We’ve had this portable air compressor for over 10 years, so now I can do a proper review because it meets my three criteria for a long term review:
Continue reading VIAIR 88P Portable Air Compressor: Long Term Review
So here I was, driving down a two-lane highway fifty miles from the nearest town, no cell phone coverage, and temperatures in triple digits. An ominous message appears on the dash of our 2020 Ford F-250 Super Duty:
WARNING: TRAILER WIRING FAULT
I pull off the roadway onto the shoulder that is a mix of sand and gravel. Turn off the ignition key. Walking to the back of the truck, I see the trailer wiring connector to the truck is in place. I disconnect it and then plug it back in, making sure it is completed seated and secure. Back in the truck I start the engine and watch the dash as the truck comes to life again:
WARNING: TRAILER WIRING FAULT
These are the steps I took to diagnose the problem, do a quick temporary fix, and then a permanent repair once we got back home.
Before our last camping trip, I did my usual pre-trip check on our trailer. I noticed that our tires were almost 5 years old! As I wrote back in 2020 in my article (When Should You Replace Your Trailer Tires?), I like to replace trailer tires every 3-4 years, depending on how much we drive and how worn out they are. Since we live and travel in the desert Southwest, often on two-lane roads dozens of miles from any town and lacking cell phone coverage, we need to be extra careful with our tires.
The tires had about 12,000 miles on them and only 5/32 of an inch of tread left. That’s way less than the new tread depth on these Goodyear Endurance trailer tires, which is 8/32 of an inch. Most states have a law that says tires need to be replaced when the tread depth is 2/32 of an inch. So, for this tire, it has 6/32 of an inch usable tire tread, which means it was about 50% worn out.
We replaced the tires before leaving on the trip.
I was inclined not to replace them before this trip, but Joyce recommended replacement.
On a recent camping trip the faucets in our trailer started spurting out air and a significant reduction in the volume of water. This was while using the water pump, because we almost never camp where there are water hook-ups. Our campsite was in the middle of the desert and not having water would be a big problem. A quick diagnosis identified the problem, but we weren’t close to a city where we could get parts. This is how I figured out was wrong, and the solution, given our remote location.
Continue reading Is Your RV Water Faucet Sputtering Or Full Of Air?
Organizing all my backpacking, camping, boating and other gear has always been less than ideal. The biggest issue was the bins were large and it was a hassle to locate the one item I needed.
As it turns out, the solution was simple.
Continue reading Organizing Backpacking Gear and/or a Camper