Help me build my tourer?

[Cuppa]

Living out of a vehicle full time is *Very* different to holidays or weekends.

As has been said, you really need to decide *how* you want to live & travel. If traveling mainly for short periods & staying put in one place for months at a time, your setup will be quite different to one for regularly moving on.

Eg. If the former your existing tent may suffice if it's tall enough to stand up in. If the latter a rooftop tent would be preferable as a permanently made up bed makes a huge difference.

An awning is an essential. You will be in many places where it is the only shade you'll have.

Your fridge & compressor will be 12 volt, so an inverter will not be necessary.

IMHO dual battery systems are easy to set up yourself. Buying a ready made dual battery system just costs more.

Cuppa

[billy bleed]

Living out of a vehicle full time is *Very* different to holidays or weekends.

As has been said, you really need to decide *how* you want to live & travel. If traveling mainly for short periods & staying put in one place for months at a time, your setup will be quite different to one for regularly moving on.

Eg. If the former your existing tent may suffice if it's tall enough to stand up in. If the latter a rooftop tent would be preferable as a permanently made up bed makes a huge difference.

An awning is an essential. You will be in many places where it is the only shade you'll have.

Your fridge & compressor will be 12 volt, so an inverter will not be necessary.

IMHO dual battery systems are easy to set up yourself. Buying a ready made dual battery system just costs more.

Cuppa

my hiking gear is super light weight - tent weighs in just under a kilo and my mat and bag just under .8 kilo so would not be ideal for roughing it for long periods and personally would take longer to setup - would much rather 5mins and a ready made bed..

not mechanically or electrically minded so am looking at ready made items - i know the cost is 100% more but i can't fart around trying to sort it all.. last time i changed a light globe i got a shock.. yup.. put my finger on the prongs as i tried to wipe to dirt off.. not the brightest spark!

[BigRAWesty]

my hiking gear is super light weight - tent weighs in just under a kilo and my mat and bag just under .8 kilo so would not be ideal for roughing it for long periods and personally would take longer to setup - would much rather 5mins and a ready made bed..

not mechanically or electrically minded so am looking at ready made items - i know the cost is 100% more but i can't fart around trying to sort it all.. last time i changed a light globe i got a shock.. yup.. put my finger on the prongs as i tried to wipe to dirt off.. not the brightest spark!

Try 240v, might get a brighter spark...

All I can say is do some reading. Try some thing's while your home. You will need to be able to do basic stuff out bush, or you'll be calling SOS weekly...

Don't be afraid to try things, were here to help with advice, and if worse comes to worse, I'm sure there's a member close who'll help out..

Is a swag and awning an option?

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories

[Cuppa]

Ok, so it sounds like different accommodation is the go. Together with a proprietary dual battery system.
It also sounds like you will need another method of charging your second battery unless you are going to drive for several hours every day just to put back into the batteries what you have taken out of them. This will mean either plugging into mains power, solar, or a generator. If relying on 240v (mains or generator) you would need a good battery charger.

For the vehicle charging ( dual battery) you should consider a system which includes a dc to dc charger rather than just a cheaper voltage sensitive relay. The difference is that the dc to dc charger will bring your auxiliary battery up to close to 100% full, whereas a VSR (ie. standard alternator charging with starter battery protection against over discharging) will only charge your aux battery to 70% or 80%. A big difference in what you would have available to power your fridge etc. Of course neither will be sufficient unless you drive for long enough.

aint fussed about dvd etc as i'll use my laptop for entertainment so that means i'll be needing a decent inverter.

Plenty of laptops can be run with a 12v adaptor, so an inverter just for this purpose may not be necessary.

Also, regarding your Jerry cans full of petrol. Carrying them inside the vehicle is a real no no, as is carrying them on rear bumper bar racks, which leaves carrying them on the roof, where their weight is an issue, & space may be at a premium if you have a rooftop tent. Although expensive a long range tank may be the best (& possibly only option unless you go with a ground based tent). Certainly the safest.

I don't wish to be the bearer of bad tidings, but basically if you are wanting to set up for remote travel & the ability to live in the vehicle full time, spending a week at a time camped, with refrigeration, then it is not going to be cheap to set up. Sure you can do it all as cheaply as possible, but it still won't be cheap. You do have to decide upon priorities. If an electric fridge is of the highest priority (after safety of course) then you need to accept that the associated costs to set it up & keep it running can be considerably more than just the cost of the fridge & a dual battery setup. Expecting to run a fridge off an auxiliary battery charged only by the vehicle that is not being driven much for a week at a time just would not be realistic.

If it were possible to compromise with just an ice box, rather than an electric fridge (not a compromise I would be happy with I must admit) then a basic dual battery system only would likely meet your other power needs and costs, weight & usage of space would be kept way lower.

Cuppa

[Gerry]

Roof top tents are a pain to use

[threedogs]

Any lighting you depend on needs to be led. plenty of ready made options around.
this will greatly improve your battery life, As for where your heading Solar is definitely to go
80 watt panel will be heaps as you'll have heaps of daylight every day and cant see you using
all 12v amps each day.
X 2 with Kallen do some reading and see what others use, Every item I take should have two or three purposes
eg; A plastic storage tub can be used as a wash tub for dishes.
I know this is alot to take in all at once so you might be better asking about items one by one.
The main thing is you want to be able to travel as light as possible. better for Patrol, better for your wallet.
My stuff is basically the same if I go for a weekend or a month , just the amount of food and water differs

[Cuppa]

Roof top tents are a pain to use

Can you expand on that Gerry? I've only used ours a couple of times & find it preferable to a ground based tent for several reasons, but do acknowledge there is the issue of needing to break camp whenever you want to drive. My view is that it really depends upon the usage pattern, which varies between folk.
I expect that some rooftopper s are easier to use than others too.

Cuppa

[threedogs]

@ Cuppa I would hate a roof top tent, Climbing down ladder in the dark Nah not Me
I'd provide bedding lower to the ground plus all that weight uptop, might as well set a spinakker
I would not swag it But maybe like Roscoes Set up. sleep in pod. Then again I would only be travelling solo

[Cuppa]

Horse for courses 3D. We don't all have backs that are stuffed. I doubt I'd be wanting to climb up & down a ladder in your situation. As for in the dark - not a problem since i bought one of your recommended battery operated motion sensing led lights, which we velcro onto the outside of the vehicle. For me getting up & down off the ground has become increasingly difficult over the years, & for long term travelling I definitely put a high value on a ready made comfortable bed. If we ever get sick of going up & down the ladder, I would go for lightweight towed accommodation. Either something like Bob has (Jayco dove) or if money allowed a Tvan or Ultimate camper, but prefer not to tow if possible.
Sleeping two in the pod is not really a practical option, but for one yes.
Cuppa

[billy bleed]

Roof top tents are a pain to use

*slaps forehead..

everything in life is a pain to use.. its just how you adapt..

i would like to know your thoughts though..?