As we continue to accrue (or lose) additional outdoor gear worth chatting about, we’ll add it here.
Traeger Ranger Smoker – We used to have our RecPro smoker in our sticks and bricks and honestly this was one of the biggest things I had missed going full-time! Unfortunately the RecPro smokers were all too large to carry in our truck camper but this one was small enough we made it work (though had to get rid of our Blackstone). This sucker is HEAVY – we always use both of us to lift it to save our backs, but glad we have it. There is a smaller griddle that we’ve also used for hamburgers, eggs, bacon, etc. but it is different since you’re smoking with pellets.
Gazelle G6 Gazebo – We have used this often when we are staying at a location for more than a week. We use it primarily as a garage but also will use it as an outdoor kitchen. Several pros and cons, which I’ll go through in a separate detailed review VERY soon…
Gazelle Wind Screens – These screens come in packs of 3, so be aware you’ll need to grab 2 packs. These were perfect for keeping everything inside dry.
Fishing Rod Holder – We added this fishing pole holder to the underside of our camper so we had a place to carry the poles when we were not trailering the boat. We talk about this installation in this video
Lora’s Kayak – So far, this kayak has performed reasonably well with our light use so far. If I could do it again, I think I’d get the 1-person Excursion Pro kayak instead though. This doesn’t track really well and the seat was uncomfortable. I ended up upgrading the seat but haven’t used it enough to give a review of that yet.
Gary’s Kayak – We ended up getting a 2 person kayak for Gary since he would be carrying other heavy items like our fishing tackle, food, etc. We’re a bit too fluffy for both of us in this kayak so this seemed like a great solution. So far, this has worked well for us on light-current rivers and lakes.
Camco Ladder-mount bike rack – We bought these at Camping World since they were on clearance and looked like they would work.
This was a little easier but still a pain since we’d always hit our head on the bikes when going into the slideout tray. Similar to the Yakima, it’s a pain to get our bikes out of the rack, so we tend to leave them there.
Still looking for the magic solution (but I don’t expect to find one).
Yakima Bike Rack – We still have this bike rack and was able to figure out how to keep the bikes on and still get up the stairs and into the cadaver tray. But it was a bit of a pain. While we only used the bikes every once in awhile, we went up the stairs and into the cadaver tray a tone more. Right now we’re still trying out the ladder-mount bike rack (above) to prioritize getting in and out of the camper & the slide out tray (while making using the bikes a little harder). Always a compromise in RVing!
If this was a bottom-mount instead of a top-mount bike rack I think it would be easier. My girl bike is a pain to get into the sections (since I have to have a separate mounting bar installed as well).
Resistance Bands – I DON’T like lifting weights. And they take up a lot of space. We’ve actually been carrying around our weights since we went full-time and I think we’ve used them twice so far. So, I decided to take a chance on these bands. I’m still in the early stages, but at least Gary and I have already used these half a dozen times. I’ll post an update probably in the fall to see if I kept up with it.
I was hoping that the free trial was more than a few days but I decided to push myself and paid up-front for a full year ($80) on the app (and to make myself feel guilty if I don’t use it). Maybe it’ll stick this time 🫰🏻.
Alpicool Refrigerator-Freezer – We had some challenges with our refrigerator when starting our full-time travels and I just needed a backup plan so we wouldn’t lose all of our food if the RV fridge couldn’t keep up. I originally looked at the Dometic dual-zone versions and nearly choked! I ended up purchasing this one at a fraction of the cost and it has been holding up very well. They also have an app that is easier to change temps (so you don’t have to figure out the button dance). You do have to clean out the fans periodically but so glad we have this. Just gotta work on having Gary add another outside outlet so we can leave it in our flatbed truck while turtled!
We typically will keep this in the gazebo but we have kept it in the camper for weeks at a time when it was in higher use. We just put it in front of the fireplace. We do move it to the dinette table during transport.
Stuff we Tossed, Repurposed or Gifted
Blackstone 17″ Grill (Gifted) – We will use this anytime we can – it’s perfect for breakfasts, burgers, steaks, even pizza! Though we did splurge and get the Blackstone lid which is much harder to get (we purchased that one directly off the Blackstone website)
July 2022 Update: We ended up giving this to Gary’s brother and replaced it with our Traeger Ranger smoker/grill. The Blackstone was great but really wanted a small smoker but didn’t have the space for both.
Blackstone 17″ lid (Gifted)- It sucks that this doesn’t come in as a package, but this lid is *GREAT* to keep your food hot in higher winds. We also use it to melt cheese on pizzas. In heavier wind, we use a piece of coroplast (think of the plastic signs that people use on their lawns during elections) that you can get at Home Depot and made a small 3-sided wind break area. That works well!
July 2022 Update: Gave this to Gary’s brother since we needed to make room for the Trager Ranger grill