![]() | Columbia Cougar Flats Six to Eight-Person Two-Room Cabin Tent
My wife and I use this tent for ourselves. It gives us plenty of room to step off of the air mattress to change clothes. The 2nd room allows us to store our clothes, accessories, and grand daughters.
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![]() | Coleman Sundome Tent- 7x7'
Buy new: $54.15 We set up several of these dome tents over 4 side-by-side campsites for the kids, their significant others, and their kids. Plenty big enough for 2.5 people and their camping crud.
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![]() | Aerobed Raised Queen Bed with Pillow Support
Buy new: $149.95 We decided to replace our double-high Coleman mattress with this Aerobed because the Coleman is old and leaky. This Aerobed has a built-in pump that requires 120VAC. I plan on using a Xantrex 100 Powerpack to power it. We shall see.
We also got some inflatable night stands to avoid having flashlights, water bottles, etc. rolling downhill to the lowest part of the tent.
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![]() | Coleman Rechargeable Quick Pump
Buy new: $23.91 A rechargeable air pump is very handy to top off an air mattress before bedtime. A full charge will inflate 10 of our air mattresses or deflate the same number.
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![]() | OD Green Medium ALICE Pack w/Straps
Buy new: $66.99 We use this ALICE pack to store bulky items such as air pumps, rechargers, hyperdrive motivators, walkie-talkies, and flux capacitors.
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![]() | Columbia Shoshoni Falls Shower Tent
Lots of room to shower after a rough day of camping. Use the ZODI double burner water heater for hot water. I recommend a drainable rubber mat to step onto when exiting the shower tent to keep water and mud/muck off of your feet.
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![]() | Zodi Hot Tap On-Demand Hot Shower
This works best if you take 10 gallon plastic tubs so that you can pre-heat the water before a shower. From my experience, one 10 gallon tub o' hot water will provide 5 male showers or 1 female shower.
NOTE: Dry out the pump between trips. We stored it wet and found that it had rusted and failed.
UPDATE: I highly recommend replacing the 6-volt pump with the 12-volt pump from ZODI.
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![]() | Lafuma RSX Mesh Recliner, Forest
Buy new: $139.95 / Used from: $103.99 Relax - take a load off in a zero gravity recliner. Very comfortable!
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![]() | Camp Chef Professional Series TB-90LW Tahoe Deluxe 3 Burner Modular Cooking System, Black/Red
Buy new: $290.67 / Used from: $200.00 We actually got the Expedition 3X model, which is the same 3-burner, 90,000 btu (total) stove but it includes a steel griddle that fits over two of the 3 burners. The griddle means that breakfast for 20 takes 45 minutes versus 90 minutes. Beware, this thing eats propane like candy. A 20 pound bottle lasted 5 days.
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![]() | Camp Chef CB90 Carry bag for three burner stove
Buy new: $32.62 / Used from: $29.99 The stove is heavy and yucky after use! This carry bag makes it easier and cleaner to haul around and store.
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![]() | Camp Chef SG90 Deluxe steel fry griddle
Buy new: $89.99 This is the 18" x 24" griddle that comes with the 3X model. It works great for making mass quantities of eggs, sausage, bacon, french toast, hamburgers, etc.
It comes pre-seasoned and it's important to re-season it after use by using the Camp Chef cast iron conditioner. Otherwise it will rust.
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![]() | Camp Chef SGBLG carry bag for griddles SG90, FG26
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $11.99 The griddle is heavy and yucky after use! This carry bag makes it easier and cleaner to haul around and store.
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![]() | Coleman 3-Burner Propane Stove
The 3rd burner has a higher output (15,000 btu vs. 10,000 btu), which is much appreciated while boiling water for coffee in the morning.
UPDATE: We replaced this with a larger Camp Chef Expedition 3X with a total of 90,000 btu.
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![]() | Manchester Tank 10504.3 20# ACME/OPD Vertical LP Tank
Buy new: $34.07 We use 4 of these. Three are connected to Coleman distribution trees, which provide gas to a total of 4 refrigerators, a stove, and 3 lanterns. The 4th tank is a spare.
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![]() | Coleman PerfectFlow Insta Start Propane Grill
Buy new: $72.46 The camp stove doesn't provide a means to barbecue anything so we use this tabletop rig to grill chicken, burgers, and dogs.
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![]() | Coleman Hot Water-On-Demand Portable Water Heater
Buy new: $188.00 Just like it says, hot water on demand. Turn it on, adjust the water temperature, and wash dishes. It runs on a 1 lb. propane bottle and includes a rechargebable battery to run the pump. Just have the kids hump water.
NOTE: Dry out the pump between trips. We stored it wet and found that it had rusted and failed. Coleman sells a replacement submersible pump assembly for about $15.
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![]() | Coleman Expandable Water Carrier (5-Gallon)
Buy new: $10.01 / Used from: $5.97 The Coleman hot-water-on-demand water pump won't connect to just any 5-gallon water carrier. This is the only one I've found that it will attach to. Use two so that you'll always have one in reserve.
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![]() | 9217 SurePak 12 MRE's- Meals ready to eat.
Buy new: $65.98 For the past several years while camping we set aside one 24-hour period during which campers may only eat MRE's. Not this SOPAKCO brand but actual military MRE's. We do this as a reminder of larger issues.
At home we stock 4 cases of MRE's (48 meals) and 100 gallons of fresh water for emergency purposes.
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![]() | Coleman Northstar Instastart Tube-Mantle Propane Lantern with Hard Case
Buy new: $61.97 Piezo snap-starter and easy to replace mantles. The hard case actually remains closed, unlike earlier versions that opened the minute you picked them up, resulting in a broken glass globe.
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![]() | Juice Bags ES200 Solar Panel Powered 18" Daypack
Buy new: $202.50 We actually have the original Reware Juice Bag 1.0X classic model. It provides 6.3 watts to recharge Xantrex Powerpack 100's. It's also handy for storing the Powerpacks, inverters, cable-sets, etc.
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![]() | Xantrex Technologies 802-1500 XPower Powerpack 1,500-Watt Portable Backup Power System
Buy new: $399.99 / Used from: $366.99 Each unit includes a 12V 63AH battery set, which can be augmented with an additional 63AH battery set for a toal of 126AH or 1512 watt-hour available as 120VAC via a 1350 watt inverter. Our 80 watt solar panel can't keep up with our use of power while camping, but it does slow their discharge rate down a bit. Batteries require replacment after about 5 years.
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![]() | Xantrex Powerpack 600 Watt Jumpstarter, Power Inverter and Backup Power Source
This portable source of power includes a 12V 28AH SLA AGM battery for a total of 336 watt-hours availble as 120VAC via a 480 watt inverter. It will run our ice maker for about an hour. The ice maker consumes 150-220 watts over the course of each ice-making cycle.
The non-replaceable battery means that I won't be buying any more of these but rather more Xantrex 1500 battery boxes.
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![]() | Xantrex Technologies 852-0081 XPower Pocket Powerpack 100-Watt Inverter
Buy new: $81.00 An even more portable source of power. 3.3 amp-hour @ 12VDC (40 watt-hour). The inverter includes one 120VAC outlet and one USB outlet. It's kind of clunky compared to the newer model. The inverter has to be removed in order to recharge the battery-pack.
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![]() | Xantrex Technologies 852-0281 XPower PowerSource 100 Watt Inverter
Buy new: $99.99 This is the newer version of the Xantrex Powerpack 100. I prefer this model because the inverter and battery-pack are one unit. It includes a 4 amp-hour Li-Ion battery for a capacity of 48 watt-hours @ 12VDC. The 100 watt inverter includes one 120VAC outlet and two USB outlets. A 12VDC cigarette lighter plug and 120VAC transformer are included.
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![]() | Altec Lansing inMotion iM600 Firewire-Charging Portable Audio System for iPod (Black)
Buy new: $94.88 / Used from: $74.99 A portable rechargeable sound station for ipods, iphones, and any sound source using a mini-stero plug. Considerably less expensive than Bose. The Bose system looks and sounds fantastic but let's face it, we're camping! Campers bring their camping playlist of songs.
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![]() | Kensington Auto Power Adapter with USB Power Port K33418US
Buy new: $13.19 A cigarette lighter USB converter is handy to recharge winky electronic gizmos.
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![]() | Waring Pro WIM30 Clear-Ice Professional Portable Electronic Ice Maker, Brushed Stainless Steel
Make ice while camping. Brilliant! I learned the hard way that you'll need at least a 400 watt inverter and a full tank of gas or a generator. It makes about 30 pounds of ice per day. It consumes 150-220 watts over the course of each ice-making cycle. Each of our Xantrex 1500 battery boxes will run the ice maker for about 3-4 hours on a full charge.
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![]() | Viatek BZ02G Indoor/Outdoor Rechargeable Bug Zapper
Buy new: $29.44 / Used from: $36.99 I bought the Coleman OEM version. We'll try them this year (2009) and report the results.
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![]() | Biteshield Electronic Racket Zapper
Buy new: $4.88 These handheld mosquito zappers work great. When the sun goes down we're overwhelmed by mosquitos for about an hour. Not any more! Their capacitors hold a charge for a short time so don't grab it by anything but the handle. Push the button and zap!
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![]() | Deluxe 650059 LED Headlight
Hands free flashlight.
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![]() | 100 8 inch Glowstick Glow Stick Light Bracelets Assorted Colors
Buy new: $12.48 These are a big hit with young campers.
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![]() | Draganflyer V Ti PRO RC Gyro Stabilized Electric Helicopter With High Res Color Video Camera System
Everyone (young and old) has attempted to fly the Draganflyer. All of us have crashed it. In some cases, crashed with extreme prejudice. This helicopter takes a licken' and keeps on ticken'. A lot of fun for all ages. I recommend the crash-kit and spare batteries, which last about 10 minutes.
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![]() | Disposable Wet Washcloths
Buy new: $4.99 Wet wipes are an easy and convenient way to keep clean while camping.
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![]() | Charmin To Go Freshmates Cloths - 10 Each
Buy new: $1.01 Because we're roughing it, and because we don't want to offend others, I recommend these butt-wipes.
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