LONG POST. SORRY.
So I just read
@85_Ranger4x4 ’s analysis and review of his camping setup following this year’s Vagabond trip. And it has me thinking about my situation. I’m always churning ideas in my head and trying to think about what I could do better within the realm of my current resources.
This 8 day(for me) trip was a great test. I normally do more of a base camp operation. Let’s face it. Setting up and tearing down camp on a daily basis is a bunch of work. So, how do we get it down to acceptable levels so it doesn’t sap the fun out of the trip?
Shelter; buying the gazelle tent and gazebo were some of the greatest things I’ve done for my camping. Yes. They take up a lot more space in the truck than the cheap 2 or 3-man tents from Walmart that I used to use. But the comfort of having standing room in the tent is worth it for this old geezer. Plenty of room for me, Livvy, the air mattress and sleeping bag, my duffle bag and even Livvy’s food and water. It’s all inside and protected from the weather. If rainy, the gazebo gives me shelter for cooking meals. No regrets. The only downsides are effort required for setup/teardown and the fact that I’m still looking for a flat, non-muddy, non-rocky space on the ground. Some dispersed campsites I see along the road are not great for that. If I come into enough money, I will likely buy a RTT and build a frame to mount it on the truck. That’s heavier and changes the center of gravity in a bad direction. But it assures me of a dry, flat surface to sleep on everywhere I go. I would possibly consider a small overlanding trailer. But one group I travel with has a “no trailers” rule.
Food Storage; I have camped with ice chests for my whole life. Never really thought much about it. But, once the ice starts melting, the water starts sloshing. I haven’t found anything yet that really keeps that water from infiltrating food containers. Zip-Loc bags are not adequate. The water gets in and food gets messed up. I managed it well in this trip, using a stick pot as a container to keep some things out of the water and a plastic bin from an old ice chest as another such containeA 12volt fridge/freezer combo is on my list of “wants”. Technology has finally risen to the occasion and these units are getting more affordable. Only drawback is that they need power. So…
Power; I am still doing well by just using the trucks electrical system for charging phone, tablet, radios, etc. But this has its limits. I could use more power storage and an inverter to power a computer to transfer files from camera cards onto other storage media. If I add a refrigerator. That demand becomes bigger and continuous. So, a large secondary battery with inverter and solar charging capability becomes necessary. Hmmm. Sounds nice. But it’s not cheap.
Overall, I’m very pleased with how everything worked on this trip. A few little bugs to work out. A few things that would be nice to do differently. But my setup is proven. If I wanted to, I could do a little maintenance and set off for a trip to Alaska next week, if finances permitted.
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