Radical Camper - Camping Tips

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Propane Bottles

If you want to make sure your heater runs all night long, 11 pound propane bottles are great. The small green propane canisters for camping are much more expensive than refilling a propane bottle and they do not last more than a few hours for heaters. The 20 pound propane bottles are bulky and heavy and are challenging to bring camping. The 11 pound propane bottles allow you to refill inexpensively and they are much smaller and lighter weight than the 20 pound propane bottles.

Cook Station

The GCI Outdoor Slim-Fold Outdoor Cook Station is by far the nicest cook station James and Kerry have owned. It is sturdy, sets up and tears down really easy and doesn't take a lot of room when stored

Camping Chairs

If you are short on storage space, consider this style of camping chair. It folds up much smaller than the traditional camping chairs.

Shower/Portable Toilet Enclosure

Popup enclosures for showering and portable toilets take much less time to put up and take down than the traditional style where poles need to be assembled. The Leader Accessories Pop Up Shower Tent has a roof that zips open which is great for letting the bugs out. The partial floor works is much easier to keep clean and dry than a full floor.

Camp Lighter

The TECBOSS Torch Lighter is a very nice lighter under $15.00. It feels sturdy and well built.

Camp Light

James won the Suletake Strobe and Safety Camping Light in a free giveaway. The light has far exceeded James's expectations. It is compact, bright, lasts a long time, has a pop out hanger and it has a port to charge other devices. You can even choose a diffuse general illumination option or a flashlight option.

Backpacks

James has had a lot of daypacks over the years. The Gregory Salvo 28 Backpack is his favorite to date. The backpack has a very nice design for allowing air to circulate around his back, plenty of storage space, a pocket for electronics devices, a place for a water bladder and plenty of pockets. Having pockets on the waist belt is very handy for grabbing something quick with out removing the backpack.

Backpack Item Suggestions

James believes in being prepared and carries the following in his backpack.

• Monocular
• Finger Nail Clipper
• InReach emergency satellite device for texting
• Small battery backup
• SOL Emergency Blanket
• Two Lighters
• Emergency repair zippers
• Compass
• Small can opener
• Tweezers
• Spoon, fork, knife combined
• Emergency Fire Starter
• Hand and feet warmers
• Water Filter Straw
• Super Glue to close up cuts. Using glue formulated for medical use as opposed to hardware glue will avoid irritation and be more flexible

Refrigerator

ARB Refrigerators might be expensive, but they are rugged and dependable. James and Kerry have an older model ARB refrigerator that has lasted more than 20 years in very rugged environments without any trouble.

If you plan to keep your refrigerator in your vehicle and you are camping in cooler weather (75 degrees and below with cool nights), a 400 watt lithium power station and 100 watt solar panel works fairly well for keeping it powered up. Note that if you are camping for more than a day or two, a gas generator is still handy to keep things powered up during cloudy weather. Hot weather camping might take double the battery storage and solar panels. James and Kerry will be testing out hot weather camping this year and will provide an update ASAP.

Power

The Goal Zero products and support are exceptional. The Yeti 1400 Lithium Power Station paired with a Boulder 200 Briefcase solar panels and the Nomad 100 folding solar panels work great for James and Kerry. It easily runs a portable ARB refrigerator, 50" TV, Playstation, fans, and charges all of their USB devices. The Yeti 1400 is fairly large and heavy and would be overkill for casual camping. Goal Zero makes several other sizes of power stations and solar panels to meet your particular power requirements.

Note that James and Kerry tried out RockPals solar products. The equipment was not as elegant in design, the folding solar panels lost thier protective cover in less than a year and the RockPals customer support was not very helpful.

Water Heater

If you plan on camping much above 6500 feet, finding a water heater for showers can be challenging as many water heaters do not work well above 6500 feet. Some water heater manufacturers do make kits that can be purchased to get their product to work above 6500 feet.

(Note that some people say they have not had trouble with propane heaters at high altitudes. While that may be the case, James and Kerry have had problems keeping pilot light lit at high altitudes, so it is definitely an issue you should be aware of)

The Zodi heating products are nice in that they don't use pilot lights, so altitude is not an issue. However, the Zodi shower heaters are not as efficient or easy to use as traditional tankless water heaters, the Zodi heaters do not work well in the wind and the Zodi heaters do not allow the user to adjust the flow of the water or turn the water off briefly when not in use. If the water you have access to is cold it may require re-circulation of the water to get it to an acceptable temperature. The duel burner heater works much better with cold water than the single burner system. Another benefit of the Zodi is that the case for the heater also works as the water container when showering.

The best camping shower experience is a tankless water. You can dial in the preferred water temperature and it is easy to stop the water flow to save water and propane. However, tankless heaters require a separate water pump and a bucket to hold the water if a water source is not near by. In addition, the pump and heater are not as easy to store as the other two options listed here. If you plan to camp above 6500, be sure to ask the manufacturer about use at high altitude. Note that the manufacturers website says the Camplux 5L 1.32 GPM Tankless Water Heater does not work above 2000 feet. Although that may be an error and they meant to say 2000 meters which would be about 6500 feet.

Water heating systems made for camping like the Hike Crew Portable Propane Water Heater appear to be very nice. They come with a water pump so that would not need to be purchased separately as with the tankless water heater. If you plan to camp above 6500, be sure to ask the manufacturer about use at high altitude. James and Kerry have not had the opportunity to try one out, but they are definitely of interest. The Hike Crew even has a water faucet. Note that is does require DC power from a car outlet or a lithium power station and it does not include a container for holding water so a collapsible water bucket would make using it easier if a water source is not nearby.