Car-Dwelling Essentials

Josh Gates wrote:

Do you have a link for it? ...ballpark cost estimate, if not? Intrigued.

I shit ye not, I got it for five bucks at Wallyworld.

Brian Wirtz wrote:

Hit it with a coat of  black spray paint and leave it out in the sun all day while you're out climbing, and you'll have warm/hot water at the end of the day.

Jeff and Bryan, that’s a winner! I can’t stand paying five bucks to take a shower. That buys a lot of beans and rice!

Only thing I haven't seen listed here that I think is totally essential is a 12x12 tarp.  Pair that with your cozy chair, roll up table, two burner stove with 10lb LP tank, and a roto-molded cooler and you're set to be happy during what would otherwise be a miserable day.  A Jerry Can for water is a lot better than the leaky collapsible water jugs so many people have.  A good sleeping pad and a nice pillow are also key. 

Long Ranger wrote: 
Bonus if she buys all the food, too.

double bonus if she climbs 5.12 and can put up ropes for you!

Oh, and another personal favorite is a pyramid cheese grater. It’s grate for making hashbrowns out of potatoes and onions and bell peppers, and it also does cheese to boot! Blocks of 5.9+ cheddar keep longer than pre-shredded stuff.

Milk crate + Duluth Crate Master = Kitchen/Pantry. Organized and Portable.
MSR drom bags= hand washing station, shower and drinking water... if your desperate. 

We took mosquito netting and elastic to make screens for the windows. Basically draped it over the door from the outside.  A necessity on warm nights to for keeping bugs away,  especially when you have lights on. 

Dishes!?
Our automatic dishwasher!

gso Orton wrote: Dishes!? We make sure we have an automatic dishwasher!

Pre-rinse only. We need to maintain some kind of standard. 

Nick C wrote: They can be expensive, but a good external battery to charge phones and electronics. 

agreed. Ill add in the voltage regulator as well to keep that battery charged. When the chassis battery is full it sends juice back to the house battery and then cuts that flow when the vehicle shuts off. I also wired my radio to run off the house battery so I can let it play without worrying about draining the chassis battery. A decent inverter for the laptop, etc if you want to get fancy.  it can fit in the spare tire compartment if you get creative.

a little USB-powered fan can be a savior during the summer, and you can use it to blow mosquitos out of the car before going to bed

unless you've got a big sprinter, a tri-fold mattress is pretty cool. Easy to fold up and make some temporary space when needed
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KWFNHMH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am only on this thread to see if someone says "Dude Wipes"...

Wow, 3 pages of nice helpful hints and girlfriend jokes.  No trolls, assholes or people putting other people down.  That was a pleasant 10 minutes of reading :)

JRZane wrote:

A decent inverter for the laptop, etc if you want to get fancy.  it can fit in the spare tire compartment if you get creative.

A good inverter is necessary for some electronics but a better option for your laptop is just finding the DC/car adapter.  Way more efficient as you aren’t converting from DC to AC back to DC. 

Mikey Schaefer wrote:

A good inverter is necessary for some electronics but a better option for your laptop is just finding the DC/car adapter.  Way more efficient as you aren’t converting from DC to AC back to DC. 

true, but inverters allow for other 110v accessories too.  I generally pack clippers to shave my head, things like that.

JRZane wrote:

true, but inverters allow for other 110v accessories too.  I generally pack clippers to shave my head, things like that.

And coffee grinders.

my coffee is hand ground.  Gotta show some class when loving outta station wagon. 

Albert B wrote: my coffee is hand ground.  Gotta show some class when loving outta station wagon. 

oh that gets old.