SeaDawg

When we picked up our elite, we had 3 people in a volvo xc90, plus our luggage from a week at a trade show, plus what I felt was essential to set up the trailer for a trip to Florida. (Third person was my brother. We dropped him off 6vor 7 hours down the road at his in-laws, to catch a flight home to Minnesota. ) That's entirely different than trying to move into a new home on wheels, however. I'll try to make a list of what I really think is essential for living on our longer (2 months or more trips, with more than one season.) Sherry

We are home from (we think) our last camping trip of 2020. I can try to help you, from the old school perspective, as best as I can. I remove most everything from the trailer at the end of the year, and clean/launder/discard/replace as i go. I'm always surprised at how much I'm moving around, considering we travel with three empty cupboards (at least) most of the time. I agree. You don't want to turn the trailer into a hoarders paradise. Nor do you want to have to replace items you give away from your sticks and bricks home.

Pretty sure there's another more current thread about this Ford issue. It's been out there awhile.

FYI, all factory truck backup cameras, and many aftermarket cameras, only work when in reverse. Typically they get energized when the reverse lights come on. This is not so great ... I think most of the rvs we've delivered yo Alaska have a fulltime rear view camera. It would really be nice if all of them worked that way.

I wish I could have captured a photo of the stars tonight in our little corner of western North Carolina. Amazing. Beautiful. I'm thankful to be out here, and seeing the beauty. Oh, and late night hot dog over the dwindling fire. Priceless. 😅

Agreed. Tonight's fire.

Whatever the name, your counters are lovely.

It's the mounting I'm thinking about. Most other rv "builtin" furniture is wood. Ours is fiberglass. Somehow, the whole thing has to be secured for travel. Then again, drilling holes under the bed/seat cushions isn't a big deal. I'll really look forward to your mod. I love the adjustable beds we put in our guest room. If my back is bothering me, it's the very best place to sleep.

Another thing I've found helpful, when camping in tiny van campers abroad, is to use soft duffle bags for coats, extra clothes etc. They can squish in anywhere. In our truck bed, I can put a partially loaded duffel on top of some bins. In Iceland, camping in a tiny van, I had to move some stuff from bed to car seats at night. It took just a minute, so no big deal. (If you actually find out you run out of space. Which I doubt.)

I don't think you'll find it too hard to accommodate what you need in the Elite, and the truckbed, and that cave of a back seat in the Rebel. We travel most of the time with three or more empty cupboards. Instead of a bath cabinet, which we don't have, I keep bath supplies in a plastic file box, with a handle on top. It just fits between the toilet and wall, and it's easy to remove when using the shower. Extra bath towels go in a bedding crate under the bed. Do you have any IKEA skubb fabric boxes? I use those in upper cabinets, to organize contents. Since they're fabric, they bend to fit the available space, plus they're light. I pack our clothes, mostly, in packing cubes. I also have a hanging kids organizer from ikea in the closet. It holds ikea skubb boxes, and small packing cubes, and/or rolled sweaters and shirts. I'm with Susan. Rolling clothes, for the most part, keeps things compact and mostly wrinkle free.

I thought the same thing when I saw the Advanced Rv Bed, Susan

Philip Andrews has made some posts on Facebook about the new brackets, with different gussets. I can't find his photos at the moment.

We did exactly that. When our microwave died from lack of use, we removed it, and built a cabinet. If you use a microwave now, while camping, you know you'll want one again. Everyone has different styles and needs.

We carry extra clothing, coats, boots, etc. In bins in the pickup bed, as well. Three bins fit nicely under the Elite big dinette, if you keep it made into a bed all the time, as we do. One bin is extra bedding and blanket. One is often clothing. One is misc daily stuff, vacuum, etc.

Mostly, people use it for doing dishes, and washing dogs, from what I've seen. And yes, we've actually used it as an outdoor shower. But noone uses it in the winter, I'm sure.😅

Not long, now! Good luck, and safe travels!

Looks really nice!

I've learned many things from you. Thanks for everything. Especially your sense of humor!

Lately, I've seen several posters "apologize" for questions. Not necessary. The search engine, though better than the old days, won't always give you good, nor current answers. While it's true that I've answered some questions many (dozens?,) of times, it's really not a big deal. What's a big deal is that your question is important. To you. Old timers who don't want to respond, won't. And with so many new systems in the newer trailers, your questions are helpful to all of us .

In summer storage, I sometimes use two or three of the $1 tubs of desiccant from Dollar Tree (like drize the air, but $1). No power required. I set them in the kitchen and bath sinks, in case they would ever overflow. .

From a 2009 , the tank is not easily accessed , nor removed. The dinette seat on the other side of the bathroom is full if the electric reel, heavy duty cord, and on top of that, the awkward storage bin. The composting toilet has worked well for many people. Don't count on the black tank space for much, other than (maybe) a hidey hole accessible from a cutout you'd have to make, the north side of the seat. That's if you want tp go to the (extensive, somewhat useless, imo) work of removing it. I wouldn't do it. If I wanted a composting toilet, I'd drain and sanitize the heck out of the empty tank, and call it done.

MattNan, we've lived on 200 watts solar, and 2 group 27 batteries for years. Furnace is the big hog for us. We had an inverter for awhile. It died, probably from lack of use, and we took it out of the mix. With 4 agms, watch your power consumption running microwave, etc. Otherwise , you should be golden. We carry a small (1000 watt) Honda to charge our batteries on series of days with no sun. It will not run ac, nor a microwave. It's just a gas-powered charger.

Our dog, and our granddog, are fine with leather. No issues. But neither one is over 20 pounds. And, we keep nails clipped. I think that's the big problem.

no, its about 1/4 to 1/3 less, to use the mesh. The bottom of marine cushions is usually mesh, these days. I can't comment on breathability with two-sided brisa cushions, because I don't have experience with them.

Btw, can you mix it up? As I did on the boat? Fabric on the rear, Ultrafabric on the small dinette?