TL;DR - After switching over to a Dometic Fridge, things have been working "just fine." I think I still technically preferred the ARB overall, but the Dometic has a few nice features the ARB did not. And, most importantly, it's actually cooling. Back in May, I had to get a new fridge when my 7-year-old 50qt ARB stopped cooling. Ultimately - mostly due to price and warranty length - I went with a Dometic. At the time, I had two reservations about the Dometic: The latching mechanism for the lid. I'm still worried about this, but it's seemed to work…
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TL;DR - I'm not happy at all that the ARB fridge wouldn't cool on my last trip. I'm going to be reaching out to ARB support to (hopefully) get the issue resolved. When I showed up in Las Vegas for Three Days of R&R, I followed my usual procedures, picking up the Tacoma from storage, turning on the various systems, and then heading to the grocery store to provision the fridge with a few days' worth of food. As I was stopped for gas on my way to Utah, I happened to glance at the control panel for the fridge…
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TL;DR - I love this simple modification and it's made cooking with the propane stove much more enjoyable. Over a year ago now, I made my Genius Camp Stove Tube Extension. I've used it for more than 100 nights of camping at this point, in temperatures ranging from 18- to 105°F. In every situation, it has been fantastic, and the hose seems to be in just as good shape today as it was when I installed it. For less than $2, this has to be one of my favorite little modifications, and something that just makes camp life better. A side…
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TL;DR - after modifying the propane neck to use a flexible tube, I like the stove even more. The Coleman Camp Grill/Stove has continued to work well from a cooking perspective. It is super convenient to have a burner and a grill in a single unit. My biggest complaint about it was that the propane bottle sat diagonally behind the unit when it was in use, requiring a bunch of room behind the unit - inconvenient if it was setup on a tailgate or shallow-depth table. In fact, it was the reason I gave up on a fold-down table for my…
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TL;DR - I threw away the leaky bottle and got a few used bottles to fill and use on future trips. I hate the idea of throwing things away after a single use. So, if you have a need for propane, I recommend filling bottles yourself - from your own 20 lbs tank. That's what I did with some used Coleman 1 lb bottles that I got from a buddy. This filler/refill adapter works great, and you can get a full pound of propane into the small bottles if you freeze the bottle before you fill it.
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TL;DR - It's time to get a new 1lb propane bottle; the current one has a slow leak through the valve. I've been using the same 1lb propane bottle for something like 15 years. For the first 12 of those, I used it in my shop for my propane torch - mostly for household plumbing, heating up the branding iron I use to mark my woodworking projects, etc. The last few years it has been a staple in the kitchen box, where it has seemed to last about a week or so - usually a whole trip - before needing…
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TL;DR - The 12V power cord has a design flaw. ARB is good about standing behind their warranty however, and sent me a new one. We love our ARB 50qt fridge - it is @mrs.turbdb's favorite "mod." However, after two+ years of regular use - say on the order of 175 nights camping - it's clear to me that there is a design flaw on the 12v ARB fridge power cord. Namely, the injection molding used for the right-angle plug that goes into the fridge has a seam that easily cracks, exposing the wiring - a possible short circuit/fire hazard. I…
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TL;DR - I found solutions for both the wind screens and keeping the bottom of the grill clean of drippings. I really like this stove now. I added the Coleman Camp Stove/Grill back on the F.U.Rain trip. As I noted, I liked it for the most part, but the securing mechanisms for the wind screens seemed poorly designed. After looking things over, I was able to fix it reasonably simply - I made what turned out to be two popsicle sticks from some scrap maple hanging out down in the shop. These can be inserted into the securing mechanism, making it impossible…
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TL;DR - I've moved from the traditional two-burner camp stove to a one-burner + grill, and this works fantastically for the type of cooking I like to do on trips.
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TL;DR - It's much easier to carry around a Coleman Stove and a griddle than the bulky Weber grill, but the griddle is too bulky and cleaning it sucks, so I'm changing it all up again.
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TL;DR - conceptually the fold-down-and-out table is cool but I need to rework how the far corner is supported for it to be useful. Oh, and it can't have any wooden components, since they swell up in wet weather.
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