Overland

@SeaDawg if only they came in red.

I do not, and I’m sure I’d spot some rust if I cared to check.

Yeah my camp shoes are just old hiking shoes so I guess not the best choice. Maybe those dancing shoes will do the trick. 🕺🏻

Nor do I, but man that gravel sure does like to hitch a ride into the trailer on my hiking shoes.

I use Snow Peak pegs, which are similar to these - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XR4NWJK/?coliid=I1MUQN0AFAD1DL&colid=313GIXWETZMYH&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it I have two different sizes and they’ve never let me down. Some 8” and some 15”+/- which are my go to for holding down the Ollie’s awning. They’re obviously heavy though. You won’t ever bend one. I have the matching hammer that has the claw to pull them out. Stupidly expensive for what it is but does what it’s supposed to do and does it well - https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Peak-N-002-Peg-Hammer/dp/B000AR2OBQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=snow+peak+hammer&qid=1619230731&sr=8-3. I’m sure there’s a knock off version out there by now that’s just as good for less money. I also have some various smaller stakes in aluminum and copper that I’ve had forever and which travel in our general camping box. I have a few sand stakes too that I’d bet I’ve never used but they sure seem like they’ll be useful some day. Related, I’m really happy with the newer dyneema cord and these little tensioners - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07LB8LK8K?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Our towel rack is screwed in, with short enough screws that they don't penetrate into the overhead compartment and a little adhesive caulk on the screws to hold them.

I know the one in the Move is. So, maybe?

Need is a word that gets thrown around a lot right after someone does that mod on their own trailer, lol. I don't think it applies here, because, you know, generators. But definitely some thought needs to go into both power sources and storage. Like SeaDawg said, expect your electric bill to go up by anywhere from 50 to 75 amp hours. So, you can plan to recover that each day by some means, and/or, up your storage to get you from charge to charge. We use roughly 70 Ah non-fridge, and 60 fridge - so, 130 Ah total to try to recover. To get that from solar exclusively, that would equate to 650 watts (rule of thumb = 20 Ah per 100 watts of solar). So, that's not gonna happen without serious modifications. You'd also in addition want 3 days of battery storage to get you through cloudy weeks, or 400 Ah - an easy but expensive upgrade. You said you had LFP batteries, but not how much. 400 would be the minimum in my opinion, but SeaDawg is reading that and laughing. But, you might not be able to hear her over her generator 😜. If you got the 600 Ah option (platinum, natch) then you've got the extra amps in the bank to get you from charge to charge. 4 or 5 days, easy, more with good sun. So unless you're a dedicated boondocker, I'd say try it and see. Or get that generator. Or get a new truck. Those F150 hybrids with the built in generator are pretty sweet. I do however agree 100% that you should put some thought into a truck fridge. We've got a DC fridge in both truck and trailer and I wouldn't give up my truck fridge for anything, except perhaps for a larger one. In fact it's become permanent. It's very convenient for grocery runs, when you don't want to head straight home to put everything up. But just as importantly, we can stuff 3 weeks worth of food in there.

I've posted in other threads here and there about my experiments with speakers in the Ollie, but thought I'd make a separate topic. I don't think we have one for Sonos stuff, through I know we've talked about them in three or four other speaker threads. Anyway, any excuse to talk music. Background for those who don't know: We got our Ollie back when Oliver allowed customer modifications, and one of our mods was to eliminate the entertainment system completely. So no TV, radio, or speakers at all. My idea at the time was that we'd have a car stereo place do a really nice system for us. The cost of that though was prohibitive, and at the same time I was starting to look at wireless speakers for the house, so I decided that was the route to go with the trailer as well. Apple had just come out with their HomePod, so I figured I'd try one, use it in the kitchen when at home and move it to the Ollie when we travelled. I won't review the HomePod since they've discontinued it, but suffice to say that I think they had good reason to do so. I wasn't impressed, and it was kind of a pain both in and out of the trailer, so it went onto craigslist. But the idea behind it wasn't bad. My next experiment was a Sonos Beam, which did impress me, and is still in the trailer. It's a different philosophy than the HomePod was, since it's permanently mounted, but I decided on it since it would fit perfectly under the attic. In my opinion, it's not a bad solution especially if you have a TV and want a soundbar for it. It certainly sounds much better than the HomePod - even though it's still a single speaker, and fixed at the end of the trailer, it has a much broader sound than you'd expect. Though one of the drawbacks is definitely that it doesn't really immerse you in the music, at least not the way I like. There are two other drawbacks to mention: one, it's 120 volt so you've got to be plugged in or on your inverter for it to work; and two, it requires a wifi network for your trailer (which I think is included in the latest Ollies?). Overall though, thumbs up. The sound is really nice, and one of the things Sonos does well is in the way they have you tune their speakers to the space when setting them up. Basically, you walk around the space waving your phone around like a nut while the speaker plays tones, and at the end, they recalibrate the EQ of the speakers to give you the best sound and eliminate any boominess. For a small space like the Ollie, that can make a big difference. So we've been pretty happy with it. But of course shortly after I installed the Beam, Sonos came out with the Move, which has a similar form factor to the HomePod. But instead of plugging in, it's battery powered and so is truly portable. In fact it's waterproof to boot, and has a rugged rubber base so you can rest easy taking it outside and using it around the campfire. Plus it can be charged via USB and has Bluetooth audio in addition to WiFi, which means you don't need a WiFi system in the trailer, and don't need to use your inverter to power it. So sure I had to get one, took it with us on our last trip, and REALLY like it. It's easily the best sounding Sonos we have - it's larger than the Sonos Ones that I've been populating the house with, but smaller than the Sonos Five, so the sound is predictably somewhere in between. It just has a really nice resonant quality to it. As a single speaker, it has the same drawback as the beam, but AirPlaying to both simultaneously gives you a really great, immersive sound all through the trailer. With the bonus being that you can grab it and carry it outside. But like the Beam, there are three drawbacks: one, it's a bit big and cumbersome, so kind of difficult to find a spot in the closet or wherever to stow it while traveling; two, you can't do a stereo pair with the Beam (though if you have two Moves, you can pair those); and three, it costs over $300. But to justify the cost, the speaker isn't dedicated to the trailer like the Beam is. Ours has its home in the house, gets taken out to the patio, front porch, etc. Drawbacks aside, had you asked me yesterday what I thought the best system was for your Ollie, I'd have said buy a Move. Or two, if you want stereo or the ability to have music both inside and out at the same time. But ... in the mail today came the tiny Sonos Roam. It's a portable speaker like the Move, but small enough to fit in your hand, and I have to tell you that for such a small speaker, it really packs a punch. Not as good as the Move, of course, but inside the trailer, it actually comes surprisingly close, thanks to the trailer itself adding a great deal of resonance to the sound. Outside, the Move crushes it, but inside the trailer, it's difficult for my somewhat older ears to distinguish them once you've got the volume levels even and fiddled with the EQ (Sonos allows you to set a separate EQ for each speaker, and since the setting is held in the speakers themselves, they'll have the same sound whether you're playing through their app or through iTunes, Spotify, etc.). In fact, in the trailer I think the sound from the Roam is pretty much on par with the Beam, if not a bit better. Daddy bear, momma bear, baby bear, and a shy smokey bear: The size! This little guy could go anywhere - the versatility is fantastic. Bluetooth or wifi, so like the Move it will work without dedicated wifi in the trailer. It has a better waterproof rating than the Move, so you could actually drop it in a lake, if you need to do that. It's half the price, has USB charging (plus wireless charging), and you can stereo pair two of them together. Add velcro to the back, and you could mount them wherever you want, inside or out. Move them around the trailer depending on where you're sitting, etc., then grab one off the wall and take it out to the campfire. Drawbacks? None, really. The Move sounds better, but the versatility of the Roam trumps that, imo. So today if you ask me what I'd recommend for sound in or around the trailer, by all means get yourself a pair of Sonos Roams. They come in white, too, though I don't know if their white is color matched to the Ollie.

I believe it’s 25” vs 30” for the twin.

Thanks. I do think that you could eliminate the rails all together and still sleep fine, provided you’re used to a sleeping bag’s width. We typically leave the back cushions in place when sleeping, which leaves about the same width, maybe a hair wider. But the cushions add some nice insulation against the hull, which I think is worthwhile even with the double shell. If you’re interested in those two modifications, you can read about them here -

Lol. Pat, I did (do) have an swr meter to tune the antenna, but I think the problem was not having a proper ground plane. Just the wrong antenna for the situation I suspect. I would like to revisit it just because I’m a nerd, but I think I’d rather get a ham license and go that route rather than CB. Someday maybe.

Glad you mentioned distance - the shipping cost for those cases can be pretty high just due to their size.

Our solution was to add another layer of back cushions to make the seats less deep. Intuitively that might sound like a hassle but in practice it no big deal and actually adds some additional flexibility to the space. An additional 4” cushion is just about right, and can be repositioned for however you want to use the seat.

If you're looking for something bombproof, I've used Hardigg cases for years. I don't know what you'd have to do to destroy one, and you can spray them down with a power washer without them leaking. You can always find them on eBay in different sizes, sometimes very cheap. Appearance quality is hit and miss since most of them are military surplus. I've got a bunch of grey ones in the 1818-0603 size, which is about the largest that I'd want to lift over my head to put on a rack, but you could use a larger one on the front basket. I've thought about getting a huge one for the back of the Ollie to cary my wife's telescope. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=hardigg&_sacat=0

More guitar, and other stringy things -

This reminded me of a Sami album I had years ago and it took a bit of archeology to recover the name from my memory, and a song from it on the internet - Still strikes me how similar it is to Native American music. Of course, you also reminded me of the Will Ferrel Eurovision movie, which yes was dumb, but surprisingly better than it should have been -

Done

Per request, I've moved all the electrical diagram discussion to its own topic.

Check it out, otters, I got some new dancin shoes yesterday. So let's not waste time, and get outside to do a little happy dance around our Ollies - it's New Music Friday! • Whew, that was fun. I hope no one hurt anything. Let's settle it down with something that sounds like a remake. You guys will know better than me - it's got a very 70's/80's rock ballad jibe. • This is an easy summertime song from Lebanese singer/songwriter/guitarist Roger Fakhr - • I know some of you are wondering why classic rock guitar is currently being preserved in the deserts of Northern Africa. The answer is because these guys know their strings - • My wife did like the Louisahhh song from last week, in case you were wondering. I'm certain that you all did, too; so here's another. Louisahhh is angry. • And no NMF is complete without some of my floaty electronica. Is floaty a genre? Sure, why not - • No, I can't leave you with just one. This one is a bit more experimental, at least on the lyrics side - • And finally, something calming to get everyone into a chill vibe for a spring weekend -

I have one, but I never got around to moving it from my old vehicle to my truck. I had it for a few years in the before times and I think the best use of it was in hearing traffic info from the truckers. I found though that the range was pretty limited, though that might have been my lack of expertise in choosing and tuning the antenna. But when we got the truck, I wanted a pair of handhelds, and ended up going with ham radios (which I converted for MURS channels so that we didn't have to worry about getting licenses). Those have been so nice that I'd actually forgotten about wanting to install something in the truck.

I've had good luck with a magic eraser on those types of stains. Not with completely magical results, but quasi supernatural.

I've heard about this engineering department. Out of curiosity, I googled (ducked?) 'recommended suspension clearance for trailers'. The only relevant result I got was a comment from an eTrailer rep who said that they recommend 3".

On our X5, way back when, I put thin stick on pads on the jambs to keep it from scratching the paint but that's all. No problem denting. Honestly, I can't remember if I've ever used them on the truck. I don't have anything over the cab so not much use for them really.

I got one of these some time ago. It's not a ladder, but better than the tire or trying to stand on the edge of the seat, and it sure does take up less room. The only problem is that I forget I own it. https://www.amazon.com/Rightline-Gear-100660-Original-Shark/dp/B07JMTVP9N Also, don't forget it's there before trying to close the door.