Learn insider expert tricks to RV maintenance and repair
The best way to love the RV life is to learn as much as possible and this week’s podcast guest shares information about Campnation Expo, a hands-on learning event for RVers. This annual multi-day event offers expert learning opportunities. Learn how you can learn more about RV repair and maintenance and even insider decorating tips for modern and vintage RVs.
Other places to hear the podcast
Tips for connecting to shore power:
Turn of power at the pedestal
Connect your Hughes Power Watchdog energy management systems (link is to our article on RV EMS or surge suppressors - yes you need one!)
If there are no issues reported, go ahead and pull/back in to the camp site
Shut off the power at the pedestal again
Plug your shore power cord into the Hughes Power Watchdog
Plug the cord into your RV.
If you have a 30 amp RV make absolutely sure to rotate the plug slightly clockwise to secure the connection
Secure the collar on the RV side of the 30 amp shore power cord
Now you can turn the power back on at the pedestal
Mentioned on this episode
StressLess Camping podcast group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/StressLessPodcast/
Vendors we’re loving. These vendors share the fact that the products they carry and endorse are vetted by them and their customers. Here are three of our favorites;
Airgear Store (formerly Airstream Life Store but they have many great items for all RVers)
We are also an Amazon affiliate and while Amazon is the wild, wild west of shopping we all use them. When you click on this Amazon affiliate link your purchases do go to help the StressLess Camping without any additional cost to you.
Episode 9 - Talking vintage trailers with Paul and Caroline Lacitinola
Campnation Expo: https://www.campnationexpo.com/
Vintage Camper Trailers magazine and more: https://www.vintagecampertrailers.com/
Review of the Dometic 75 quart powered cooler: https://www.stresslesscamping.com/blog/dometic-powered-cooler
Tony’s review of the Winnebago/Adventure Wagon Class B collaboration
If you’re confused about solar, battery power or just want to upgrade your RV we have found the solutions from ABC Upfitters are both reliable and exceptional.
We have a podcast episode and video where you can learn more here.
StressLess Camping podcast transcription
Once again we have our trusty podcast translation tool with a semi-rough translation of this week’s StressLess Camping Podcast here:
Welcome to the Weekly podcast, all about turning the great American RV adventure into StressLess Camping. Each week we explore tips, tricks, ideas, and destinations, and talk to the happiest campers in the RV world. Pull up a seat at the campfire as we enjoy some Stressless camping.
Welcome to the Campfire. I'm Tony.
I'm Peggy.
And we are two RV industry veterans who travel part-time
In a small trailer
Looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips,
Tricks,
And discounts.
So we are back in our sticks and bricks for a couple of weeks. <laugh> not for very long. If it was next year, we wouldn't even be staying this long because we're gonna stay in court site longer next year. Yeah.
So start getting out y'all's calendars, y'all.
We're on our way to Georgia, so we gotta practice and next year after the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation and RV Show.
Indeed. I finally learned what it's called <laugh>.
We plan to stay and Boondock for a while after, maybe a week or so. And we wanna kind of turn that into a meetup, a camp out, maybe a potluck.
You know, we talked with Engel a couple weeks ago about 17 inch oven challenge. Yeah. Or we, I don't know. We don't know exactly what it'll look like, but our plan right now tentatively is for about a week after the RV show is done, we will be in court site out in the desert somewhere.
So if that is something that you want to hang out with us and participate in, put it on your calendar now and we will have more details as the year goes on.
Yeah, absolutely. We'll flesh out the details on that. Things we're thinking of is a 17 inch oven potluck challenge. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, or make your best recipe from our website. Every year we go to Quartzite and we don't go ride the camels, but I'd like to go ride the camels. Yeah. So we could have a whole goofy time of all this. Right. And usually that's, uh, the beginning of February and quartzite and we'll all boondock and maybe we'll even try to get some people there who might share some other tips, tricks and
Ideas.
Yeah. Anyway, there you go. Something to plan for next
Year. In the meantime, we have a super guest for you. We can't wait to have you meet him again. Yeah,
But first
On our discounts and deals section of the website, we have links to different companies that really we feel do an exceptional job if you're looking for parts for new and vintage
RVs. Right. Parts and supplies. So like vintage trailer supply is great if you, particularly if you have vintage trailers, obviously vintage RVs, but also some things like pretty much haven't changed since vintage days. So perhaps there's something you need for a modern trailer that you can find there and it's just kind of a fun site to look
Around. Yeah. Another one is Air Gear used to be the Airstream Life store and they've really expanded. That is a store where they vet all the products and some of them are of their own design. For example, there's a tire changing kit that we're gonna play with in the near future. You might think that you can change the tire in your travel trailer with what's in your truck and you may not be able to. Right. We use the air gear water hose and some other items from that store.
Right. Even though they say Airstream supplies some, I mean a few things are specific to Airstream perhaps, but really, oh, good Water hose is a good water hose no matter what RV you have. Yeah. And so, as Tony said, that's our, our water hose and things like that that we have gotten from air gear and have been super pleased with.
We've frozen and it still works. <laugh>. Yeah. Another place, TechnoRV, we really like them because they also vet and support the products that they represent. For example, our pep wave router, they have those kind of things that's an internet device. They have tire pressure monitors and Burkey filters. And we talked to them during the holidays last year. And Eric and Tammy just do a great job of only having quality products and having great American English speaking <laugh>
Support
And yeah. Things like that. So again, if you look at our discounts and deals, we are pretty particular about what we put there and we really like those companies quite a bit.
We also have a link to our Amazon store. Now, we're not gonna say that everything on Amazon is vetted No. By anyone. <laugh>. No, we're not gonna make that claim. But we do have a list, a wishlist that is RV supplies. So if you are looking for the things that we'd use and the enjoy are on that list. So even if you're looking for something and kind of the only way to get it is Amazon, check out our list and use our link.
Yeah. And, and when you do just know a very small portion of those proceeds go to support the podcast,
But none of that is paid by you. Amazon gives us a little chunk and it doesn't change the price if you buy it through us or directly on Amazon.
Right. It doesn't cost you more, but it does help support the podcast and we sincerely appreciate that. And we also sincerely appreciate our next guest who comes to us from Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine, but they also produce some really neat events. And so without any further ado or a don't, we are with someone who we've known for quite some time and we really admire what they do. Paul Lascik from, I'm gonna say Vintage Camper Trailer Magazine, but not just that.
Paul, welcome.
Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah, it's, it's been a while.
Yeah. It was episode nine, one of our really early episodes that we spoke to Paul and Carolyn about Vintage Camper Trailer Magazine. And so much has happened <laugh> in the last few years that we wanted to just touch bases again. And we know you have some things that we didn't talk about back then, so,
And something really big. Yeah.
Oh, welcome. Well, and yeah, welcome and thank you. Let's start out by just kind of, if people go back and listen to episode nine, which was three years ago, I guess, what, uh, what's new <laugh> in terms of the business or the magazine or what you're traveling in or <laugh>
Sure, sure. Well, I'll, I'll try to cover those real quick. I am working on right now issue number 66 of the magazine. So that's 11 years now in print in digital, which just seems crazy to me, especially these days for any business. But, uh, we are fortunate to still be blessed with doing a actual print hands-on magazine. Yeah. We've expanded our events a great deal. So our Trailer Fest brand, our Trailer Fest Rally, which is our big party event. We're doing about six of those a year.
And in a few weeks we go down to our first one for the season and it's 280 vintage trailers and 150 classic cars and food trucks and bands. And I mean, it's just crazy fun. So,
So
Fun. That's really taken off. And then six or seven years ago we started doing our bootcamp thing where we taught people how to restore vintage trailers. And over the years it morphed and we got people coming from the teardrop community and now the van community and, and all these different aspects started coming to get the knowledge of how to do the work. This year we changed it up and, and were, we've got new speakers and new classes and new workshops to address all different kinds of campers no matter how you camp.
It doesn't just have to be vintage. But we've got a program and we've got an expo where we're gonna have people there showing products, showing trailers, showing fans and teardrops and, and, and all kinds of stuff. Wow. We've got a bunch of exhibitors coming and we're just kind of re-imagining bootcamp, if you will.
That's awesome. Yeah. That's one of the big things. Right. There are a lot of people, I think, who are vintage curious, for lack of a better description, and they see these great vintage trailers, especially when they're finished, they're beautiful mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and they see that and then they see something in their neighbor's driveway that they're just looking to get rid of. And they're, how do I go from that to what I would see in vintage camper trailers, for example. Right. And that's what bootcamp kind of was.
It was all sorts of workshops and classes for accomplishing that.
Yeah. And, and I think, you know, you said vintage curious. I remember back when we were camping Curious Yeah. <laugh> and we had two little kids and we really didn't know what to do. And when I looked around at other expos and other events that were like my bootcamp, but bigger, they were very focused on Overlanding or Van Expo. I love going to the Van Expo. I love Adventure Vans or a RV show or a, everything seemed very compartmentalized. And so our goal with Camp Nation and how we came up with the name is kind of the whole, the whole nation, if you will, of campers.
It doesn't really matter how you camp. We want you to come and learn and, and learn about awnings or learn about batteries or solar or whatever the case is. And so we just really wanted to be something that people weren't intimidated by because it was a bunch of us hardcore vintage <laugh> trailer people that all know each other and Yeah. You know, so that, that's the goal. Hopefully we'll come across with that.
Well, and you have got some great workshops planned for, it is now called Camp Nation Expo. You've got some great workshops, appliance Repairs with Josh Hicks and Cushion Upholstery with Mindy Macy. But you also have a good friend of ours, Tim Heinz, who is probably oh, one of the recognized leaders in Vintage Trailer Nerdism <laugh> and a friend of ours too. Yes.
Oh, right on. Yes. No, we are glad to have Tim out again this year. This will be his third year coming out with us. And Denny Stone from SoCal Vintage Trailer is a huge builder down in Southern California and new this year is Shi del Graso, and she restores more of that, you know, not quite so vintage, but taking and modernizing the trailers from the nineties and the two thousands and upgrading and updating them. And, and so we're kind of bridging the gap with, with her and, uh, and some painting and wallpapering techniques.
And, and again, just trying to involve all the different communities.
It's amazing the list of what all you can learn during the event. And
We could go on and on. I mean, there's, you know, I still feel like, uh, we don't have plumbing this year and you know, things that we've done in the past, but we do have a lot to offer. There's more than you can do if you, if you come to the workshops, there's more, more than you can get to.
And there are various tracks. So if you are, if you feel strong in one area and need to learn in another, there are ways you can accomplish that with the way you've put these together. There's
Several things going on, so nothing's gonna appeal to everybody all the time. Right. But there's enough different things going on that you can drift around. And we're still building the calendar. We just, uh, did a deal with a battery company and they're going to be coming. And so that's not on the schedule and some other things, but we're still a work in progress.
Wow, that's super cool. But I mean, you go everywhere from sewing Machine 1 0 1 <laugh> to Metal Shaping. I mean, it, there's, yes. Solar 1 0 1, I'm, I'm looking at the schedule here, 12 Volt DC Basics Paint like a Pro, which is shy and it, it's really impressive, the line of people. So do you have to have an RV to come to Camp Nation Expo?
No, you don't have to have anything and you don't have to have a vintage thing or you know, you, a lot of people historically for bootcamp, about a third of the people flew in from all over the US and stayed locally in hotels. Interesting. It was pretty amazing. Yeah. And then of course we had, you know, several people camp there as well. And, and this year we have 200 campsite. So we really expect by opening it up to everybody that will have a lot more people camping there and also the exhibitors that the idea is that you really develop the relationships with each other.
And so even the exhibitors, most of them stay in camp in their rigs that they're showing. Right. So it's really a chance for Mod Vans is gonna have three vans there and be camping with customers and contacts and other builders and, and really just creating that community while we're all there. So. Great. You can camp, but you don't have to. This is the first year we'll be opened for the day, so you can just come for the day and walk around and look if you want. We've never been able to do that before. And so yeah.
Come as you
Are. And something I know about your events in general is that they're just really fun <laugh> What kinda, I guess after hours plans are there?
So right now, in fact, I just talked to him a little bit today, the idea for after Hours is we are going to have a movie or two possibly, but they'll be camping related. So there's a recent movie been done called Illumination about the history of Airstreams, and it's in very limited release. And we, we helped work on it, if you will, with information years ago. I mean, it's been in the works for years. Yeah. That would be one that we're more than likely gonna show. We also expect that some of the vendors might have a happy hour, if you will or whatnot at their, at their sites.
But the neat thing about Casa Deta, if you haven't been there, is there's restaurants, ice cream shops, you know, there's stuff to do right there that you can just walk around and wander around and do right. At the campground. Also, it turns out it'ss the same weekend that the, uh, Gilroy Rodeo is in town. So if you wanna go to the rodeo for the evening, you can do that too.
Okay.
So there's lots to do while you're, while you're in town.
So you could come there and learn something or just horse around. Oh boy, <laugh>. Yeah.
Yeah. You can come and camp. You can go to as many classes as you want and, uh, horse around at the rodeo if that's what you like
<laugh>. That sounds like a lot of fun. One of the things I've said to a lot of people is the more you learn about how your RV works, the more you like the RV lifestyle. Yeah.
Well, you better know what to do because stuff's gonna happen. <laugh>, I guarantee you that. Right. Stuff happens.
Boy, isn't
That the truth? And that's not even only true for vintage RVs. That's true for new RVs too. Yeah.
And that you better have some, some working knowledge of what's going on, whether you're restoring or just maintaining and trying to survive
<laugh>. Absolutely. And then beyond Camp Nation with the various events that you have, you have for example, a Spartan reunion coming up, which I love those Spartan trailers. Yeah.
And then Trailer Fest and Glam PR Fest, the things that have been going on for quite some time.
Yes. Those, we've been doing, oh gosh, I don't know, 12 or 15 years now. The Trailer Fest rallys. The Spartan Rally. You asked early on what we're traveling in. And a couple weeks here we take our 1955 Spartan down to, uh, modernism Week in Palm Springs. Oh.
Oh man.
I'm so jealous.
<laugh>. Yeah, it's a good one. I like that one. A few years ago, some guys started doing these Spartan reunions and they wanted to have one on the West Coast. And so we stepped up and this will be the West Coast rally in conjunction with our Renaissance rally. Ah, because the Rin Faire will be at the same campground while we're there camping. Oh. So it's gonna be Rin Fair, Spartan Rally, the whole deal.
That's in Hollister. It
Is,
Yes. Okay. It is in Hollister. So they set up a Rin Faire down at the far end of the park for like six weeks. It's there.
It's huge. Oh my gosh. I
Mean, it's huge built in. Yeah. So that'll be a fun one and something different. We've camped there before while the Ren fair's going on and, and had a blast. So a lot of that rally will be the Spartans and then enjoying the Renaissance
Fair. Yeah.
Yeah. And for those who don't know, Spartan to me is one of the better travel trailers made over history, and they were kind of made to be lived in at a time when people were sort of living and traveling like they are now
<laugh>. Yeah. Spartans aren't really campers, they're park models, but we use 'em as campers now. And like ours has been retrofitted with tanks and things, so it functions like a camper now, but typically it would've just hooked up to street water and hooked up to street septic and Yeah. Sat in one spot for six months or a year at a time. Right.
Or decades, as I've seen a lot
Of them four decades. Yeah. You
See people pulling these things out of the woods and, and yet they're still restorable
All the time. There was one today showed up on one of the sales sites that was unique and different, and we're all calling each other, Hey, do you ever see one like that? And so even with Spartans
Made by the Spartan Aircraft
Company, definitely one of our favorites. And definitely one of the better built ones like Airstream or Streamline any of those, you know, aluminum framed trailers. Yeah. That, uh, didn't suffer so much from the rot, like the little wooden ones. Yep.
<laugh>. Yeah.
So again, we'll have links to all of these events on our calendar as always, and you can find them in our show notes as well. And they're still, I assume, space to reserve a spot for Camp Nation.
Oh yeah. Camp Nation just started booking for campsite and, uh, we've got some sites still at the, uh, Spartan Rally and Sand Dimus in a couple of weeks. You better get in there quick cuz that one's down to a handful. But <laugh>, we've still got sites for most of the rest of the rallies. A few. Okay.
Sounds good.
So we have talked to you before, but back when we talked to you before, we hadn't come up with this <laugh> pop quiz. <laugh>. Okay. Okay. And now we love to ask our guests, what is your best camping memory?
You know what's so funny with us is you look back and, and gosh, some of the stuff just blends together. You'd gone to Pismo every year for 12, 14 years, and you can't even remember which year it was at, which <laugh>, but our first trip to Pismo, which back then Pismo was the thing, you had to get it into the Pismo rally. It was huge. And we had had our little trailer and we had figured out how to kind of polish it, and we had two little babies and, and this cute little trailer.
And we took off, we got into Pismo, and we got to Oakdale and I had to do some work on the way. And we were driving through Oakdale, getting ready to head out, and a kid jumped off of the sidewalk and in front of our trailer Oh. Behind our truck. And so technically we hit him, even though he jumped in front of us and it crushed the whole front of the trailer. And, you know, we were devastated.
He was hauled away in an ambulance, the kids, the dead, and da. We got in the car and within an hour a tire came off of the trailer and tore the other side of the trailer off completely. And the tire went into the trench into the waterway and broke somebody's fence that I had to go tell them about <laugh>. Oh
Boy. Oh boy.
I mean, it was just, we stayed that night in a motel. We duct taped the trailer together, we found some lug nuts and fixed the wheel and, and it was just horrific. But you remember those things and when you look back on them, that was probably the worst trip of our life. But when we got to Pismo and I saw 300 vintage trailers and vintage cushman's and hot rods, I got tingles <laugh>. And it was like, I couldn't believe this even this exists in this world.
And I just thought, this is crazy. And I used to be a police officer and I would tell people the, the other two great thrills of my life was chasing people with the sirens on and jumping out of an airplane and, and parachuting and my first year at Pismo. And even though we had all that grief on the way, I still remember it fondly. And, and I know that's a long story that probably was a longer answer than you wanted, but that's what I always think of is sometimes it's the worst trip you had that
Is makes the best you remember. Yeah. So with a story like that, I'm almost afraid to ask, we also ask for your worst camping memory. Was that it?
No.
Oh, oh,
<laugh>. I'll give you another one. Oh. And it, boy, it's short <laugh>. We were at Pismo one year and, and, and we always say that if you want to get a divorce, set up an awning with your wife, <laugh>. The, the vintage awnings are a wrestling match. And there was one year that I got way outta line and, uh, I hope nobody saw it or had a phone recording of it because it, it was bad. And, and I, I thought Caroline was gonna go home. And so we've got a new rule now when we, when we get to the, the rally, we don't set up the awning for about an hour.
We gotta chill, we gotta let, we gotta talk to a few people, we gotta get ready for it because it could be a battle. And it, that was probably my worst time camping that the time that we got in a, I mean, we don't fight hardly at all. Right. But man over and awning of all things, it was Oh gosh.
Onto
A head. Even my, even my kids remember it. It was so bad. <laugh>. Oh boy. Yeah. We don't do that anymore. <laugh>
Whoever invented the power awning on a modern rv, I'm just very grateful for them. Yeah. Because you push a button and it just works until it doesn't. Right.
The the vintage ones can be tough. They can be a challenge.
Well, Paul Las, we are grateful that you had some time to share the events and, and we encourage you, if you are looking to learn more about Vintage RVs or even how to fix the RV you have, and if you have an rv, you're gonna have to fix the rv. That Right. <laugh> check out Camp Nation Expo and all of the cool events and start with a subscription of Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine. Yes.
Thanks you guys. I appreciate it.
Our pleasure and good seeing you
Again. Yeah, thanks for taking time with us. All right,
Paul. Good seeing you,
Bud. Thank you so much.
You too. All right. All
Right. Take care. Bye now. Take care. Now there's something that we don't anticipate having to do any maintenance on.
Not really. It is our masterful power system from ABC
Upfitters. That's right. As Tony likes to say.
It just
Works. It just works. And we have been using it a heck of a lot already this year. As you know, we spent two weeks in court site unplugged. That's right. <laugh> and part of our travels home as well. And right now it's out there soaking up what sun there is through the snow that we've had this past couple of
Days as we record this. There was like two and a half inches of snow in New Mexico. Yeah. Which was like, what the heck is that
Stuff?
<laugh>? But anyway, we have the refrigerator running in our travel trailer sitting out there because we haven't unpacked it yet.
And the heater, because we haven't winterized
Yet. That's true. The caliber of what Master Volt makes is up to the standards of a lot of our V companies, including Rockwood and Flagstaff and Nobo and iex. And some really high on fifth wheels and such are coming with Master Bolt systems through ABC Upfitters. But in case you haven't heard this podcast before, they can also custom engineer a system for your RV and whatever configuration that RV is, they actually work with you to learn your camping style and what your expectations are and build a system that fits within those parameters using master vault components.
And if you haven't heard of Master Vault components, they are big in the marine industry because when you're a hundred miles offshore, your tolerance for failure is pretty low. Right. And Master Volt is just a really good company to deal with. And ABC Upfitters can set you up in your RV with a master volt system, links in the show notes as always to everything we talk about, including how to find ABC upfitters for a master volt solar and battery system if
You don't already have a master volt power package, a master volt system, and you still have to plug in when you get to a campground. We just wanted to kind of walk through the series of steps, kind of make your checklist because we've seen some people have some problems with it and we wanna help avoid those kind of problems. Our first step, if we're in a new park that we have, well, even if we're at a park we've been to before, the first thing we do really before we even back into the site is get out our surge suppressor, which for us is a huge power watchdog.
Yep. Plug it in. Well I really gotta go step by step, turn off the power at the power pole, plug in your surge suppressor, turn on the power at the power pole, and make sure that you don't get any kind of error messages for us. That it's super easy, the dog turns white or the dog turns red. Right. That's one of the reasons we really like the Hughes Power watchdog.
If you get a red dog, I don't even back in, we go back to the office and say we need a different site. For example, recently we were at a place that we like to go to quite a lot and the power pedestal was damaged. So we went back to the camp host and said, isn't gonna work for us. So, right. Anyways, so now if you have good power now you can back in or pull through your site, whatever the case may
Be, whatever it may be. Now turn that power pull back off. Yep. And hook your power cord to your surge suppressor and then into your outlet on your camper.
Yep. And then turn the power on.
But I wanna be more specific on that. Hooking it to the camper. Make sure that you plug that in properly. I know in 30 amp you need to put the plug in and then you need to give it a little turn and line it up so that it is well stuck <laugh>.
Okay. Yeah. It, it seats those connectors properly. If the connectors are loose, they can heat up and actually melt your connection there. And that is super bad. And if you look at our show notes, I'll show you a picture of one that did melt because they didn't turn the 30 amp connector and lock it into place. And I'm not talking about the collar on the outside of the
Yeah. Not the threaded part, but the actual plug
Part. Yeah. You actually plug it into your camper on, on the camper end of the court and then you give it like a, an eighth of a turn or a quarter turn to
Kind of see. Yeah, it's not very
Far. That's something a lot of people don't realize. And then you definitely do wanna screw that collar down. So now you have a secure connection and you're not gonna get those connections heated
Up. So once you've done all that, then go back to the power pole and turn the power on one final time. You don't wanna do all that plugging in while it's on, because if you mess around long enough and you don't have a good connection, you might cause some problems for yourself. So just be really safe and just have the PO have the power off while you're plugging in and then turn it back on.
Absolutely. So there's your tip of the week and we have a gadget this week and it's something I totally dig. Yeah. As you may know, if you follow our journey that we actually swapped the refrigerator in our travel trailer for a Dometic 12 volt refrigerator. But what we also did is got a Dematic 12 volt cooler. And these things, they're just neat. So rather than having to put ice in, you can plug this into your car's cigarette lighter.
Do they still call it that? I think it's called a power pourer,
That rounded thing. The round thing. Yeah, the round power
Port. Yeah, it's like a thumb. But don't put your thumb in there. I did that as a kid, man. Those things are hot.
Yeah. I think the tip of my finger still has a scar. Yeah,
<laugh>. Anyway. Anyway. So you can either power it with 12 volt power or 120 volt household power. And we have powered ours with our portable power station, our zachery, and they are so efficient. So this dematic that we have is a 75 quart model. It's a big cooler. It is. And they make all sorts of sizes, but this one in particular, it's almost refrigerator size. Right. It, it's a big daddy rabbit <laugh>. Well, I'm amazed at how little energy it takes to power this cooler.
But on the subject of energy, let's say you're a van lifer and you have this plugged into your camper, it has the provision to actually protect the battery in your vehicle so it won't draw it down and you can't start your vehicle. So that's one of the things that's built into it. It has two compartments and you can set each one to be either a refrigerator or a freezer. And there's a range of temperatures down to negative seven degrees. Ooh. I know there are wire baskets in each compartment, cuz you know, whatever you put in, you're gonna want the thing that's at the bottom right.
<laugh>.
Right.
I mean, that's just the way the world works. And so we have traveled with this thing, like I say, it's very well made, it's very efficient. And I just really dig this Dometic 12 volt cooler for tent camping or van life or even, I mean, you know, we have an rv, we still bring this thing whether it's awesome, right? Because one of our little tricks, and we learned this from Jason and Abbey from RV Miles, they go on these evening outings. So as it gets dark, they'll go somewhere.
They have their ice chest and they have an induction cooktop. And we also have a etic go hydration jug, which has a powered faucet on it. And we can literally go and like make dinner on a picnic table. Yeah. But we don't have to bring propane or anything like that. We've got cold food in the cooler hot food thanks to the induction cook top <laugh> and water. So check it out. We have a full written review in pictures, and as I said, Dometic does make powered coolers of all different sizes, but they're really efficient and no more ice and no more soggy bread because eh,
Because the ice got in the package. Bread, cheese, you know, even cheese when cheese gets wet.
Yuck. Yeah, no thank you <laugh>. So anyway, our Dometic 12 volt cooler and that cooler is included in the RV of the week with, is it? Yes. Believe it or not, our RV of the week is a collaboration between Winnebago, who you've undoubtedly heard of. I
Would think so.
And a company called Adventure Wagon that
Who you may not have heard of. That's
True <laugh>. And what Adventure Wagon does is they build like a steel frame that goes in specific and typically very long Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans and also for transit vans and this steel cage then they use to attach interior panels and L tracks. So you can put in beds and hammocks and overhead cabinets and all these different things. So it's kind of neat. So it's kind of like a van life kit for lack of a better description.
And the cool thing about that is you can put these things in and easily just take 'em right back out again. So if you have a van that you need for both work and camping, or you, let's say you put the overhead cabinet in one way and you're like, no, it should be three feet towards the back or the front, you can just unhook it and move it.
Wow. And so it's a neat rig. Now, we had a while back talked about putting a pickup camper on the back of a pickup truck and it would be the four wheel pop-up campers, project M. So it's essentially a blank slate. Well, in some ways that's what this Winnebago is to. So it uses the 12 volt cooler that we really like. It also uses the Dometic Go Hydration jug as the only water source. So it's sort of half a jerrycan size powered water jug.
There's no gray, fresh or black tank per se in this. It also uses a portable toilet as the toilet. Again, very reconfigurable, relatively simple because it doesn't have all these built in systems, but they are systems there that you can take back out. One of the things that I also like ensuring some of the home-built RVs, particularly vans, can be a challenge.
Sure. But this is from Winnebago and so it's really easy to ensure, the downside is the Winnebago version is only available in the biggest of Sprinter vans, Mercedes Sprinter vans. Mm. And finding a mechanic for those things on the road can be a challenge. Plus they're, oh my gosh, expensive <laugh>. The good news is you can get one with four wheel drive. The bad news is, again, they're, they're, it's the biggest sprinter van.
It is literally 30 inches longer than a Ram 2,500 quad cab pickup. Ye it is a big van. And I think in some ways that kind of takes away from the appeal of Van Life because one of the core aspects to me is it fits in a parking space. Yeah. This is pretty
Long. Not so much <laugh>.
Yeah. Anyway, check it out. It it, it is a neat concept. I hope Winnebago continues doing this and then makes it in available in the smaller Sprinter vans and maybe the transit van too. But even so it's, it's, it's a neat idea. So there you go. R RV of the week.
All right. Well it sounds kind of cool. I do wish it was smaller for some, you know, for people who
It's, it's actually fairly gigantic
People who wanna live the van life. It does sound like a great idea. Maybe they'll start making some smaller versions.
Yeah, we'll see. Oh, uh, one of the things I neglected to say, adventure Wagon will put their frame kits and interior kits into, if you bring your own transit van or your own Sprinter van. And so, you know, you say you go and find a 10 year old sprinter, as long as it's the size that they support, they'll put a kit in. So you Oh, that's great. You don't necessarily need the Winnebago side of the equation.
Okay. Last week we had a question of the week. This was kind of a visual question. Well it wasn't a visual question <laugh>, but it asked for visual answers. And I asked you to show me your storage hacks, whether it be for while you're stopped or while you're moving or whatever. I'm going to kind of explain some of these things to you. But you really have to go, you really need to go in and see some of these pictures cuz
They're awesome. And user are posted on the Stresses Camping podcast Facebook group,
Tom, and I've seen this before. Tom has shown us the top bunk. He turned it into kind of a cube cabinet. He has six cubes and they all fit into a cabinet size. And then the rest of that bunk is the cat house. <laugh>. No, no, no. Not like that. <laugh>
<laugh>. You know, I've seen more and more people traveling with cats lately.
Yeah. So you should check that out. The cubes are a very pretty blue and yellow colors. And then the way that he's got it set up for the cats is really clever and lovely. Lisa showed us a picture of the ottoman where they store their shoes and also that that's where Buster likes to hang out during meals.
<laugh> probably because his nose is at table height. Right. It's like Ray Rad. Rudy, you have to eat <laugh>
<laugh>. Bill showed us some IKEA solutions, which I totally love. Bill and Marilyn both showed pictures of the hanging organizers in a closet. And that's what Tony and I use as well. Although Marilyn did add a level of coolness that we don't have, and they put a small Fiberboard shelf in each of those fabric shelves so that they're a little less saggy. So that was kind of cool. Monica put several pictures of great ways that she organizes her cabinets and her storage containers and things like that.
And Tom, Tom, that truck. I just love that truck. Oh my word. You have to see that. Like, I can't, I can't even describe to you, but it's a commercial pickup topper with a slide out deck. It is fantabulous.
Yeah. I, I got to see this in person and I was just like, drooling <laugh> it. It was fantastic.
So thank you all for answering and showing, giving me some ideas. If you need some ideas for storage, go check that out. And also, while you're on the Fun and Friendly Stressless Camping podcast Facebook group, you can add pictures of course, but you can also answer this week's question.
And what would that be?
That would be, if you were going to a bootcamp or some kind of teaching seminar thing, what's the like main thing that you would want to learn? What's like your biggest hangup on fixing or repairing or, well, just what, you know, what would the main topic be that you would sign up for that kind of a situation?
You can answer that question at the Fun and Friendly Stresses Camping podcast Facebook group. Just like Peggy said, the nice thing is everybody has remained polite and it's almost like not Facebook,
Right? <laugh> <laugh>
Of course. You know, we do a weekly newsletter, which is completely and totally and absolutely free,
Right? It includes links to stories and videos and podcasts and whatever we find that we think will help you get the most out of your RV experience.
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One of that <laugh>. And we don't share it. We, that is just for our use to send you a once a week email. And that's it.
Yeah. We wanna serve you as, as best as we can. Asbestos. Asbestos. We can, we don't put any asbestos in the newsletter <laugh>. And of course you'll find the notes from this episode 190.
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