Yep, they are socks.
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Gear that we use - tent, fridge, storage, and more.
December 31, 2023. Another year in the books. Unlike previous years, there weren't any big changes to the way I planned for trips or the gear that I brought along. Rather, it was a year of small tweaks, with most of my energy going towards exploring and enjoying myself in the outdoors. Taken with the Rig Reviews, this series of posts give a good sense of what's working and what's not with the setup. So, without further ado, let's dig into what's on and in the truck at the end of 2023! Additions for 2023 are marked in red. Items…
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May 22, 2023 With the Tacoma living in Las Vegas now, it's harder to perform various maintenance tasks as they pop up and between trips. As such, with a few general maintenance issues - oil changes, tire rotations, etc. - and a few items in recent Rig Reviews needing attention, I drove the truck home from the Three Days of R&R trip for a little TLC (Tacoma Loving Care). On my list for a warm spring day were the following tasks: Routine maintenance - Change the oil, Rotate the tires Grease drive train. Check the new SPC UCAs for play in…
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December 31, 2022. Another year in the books. Unlike previous years, there weren't any big changes to the way I planned for trips or the gear that I brought along. Rather, it was a year of small tweaks, with most of my energy going towards exploring and enjoying myself in the outdoors. Taken with the Rig Reviews, this series of posts give a good sense of what's working and what's not with the setup. So, without further ado, let's dig into what's on and in the truck at the end of 2022! Additions for 2022 are marked in red. Items…
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Two of my favorite camping conveniences just got better. Ever since I modified my tire inflator to extend the hose on it - enabling me to inflate tires standing up rather than crouching down - I've been very happy. Old guys don't want to strain their knees when out camping. Similarly, I've been happy with the LED light strip I added to the CVT Mt. Shasta RTT. While I didn't write up the mod in any serious way - it just seemed too obvious at the time - it's been really nice to move around in the tent and get…
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December 31, 2021. Another year in the books. After a crazy turn in 2020 with COVID-19, I'd say that we got through this year with a pretty good rhythm - though, still not the same as pre-pandemic years. My biggest takeaway this year was that - since @mrs.turbodb and I mostly went on trips solo - food stuffs really got simplified for us. Essentially, we traded variety for ease of preparation and cleanup. For us, it was a worthwhile change, though I can see how it would get monotonous for some folks. Taken with the Rig Reviews, this series of…
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My first experience with the new chair was blissful.
TL;DR - I've traded in my low camp chair for a normal-height one. I'm liking it so far.
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December 31, 2020. What a CRAZY year! Still, we've been able to get out quite a bit, and as usual, what we take with us has changed slightly. Taken with the Rig Reviews, this series of posts give a good sense of what's working and what's not with the setup. So, without further ado, let's dig into what's on and in the truck at the end of 2020! Additions for 2020 are marked in red. Items we no longer take are struck through. The Truck Itself Obviously we can't adventure without the actual vehicle. To see how it's outfitted, check…
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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.
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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.
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It's not natural. It's uncomfortable. It's hard. And, I know it's the right thing to do - I want to find a way to cut some weight off of the Tacoma. When I purchased the truck, Toyota listed the curb weight of a 4WD SR5 V6 Xtracab at something right around 3,500 lbs, and the gross weight (GVWR) at something near 5100 lbs. Or at least, that's what I can find on the internet in 2019, since I wasn't at all interested or concerned with those numbers at the time. Unfortunately for me - and the truck - when I…
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December 20, 2019. Last year I wrote up the first Gear Roundup, and tons of folks seemed to like it so I figured that I should follow up this year - covering what's still the same, but also what's changed. Taken with the Rig Reviews, this series of posts give a good sense of what's working and what's not with the setup. So, without further ado, let's dig into what's on and in the truck at the end of 2019! Additions for 2019 are marked in red. Items we no longer take are struck through. The Truck Itself Obviously we…
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TL;DR - if you get cold hands/feet at night when it's cold outside, and would like to be warm and toasty in bed, these work great as long as they are exposed to air/moisture.
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I've built a couple of storage platforms in the past - a slide-with-a-slide style platform for my 1st gen Tacoma, and a fridge-slide style for my 3rd Gen 4Runner - so when a buddy of mine asked for help building one for his 5th Gen 4Runner, I was happy to help. The goal was relatively simple for this build - a simple platform with some L-track to secure loads, and a way to level out the back of the 4Runner to sleep at night. No fridge slide (yet), but the ability to add it in the future. And, lastly -…
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December 29, 2018. I get asked by a lot of folks, some flavor of, "What do you pack when you go on a trip?" So, I thought it'd be a good time to run through what goes into the truck for an adventure. In fact, I think that a post once a year outlining the gear could be a great thing, so that's the plan. Oh, and taken with the Rig Reviews that I've started, it will give a good sense of what's working and what's not with the setup. So, without further ado, let's dig into what's on and…
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November 23, 2018. It's amazing how many Hi-Lifts I see driving around the Seattle area. If you didn't know better, you'd think all these folks took their vehicles off-road! Of course, for the majority of them, the Hi-Lift has achieved maximum purpose and use in it's mounting and visible expo factor on the vehicle - but for some, it becomes a critical safety and recovery tool when on an adventure. For those folks, it's important to keep the Hi-Lift in top shape. That means servicing it on a regular basis, ensuring that all parts are in good working order -…
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Nice hot showers. Love those. Of course, when you're out exploring the wilderness, showers can be few and far between. Often times that is fine - there are opportunities for hot springs, lakes, and creeks - any of which can make a great place for lathering up and taking care of some of the sweaty grime that can build up. But sometimes it'd still be nice to have a warm shower. On our week-long trip running the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route, it turned out that the first 4 days of the trip presented no washing opportunities. And with temps hovering…
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August 20, 2017. As soon as I installed the bed rack, I knew that there were going to be trade-offs - on the one hand, it made for a much nicer sleeping experience with the CVT; on the other, it was a lot harder to get stuff that was in the bed of the truck. Like the cooler, and kitchen stuff. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a trade-off that’s totally worth it. But what if it didn’t have to be a trade-off? What if I could have my cake and eat it too? That’s what I thought when I heard…
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July 22, 2017. It was July 8, 2017. I know because I will always remember the day @mrs.turbodb said, "You should just get a fridge for the truck." We'd just returned from our week-long trip to Canada with the little kiddo, where we'd pre-prepared and frozen many of our meals, using our crappy 48qt cooler to keep everything chilly. Of course, even sandwiched in the middle of our gear and under the CVT, we had to get ice every day (does Canada not have block ice?) - which meant staying relatively near civilization. So when we started talking about our…
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June 18, 2017. As our excursions have been getting longer and more remote, I’ve started paying more attention to things like the amount of extra fuel and water we carry. It’s still nothing too extreme - 6 gallons of fuel (50-100 miles) and 6 gallons of water (several days). And for convenience of packing, I’ve switched over to Rotopax from the cheapo red plastic gas cans and 1-gallon milk jugs. Of course, even finding deals on Craigslist means that I’ve spent a small fortune on the containers. But, they look great and are relatively compact when a trip gets started……
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