They call it the vehicle of the free: pick-up trucks have become a valuable piece of armory for Libyans fighting against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

Pick-up trucks have long been popular in the desert where their four-wheel drive power easily conquers the treacherous sands.

Eastern Libya may be one of the few places on Earth that seems to have more pick-up trucks than the US state of Texas.

Libyans like this vehicle for its mobility, versatility and strong engine. It is this fascination with the pick-up trucks that ultimately allowed the uprising in eastern Libya to pick up steam.

Khalifa Fegani's father bought his truck a few years ago for his family business. His son, a 25-year-old economics student, now sets out for the front line.

”It is a very good car, especially in the desert,” Khalifa said. “If we had a sedan, I would not have been able to use it but now I can go and fight for my country.”

Ever since the uprising began almost three weeks ago, columns of rebel pick-up trucks have been crisscrossing the desert around Benghazi. Rebels say the vehicle’s mobility allows them to dodge attacks from pro-government forces and has more than once, saved their lives.

“We got thrown by bombs, then by snipers from the side roads we cannot see, and we were trying to escape,” said one of the protestors. “I was begging everybody to give me a ride.”

Old pieces of Soviet armor – a tank and a personnel carrier – can still be seen rusting on the main embankment of Benghazi, ever since the rebels took over the city. They now serve as a playground for kids and symbols of defeat for the despised regime.

Another protester, Akram, was among hundreds of young officers who in the 1980s were sent to Soviet military academies by Gaddafi's government. Now a staunch critic of the Libyan leader, he says the tanks, like the Gaddafi regime, have longed outlived their days.

”All this heavy armor is now outdated,” he said. “That is why pick-up trucks come so in handy. With slight modifications, they can easily be converted to carry around rocket launchers and machine guns.”

Utilizing the utility vehicles for rapid attacks is hardly a Libyan invention. Pick-up trucks have long been a feature of modern warfare.

”You tend to see patterns, and certain vehicles are used by the US military and the US government,” said Ivan Eland from the Center on Peace and Liberty. “You see them in Afghanistan, you see them in Libya.”

It was US-supplied pick-up trucks that helped Afghan insurgents fight Soviet troops three decades ago. Now it is Libyans behind the wheel and they are at a crossroads, wondering which way to drive the country next.