In addition to your tent what else do you set up?

JIMBO

Expedition Leader
:sombrero: Depends on how crowded our trip is

Trailer tent just for us

SUNP0250.jpg


Additional "airzone" for eating/dressing/games

SUNP0251.jpg


Security tent, when predators are around-

Sawmillllakejune12020-1.jpg


tables depending on need-

Thats about it

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO
 

Hill Bill E.

Oath Keeper
My chair!:elkgrin:

I have an RTT on an M416. It has a table on the back that the stove sets on, so it's pretty much just a chair.

If I'm boondocking, then a small table and the fire ring.

During the day, the bugs are nasty, but I'm usually doing something, so no real need for a screen tent.

At night, it usually cools down enough that the bugs go away.
 

lupinsea

Observer
What I usually set up at a camp site. All this gets packed into my Wrangler:
  • Tent
  • Cargo Deck Table
  • Chuck Box + Tote Bin
  • Lantern Stand + Lantern
  • Cheap Folding Camp Chairs

However, the core of my camp set up revolves around the following equipment. They have really made the campsite much more comfortable the last couple years. Small steps but big ones.

Cargo Deck Table
I made this a couple years ago and love it. It has some custom fabbed steel brackets so it'll slip right into the rear factory seat brackets and anchor down without any tools. The Deck has a grid of threaded inserts (T-nuts) every 8" or so so I have options for screwing in eye bolts as tie down points. It sits high enough off the floor of the Jeep that I have a shallow but useful "basement" where I can stow the tent, air mattress, camp stove, chairs, saws, or other such flat items. These items can also be dragged out while the top of the deck is loaded down with the rest of my gear (chuck box, cooler, tote bin, sleeping bag, duffel bag, dog, etc. etc. etc.).

The bottom of the cargo deck has some folding table legs. So, when I get to the campsite and unload the Jeep, the cargo deck comes out, too, the legs get folded down, and it turns into my camp table.

file-26.jpg

Cargo deck installed and loaded up with gear.


file-22.jpg

Underside showing the folded table legs and the seat mount brackets.


file-27.jpg

The table set up at camp.​





Chuck Box
Then I got to thinking about my kitchen gear and designed a chuck box that unfolds and set up to the same height as the cargo deck table. This way I have some additional "counter top space" for my camp kitchen. It's perhaps a little bulkier than I could otherwise stuff into a plastic tote bin but it keeps everything organized and easily accessible, which makes this a useful tool to help cook with.

The chuck box has room for two fuel canisters, cooking pots and pans, dishes, paper towel roll, spice rack, hooks for spatulas, tongs, and serving spoons, cutting board, and a drawer that slides out for knives and forks. Plus the top flips open to double the work surface. And it has a simple base that turns over as a carry crate with enough room for a modest campfire grill (that I haven't set up yet).

It takes about 15 seconds to setup or stow away.

Sorry, I keep forgetting to take photos of it actually in field use. Just imagine it next to a tent. I've used it this summer and it's awesome. LOVE this thing! Makes cooking so much easier when everything is so easy to get to during meal prep.


cbtype1finished01.jpg

What it's like when it's open.


progressppic03.jpg

The cargo deck table and chuck box side-by-side. This is a
photo I took while working on the chuck box.


cbsequence.jpg

The set up sequence. . . . takes about 15 seconds.​




Lantern Stand + Lantern
Been there and done that on the head lamp camping. I love head lamps but they get old. Especially for general around-the-campsite illumination. So, last year I picked up a 7 ft tall camping lantern stand (Coleman, ~$30), and the Rayovac Sportsman Extreme LED lantern (SE3DLN, ~$25). It's an awesome combo. The lantern pumps out 300 lumens and runs on 3 D-cell batteries. ~72 hrs at full bright or ~150 hrs at half bright. Figuring 4 hrs of full-bright per night (say, 8pm-midnight during the summer?) that's about 18 days of use. Not bad.

With the lens off the lantern can be hung upside down on the lantern stand.

It's like having a street light in the middle of your camp site.

It's not as bright as the propane fired Coleman gas lanterns but then this unit is not much larger than a can of soda and super durable. No glass to break, no delicate mantles, no futzy piezo electric starter BS, and a lot longer run-time. Anyways, this gets set up between the cargo deck table and the chuck box. There is a decent and very usable light spread from this set up and it's much nicer to work durning the dark under the light than simply relying upon head lamps.

campinglight1.jpg

The lantern and lantern stand. Note the removable lens/carry handle
on the foot rest has been removed to more light.​




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