Camping Gear Reviews, A Ton

[skephart]

Great write up. I need to check out the oven and I am looking at getting an awning for my Xterra. I will have to give camping lab awning a call and see if it would attach to the Xterra rack. Also, I just bought an Engle fridge. I took an 1,800 mile trip to Oregon and loved not having to look for ice. No battery problems either.

[Corey]

Thanks.
Yes, love the oven, it was a very good find.

My ARB fridge now runs 24/7 in my rig.
My rig has not been started since I drove home from work on Friday.
Tomorrow when I run some errands on Monday, the rig will fire right up.
Very energy efficient.

[Corey]

Another non field test.

I have had a picnic table shelter for years that I bought back around '82 or so.
It consists of a large green tarp with five holes in it via grommets.
You use a pole at each end, and a center pole to go on top of the picnic table.

Each pole then must have two guylines on it and staked out at each corner.
Needless to say, it was a royal PITA to setup.
I did it myself for years, then the kids helped me when they were older.

I did not want to use it again after getting back into camping this season, as it takes maybe thirty minutes or so for one person to setup.

Hence my quest to find an easier shelter to setup, and I saw this one online on the Cabela's site.

Kelty Shadehouse 12

This item comes in two sizes.
Shadehouse 10
center height 80"
floor size 10-ft. x 10-ft.
Weight 8 lbs. 3 oz.

Shadehouse 12
center height 85"
floor size 12-ft. x 12-ft.
weight 8 lbs. 14 oz.

I went with the bigger model, the 12' one for additional space.
It comes packed in a nice nylon bag that is not much bigger than some backpacking tents.
This will store very nicely in my rig right behind my drivers seat on top of the Hi-Lift Handle-All unit I have stored there.

Here are some pictures I took today on setting it up.

Here is the bag after you take it out of the shipping box the way Cabela's ships it out.



Contents of bag:
Inner nylon bag for the two aluminum DAC poles.
A word on the poles, DAC poles are much stronger and lighter than fiberglass poles.
This is the first product I have own that uses these type of poles, and I like them much better over the fiberglass style.

The shelter itself.

Small nylon bag for the tent stakes and the tie down guylines.

Instruction sheet (which I scanned in)



A few pictures showing it setup.
Setup was very easy.
1. Unfold the poles, they are all shock corded, and after assembling one, I laid it on the ground and repeated for the other pole.

2. Spread open the shelter, and start inserting a pole in.
After it is all the way through, use the end pins and lock the poles in in that way so the pole will not move, and also use the plastic clips at each end (one clip per end) to secure the end of the fabric to the pole.

3. Repeat with the other pole.
Inserting the second pole takes a little more time, as the structure starts to raise up in the air, and you have to fight a little resistance in getting the second pole all the way to the end of its sleeve.

4. Once the second pole is all locked in, you can then go to the center of the structure and raise it up manually.
Once positioned, it will stay that way.
After it is where you want it, then you can stake down the four corners and also use the included guylines to keep it stable in the wind.







My neighbors Jeep could probably drive right in underneath the unit and fit.
I am about 5'10", and there was about 6" or so to spare above my head when walking underneath of it.
This should cover the average picnic table encountered in most campgrounds, which is the main reason I bought this for.

Here are the instructions from Kelty that I scanned in.



I would say it took me about 10 minutes or so this first time in setting it up.
I am sure it will go much faster the second time, it normally does once you acquaint yourself with setting it up prior to a trip.

Yeah, I know, I still have to setup the Cabela's shower enclosure too.
Maybe this week...

[Schattenjager]

Corey - I am so happy you joined ExPo! What a great set of write-ups! I am looking for the shower as soon as I log off here! Thanks for the time and thought in your posts!

[Super Doody]

Awesome review and I'm jealous of your toys What's that miniature wooden table on top of the table? Salt and pepper shaker? Oh yeah you need a bigger TV

[Corey]

Corey - I am so happy you joined ExPo! What a great set of write-ups! I am looking for the shower as soon as I log off here! Thanks for the time and thought in your posts!

Thanks, great site here.
Thanks for the comps on my reviews.
I am sure you will enjoy the shower, it is a pretty cool unit.

Awesome review and I'm jealous of your toys What's that miniature wooden table on top of the table? Salt and pepper shaker? Oh yeah you need a bigger TV

Thanks again.
That little teeny table is from Mt. Rainier National Park, some gift shop up there I would imagine.
I can not for the life of me remember how I got it though.
Maybe some friends the X and I use to camp with 20 years or so ago.

The TV, working on it
Looking at getting a 37" to 42" LCD when I get my bonus.

[jeepmedic46]

Looks like you had a good time camping and I will be looking into some of that equipment. Haven't been exploring for a while and want to get back into it.

[jeepmedic46]

The airland rooftop tent is awesome

[Corey]

Thanks, it was a great time up there at Mt. Rainier.

Yes, the tent was very cool.
It reminded me of being in a tree house from my youth way to many moons ago

[Corey]

An update to the battery powered pump for a 5 gallon water cooler bottle.
As seen above in the review and the same picture below, you can see that the pump is not secured to the bottle in the first picture.
It never did tighten, and I found out why earlier in the week.

We have a water delivery guy at work and I was talking to him about it, and he asked me if my bottle had the screw on cap for when you want to secure the contents when transporting it.
I said it did, and he said the bottles they use with his company use a press on cap, not a screw on cap.

I asked where I might obtain a water bottle like he has on his truck, and he smiled and he gave me one

Took it home and sure enough, the battery water pump works perfect with it.
You insert it all the way on the bottle, then tighten up the collar that presses onto the bottle.

Now I will have no more loose water pump going back and forth om me.
You can see in the first picture how the pump is at an angle because it is not secured to the bottle.
Although it worked perfectly well that way, it is nice to now have the pump secure and not move around.

Guess I will have to see if I have another big ARB sticker handy to put on the new bottle, or I will just drop by ARB after work and pick up some more stickers

Old bottle with the pump leaning to the side.



New bottle with the pump secured, and the old bottle next to it on the right showing the threads on the neck.
This is not the type of bottle that works with the pump.