The Camping Thread

[prydey]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Fair enough, you didnt say you had no vacancies in the previous post, just that you didnt want city dwellers with their virus.
If you should catch covid though, and you will im sure, us city dwellers have a nice near new hospital for you to recover in should you need it.
You're welcome..

Covid is still rare if you keep it in perspective (compared to total population) and even rarer to need a hospital to recover in.

[BENT_8]

Just completed the rear drawer install in my Ranger ready for my camping trip to Lake Bonney next month.
Bought them with the wing kit from 4wd Supacentre and then had to fabricate the two pieces behind them as the 1300mm set leaves a 100mm gap to the front of the tub.
Just got to reroute one of the Anderson plus from the towbar up into the tub for charging the Arkpak and Im good to go.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Just completed the rear drawer install in my Ranger ready for my camping trip to Lake Bonney next month.
Bought them with the wing kit from 4wd Supacentre and then had to fabricate the two pieces behind them as the 1300mm set leaves a 100mm gap to the front of the tub.
Just got to reroute one of the Anderson plus from the towbar up into the tub for charging the Arkpak and Im good to go.

image

image

Looks tidy.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Just got to reroute one of the Anderson plus from the towbar up into the tub for charging the Arkpak and Im good to go.

So I got under the Ranger last night to reroute one of the 2 Anderson plugs into the tub and discovered that neither of them run through a battery isolator, they just come off of the + battery terminal, run through a fuse and down through the chassis rail to the rear.
Neither had a return earth and we're instead earthed to the chassis at the rear.
Not sure I like the idea of no isolator as it may lead to a flat starter battery.

Decided to strip both Anderson runs out of it and start from scratch. Plan is to run 2 new cables down the back through a couple of fuses and Redark isolators, one to the towbar for future use and another into the tub connected to a Redark 25a DC-DC charger and then to the Arkpak to harness the best charging capabilities.
Will probably mount the charger on one of the Kings control boxes and turn it into a complete power hub.
Will have to be an ongoing project as thats about $1k worth of equipment required for the install.

[prydey]

So....

I sold my van on the weekend. Got an expensive year this year, not least of which is paying for a wedding (eldest is getting married in December) and we weren't planning on using the van much this year anyway. Given my eldest no longer is keen to camp with us either we've been thinking about upgrading to a pop top in the near future anyway. So given the market is high we decided to cash in.

Put the ad on gumtree Saturday and it went live around midday. Got a call around 4pm, someone wanting to come and look. Sunday morning they rang back and offered a price I was happy with. Sold in less than 24hrs of uploading the ad. Wow. Very happy with that. Basically got what I paid for it roughly 6 years ago.

Hopefully in a years time, international borders will open up and the market will ease and I'll find a nice pop top for the 3 of us left.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by prydey

So....

I sold my van on the weekend. Got an expensive year this year, not least of which is paying for a wedding (eldest is getting married in December) and we weren't planning on using the van much this year anyway. Given my eldest no longer is keen to camp with us either we've been thinking about upgrading to a pop top in the near future anyway. So given the market is high we decided to cash in.

Put the ad on gumtree Saturday and it went live around midday. Got a call around 4pm, someone wanting to come and look. Sunday morning they rang back and offered a price I was happy with. Sold in less than 12hrs of uploading the ad. Wow. Very happy with that. Basically got what I paid for it roughly 6 years ago.

Hopefully in a years time, international borders will open up and the market will ease and I'll find a nice pop top for the 3 of us left.

I saw that, I was like hmm Woodcroft, I wonder if that's Robs camper.

Congrats on the sale, I sold mine in November, we bought it as the Wife wanted more comfort but in the end she never wanted to go so I figured what's the point in just me using it, rather tip the money into a house deposit which we've since done.

I was at West Beach from the Friday until the Monday, put it on Gumtree on the Saturday afternoon, had a few messages that night and one early Sunday morning who asked to view it Monday afternoon so I booked an extra night.
They came by, didnt even hesitate to buy and dropped a deposit on it there and then, I dropped it off for them on my way home on the Tuesday.
Got 3k more than i paid for it but I spent a little on modifications so not all profit.

Im thinking the same thing, get the house build out of the way and hopefully the market will start to settle as people begin holidaying overseas again.

Best part is, I can polish up the factory mirrors for the Ranger now and take those Clearviews off for while as although they are a great towing mirror they look bloody ugly.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by prydey

Hopefully in a years time, international borders will open up and the market will ease and I'll find a nice pop top for the 3 of us left.

I predict an absolute glut of camping/caravan gear on the market over the next 2-3 years. People only want to travel here because they cant travel OS, once that changes, a big box collecting dust and tied up dollars becomes unappealing.

One of the things I also a lot see at the moment is every other trailer/4wd has some sort of sticker pointing me to their youtube/instagram. Every man and his dog is trying to get on the content creator bandwagon. While we are stuck at home and want to travel at home, there are a lot of viewers. But there will almost certainly be some rationalisation in that sphere. I'm already seeing a few of the youtube channels I've followed winding down/winding up as they realise it isnt the path to easy money when you max out at 10-20k subs.

With a bit of luck, some of those quiet out of the way places nobody goes to, will once again become that. Right now, even they're packed on anything approaching a holiday.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by Tonz

Mate when we have family groups 40 - 90 and they book 12 months in advance, I meet them on site, chat like old friends do, seriously why do I need the hassle of daily campers with their van that think they are the only ones on the road and very surprised we dont have vacancies.
Dont get me started on freedom campers,

I suppose you mean people who do a lot of free camping sites.I am one of those along with many others.people on a smaller fixed income just cannot afford to pay $40 and more to rent 30 sq mtrs of paddock for 24 hours and get to use a $3 toilet and shower and get maybe $2 worth of electicity

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Tonz

Dont get me started on freedom campers,

When there was talk of a campaign to stop free campers from staying within 20km of a caravan park in QLD, I wanted to start a cause for all those small country motels where their business was stolen away by greedy caravan parks changing out all their sites with cabins.

[Tonz]

and if that did happen we have easier access than you guys do, all thanks to Flying Doctor,
mate of mine ripped 3 fingers off in a farming accident couple of years ago, VERY fast trip to Lincoln hospital via chopper, got him stabilised, chopper up to airport, flying doc there, arrive Adel airport then chopper to RAH rooftop.

I know lesser serious cases that come in via Flying doc also get preferred treatment. Now if only they had a hotel next door......

[b0son]

$1k? sheesh, but then, I'm on one of the camper trailer FB groups and the amount of money people are spending at the moment on BMS's and Li batteries makes my eyes water. Meanwhile, I just have a basic Traxide dual battery setup, my trailer draws from the aux battery, and there's a MPPT/blanket if I'm not going to be driving at all when camped. Alternator takes care of the charging on the way down and back up. Seems to be doing the job.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by b0son

$1k? sheesh, but then, I'm on one of the camper trailer FB groups and the amount of money people are spending at the moment on BMS's and Li batteries makes my eyes water. Meanwhile, I just have a basic Traxide dual battery setup, my trailer draws from the aux battery, and there's a MPPT/blanket if I'm not going to be driving at all when camped. Alternator takes care of the charging on the way down and back up. Seems to be doing the job.

Problem with the Ranger is it has a smart alternator designed to cut power output when it senses the starter battery is charged so its pretty much useless at charging a secondary battery without using a DC-DC charger with ignition feed to 'trick' the alternator into keeping up tbe voltage output.
A DC -DC charger is $400 alone, the Kings power board is another $130 but comes into its own for its 'all in one' ability to provide a location to mount the charger and its fuse protected sockets.
Then tbe 2 isolators are $180 each and then youve got 2 lengths of cabling, 2 anderson plugs, lugs, fuses and split tubing.
It all adds up but the finished product is worth the effort.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Problem with the Ranger is it has a smart alternator

Not a problem with the right isolators. The poster 'drivesafe' is the guy that makes the traxide kits BTW...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-disc...ml#post2111211

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by b0son

Not a problem with the right isolators. The poster 'drivesafe' is the guy that makes the traxide kits BTW...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-disc...ml#post2111211

Problem with those is they only do 1 fuction that being controlling flow between batteries and alternator, you still need a MPPT regulator for the solar input as a minimum.
I called into Home of 12v today and asked for advice, was told a Redark 25A charger eliminates the need for both an isolator and a solar regulator as it does both and is compatible with the Rangers smart Alternator.
So its an all in one neat package.

I can either buy it already fitted to one of their battery boxes with 8mm cabling and all fittings for $849 that includes 3x12v sockets and 2x50A plugs and 2xUSB sockets or buy it individually and fit it to the Kings 12v control box and cable kit for $672 to charge my existing Arkpak giving me 7 x12v sockets and 3x50A plugs plus the 300w inverter and USB charging.

Not sure which way I'll go yet, probably option 2 for versatility.

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Problem with those is they only do 1 fuction that being controlling flow between batteries and alternator, you still need a MPPT regulator for the solar input as a minimum.
I called into Home of 12v today and asked for advice, was told a Redark 25A charger eliminates the need for both an isolator and a solar regulator as it does both and is compatible with the Rangers smart Alternator.
So its an all in one neat package.

I can either buy it already fitted to one of their battery boxes with 8mm cabling and all fittings for $849 that includes 3x12v sockets and 2x50A plugs and 2xUSB sockets or buy it individually and fit it to the Kings 12v control box and cable kit for $672 to charge my existing Arkpak giving me 7 x12v sockets and 3x50A plugs plus the 300w inverter and USB charging.

Not sure which way I'll go yet, probably option 2 for versatility.

Why is camping so damn complex nowadays, it used to be so simple and cheap!
And that was the whole point, getting away from all the new gadgets at home and simplicity was the key, not any more, when I stopped for a few hrs sleep driving Sydney to Perth on the Nullabor I pulled in at midnight on the edge of the Great Australian Bight, there were 2 camper's there, one had a satellite dish about a metre dia on the ground, held down with sandbags, the other a small dish on top, I got going early, to keep the sun at my back, the sun was rising in the East and I was looking South across this massive ocean, got some good sunrise pics, but the folk in their vans were watching TV? I wondered why they dident stay home and watch TV, stop clogging the roads up, I know there will be opposition to that viewpoint, but you go away to get away from the luxuries of home, isn't that the point of camping

[.:4:.]

When i was a kid, when it came to camping. So once or twice a year. My dad had a tent that was the reason why the roof racks were put on the magna safari wagon, and the ef futura wagon. That tent, no joke, was canvas, took 6 to 8 hours to put up and was like a makeshift army barracks. It was big for a tent. 3 rooms, annex all that jazz. But holidays were kind of cut short. A day to put the tent up, a day to put it down.
So two 4 man pop up tents replaced the giant canvas one. Way quicker.
Then dad got jack of camping.
So bought a holiday house on the beach down south, and another in Jindabyne for ski season.
Both have been sold, my dads a little too dead these days.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

I forgot to add yesterday a copy of the floor plan of my camper.



My camper has the optional kids room, but I'm not using it this time as its just me and I really didn't need that much space. Nor am I using the walls on the annex, although I did bring them with me just in case.

It's a lot of space, really, for such a compact rig. But, as I said before, and as .:4:. rightly points out, setup and pull down times are pretty heavy. I reckon it took me about 2 hours to get set up.

It's certainly not the rig that you'd head out for a night with.

[Peuty]

Didn't realise this thread was a thing until just now - which is timely, because I went camping at Double Island point with my brother in his new DMax over the weekend. it was windy, slightly wet, but we still had a great time.

The Izuzu performed admirably. Our setup was nothing fancy at all. A couple of swags, a gas Weber and a 65L Waeco hooked directly to the battery of the DMax.

Untitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

Untitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

Untitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by Peuty

Didn't realise this thread was a thing until just now - which is timely, because I went camping at Double Island point with my brother in his new DMax over the weekend. it was windy, slightly wet, but we still had a great time.

The Izuzu performed admirably. Our setup was nothing fancy at all. A couple of swags, a gas Weber and a 65L Waeco hooked directly to the battery of the DMax.

imageUntitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

imageUntitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

imageUntitled by Daniel Peut, on Flickr

haha love it, the must haves, webber/gas, tom sauce, mozzie coils and bottle of scotch ? + dunny rolls !
Those DMax's look ok, how does he rate it ?

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by FTE217

haha love it, the must haves, webber/gas, tom sauce, mozzie coils and bottle of scotch ? + dunny rolls !
Those DMax's look ok, how does he rate it ?

Yep, nothing fancy when we head out camping, but we still have a great time! As long as we can keep the beers cold that's all that matters

He loves the DMax. It's a mighty upgrade over his old 2004 Courier, so I suppose he would love anything. I've driven it a few times and think it's a nicer car than the Ranger, definitely nicer than the tractor's they call a Hilux. He's put a throttle controller in it to eliminate the dead throttle pedal that cars seem to have these days which made it even nicer to drive.

Had no trouble whatsoever in the sand. We have taken it to the Glasshouse Mountain mud tracks a few times too and for a stock 4x4 it performed very well. It has a factory diff locker too.

[Tonz]

nothing romantic about that.

[PG2]

Sorry Guys and Gals for having to post something in this thread.

The first 41 pages of this thread have been about supporting each other and offering each other ideas without judgment.

The thread goes that well and with my very low interest in camping, I have never really had the need to come into this thread.

That is until now...

Everyone will know who I am referring to. Stop offering your BS opinions on topics that you know very little or nothing about. Particularly in threads like this where everyone is so supportive of each other, unless you have something positive to say, don't say anything at all.

For that person who I am referring to, that goes for other threads as well.

[nstg8a]

We go full time on the road in two weeks… can’t wait. Been setting up the coaster and trailer for the last month or so.
Fridge died in the coaster the other day which we were kinda expecting, it’s been pretty unreliable. But we were waiting on a certain 240v fridge to come into stock, but just found out it’s at least another 12/13 weeks away.
So plan d, we went for a 12v upright. Of course most of the ones we wanted were also out of stock. Eventually settled on a brass monkey 90l, it’s not big but it fits well.

We can’t wait to hit the camps, we are set up to be as off grid as possible, with solar on both the bus and the trailer.

Hoping that everyone starts buggering off overseas shortly so things aren’t too crazy lol.

[slowsnake]

Am surprised you don't have a roo bar, anything is better than nothing on a cabover?.....nice van though!

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

We go full time on the road in two weeks… can’t wait. Been setting up the coaster and trailer for the last month or so.
Fridge died in the coaster the other day which we were kinda expecting, it’s been pretty unreliable. But we were waiting on a certain 240v fridge to come into stock, but just found out it’s at least another 12/13 weeks away.
So plan d, we went for a 12v upright. Of course most of the ones we wanted were also out of stock. Eventually settled on a brass monkey 90l, it’s not big but it fits well.

We can’t wait to hit the camps, we are set up to be as off grid as possible, with solar on both the bus and the trailer.

Hoping that everyone starts buggering off overseas shortly so things aren’t too crazy lol. image

Enjoy matey, post up updates ok.
Be a while longer before we see many get back to OS trips.

[FTE217]

I'm with you, a less is more kind of a approach, saves time unpacking/packing and cleaning.
Oh from Courier to current gens 4x4's chalk n cheese he'd be loving it.
My tractor is the Hilux lol.....previous gen.
One thing is for sure imo if your hols are outdoors be it bush/beach can't beat having a 4x4.
I love hitting the beachs and dunes - such fun and the cool ocean breeze.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Not so much camping per se, but more so what you do whilst camping, I went for a kayak this morning on the Snowy River.

Was a foggy morning, so still and quiet. Ended up going on to the Corringle Slips first for a bit of a bo peep as a mate had stayed at the camp grounds there a few months ago.

Then headed up to the mouth of the river and got out at the west bank, which there wouldn't be too many people that could say they've been to.

Covered just over 8km all up. Had a great time.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0

Not so much camping per se, but more so what you do whilst camping, I went for a kayak this morning on the Snowy River.

Was a foggy morning, so still and quiet. Ended up going on to the Corringle Slips first for a bit of a bo peep as a mate had stayed at the camp grounds there a few months ago.

Then headed up to the mouth of the river and got out at the west bank, which there wouldn't be too many people that could say they've been to.

Covered just over 8km all up. Had a great time.

image

image

image

I've only ever seen the Snowy at Dalgety.... it's a bit bigger down your end

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Originally Posted by GasoLane

I've only ever seen the Snowy at Dalgety.... it's a bit bigger down your end

When did you see 'my end'???

Yes, it's quiet broad, but I was surprised at how shallow it was. Towards the mouth, I was roughly half way between the banks, and if would have been lucky to have been 2ft deep.

[dreew]

I am into preparing for my trip too