Car-Dwelling Essentials

2 years on the road and I would say my most beloved item in the van in regards to increased livability has been the Nemo Helio water pump. Found the 22L one at a Rei garage sale for 70$ and it has been great. Sits on the platform, and between the tanks pressure and gravity, I am able to have running water for washing dishes, drinking water, and taking showers. It was a game changer for me!

My mini MP rolling tray :). Bonus: it doubles as a plate on the rare occasion my Honda is hosting a guest.

Edit: Fritz you have a Fit?! Fit gang unite!!!!

Yukon Corneliuswrote: Put ice in a nalgene instead, and put it on a paper towel or something to absorb the condensation. 

My variant to this is to use a dry bag sized for the usual 5lb bag of ice you get at the gas station. Slip the ice in and it'll melt without getting your cooler and produce soaked, then just dump the water out. The air in the bag also slows down the melting, gets you more time with the ice.

Ally Lwrote:

Edit: Fritz you have a Fit?! Fit gang unite!!!!

Hella gangstarrrrr! Favorite car ever! Great rolling tray too. I cheat and use a machine roller :-D

Penny just turned 89k and celebrated by attaining a new personal record:

Big Redwrote:

My variant to this is to use a dry bag sized for the usual 5lb bag of ice you get at the gas station. Slip the ice in and it'll melt without getting your cooler and produce soaked, then just dump the water out. The air in the bag also slows down the melting, gets you more time with the ice.

This is brilliant. 

F r i t z wrote:

Hella gangstarrrrr! Favorite car ever! Great rolling tray too. I cheat and use a machine roller :-D

Penny just turned 89k and celebrated by attaining a new personal record:

Scrolling through the food section of your blog, you’re a pretty decent road chef! No ungodly couscous/tuna/gas station sauce packet mashups for you.

Oh man I drive too much like a California asshole to ever achieve the MPGs that Pennsatucky (great name :)) has. My dream one day is to replace the suspension on Cassandra to give her another 2” of lift, but for now I’ve driven her over beaches, through canyons, across lake beds, and I recently celebrated her 100k by uhhhh…driving her into a ditch :’). Yet Cassie persists, because that’s what these fucking workhorses of a little hatchback do.

One more tip: we use large milkcrates for under-bed storage. Sturdy, stackable, square to efficiently pack, cheap. And if you make simple plywood lids then you've got a ton of extra seating/low table space.

Ally Lwrote:

. My dream one day is to replace the suspension on Cassandra to give her another 2” of lift, but for now I’ve driven her over beaches, through canyons, across lake beds, and I recently celebrated her 100k by uhhhh…driving her into a ditch :’). 

Hydraulics on a Fit would be amazing. I hardly ever find myself wanting AWD/4x4 but extra clearance on demand would definitely come in handy!

Getting rowdy with the little cars is always fun -- sounds like you've had your share of vehicular projecting. This is one of my proudest redpoints, using the Traveling Stopper to repair tire cables at Crack House Moab in a blizzard.

F r i t zwrote:

10/10 would (ghost ride the) whip on that thing.

Also, to stay on thread topic, I always keep this wash bag for laundry in my car. I don’t like bringing more clothes than I need on a trip, and this lets me stay somewhat hygienic on the road by washing an outfit at a time, as long as I have access to a sink.

Having a car helps.

Second favorite vehicular misadventure: today at Wild.

Thanks for being my strapgun, Nate!

F r i t zwrote:

Second favorite vehicular misadventure: today at Wild.

Thanks for being my strapgun, Nate!

This explains why you hardly ever want AWD/4x4.

mbkwrote:

This explains why you hardly ever want AWD/4x4.

For those without a cooking platform, the engine block is a nice flat spot for the stove. Just don't blow up your car.

Ally Lwrote:

Scrolling through the food section of your blog, you’re a pretty decent road chef! No ungodly couscous/tuna/gas station sauce packet mashups for you.

Oh man I drive too much like a California asshole to ever achieve the MPGs that Pennsatucky (great name :)) has. My dream one day is to replace the suspension on Cassandra to give her another 2” of lift, but for now I’ve driven her over beaches, through canyons, across lake beds, and I recently celebrated her 100k by uhhhh…driving her into a ditch :’). Yet Cassie persists, because that’s what these fucking workhorses of a little hatchback do.

I watched loads of cars driving by, when I was without a vehicle. Waiting for the light, to cross the major artery for the outbound commute. Clearance was something I was looking at a lot, but also what the inside might be, for hailing myself and stuff. Size in general. The Honda CR-V looked really good from the outside, more clearance than many SUVs, and Subies, too. At the dealership, first thing I did was put the seats down, and hop in back. 

In the TMI category, I will nonetheless say that a pee funnel is mighty nice for car camping. Just hop out, get it done while leaning my back against the car, hop back in. Kuhla (sp?) cloth, too. 

And a big yes on the water thing mentioned upthread! It's great for camping in general, especially nice to have a kitchen type sprayer for dish washing.

I'll be back camping out of the Honda only one week from today. At City of Rocks for most of June. Probably gonna be pretty feral, this trip, lol!

Best, Helen

One of my partners had this little g-unit and I was very impressed. It charges off 12V while you're driving and is very portable. It's discreet enough to carry into a coffeeshop or library to charge off shore power too.

Also, I've been highly satisfied with this Logitech K480 external keyboard. Good ~mechanical action, well-spaced keys, long battery life, easily toggles between three Bluetooth devices.