SeaDawg

😁I am the wife. I'd be happy to give lessons on a microwave-free life, but many are disinterested. I rarely use my home microwave, so it is easy for me. Back in 2008, my husband really wanted the convection microwave, (I didn't), so we got it. It eventually died, probably from lack of use... Since we almost never h ad power, the microwave was useless. We now enjoy a little pantry cabinet created from the microwave cabinet. Everyone's needs and wants are different. Our trailers can accommodate them, with whatever accessories buy. Our lifestyles, and camping styles, are different, but we can all work together on solutions.

Likely will never happen. We'll see. It's a concept, and lovely. That rear "patio" would totally be a disaster in the east, bug country, however.. The raised roof reminds me of a hymer/eriba puck redesign. A legend in its time, the eriba puck was (and still is, if you can find one) one of the coolest little trailers ever built, imo. Hymer brought out a redesign, but it only lasted a few years in north America. I saw one at tampa rv supershow. Tiny, but extremely cool. Maybe airstream will call it the nest, v2, if it ever materializes?? Sad that Airstream blew that one up.

They go hand in hand. Enjoy the journey . Our experience has been that not everything goes "as planned," and we make few reservations. National parks are an exception.

They go hand in hand. Enjoy the journey . Our experience has been that not everything goes "as planned," and we make few reservations. National parks are an exception.

There used to be a locking plate for truck bed and foot. We'll designed, but no longer available. The plastic handle can be protected with one of these. (I'm showing home depot, but available from a myriad of places) Honda EU2000i Generator Theft Deterrent Handle https://www.homedepot.com/p/Honda-EU2000i-Generator-Theft-Deterrent-Handle-63230-Z07-010AH/206798584 SKU# 206798584

@Patriot, you're the first in our group that I know of with that Honda 3200i model. I look forward to your (always honest and impartial) reviews. Looks like a game changer, weight- wise. Lots of power vs slight weight. But, you know how I love Honda gear.... I'm very happy for you. PS non ethanol and stabili are always used in our small motors. Gensets, ski boat, yard tools, etc. I think that's part of their longevity. Besides the brand badges.

In our experience of 15 years with the ollie, using solar as our primary choice of charging, but using a genset when we have a string of crappy days, I'll offer this: We use the generator (in our case, 2008 Elite I with only two agm 105 ah 12v batteries) in the morning hours, when most depleted, so the genset is charging in "boost" or "bulk"mode, most efficient for the gas running the generator. Once the on-board controller throttles back to "absorption", and definitely if we take a walk and its in "float", if weather is halfway decent, we shut down the generator and let the silent and efficient solar panels finish the job. The next modes step down, and solar works fine. Actually, better than a genset, at low amp charging. (Side note: if we have to charge a tool battery or something else, we'll do that while the generator is running.) This has worked extremely well for us. A few notes: we have no microwave. We have no inverter. We camp, not rv. We do have an electric dc fridge. But, the principles would be the same. If you use a lot more amps (microwave, toaster oven, electric coffee pot, etc) you may need to run a generator at night, for a bit, as well, even with lithium. The cool thing about lithium batteries is that they actually "like" the middle charge range. Agms want to be topped off every day. Lithium doesn't need that. You'll find your sweet spots, whichever batteries you have. With agms, I try to not go below +/- 75% charge, as I know that extends the life of my (arguably expensive) batteries. With lithium, I'd be ok going down to ten or 15 per cent , but I'd try to keep them in the mid range (30 to 85)

Omg. That's an awful, and at the same time amazing recovery story. Mt pisgah cg is not a place where you want your camper moving on its own. Glas you were able to help, and glad the story ended well.

Oh, the memories. One of my college roommates had a 68 beetle. Driving in Iowa winters, we always kept blankets in the back. And, used them. Another trip, central Iowa to Minneapolis, 5 of us , three guys over 6', two girls. So crowded, but hey, what the heck. It got us there. We never checked flotation. Though , it can gain height. I was in a wedding in 72. The guys somehow put the groom's vw bug in the roof of the church hall. Those were the days....

I'll post few photos a tomorrow, hopefully. We have a lot of spring cleanup to do, at our camping property.

Life is very good, here in wnc, near asheville. Yes, it's rather cool, but everything else makes up for it. So newly green, so many spring flowers. I totally love springtime in the Appalachians.

Checking before disconnecting is ALWAYS a good practice. Even a campsite with a slight incline/decline can be problematic. A friend and I, and another neighboring camper, chased and stopped a trailer that hadn't been chocked on a fairly slight slope...but the site was on a ridge. Could have been a disaster. (That camper had a wheel instead of a foot on the front jack, so it moved pretty darn easily.) I like the big, chunky rubber chocks from harbor freight. The crappy plastic ones can slide much more easily.

Btw, @Patriot, I was unaware of the veteran discount at Northern tool. Thanks for that info.

@Patriot, that looks really awesome. Looking forward to your review, when you've had time to put it through the paces. I'm not as strong as I used to be, but I could still manage that one. I think. Honda price tags suck, but the longevity is there. Honda 1000 genset, 15 years old, going strong. Honda Rancher 350 atv, 25 years old, going strong. So much so, we just bought a Honda pioneer 520, side by side. Guessing the Honda stable will outlive us. Hope so, anyway.

The Ranger has been on our radar for a replacement for my 2005 Silverado, when the time comes, but we tow a single axle Elite I, just under 4000 pounds. I/we like that old axiom of 20 per cent margin in tow rating. With our trailer weight, the Ranger could be good. Back in the day, we towed a few times with our 2004 t5 Volvo xc90, tow rating of just under 5k. It was a fine experience flat land, less than stellar on big hills/mountains. (We're not fond of dogging it in the slow lane, nor holding our breath doing on-ramps, without sufficient get-up-and-go/long 0 to 60 time.) And, we're not keen on dealing with a wdh. But, we're possibly "old school." Still, I'd guess the Ranger would best be a TV for a trailer under 5500 or so pounds, loaded for camping, certainly in the south, mostly flat country. Pretty sure I'd be comfy with it in the Appalachians, but not sure about the Rockies. Do you already own both trucks?

Our dog Liv (means life, in Norwegian) and Bosker are good camping buddies. She's looking forward to camping with Bosker again. (As are we.)

We also have an electric fridge. Similar to yours. We run the genset in cloudy/rainy/ dismal conditions for a half hour at night, if below 12.4. (We have 2 x 105 ah agm batteries.) In the morning, I'll run the genset again for 30 to 45 minutes. Then, let the 400 watts fixed solar, and 200 w portable, finish on slow charge. My idea is to get the biggest boost (and bang for the buck) from the fossil fuel when the battery is lower, and running in boost mode, while maintaining 60 to 70 per cent state of charge, for best battery life . Just my thoughts. Our agm batteries are now in 7th season.

Years ago, "everyone" thought we "needed" a 3000 watt generator, so we bought one. Fortunately, I found an almost new used unit, at a great price, (probably 70 per cent off new.) The 3000 has never gone camping with us. The Yamaha 3000 has wheels, but it's ridiculously heavy, at +/- 150 lbs, even for the two of us, to lift in and out of the truck bed. (We used our atv ramps to pick it up and put it in the garage.) It does not owe us a dime, however, as it has saved our bacon (and frozen turkeys, other food, etc), plus our neighbor's, and charged cell phones and sparked the home gas water heater, in a number of power outages here on Florida's west coast. (One hurricane left us for a week with no power.) I know a few people have heavy gensets mounted to the tongue, but we didn't feel that was a good option for us with a single axle 2008 Elite I. So, we normally charge with a Honda 1000, which I can easily lift with one hand. Still works great, at age 15, with regular maintenance. If we "upgrade", it will be the smallest Honda that can do the job, and still allow me to lift and start it. If we need ac (almost never), we seek out a campsite with power. We also have a Westinghouse 2000-something that we bought to charge and run power tools when we built a pole barn on our camping property a few years ago. Surprisingly quiet, and it ran our small 9500 Houghton, on a test. Though it's a nice unit, I don't think it has quite as pure a sine wave as the Hondas, and of course, it's a bit louder, but not obnoxious. (5 per cent, I think, and I believe my Honda is 3 per cent THD, much like home electricity. ) Harmonic distortion is definitely something to think about, with all the electronics, especially in the newer trailers. Good luck in your decision. I'm obviously in the camp of the lightest unit to do the job, 95 per cent of the time.

Guess that's true, for most of. Best of luck !

We're (finally) getting a Bucees near us,,on i75, North if Ocala . Looking for to the experience. .

Is what it is. Glad I have mine. You can add lettering, but Oliver can't, since they must adhere to the arbitrary rvia "rules."

I'm going to have to think about about that. Distance should not have made a difference, imo. Did you have an onboard controller on the panel? So many variables

Is what it is. We occasionally discuss a lot of "stuff" stored that we "should" delete to make life easier for our daughter when we're no longer around. For the most part, she's going to be busy..... not quite ready to part (yet) with all tools/spare parts/ junk/ decorations, etc, etc, etc

What happened? I would "think" the only result would be minimal or no charge, due to resistance loss?

Have fun! Imo, camping in the driveway would be better than not camping at all.....