How Much Trailer Can You Tow (Part 2)?

Travel Trailer,

Before we discuss trailer weight, tow vehicle weight, and total combined weight, a discussion about hitches is in order. There are a lot of misconceptions about trailer tongue weight, hitch weight and how to calculate what you have in your rig.

This is not meant to be a technical “White Paper” but just a general overview. If you need more information, then Google is your friend. But this article might help you sort out the sea of confusion that is the Internet.

Once the concepts are understood, we can discuss our “too heavy” trailer in Part 3.

Continue reading How Much Trailer Can You Tow (Part 2)? →

How Much Trailer Can You Tow (Part 1)?

Travel Trailer

Anaza Borrego Oct 2013-1 smaller

Since we recently bought a new trailer and a new tow vehicle, I thought I would share some information about matching trailers and tow vehicles. In my research for both, I came across a lot of bad information. Before we bought, I knew what to take into consideration when matching a trailer and something to tow it with. This will lay out some basic information the buyer should know before he or she ever steps onto a car or trailer dealership lot.

Part 1 (this post) will cover tow vehicles. I will discuss trailers in part 3. Part 2 will discuss trailer hitches.

Continue reading How Much Trailer Can You Tow (Part 1)? →

Grounded :(

What's Up With That?

What’s Up With That?

No kitchen pass this weekend. A Honey-Do List instead!

Just because we have been camping 8 weeks in a row doesn’t seem like a good reason to stay home this weekend — but those decisions aren’t always made by me.

So I thought I would just go backpacking.

Nope.

New blinds to hang. What’s wrong with the old curtains? I think they are fine. Oh, and other tasks created; not by me of course.

Ah well, it’s okay. I had a touch of the flu earlier this week any how and a little rest might be good.

Cease and Desist

What's Up With That?, , ,

What’s Up With That?

Stop Sign

In The Business of Backpacking I took a jab at gear reviews on personal blogs. Specific blogs were not identified, as I have no interest in pointing out any individual.

Apparently a blogger was put off by my observations, and a “Cease and Desist” email was sent to me via a PM (private message) hosted by an Internet forum. Since there are no Comment or Email capabilities on this Website, it is rather difficult to contact me unless you are a friend or a business client. This is intentional. I really don’t care about what others think.

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Managing Your Recreation Inventory

Backpacking Gear, Camping, General Talk, , ,

Inventory Clip ArtNo, this isn’t about gear. A while back I wrote an article about backpacking gear getting boring. So is camping gear.

It is time to talk about getting out into the wilderness and actually using your gear.

Sometimes I am amazed by the amount of time so many folks spend on the Internet talking about camping or backpacking, but not really going out and actually doing it. So many people talk about not having the time to camp or hike. Here is a little secret, you can go camping and/or backpacking over 100 days per year and work full time!

Before you say, “But I don’t live close to wild areas,” consider doing this: MOVE

If getting outdoors is important, which I assume is true for most people who spend days on end on Internet forums talking about it, then move if you live far from recreational opportunities.

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State of Charge: Your Camper/RV May Be Killing Your Battery Bank

Camper Upgrades, Camping, Solar,

THIS MAY BE CONTROVERSIAL

If you own a camper or other recreational vehicle, it probably has a battery or two or at least is set up for a battery.

If you want to utilize a battery in your RV, battery selection is paramount and probably more important is the proper charging settings.

Now if you only camp in campgrounds with umbilical cords to the power grid, you don’t need a battery bank. But I will suggest that you are missing a lot by “camping” in these virtual parking lots. Get thee out into the more wild areas where there is no electric grid. It is called camping, you know – not Parking.

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Black Friday? Go Camping or Backpacking Instead!

What's Up With That?

What’s Up With That?

I live in a small town and don’t have any personal experience with the Black Friday phenomenon. To be honest, I don’t know a lot about it.

Last year, one week before Thanksgiving, I was working in the Los Angeles area and went to Best Buy the Friday before Thanksgiving. There were several tents set up in front of the store and people were inside them. I thought it was some sort of store display, as most of the tents had music playing inside of them. When I entered the store, I asked one of the employees about the tents outside. He told me they were shoppers who were camped out waiting to be the first ones in the door next week, when the store would open early Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving. These people were going to live at Best Buy for a week just so they could buy stuff!! I don’t get it.

Continue reading Black Friday? Go Camping or Backpacking Instead! →