Boondocking Ice Chest (Enhanced with Reflectix)

We do a lot of warm-weather camping in remote places, and we use our ice chest to supplement our very small refrigerator.  We noticed, however, that after three or four days, the block ice tends to melt, no matter how careful we are about keeping the ice chest in the coolest possible places.  Also, there is no place to buy ice (especially block ice) way out in the boonies.  (Cube ice tends to melt very quickly -- too much surface area.)

We looked into those expensive “five-day” coolers, sold at sporting goods stores.  But those units tend to have very thick and bulky walls, and limited storage capacity, and they are very heavy. So, just for laughs, we tried an experiment – I had quite a collection of Reflectix scraps in the garage, after I had insulated the fresh/black/gray tanks on the trailer.  I glued Reflectix to the top, bottom, and sides of our existing cooler, and I added extra weatherstripping under the lid:

I then fabricated a cover to fit over the cooler – here it is sitting on the cooler: 

And this is what it looks like on its side, so you can see inside the cover: 

The pieces of the cover are fitted together with clear plastic packing tape.  Duct tape would have worked just as well (and it would have been so much more stylish).

After several camping trips, we have concluded that this “up-armored” ice chest really works – it seems to double the length of time that the block ice will last.  The cover is a little bit inconvenient, because it covers the handles (making the ice chest harder to lift), and we have to take the cover on and off every time we want to get something out of the ice chest.  But since we use the ice chest mostly as backup storage for our onboard refrigerator, that’s not a big deal.

12V Dual LED Adjustable Folding Table Lamp -- 5 watts

For us, reading in the evening is a major part of camping.  There are no distractions (which is probably another way of saying that there’s not much else to do at night, especially when it is cold or rainy).  Decent lighting is, of course, crucial.  We have been doing quite nicely with an overhead 110 V LED bulb, which is powered by our inverter – it puts out plenty of light.  The combination of the inverter and the bulb consumes about 12 watts, which isn’t a lot.  But especially when we are boondocking, every watt is significant.  Also, the overhead bulb is a little bit harsh.  Not bad, but not perfect.

So, in an effort to get better light with lower wattage, I wondered whether anyone had made a 12 volt LED table lamp for camping, and I was unable to find anything to fit the bill.  I have seen 12 V LED lanterns, but those are not reading lamps – the light goes out in all directions, and the “color temperature” of the LED bulbs tends to be toward the blue end of the spectrum.

We had previously installed LED “48 element” panel-type bulbs for our wall fixtures, which put out a nice warm light.  So I figured that I could make my own table lamp, using those bulbs.  Fortunately, when I remodeled the trailer, I removed an existing wedge-based dual fixture, and I was able to salvage the wedge sockets from that fixture.

In designing the table lamp fixture, I wanted something that folded into a compact shape and that was easy to adjust.  I also wanted to be able to project the light down (when we were reading at the table) and to adjust the light so that it would shine horizontally (when we were sitting with our legs up on the cushions).

So my design incorporates a lot of flexible joints, all of which rotate around quarter inch hex bolts that are tightened with wing nuts.  The tripod legs can be adjusted, the central joint can be adjusted, and the hoods holding the bulbs can be adjusted.  I made the whole thing out of oak, on the theory that it is sturdy, even when it is cut very thinly, unlike softwoods.

Anyway, here is an overview of the lamp – it’s about 14 inches high.  It looks kind of like a three-legged moose, which is part of the charm, I think:

And here is what it looks like when it’s turned on -- I have rotated the hoods or shades so that the LED panels can be seen:

To be honest, these photos make the lamp look somewhat better than it really is.  The finish on the wood is not perfect.  But I figured that I would wait and see how this thing works while camping, before I put in a lot of time in sanding and applying polyurethane.  I will say, however, that the lamp is nice and stable.  It does not wiggle at all.

Here is a side view of the lamp - the three legs are connected to a central piece, which is connected to a short riser.  The top assembly mounts on top of the riser:

And here is a shot of the side of the joints:

This is a close-up of the bottom joint:

Here is a detailed shot of the top joint:

In order to join the base unit to the top, I installed a threaded brass insert into the center of the top joint.  A hanger bolt comes up from the bottom and threads into the insert.

Finally, here is a picture of the lamp all folded up – the fork gives you some idea of the size of the lamp:

After I plugged the lamp into the 12 volt socket, I used the multimeter and found that this dual fixture uses 6 watts, saving us 5 watts (when compared to the existing 110 LED bulb plus the inverter).  That’s not quite a 50% savings, but it’s not bad.  We will see on our next camping trip whether the quality of the light given off by the table lamp is an improvement over the 110 LED bulb.  If not, I still had a lot of fun building the lamp, anyway.

Custom-Made “Boondock Style” Heavy Duty Jack Caster Wheel

Almost every trailer comes with a stock plastic caster wheel – it’s about 6 inches in diameter, with a short, thin collar that fits over the end of the jack stem.  And this basic wheel is adequate for ordinary use in an RV park – it will roll fairly well on smooth concrete.

But what about those of us who camp in remote locations, with soft or pebbly soil?  The standard caster wheel just wasn’t cutting it for me – it would sink into soft ground or would get stuck on small pebbles.  Also, the collar was only an inch and a half long, and it didn’t extend far enough up the jack stem – the wheel would wobble, and I was afraid that it would snap off due to metal fatigue.

I shopped around, hoping to find a ready-made substitute that was a little beefier.  But there’s no such product available anywhere!  (This sounds like an opportunity for an entrepreneur.)  So I decided to make my own heavy-duty caster wheel.

I started with an industrial-strength 8 inch swivel caster.  They can be purchased at any RV supply store, although they aren’t cheap.  I happened to have one in my garage.  The swivel pad had four 3/8 inch bolt holes.  I then bought an Atwood "tall" jack foot, with a 2 inch internal diameter:

I cut the tube down to a total length of 2 inches.  (I wanted to keep the tube, i.e., the collar, as long as possible, for additional strength and stability.  But I didn’t want it to be too long, because that would make it very difficult to get the wheel assembly on and off the jack tube.)

Using my drill press, I then drilled two 5/16 inch holes in the tube, about a half inch below the top of the tube.  Using those holes as a template, I then drilled matching holes into the jack stem.  (It was surprisingly easy to drill into the jack stem – the metal was thinner and softer than I would’ve guessed.)

I then drilled four 3/8 inch holes into the foot pad, to match the holes in the top of the swivel caster pad, and bolted the whole thing together with three-quarter inch long 3/8 hex bolts, secured with lock washers under the nuts.

Finally, just for good measure, I tapered the end of the pin with a grinding wheel, so that it would go through the holes more easily, and I also polished the pin with a wire brush.

Anyway, here’s what the final product looks like – the little red ruler is 6 inches long:

Compare that beefy bad boy with the wimpy stock wheel and its stubby collar:

But we shall see how this new arrangement works out in the real world.  I’m hoping that the increased circumference, together with the softer rubber tire, will mean that the wheel will roll a little easier and will not sink into the ground quite as much.  Also, the longer collar may mean that the jack will wiggle somewhat less.

The only disadvantage that I can see is that the new wheel assembly is a couple of inches taller than the old one.  Therefore, when we are camped on a slope, and the nose of the trailer is on the uphill side, we will have a little less clearance.  There may be times that I have to remove the wheel in order to get the nose low enough to level the trailer -- no big deal.