said Derek Mando, a 51-year-old “boy” who lives in Hudson and takes the ribbing with a smile.
Mando took up the hobby 12 years ago because “it’s just fun.” Rock crawling means running off-road-style models — trucks, Jeeps and the like, fitted with oversized tires — over rocks and rough ground.
Russel Stender of New Port Richey got the community off the ground. He has run an RC vehicle shop, Lifted & Gifted, since 2014, and after finding the preserve a decade ago he spread the word. Crawlers have been showing up ever since. Hobbyists from Citrus and Hernando counties are regulars, and others come from as far south as Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, all drawn by terrain that is hard to find elsewhere in the state.
“It’s primarily adults, but there are a lot of kids into it,” Stender said.
Most crawlers are men and boys, though a few women and girls come out, and girlfriends and wives sometimes join in.
The swap meets draw the biggest crowds and the widest mix of people. Hobbyist Paul White brought his pet goat, Petunia, to the July swap. One member arrived in a new black lifted Jeep Gladiator; his RC crawler is a miniature version of the same truck. Out on the mound, Wolf Ward and Dan Hildebrand worked a winding path toward the top of the rocky hill overlooking the lake.
Taylor Davis came with several vehicles, including his favorite, a Ram pickup.
“It’s my dream truck,” he said of the full-size version as he walked behind the model on the path toward the rock hills. “I’m hoping to get one, one day.”
Davis has been crawling since he was 10. Now 20, he said the hobby has been good to him.
“And I’m not getting into trouble like a lot of guys my age.”
Davis has $900 invested in his model Ram. A new full-size Ram starts at about $42,000.
Some might wince at nearly $1,000 for a “toy” truck but getting started costs far less. A quality used 1/10-scale crawler, the most popular size, can be found in the classifieds for $100 to $150, and a good new one runs $250 to $300. Low-end models sell for under $100 on sites such as Amazon. From there, as with most hobbies, the sky is the limit.
Mando estimates he has about $45,000 in vehicles and parts. It is a chunk of change, but for him the hobby has paid unusual dividends.
“I have PTSD and this is stress relief for me,” he said. “I call it crawler therapy, and since I started I got off medications. I used to never go out, and now my wife sees I’m more social and happier.”
Crawlers on tighter budgets face more repairs, and many equip their vehicles with cheap, sacrificial parts — plastic drive shafts instead of metal, for instance. The plastic snaps before the stress reaches the drivetrain and causes real damage.
The Aripeka Sandhill Crawlers is an informal group. There is no membership and no dues.
“Anybody who wants to show up can come out and run with us,” said Stender, who added that he is always willing to help newcomers find, set up and maintain their vehicles.
The Sunday gatherings are weather permitting. On dry mornings, crawlers start arriving at the preserve entrance about 8:30 a.m. In summer, most pack up before it gets too hot, but the gang is usually there through at least 11 a.m. Gatherings and swap meets are posted on the group’s Facebook page.