Trip Prep (Gear)

September 12, 2023 - July 8, 2024 - If you think we wait until we are about to leave to start packing and making changes, think again. We start the day we get home from a trip. That way we can remember what my list means.

It seems we are always trying to make camp more efficient, pack lighter, and generally just be better prepared. Here are our latest modifications.

Jack mounted above the winch. Remove the red nuts and its ready to use. A Neoprene boot keeps mud off the working parts.

Jack Mount - In the past we have carried the jack inside the back of the Jeep but it takes up a lot of space and if you have to sleep in the Jeep, it’s in the way.  We thought about mounting it on the back next to the spare tire. It wouldn’t fit on any of the available mounts because we have a 35” spare. They make a spacer to move the spare tire farther out, but we already have a hitch extension for the trailer. Moving the spare tire farther back would mean the hitch extension would need to be even longer. So that option was an easy, No! We also considered mounting the jack between the front door and the front wheel. Those mounting brackets would not work with our sliders (the step things under the doors). I was not willing to mount it in a location that I could not get it down by myself. This eliminated both the roof and the hood. The only other option was the front. I happened to notice an image online when I was looking at other options. The photo showed the jack mounted on the front bumper behind the winch. It was easy to get to and it would fit. We ordered it online and discovered it was just a guy that welds these. It works so I don’t care who makes it.  If only I knew how to weld.  That’s coming.

New Wheels - We talked about this a while back. The important point here is the wheels are bead grip which reduces the possibility of loosing the tire when you’re aired down.

GMRS Radios

GMRS Radios - We like our HAM radio but if we are traveling with someone that doesn’t have a ham radio you can’t communicate with the other vehicle. We needed another option. GMRS radios do not require a license although one person in the group needs to register with the FCC. So now we can pass a radio to someone in another vehicle and talk while we are on the road. Our travel partners for our upcoming trip had a schedule conflict and won’t be able to join us but we will be ready next time.

Starlink mount/case/router - We love our Starlink satellite connection. Actually we call in a Muskox which is a play on Elon Musk’s name. When we get to camp, we pull it out of the trailer and set it up which takes a few minutes. Its case is heavy and set up is inconvenient. We found a way to mount the dish on the trailer. We will still have to pull it out of the trailer but we won’t need the same stand which means we can use a smaller case and it will be faster to setup. Mounting it on the trailer will also make it higher so maybe we will have better reception around trees.

The new mount is on a pole that attaches to the side of the trailer.

The mount bracket attaches with a strong suction cup. You’re supposed to remove the mount bracket while moving, but it’s suction is so strong it’s hard to remove. We tethered it to our propane tank.

The second problem with the Muskox is locating the router. There is a cable between the dish and the router, which needs electricity. This means we have a cable running out of the tent. We decided to semi-permanently mount the router in a storage compartment where it will have electricity so we only need to connect the dish. We might find that we can keep the dish connected and just place the dish in the same storage compartment (cable still connected) while we are travel between camps.

We have replaced the router since this photo and converted the Muskox to 12V.

Cable (on red spool) and router (gray and white box above)

Chairs - On my post, Shakedown Testing, we discussed our attempt to keep our chairs from blowing away. We found out someone makes a tie-down like we had made but once you tie your chair down you can’t move it easily. This is a problem because the sun moves so that you want to move your chair.

New Non-Fiddly Chairs One Set Up the other Folded

After considering that our chairs are fiddly to set up and take down, we decided to get new chairs that were quick to set up and are heavy enough they shouldn’t blow away nearly as easily. 

Clothes - It’s nice to have options for changing weather conditions but how many clothes do you really need. We find that we over pack clothing. On our next trip I want to limit that excess. Previously I had taken two of most clothing items. On the next trip I plan to take one of each of the following 14 items.

Shorts, Light weight pants, Medium weight pants, Heavy weight pants, Long underwear, (top and bottom) Light weight short sleeve shirt, Light weight long sleeved shirt, Medium weight long sleeved shirt, Light jacket, Heavy sweater, Heavy jacket, Set rain gear, PJs, Bathing suite

The bathing suite is for bathing in public but it can be used for swimming too.  My PJs are actually lightweight long underwear (we’re camping and it gets cold). I’ll take several pairs of underwear and socks. That should be plenty but I will need to do laundry depending on how long we’re out. 

Trash Management - Normally, we take a one gallon bucket to hold our trash when we are in camp. During the day we look for a public trash can. Usually we find a place to dispose of the trash every day. If we are traveling in bear country and can’t find a place to dispose of trash, we will need a place to store it out of a bear’s reach and smell. You can get a bear can but they are small and round so don’t pack very well. We found Alubox containers. These boxes are light, square and easy to pack. There are also certified bear resistant. We bought two, one for food and one for trash and anything else smelly.

AluBox - bear proof and easy to pack

Gray Water Management - We don’t want dish water close to camp. Actually many places recommend you bury your gray water as it probably will contain bits of food. We plan to collect water from our sink in a two gallon bucket, with a short piece of tubing to reducing splashing. We can then carry it away from camp and bury it as needed. Two gallons should be plenty. We’re washing two plates, two spoons and our cook pot. We might have a cutting board and a knife. Washing these few things doesn’t take much water.

Gas/Diesel - We have a place to mount extra gas containers on the Jeep. But that doesn’t give us a place to carry extra diesel for the water/trailer heater. Since we only need diesel for the trailer, we mounted these containers on the trailer. We could put our gas containers here if we needed gas rather than diesel.

Front of Patriot Camper - Closed

Axe Mount - We’ve never used our axe on the trail but we have one in case a tree falls across a road that we really need to travel. The plan is to chop through the log then winch it out of the way. At least that’s the plan. In the past, we have mounted the axe on top of the trailer, but it is a tripping hazard if you have to climb onto of the trailer. (Sometimes we climb up there when packing the tent) When we sit under the tent, I usually bump my head on the axe handle at least once at each camp spot. We moved it into the “Garage”.

Front of Patriot Camper - Open

Space for our stove beside the Webasto heater.

The stove is mounted on an arm that swings out beside the kitchen or locks in place as shown.

Grill/stove mount - A grill is a luxury on the trail. Nice to have but we don’t use it that much. Also, in bear country it can attract much unwanted attention from the locals. We decided to remove the grill since it just straps down. Then we noticed that our stove would fit nicely on the grill stand. We just had to modify the platform. We built a wooden shelf that fits into the existing platform. Now the stove doesn’t slide around and it will lift out if we want to move it.

Heat - We have a Webasto heater for heating water and our tent. (see the black box with “Patriot Campers” in the photo above) The heater is great for heating water, but we have not had much success in heating the tent with it. After researching it online we discovered that we need to run the heater for about 2 hours to make it heat the tent. The inside of the tent is about 63sf but the heater is the size of backpack so that seems like a reasonable time.

Investigating further we realized we didn’t know where the air intake is. We wondered if we were blocking the air intake with something. Looking on the wall behind the heater, we found some interesting holes.

In the photos on the left above, the upper and lower photos are of the same area. The upper is with the refrigerator pulled out (it is on a drawer slide) The lower photo is with the refrigerator pushed in. The upper photo shows a small rectangular piece of plastic with holes in it. We opened the door as shown on the bottom.

Beside this compartment (photo on the right) is an area we call the ‘library’ as I like to store my Audubon bird, tree, and flower books here as well as other miscellaneous items. We had placed red tape over two holes in the back to make sure nothing fell through the holes. Not being sure if there were actually holes or something more, we moved the tape and turned on the heater. Then we waited. It soon became clear that the two holes in the library are just holes. That weird black rectangle behind the refrigerator (upper left) is the air intake for the heater. We will need to open the lid to the freezer compartment as shown in the lower photo. While the tent might not get warm, it will certainly be better.

Trail Lights - When you’re traveling in poor visibility conditions (dust, fog, snow, or heavy rain) amber lights can provide better visibility than white lights. This is because white light is more likely to be reflected back at you by anything in the air. Also since fog and snow, and to some extent rain, already appear as white, the yellow light gives contrast. The advantages of amber light hold true for both seeing where you are going and helping other people to see you.

Amber trail lights on bumper and A-pillar

I’m sure we will find lots of things to modify, but in case you haven’t notice, we think that’s fun too.

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