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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/10/2026 in all areas

  1. Just to circle back, I got to field-test my design on my trip, and I’m super happy with how it worked! So much so that it even survived a random weather microburst and the suction cups remained planted! 😂 Not only was I able to camp in extremely hot weather and use the shower often, but after eleven days I still had 25% capacity left in the gray tank. There’s honestly nothing I would change, except possibly adding a wooden bath mat to keep my feet clean. I used one of those inexpensive folding stools to keep my shampoo and soap at an easy-to-reach height, and added another suction hook for my towel. I also attached a tarp clip to a suction cup on the side of ILOVHER to keep the shower curtain pulled in and prevent any unwanted exposure. 😉 I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s compact, works extremely well, and will travel with me for future camping where gray-water discharge is allowed!
    3 points
  2. I have really liked our Starlink mini when traveling. I have used it for basic keep in touch stuff all the way to video calls for work. We have even held two wifi based phone calls over Starlink mini while on the standby plan! My setup is still pretty basic. I have a tri-pod I mount it on so I can move it to the best spot and plug it into the side of Ollie. Speed and reliability have been great! As @jd1923 mentioned the ability to switch plans is great. Sometimes I have paid $15 for 50GB of data for the 4 days I needed it (just got lucky with how it hit my billing window).
    1 point
  3. Hi Oliver Family.. It’s been quite a while since I last posted around here, but I just finished a quick little mod for the exterior shower station on the ILOVHER. I do use and absolutely love my wet bath inside the trailer! But before the forum gray-water police sound the sirens: having managed a National Forest campground for five years, I promise I know the rules about gray water and where it belongs. I know there are plenty of places out West that actually permit surface gray-water disposal (and, funny enough, with the wildfire season we're having, the ground could probably use every stray drop). For this upcoming trip, I'll be boondocking in a private field for 12 days, and the owner doesn't mind me showering outside. I'll be using organic, biodegradable shampoo, and with no dump station for miles, keeping gray tank fill to an absolute minimum is the primary mission here. I considered one of the standard pop-up privacy tents, but having used a bicycle tent for camping, I could already envision the poles, stakes, folding/unfolding and general tent wrestling that would be involved. I was looking for something much simpler — something I could put up in a couple of minutes and take down just as quickly. I also wanted to avoid the usual problem of routing the shower hose into a privacy tent. You either have to run the wand through the main zipper opening, which can make the entrance/exit awkward, or start modifying the tent itself. Then I stumbled across these ratchet-style suction arms, and I immediately started thinking, "Oh, I can do something with these!" They reminded me of the SeaSucker-style mounting systems, and the Oliver's smooth, gelcoat fiberglass seemed like the perfect surface for them. I was so excited about the idea that I put the whole thing together and actually showered in my driveway last night just to test it out. 😂 And honestly, I think these are going to work perfectly! The Setup: Ratchet-style suction arms: I found these folding rack arms on Temu. Say what you will about ordering direct from China, but the mechanical ratchet suction on these things locks onto the fiberglass extremely well. They’re designed to hold weight and, so far, they’ve been remarkably solid. DM me if you want the link to the product. Curtains & rings: I used standard shower rings through the cutouts and repurposed heavy shower curtains I already had from a previous project and the bar that goes between the mounts is a simple tomato stake zip-tied tight to the ends. (I may reconfigure that at a later date with tool clips) No modifications to the Oliver: Nothing is drilled, screwed, glued or permanently attached to the trailer. The whole thing takes less than two minutes to set up, packs down flat, provides total privacy (other than wind, LOL) and gives me direct access to the Oliver’s outdoor shower faucets without having to wrestle with a tent or poles. I even have a suction mount for the shower wand. Please note that I have replaced the original ss shower hose with one that is 120" on my ILOVHER. Attached are the suction arms mounted to the Oliver and the full enclosure deployed. I’m pretty pleased with how simple this turned out!
    1 point
  4. Not bad for $12/night! I think going forward, besides boondocking we'll focus on National Forest Service or Army Corps of Engineers sites that give half off with the senior pass. But kind of a bummer that now on recreation.gov the next 4 nights cannot be reserved online. But you can go online to see what is reserved or FF (first come-first serve). Our campsite #7 is shown, all sites no hookups, some pit toilets, water spigots in 5 spots around the campgrounds but without hose connections. All the campsites inside of the loop are setup in the wrong direction (curbside away from picnic table). A little road noise being right off US Hwy-160 but always quiet in an Oliver! Just east of Mancos CO, Target Tree is within a half hour of Cortez to the west and Durango to the east, with Dolores nearby and Mesa Verde NP. Beautiful roads with beautiful mountain views, forest service access trails everywhere! 🤠
    1 point
  5. Glacier National Park, Saint Mary Campground near eastern entrance to the park. The campground amenities vary a bit depending on the loop, but they have hot showers (free) as well as fresh water spigots, waste water dump station (for gray water from dish washing) and an RV dump near the entrance. Full of berries and full of bears; maybe that's why the campground isn't full! The sites cannot be reserved before the day-of-arrival, but it wasn't a problem to find space. I'm so glad I took the opportunity to come here this year, at the suggestion of a friend. The weather has been perfect camping weather; cold enough to want a camp fire, and damp enough to be allowed to have a camp fire.
    1 point
  6. The shower hose I purchased was a stainless steel hose on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0dgsEMfQ   It was very straightforward..open the street side access hatch and a little teflon and you're golden! I have had it on there for five years and it fits just fine and hasn't bound up inside the compartment. Here are a couple shots of the suction mount. It's a ratchet style with two additional suction cups below it for some added strength.
    1 point
  7. What you need is one of these But, be a bit careful in that there are some of these water stations that have a sign stating something like "the filling of RV tanks is prohibited". Bill
    0 points
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