Notes »

Camping Gear

Notes on camping gear, what works, what doesn't.

Tent

I was thinking about a rooftop tent, something that would go on a cargo rack. I also considered a camper that could be towed. I discarded the idea of a rooftop tent because I didn't want to deal with driving with it on all the time, or removing it. I wanted something easy to use and be able to stand up in.

I strongly considered the Gazelle T4, but the more I researched it the less I liked it. The velcro attached floor, the weird diagonal doors, no awning... I was willing to spend more, but didn't find anything that looked like what I wanted until I found the Oztent RV-3. It seemed to fit the bill, quick and easy setup, large enough to stand up in so I ordered one. Unfortunately, when I took it out on a test run the awning was missing the grommets/eyelets for the poles and after I emailed the manufacturer about installing them myself they said I should just return it "through proper channels" instead of risking the warranty. As a DIYer I was a little miffed at that, so I just returned it and started looking for alternatives. It was a decent tent, but was a bit smaller than I expected after I put the large cot, Jackery and cooler in there too. It was also a very long tent, folded up it barely fit in the cargo space in my car. I ended up finding the Springbar Classic Jack 100. I haven't taken this one out on a test run yet, but I have high hopes. It packs down into 2 more maneuverable bags, one for the poles and one for the canvas, and is quite a bit larger at 10x10 feet. Even though it's not "instant up" like the Oztent, I found that staking everything down is what takes the most time anyway and the video demonstrations for the springbar make it look like a fairly simple and sturdy setup.

For ground cover, I'm going to test out using a 10x16' shade cloth. The 6' extending out front under the awning should make for a nice sort of patio area.

Bedding

The camping cot didn't seem to justify it's weight, I used a vintage inherited sleeping bag that I've been using all my life along with it. Much better than sleeping on the ground, but I'm looking forward to trying out the Exped LuxeMat Duo. The less expensive MegaMat would have probably worked fine, but I guess I felt like going all out. I haven't done any research on sleeping bags, so I'll probably just end up bringing a blanket and my old sleeping bag for the next test run and leave the camping cot at home. I also picked up the Exped Widget to inflate the mat. It also functions as a lantern and USB power bank.

Warmth

It was a cold night camping December in the desert and I wished I had a heater. I discovered the MrHeater Portable Buddy propane heater, picked up a refurbished model on eBay for $60 and a 20gal propane tank, the hose and filter for hookup. I gave it a few hours test run in my office and it puts out a decent amount of warmth, should be interesting to see how it does in the tent.

Cooler (12v refrigerator freezer)

I've wanted a 12v refrigerator ever since I dreamed of being more of a vagabond. I did some quick research and ran across the ICECO APL35 Freezer on black Friday. I was looking at the VL45 at first, but the difference in weight is what sold me on the APL35, 18.6 pounds lighter. You give up a bit of capacity, but you get dual zones. It's been working well and seems to be built well as well.

Power

I picked up a Jackery Explorer 2000 Pro Portable Power Station (Refurbished), mainly so I could do my desert DJing stuff, but it's really been a nice bit of kit to have around. I just picked up a 12v splitter so I can keep the freezer plugged in as well as have a 12v pump setup for washing. I eventually ended up picking up a couple of the Jackery SolarSaga 200W panels during black Friday as well. For the one night trip, I tested the unit by running it down with a electric heater and charging with panels the next day. I was able to get it back to about a 20% charge off solar, I expected better, but maybe I didn't have it aligned well enough or the winter sun wasn't intense enough or maybe that's just it. The design is sort of cumbersome with elastic legs that like to flip closed and you have to put the panel's edge in the dirt. They seem pretty sturdy, but really they are cumbersome. I could see it being worth it for extended periods with minimal draw from electronics (no electric heaters!)

Lighting

On my test trip I brought my Lumintop Tool AAA, it's a EDC flashlight that fits in my coin pocket alongside a small knife. It's been a great little flashlight. The Jackery Explorer has a light built in which was sort of useful, but was annoyed to find it on under the gasket at one point. It's hard to find the buttons in the dark and can hit them accidentally. I also picked up a cheap USB headlight a few years back after watching a bigclivedotcom video, which has been fairly decent, but I really dislike the "motion detector" mode that turns the lamp on and off by waving a hand in front of it. I picked up this D25LR without that feature, and includes a red light mode which is useful for star gazing. It's also USB-C rechargeable and has a replaceable battery. I wanted a lantern for the tent, but didn't like the idea of getting up to turn off the light and imagined a lantern with a wireless remote, and sure enough was able to track it down (after considering building one myself).

Water

I only had my regular water bottle, gallon and a half-gallon coleman of water for the test trip. I picked up a couple of these: Scepter Food Grade 5 Gal Water Jug for longer excursions. I rinsed with baking soda and bleach, even though I didn't notice much of a plastic smell. I also picked up a 5gal non-potable jug for rinse water and wired up a 12v pump and foot switch along with some tubing and a 3D printed spray nozzle. The nozzle design will have to be dialed in, currently it's very simple and probably has too many holes. The pump running just for a few seconds will drain the jug way down without any nozzles at all. I don't remember why I picked up the pump and tubing, maybe the electronic goldmine had a really good deal at one point and I was imagining making a water feature?

I still need to look into water filtration. I've used a Sawyer water filter in the past and that seemed to work good for backpacking.

Cooking

I'd like to track down a single burner stove, or an adapter for my current vintage inherited stove to plug into the 20gal propane tank. During the test trip I just cooked up some hot dogs with the GoSun Sport. It's a really neat little solar cooker, and I've used it to cook potatoes camping in New Mexico before. I also cook with it at home in the summer time.

Connectivity

I messed up and ordered a Starlink mini on the Roam plan before black Friday. When I researched it seemed like everyone was saying they didn't do deals, but they did.

Toilet

I went with the Luggable Loo which snaps onto a 5gal bucket. I'm glad I brought it along to test buckets because the first ones I tried did not fit! I also picked up a pack of these wag bags. On the test trip I forgot my shovel and ended up not really able to go #2 anyway, travel constipation is a thing.

Tables

I brought the 4ft adjustable height LifeTime table I picked up for my DJ setup for the test trip. It worked well enough, although bulky. I'll probably bring it again in addition to the Big Agnes camp table

Chair

I only brought an old semi broken camping chair. I'll bring that along with a foldable LifeTime chair next time. I looked at a bunch of chairs and almost got another one, but I'm going to see how this setup does until the chair fully breaks or I find something that will be "perfect".

Organization

This needs work. Everything is just thrown in haphazardly, besides my backpack and a small dufflebag for now. Some totes would probably be a good idea.

Security

This also needs work. I'd like to be able to leave camp, but also feel like it's secure. Maybe motion detector/camera with LoRa modules + internet + SMS? Maybe a warning alarm too?