2019 Camping Thread

[nomad]

Wishing everyone a great season in the outdoors! We are tenters of the car camping variety. Off to Dinosaur PP for May long, and have booked a week at Castle PP in early August. Fortunately I married a gal that loves camping, as do the kids. Over the past few years we've been to Boulton in K Country, Little Elbow, Sundance Lodges, Shuswap Lake PP and Rathtrevor Beach PP in BC, Bow Valley, Indian Graves and probably some others I've forgotten.

Thinking of purchasing a heavy duty portable charger as we typically get sites w/o power, the small battery packs are not sufficient for trips of more than a couple days and I don't really like idling the vehicle to charge phones, tablets, etc. Looking at the Goal Zero Yeti 150. Or, maybe I should opt for one of those solar panel devices? Any input would be appreciated.

Happy Camping!

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[Ducay]

I applaud you for looking for a charging solution that isn't a generator. Too many folk are using them and negatively impacting the camping experience for others these days.

I have a friend who uses a Goal Zero charging station, but I'll have to confirm which model. He is also a tent camper and swears by it. Uses it to recharge latern, phones, and everything in between.

[flamesfan1297]

Agreed with the above poster about generator, but there are some that are super quiet and aren't a bother. But yes the loud ones are annoying

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[Cflames_12.5]

I got an old tent trailer. Can anyone recommend a place or person that can help fix and check if the heater is safe to run. And the fridge. Bought it last year. Im scared to use the heater and fridge. Don't want to burn it down. It's a 97 Palomino I think. Nothing fancy does the trick.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

Agreed with the above poster about generator, but there are some that are super quiet and aren't a bother. But yes the loud ones are annoying

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Yeah I have a little Honda that's really quiet. Meanwhile my friends Champion is so noisy he built a little sound deadening box/shed thing to put it in so it's not so obnoxious

[flamesfan1297]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Yeah I have a little Honda that's really quiet. Meanwhile my friends Champion is so noisy he built a little sound deadening box/shed thing to put it in so it's not so obnoxious

Yeah you definitely get what you pay for with those things

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[nomad]

Originally Posted by Cflames_12.5

I got an old tent trailer. Can anyone recommend a place or person that can help fix and check if the heater is safe to run. And the fridge. Bought it last year. Im scared to use the heater and fridge. Don't want to burn it down. It's a 97 Palomino I think. Nothing fancy does the trick.

My friend has a tent trailer and tells me he's had a couple repair jobs done at Trailer Town on Blackfoot Trail. He would recommend them.

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[Shazam]

Try out Wild Mountain RV.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by nomad

Thinking of purchasing a heavy duty portable charger as we typically get sites w/o power, the small battery packs are not sufficient for trips of more than a couple days and I don't really like idling the vehicle to charge phones, tablets, etc. Looking at the Goal Zero Yeti 150. Or, maybe I should opt for one of those solar panel devices? Any input would be appreciated.



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I have a Goal Zero Yeti 400. Love it. We've had it for 4 years now. My buddy just got the Goal Zero Yeti 1000 Lithium. He's got a larger application though. He's building a camper van out of a promaster, and is using this to power his cooler among other things.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Try out Wild Mountain RV.

I can couch for their work, they just did some on my 5th wheel. But they also just moved to the opposite corner of the city and are now way down in the far SE. Unfortunate for me, their old location was excellent.

There are some mobile RV service companies that would come to you. Might be a more convenient option.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

I can couch for their work, they just did some on my 5th wheel. But they also just moved to the opposite corner of the city and are now way down in the far SE. Unfortunate for me, their old location was excellent.

There are some mobile RV service companies that would come to you. Might be a more convenient option.

Same for me. I stored my motorhome across the road from Wild mountain. They were great.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by nomad

Or, maybe I should opt for one of those solar panel devices?

A solar panel will work, as long as you have a battery for it to charge. Using a panel on its own won't work well. There will be too many fluctuations in power that could be an issue for charging electronics. So as long as you currently have a 12v battery to charge, the best bang for your buck for solar is this one:
https://www.costco.ca/Coleman-100-W%...100484260.html

I believe it is $180-190 in store. Another alternative is this one at Canadian Tire. Link It often goes on sale for $100. (Currently a two pack of them is on for $150.)

However for just a charge pack, I have one of these:
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/m...2014p.html#srp
Should be great for charging electronics, and small drain devices like that. I have one that is at least 6 years old, and it replaced one that was around 8 years old. Most of the people that have problems with it seem to have used it for it's max capacity. It isn't good for that; it's good for what you describe.

Or get the power pack and the solar panel, and you'll be set.

[Hockeyguy15]

NM found the other thread.