SeaDawg

Florida has several beautiful national monuments. We spent Easter weekend with our family on the boat off DeSoto national monument. Great little park. Dog friendly beach, interpretive center, nature trails, costumed characters explaining the history of DeSoto's landing. Even free guided kayak tours in season. We've anchored here for over thirty years, just off the manatee river. The monument park gets better all the time. There is a state park campground about thirty minutes away, Lake Manatee. I hope if you do come to our part of Florida, that you spend an afternoon at DeSoto. Two other national monuments on the other coast, Fort Matanzas and the fort at St Augustine, are equally as interesting. Matanzas, and DeSoto, are less frequented by non-Floridians. So, less crowded. Sherry

I suspect Jason used the term creeping, as we might use lurking... Checking in without posting or logging in. No worries, Jason, hanging out and reading let's you know what's on our minds, and the issues of the day. I'm sure it's helpful in your problem solving. Thanks. Sherry

Jason, welcome. So glad to have some speed back in using the forum. And, my phone works again. You and Matt make a great team. Glad to have you here. Sherry

On another note, one of the other cooking tools I miss when camping without power is my Crock-Pot. Has anyone here tried one of the thermal cookers, like the sunpentown and thermos brands? Heat an inner container and contents on a burner to boiling for a few minutes, seal it up in what's basically a big thermos, and come home from a day of fun to dinner? Thermal cooker [attachment file=50506]

On another note, one of the other cooking tools I miss when camping without power is my Crock-Pot. Has anyone here tried one of the thermal cookers, like the sunpentown and thermos brands? Heat an inner container and contents on a burner to boiling for a few minutes, seal it up in what's basically a big thermos, and come home from a day of fun to dinner? Thermal cooker

Yes, Karen, that has my name all over it... The first time I saw the Cobb online, it was only available outside the US. I'd forgotten about it. I'm sure it's available here now. Thanks!! Sherry

You know, as many trips as we take, home always looks good as we approach. Glad you had a great trip. Hope you have a happy holiday at home. Sherry

A PS... Where were the photos taken, please? Great view from site #2 Sherry

Congratulations, and happy travels. I hope you both enjoy your trailer as much as Paul and I have enjoyed ours for nine + years Sherry

I, too, love the colors you selected. Wishing you many miles of smiles, and happy camping.!! Sherry

Beautiful. The stripes look great with your red tug. Wishing you many happy camping adventures. Sherry

John Davies, I see we posted about the same time. I know you do a lot of research, too, like the rest of us. Any opinion on Michelin Ms/2 vs Michelin Defender ltx tires. The price different here in my county is about a dollar a tire. We definitely do many more highway miles than gravel. It's 650 miles from my driveway to the mountains near Asheville. Shery

Overland, our original 17 trailer has only a single axle, and the 5200 # has worked very well for us. If we load the trailer up with full gear and full tanks, we're probably around 3600 pounds. I have weighed it in the past at CAT scales, and I don't remember the exact weights, I would have to look it up, but the 5200 gives us plenty of safety margin. Oliver changed out the few 17 ft trailers that had the original 3500 # axle for the 5200 early on. We don't have the doubling factor of two axles, like the newer, bigger trailers . As far as the tires, I will likely get one of two locally available Michelin ltx load range e tires. We don't drive slow unless we have to, and good load range e st tires are almost impossible to find anymore, so ltx it is. We can find Michelin ltx, just about anywhere. If they last five years, as most of our tires do, it's not a huge amortized cost. We only have to buy two, after all... Sherry

John Davies, I totally agree. The casting on the photo I posted of the hitch lock is terrible. Our ten year old lock, of undetermined manufacturer, looks better, but is probably aluminum as well. In conjunction with the collar lock (stainless, not hardened), it's been ok for nine plus years, but that's like lightning rod theory. It works, til it doesn't. Raspy, I don't know if a smaller ball would fit, if the hitch lock were cut off. Maybe. I do like the simplicity of the Gus Hill bull lock that Buzzy originally posted, and John Davies referenced. It's a hardened aluminum, but still aluminum. And I love puck locks. Here's a working link https://gushill.com/product/the-bull-bulldog-hitch-lock/ It's certainly more attractive, but I'd still want the collar lock for transit. I know all locks can be broken, with time. Most of us just want to make our trailer time consuming to steal, and send the guy further down the road... At home, highly visible cameras add an extra deterrent. We recently bought a gen 3 spot, not just for theft tracking, but for peace of mind when traveling. Our daughter followed our boat on the last long trip on a rental transponder, and it gave her some confidence. Gen 3 spot can also transmit an sos in areas where you don't have cell service, as I understand it. We haven't tried that yet. Hope we never have to. Sherry

Thanks, John. My 08 single axle has the 5200 axle, and 6 bolt pattern, same as Pete. Your info is really helpful though, to others who might want to change up the bolt pattern. If an older owner of the original single axle trailer still has a 3500 axle, though, I'd encourage him to contact the factory about trading it up for the 5200# . I don't know if any are left, but there may be a few. And, as Pete noted, his specs are for the higher rated axle, six bolt pattern most of us earlier small trailer owners have. I should have mentioned that in my original post. Thanks for the catch, Pete. And thanks for the info, John. Sherry

I found the collar lock we use , both while towing and camped, on Amazon. When camped, we add the hitch lock above. https://www.amazon.com/Collar-Trailer-Bulldog-style-Couplers-Including/dp/B00HL2NM0K

I believe so, too, Overland. At least two other owners adopted the same wheels and tires in 2012, and the people I've spoken to are very happy with the results. I may use a different Michelin tires, though. Haven't decided on that yet. Pete's post details the correct specs for wheels and bolt pattern, which saved me a lot of time. Sherry

We're working on getting the camper cleaned up, checked out, and ready for camping season. Our Maxxis load range e st tires look fine for tread, but sidewalls show some checking, and they're old enough (5 years) that we are going to replace them before we tow the trailer anywhere. Steve, Pete, and Aubrey all changed their 2008 trailers over to light truck 16 inch tires years ago. We're going to change out the wheels and go to the LT Michelin. Since Pete did all the research for years ago, and he's been happy, I'm not going to "reinvent the wheel." For anyone with an early Oliver with the 15 inch st tires, here's a screenshot of his installation. It will increase the height of the trailer a bit, but we had the double step installed a few years back. Thanks, Pete! Sherry

Over the years, we've had many discussions on the best way to bre coffee. My fave is a big, pourover Melitta or knockoff​ pourover cone, into a salvaged thermal stainless pot from failed home coffee​ maker. This week, Amazon has one of my faves on special. Only in black. Uses the big, universally available #4 filter. If you order other stuff, to $35, it's free shipping. Sherry

Just an FYI, it's inexpensive, and works great for us. We carry a little Rubbermaid folding two step ladder for access to the truck bed. When not use, it holds a home Depot water cooler, with ice,at the campsite . My friend installed one if those drop down tailgate ladders. I feel much more stable on the inexpensive, wide base rubbermaid that we've toted around for nine years.... Sherry

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions. Bugbite, nice to know another omnia owner Pete, the backpacker oven is my kind of indoor solution now. Little fry pan with a lid. I do that now, with makeshift equipment. Reed and Karen, I own a couple Dutch ovens. I reserve them for campfire , not rainy days. I guess I could use them indoors. Heritage cookware is pretty cool. I'm not a master, like you two. And, cast iron is heavy, so, I don't usually take it around on long trips. Camp chef makes a highly rated, semi portable oven, with burners. At about 45 pounds. I don't think I'd take it on a long trip, but it could work on our camping property. I am adverse to asking for Paul's help to just set up for cooking. That's why I found the small omnia appealing. I also have aversions to buying single purpose gear. I carry two pans, three knives, two cutting boards, ordinarily. I thought the omnia might work on the boat as well as in the trailer. Otherwise, I'd rather spend $80 on another good knife, than a single purpose item in a rarely used underbed bin. Thanks, again. Sherry

Thanks, Buzzy, for starting this thread. I think we'll all learn something. We designed our new home, on our old lot, as a "forever" home, with mostly ADA compliant doorways, baths, and turning radii. Extra blocking in the walls for hand grips. Installed towel bars and shower slides that didn't look like it, but are grab bars. Lots of new stuff out there these days. Paul and I have been talking about sailing v camping, lately. Our boat, is of course, more difficult to make accessible. The camper, we feel we can use for a lot of years to come, barring needing a wheelchair. Our older little Oliver has only 22 inches clearance between the fridge and shower corner. We bought our Oliver 9 years ago, so we had a lot fewer physical challenges then. Still, I camped for a month with a broken foot, and my biggest challenge was the bathroom door ledge, six years ago. Buzzy, best of luck in your improvements. Truly reinforces my first opinion of you. Nice guy. Family first. Thanks to Randy for the toilet seat info, overland and lukens on the step. I personally, however, don't trust the stools on hilly terrain. Cracked a rib when one flipped . If you use one, always hang on to a grab handle . Bugbite, thanks for the link. There's a lot out there. And, we all need to be forward thinking, as we age... As these trailers will outlive us all. Sherry

Hitch lock, when camped is something like this...

The collar like is like this one