Do you like to sleep with a fan running? I’ve noticed that there are definitely fan sleepers and those who don’t prefer a fan running when sleeping. I’m a fan of fans. I may have found the perfect little fan if you’re in my, uh, fan club.

I recently wanted a fan by the bed of our trailer but one that runs on batteries, preferably rechargeable batteries. Trolling the local Home Depot I found the Ryobi ONE+ 18V Cordless 4 in. Clamp Fan.

I love when I find things that are dramatically better than I had ever anticipated and this is just that.

Basically it’s nothing more than a small fan that runs on a Ryobi ONE+ battery. The head pivots and swivels and there’s a clamp so it can be mounted to anything up to an inch and a half thick. There are two fan speeds for this thing on a mechanical switch.

For $24.97 I wasn’t expecting anything terrific but boy was I wrong. Now this isn’t going to create a gale force wind or anything along those lines, but it is the absolute perfect little personal fan.

Ryobi stuff

First of all, let’s talk Ryobi. I know a lot of people who like high-quality tools scoff at Ryobi as a brand more suited to amateurs. I get that. I have no argument with it. But I also own a ridiculous number of tools that utilize the ONE+ batteries so this is like being associated with a specific drug pusher.

Once you’re in their circle, it’s tough to get out.

And, truthfully, I have yet to have one of these Ryobi tools ever let me down. In fact my RV has a number of tools that just live in the pass-through storage including a Ryobi air compressor and a power drill.

Against the advice of the owner’s manual I use the power drill to raise and lower my stabilizer jacks. I know RV manufacturers specifically recommend against using an impact driver to raise and lower stabilizers but I just use an electric drill. Okay, they don’t like that either.

I’m also a big fan of the Ryobi ONE+ 18V Dual Function Inflator/Deflator which will inflate the tires on my travel trailer but will also inflate and deflate air mattresses or any other inflatable thing we campers tend to bring with us. There are attachments for inflating balls and such too if you’re a sporty type. I’m not.

The heart of all these gadgets is the 18 volt ONE+ battery. I don’t know when I was indoctrinated into the ONE+ battery family but, since then, I seek out these tools. I actually have a battery charger in my trailer and carry a number of these batteries with me.

Back to the fans

That clamp on the fans has proven to be more useful than I had anticipated. I’ve clamped it to lawn chairs when I’m sitting outside. I’ve put the little fan on the table to help keep flies away. I’ve clamped it to picnic tables to help keep the darned tablecloth from blowing away.

Heck it was hot outside before I wrote this and clamped the darned fan to the RV’s door while I was installing a keyless entry system to keep my brain from frying in the sun.

In fact this is the second time I’ve installed an RVLock - the first time I actually had to break in to my RV to do it which you can learn more about here.

You’d have thought a hat would be a good idea but, hey, I had this fan as a more ridiculous option.

Battery of batteries

Ryobi has a number of battery sizes depending on your need but they go from smaller two amp-hour lithium batteries to six amp-hour batteries. This is where you’ll be spending your money because even the smallest battery is $89 so if you don’t already have the batteries, this fan can get pricey quickly.

One of the things that’s made me happy over the years is that the same batteries and chargers that I started with continue to work today but, as with all batteries, these keep getting better and better so I have added higher capacity batteries over the years.

Even so, my oldest two amp-hour battery still easily runs the fan overnight. The four amp-hour batteries will run them for several days continuously.

More to love

In addition to the drill and inflator I have to say I absolutely am in love with the lanterns that work with this battery system as well. Over the years I’ve picked up more than a few lights powered by the ONE+ battery including the ONE+ 18V Hybrid LED Project Light.

Like these little fans this also has a head that swivels and tilts and this light has multiple settings including oh-my-gosh-that’s-ridiculously-bright and then a few lower settings. There’s even a magnet on the case for I have no idea what.

Magnetic stuff, I guess. Well, I suppose if you’re using this in a work environment that magnet could hold screws or nails or those sorts of things.

Psh. Work. Who needs that?

In conclusion

Every once in a while I find some sort of gadget that isn’t necessarily for RVers but really, really works well. And then there are times when I find something for which there are far more uses than I had originally thought there would be.

My wife liked my clamp fan so much she got one as well so now we’ve got dueling fans on either side of the bed for those nights where it’s warm enough to want to stir the air but not so warm that we want to run the air conditioner.

We also have high-performance vent fans both above the bed and in the bathroom of our trailer so there are a lot of times we have one of those running as well.

As you can see, I’m a fan of fans and if you’re a fan too, perhaps these fans might make you a fan. I know I sure am.