smritte
Well-known member
Went to the local mountains this weekend. The group wanted to pull the cold weather gear out and make sure everything was in good shape. This was also an opportunity to make sure all the new people knew how to use their gear and were equipped properly. Unfortunately, none of the new people went.
The trip had five rigs, we decided to go around the back of the mountains and drive all dirt instead of taking the highway up. The drive was great and the weather was nice. It was running around 70 degrees at the base and a low 60 when we arrived at camp.
Nighttime temp dropped to 17 degrees
After camp was set up, three of us hooked up our diesel heaters. One is brand new out of the box, another on its second trip and mine is the oldest with a few trips and almost two years old.
The new one is being used in a camper shell with an RTT attached. You climb into the shell and can go through the bottom of the RTT to sleep. A real cool set up but he didnt think about how he was going to run the hose in. We left the shell rear hatch open slightly , pushing the hose through one side. This left a four inch gap along the bottom letting in cold air. A couple of spare blankets "sort of" fixed that. We decided on making a plate that will mount to his side window. The duct will attach to that and a deflector will spread the air around inside. This will be done later.
The next guy opted to bring his huge Dome tent (dont remember the brand) and use that instead of his RTT. He had two issues.
His heater kept shutting off and all the heat went to the top of the tent (7 foot ceiling). The bottom stayed cold. Fortunately they had a ton of blankets so they didnt freeze. Not sure what he's going to do there, I do know if its cold he'll be in the RTT.
My issues were the opposite. Ive been trying to make my camper cooler. Normally the heater brings the inside to about 80 degrees. This trip I notched one of my fittings and diverted air from going inside. After playing with the opening I settled on losing about 25%. On low my temp was 49 and high was 62. Later, I'll get a Y adapter and put a door inside to bleed off what I need.
The other guys just used blankets and eyed my set up. I think soon we'll have a few more heaters.
Clothing wise, new jackets came out, lined pants and a new USB heating blanket. I forgot to ask how well the blanket worked.
Something else thats been really gathering my interest is 23 Zero's 270 degree awning with walls. Over the last couple of years, these awnings have more then proven their worth. My last trip it rained most of the time. These made great shelters for everyone to hang out in. This trip was no exception. We normally do some kind of pot luck dinner. It was about 5:30pm, already dark and about 32 degrees. No one wanted to leave the awning shelter and cook. We did what every hard core overlanding adventurist does. We ordered Pizza. Town was only 20 odd minute's away and I made it in 12. See, all that upgraded suspension is great for pizza runs.
Overall the trip was great and we got to see issues before we go anywhere far. I only took two pictures, one of camp and the other of dinner inside the awning.
The trip had five rigs, we decided to go around the back of the mountains and drive all dirt instead of taking the highway up. The drive was great and the weather was nice. It was running around 70 degrees at the base and a low 60 when we arrived at camp.
Nighttime temp dropped to 17 degrees
After camp was set up, three of us hooked up our diesel heaters. One is brand new out of the box, another on its second trip and mine is the oldest with a few trips and almost two years old.
The new one is being used in a camper shell with an RTT attached. You climb into the shell and can go through the bottom of the RTT to sleep. A real cool set up but he didnt think about how he was going to run the hose in. We left the shell rear hatch open slightly , pushing the hose through one side. This left a four inch gap along the bottom letting in cold air. A couple of spare blankets "sort of" fixed that. We decided on making a plate that will mount to his side window. The duct will attach to that and a deflector will spread the air around inside. This will be done later.
The next guy opted to bring his huge Dome tent (dont remember the brand) and use that instead of his RTT. He had two issues.
His heater kept shutting off and all the heat went to the top of the tent (7 foot ceiling). The bottom stayed cold. Fortunately they had a ton of blankets so they didnt freeze. Not sure what he's going to do there, I do know if its cold he'll be in the RTT.
My issues were the opposite. Ive been trying to make my camper cooler. Normally the heater brings the inside to about 80 degrees. This trip I notched one of my fittings and diverted air from going inside. After playing with the opening I settled on losing about 25%. On low my temp was 49 and high was 62. Later, I'll get a Y adapter and put a door inside to bleed off what I need.
The other guys just used blankets and eyed my set up. I think soon we'll have a few more heaters.
Clothing wise, new jackets came out, lined pants and a new USB heating blanket. I forgot to ask how well the blanket worked.
Something else thats been really gathering my interest is 23 Zero's 270 degree awning with walls. Over the last couple of years, these awnings have more then proven their worth. My last trip it rained most of the time. These made great shelters for everyone to hang out in. This trip was no exception. We normally do some kind of pot luck dinner. It was about 5:30pm, already dark and about 32 degrees. No one wanted to leave the awning shelter and cook. We did what every hard core overlanding adventurist does. We ordered Pizza. Town was only 20 odd minute's away and I made it in 12. See, all that upgraded suspension is great for pizza runs.
Overall the trip was great and we got to see issues before we go anywhere far. I only took two pictures, one of camp and the other of dinner inside the awning.
