The Charming Artisan

I’d like to say that I enjoy camping without all of the amenities of home, but there are some things that are required due to health, safety and just pure enjoyment reasons.

Backstory: Even before meeting the wife, A, in 2008 I had a travel trailer. When that trailer “died”, shortly after paying it off, due to lightweight building materials and water damage (story for another time) we spent even more money on a more conventionally built trailer with stronger materials in the floor and roof. That purchase, in turn, lead into a bigger diesel powered truck. It’s kind of a snowball effect when you start buying toys. We’ve had a B-ring O-ut A-nother T-housand in the past as well. Super enjoyable, many great memories, but, something had to be sacrificed. Unless you take two tow vehicles, you can’t have a travel tralier and a boat and get to all of the places that you wish to go without the added expenses that go with it.

At the time, we lived near a big beautiful lake and the boat was easy to just put in the water to go for a cruise. We didn’t camp as much, or at least, didn’t camp very far away, so a couple trips to get all of the toys to the same spot wasn’t that bad of a hassle.

Over the years, I debated the best way to set up for camping and enjoying the water and seeing the sights. Having my cake and eating it too.

Option 1: Truck and Travel Trailer, smaller inflatable water toys.

Option 2: Truck and Boat, tent, smaller packable camping gear.

Option 3: Truck, Truck Camper and Boat

We did option 1 for several years when we needed to travel long distances for our vacations. (Which we used to go to weddings or family reunions and such) The few years we had a boat, we also had a seasonal spot in a campground on a lake so that worked out very well. The dream of a truck camper and boat is still there, but the size and expense of the truck required to haul both a camper and boat is slightly out of reach at the moment. That might be more of an early retirement goal.

Current set-up: (Pictured) The current set up is a Frankenstein of camping styles. Roof-top tenting is all the rage lately by folks who like to get off of the beaten path. We do to, however, I still like the idea of having a home base. With a RTT on the top of a vehicle, it will forever be setting up or down anytime you need to use the vehicle.

The trailer I have had since my contracting days. A 6x10ft utility trailer with tool boxes mounted on the top rails. The RTT we found on Facebook Marketplace. I used an old set of camper steps instead of a ladder to access the tent off the back tailgate of the trailer. (A, doesn’t do ladders) The awning and annex came with the RTT, makes a nice place to keep our clothes and food stuffs. Some stabilizers to keep it all steady, and a fair bit of electrical to keep up powered up.

Note: the blue sink set up is from Joolca.ca It came with the sink, tankless water heater and hoses for the faucet and a shower. Very cool stuff.

Electrical:

• 1x 280AH LiFePO4 battery – Lithium is the coolest. WIthout too much explanation, 3 times the power, 2 times the price of lead acid.
• 1x 40A LiFePo4 battery charger – Your RV might charge at 8-10A. This does 40A. I run a generator a few hours a day to recoup what we use in battery power. (Had solar, but we camp under too many trees)
• 1x fuse block to keep the smoke inside the wires where is belongs
• 10ish USB/12V Lighter sockets so we can plug in pretty much anything that can charge off 12V poer

Water:

• 1x 30Gal Water Tank
• Porta-potty if we are somewhere without toilets of some sort
• Joolca sink/shower setup (Seriously, check out joolca.ca, not a sponser… yet)

Heat:

• 12V Diesel Heater
• Piped into the RTT and through the tool box into the annex. Comes in handy for the spring/fall camping sessions

Food Storage:

• 1x 98L (Quart) Bodega 12V Fridge/Freezer – So Awesome. Two compartments that can be fridge or freezer.
• 1x 32L (Quart) Bodega 12V Fridge freezer – One compartment that can be a fridge or freezer.
• 4x weather/dust proof boxes from Costco for cooking tools, plates, cutlery, dry goods… I think they were originally designed for fishermen, but super strong and very handy
• 1x Coleman cooler, used to be for holding ice and drinks on our trips, now just a good place for more dry goods

Our set up is always evolving. We use 3 inflatable kayaks to enjoy the water with now. A battery powered pump blows them up in fairly short order.

We have several aluminum tables that fold flat or breakdown into easy packaging. Light and sturdy enough to hold bbq’s and such.

For cooking we use a small BBQ from Costco and a 22″ Blackstone griddle.

All in all, the trailer is necessary just to hold all of our stuff. It’s not a quick 15 minute set up like the travel trailer used to be, but it is paid for…

For safety, due to me being diabetic (at least that is my excuse) we bought a Starlink to help keep in touch with the world when we are away from cell service. Nothing to do with my internet addiction at all…

Like or subscribe if you want to see more of our adventures. I am just getting started with this blogging stuff, but plan to keep at it. Let me know if you have any questions about our set up.

T