Enthusiast III
Hello all, I probably couldve posted these photos along the way but I've been too lazy. Haha.
Ive gotten very much influence and inspiration from many builds I've seen, both commercial and DIY. (I probably like and definitely appreciate most of the DIYs better) Anyway, I built this thing over about a year, using it and adding things that I felt we 'needed'...
We are fairly new to overland style camping because on most of our excursions, camping was not our primary purpose. Day hikes and kayaking was generally what we would set out to do, then we would head home. Honestly, I discovered "overlanding" while searching 'bug-out vehicle ideas'... So this serves a double purpose for me. Cant say I'm a prepper, cant say I'm not. Haha!
So, with that said, our 'needs' pretty much are truly only 'nice-to-haves'. This trailer lets us extend our kayaking trips longer, even if it's just one day of paddling. We get to hang around, cook, camp out, and enjoy nature without feeling the need to get home and rest or settle down and unpack.
No need for extensive unpacking as we have dedicated gear for the trailer. All we have to load is the cooler, dry food box, and the boats if we plan to take them.
This thing started life as a 12x5 foot, single-axle utility trailer. I've always wanted to learn welding, so I bought a decent welder and started melting things... Haha. I cut two-feet off the rear of it so I ended up with a 10-foot deck. The box is made 8x4.5 feet and made of wood. I used Thompsons and water-sealed inside and out. After a few weeks of the water seal curing, I sprayed it with 4 bottles of Raptor liner. All the corners are finished with 1.25-inch aluminum angle. Rear door frames with u-channel aluminum.
Current creature comforts:
46-gallon water tank
Shurflo 3.5 gpm 12volt water pump
Ecotemp L5 propane shower in Pelican case
500 pound drawer slides for kitchen
2-100 watt HQST solar panels
30-amp PWM solar charge controller
2-6volt 240AH golf cart batteries
1500 watt pure sine inverter
Blue sea master switch and fuse panel
Things definitely to come:
2000-watt inverter generator (current one is too loud)
Batwing style awning
12-volt fridge freezer (in the truck since trailer is not always needed)
So far so good. It's operational but we are still or setting this thing up for most efficient use, so the layout will probably change a little.
For example, we learned that 46 gallons is not too much water for a week's use. I installed a big tank just-in-case... Never though nor intended to fill the tank to capacity except if we needed trailer for disaster evacuation, so we had to refill during our last trip. Things like this come from experience. Also, I will add a good shore power charger; but I have not had to charge the batteries AT ALL due to solar AND I only use one 100-watt panel fulltime. The second one is to add for cloudy days and heavy use.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Ive gotten very much influence and inspiration from many builds I've seen, both commercial and DIY. (I probably like and definitely appreciate most of the DIYs better) Anyway, I built this thing over about a year, using it and adding things that I felt we 'needed'...
We are fairly new to overland style camping because on most of our excursions, camping was not our primary purpose. Day hikes and kayaking was generally what we would set out to do, then we would head home. Honestly, I discovered "overlanding" while searching 'bug-out vehicle ideas'... So this serves a double purpose for me. Cant say I'm a prepper, cant say I'm not. Haha!
So, with that said, our 'needs' pretty much are truly only 'nice-to-haves'. This trailer lets us extend our kayaking trips longer, even if it's just one day of paddling. We get to hang around, cook, camp out, and enjoy nature without feeling the need to get home and rest or settle down and unpack.
No need for extensive unpacking as we have dedicated gear for the trailer. All we have to load is the cooler, dry food box, and the boats if we plan to take them.
This thing started life as a 12x5 foot, single-axle utility trailer. I've always wanted to learn welding, so I bought a decent welder and started melting things... Haha. I cut two-feet off the rear of it so I ended up with a 10-foot deck. The box is made 8x4.5 feet and made of wood. I used Thompsons and water-sealed inside and out. After a few weeks of the water seal curing, I sprayed it with 4 bottles of Raptor liner. All the corners are finished with 1.25-inch aluminum angle. Rear door frames with u-channel aluminum.
Current creature comforts:
46-gallon water tank
Shurflo 3.5 gpm 12volt water pump
Ecotemp L5 propane shower in Pelican case
500 pound drawer slides for kitchen
2-100 watt HQST solar panels
30-amp PWM solar charge controller
2-6volt 240AH golf cart batteries
1500 watt pure sine inverter
Blue sea master switch and fuse panel
Things definitely to come:
2000-watt inverter generator (current one is too loud)
Batwing style awning
12-volt fridge freezer (in the truck since trailer is not always needed)
So far so good. It's operational but we are still or setting this thing up for most efficient use, so the layout will probably change a little.
For example, we learned that 46 gallons is not too much water for a week's use. I installed a big tank just-in-case... Never though nor intended to fill the tank to capacity except if we needed trailer for disaster evacuation, so we had to refill during our last trip. Things like this come from experience. Also, I will add a good shore power charger; but I have not had to charge the batteries AT ALL due to solar AND I only use one 100-watt panel fulltime. The second one is to add for cloudy days and heavy use.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
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