Minimalist Overlanding / Camping Ideas?

billiebob said:
I've often been close to buying one of these, but it is still a tent.
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https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B000I6420U/?tag=tjforum-20
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I have a friend who uses one of those. Its quick to set up and quick to strike and he says it is reasonably comfortable, but it takes up a lot of room when packed.
 
billiebob said:
I've often been close to buying one of these, but it is still a tent.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B000I6420U/?tag=tjforum-20
Click to expand...
I’ve seen a lot of overlanders using these. A bunch of people had them at the overland expo when I went. That was like 7 years ago though. I almost purchased the double wide one. Fold up size isn’t terrible. I got sick of putting up a tent for the night prior to hikes/climbs in the mountains. I’d leave San Diego for the Sierras and arrive at the trail head late in the evening. So I bought a cheap pop tent, I think it was a Coleman. Granted it wasn’t robust and I’d never carry it up into the mountains with me but it was great for a few hours of shuteye before an early morning alpine start or a night next to the river before or during a weekend of fishing etc. Literally just pulled it out of the pouch and “pop” a fully assembled tent came flying out. A few methodical twists and it was put away. Good for moderate weather, never felt with it in the rain though, some are better than others. I finally got sick of doing that to and bought an Xterra that I could lay down in if I put down the back seat 🤣.
 
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It’s not minimalistic but hands down the best thing I bought for camping and enjoying a day on the trail was a Dometic refrigerator.

the amount of food and drink they hold is amazing and I can take the temp to -8F if I wanted ice cream on a hot day.
 
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Apparition said:
It’s not minimalistic but hands down the best thing I bought for camping and enjoying a day on the trail was a Dometic refrigerator.
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I call that minimalistic, the path of least resistance to keeping food fresh. A cooler with ice is far from minimum work. Managing the ice takes time out of every day. A Dometic Fridge,,,, definitely fits the minimalistic life style. The only way to get more minimalistic is to not need refrigeration.
 
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billiebob said:
. . . A cooler with ice is far from minimum work. Managing the ice takes time out of every day. A Dometic Fridge,,,, definitely fits the minimalistic life style. The only way to get more minimalistic is to not need refrigeration.
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I recently completed a 3+ week overlanding trip. Rather than carry items requiring refrigeration I used my 26 qt. rotomolded cooler as a "cool box" for foods that should be kept cool but not necessarily cold.* I had a day cooler behind the center console for cold drinks on ice. Or cool drinks if there was no ice available that day.

A fridge would have been convenient, but fridges often require a slide or high capacity battery or similar complexity/complication/expense. A cooler is an insulated box. What could be simpler than that?


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* One discovery just before my trip was shelf stable UHT pasteurized whole milk in quart cartons on the shelves of my local dollar store. The real thing - not condensed, evaporated or powdered. Refrigeration not required until opened and the shelf life is 6-9 months.
 
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Since this thread is about ideas I’ll mention my thought process on camping rigs.

Late last year I decided I was going to build a camping trailer with the intention of mounting a roof top tent on it. As an engineer I started drawing up plans and watched a bunch of overlanding vids for ideas.

Once I started pricing axles and components it seemed buying the Smittybilt might make the most sense.
Then it occurred to me I already have an F150 that would make a pretty good basecamp setup.

A good lockable retractable cover and everything stays protected. And they have covers that have tracks for mounting a rack for a RTT yet still have a functional bed cover unlike the too shallow bed of a Gladiator.

I can also buy an aluminum car trailer for about the same, maybe a little more, price as that camping trailer.

So to sum it up my plan is to buy a trailer for hauling my LJ. A better tonneau cover for the truck for security purposes, maybe a RTT for the truck and I’ll take a normal ground tent if I will be camping away from the truck.

I feel this method gives more capability, probably more capacity also, than the small trailer plus provides the safety net in the event something goes wrong with the Jeep. And on long trips, the F150 is super comfortable and quiet.
 
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billiebob said:
I call that minimalistic, the path of least resistance to keeping food fresh. A cooler with ice is far from minimum work. Managing the ice takes time out of every day. A Dometic Fridge,,,, definitely fits the minimalistic life style. The only way to get more minimalistic is to not need refrigeration.
Click to expand...
I agree a fridge is ideal for worry free food storage while camping. Has anyone here been able to find a decent one that will fit behind an LJ rear seat without going in sideways? Didnt know if anyone was running one, so figured id ask.
 
GA05LJ said:
I agree a fridge is ideal for worry free food storage while camping. Has anyone here been able to find a decent one that will fit behind an LJ rear seat without going in sideways? Didnt know if anyone was running one, so figured id ask.
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I run the CFX40 sideways, leaves just enough room for my tools.
 
Apparition said:
Since this thread is about ideas I’ll mention my thought process on camping rigs.

Late last year I decided I was going to build a camping trailer with the intention of mounting a roof top tent on it. As an engineer I started drawing up plans and watched a bunch of overlanding vids for ideas.

Once I started pricing axles and components it seemed buying the Smittybilt might make the most sense.
Then it occurred to me I already have an F150 that would make a pretty good basecamp setup.

A good lockable retractable cover and everything stays protected. And they have covers that have tracks for mounting a rack for a RTT yet still have a functional bed cover unlike the too shallow bed of a Gladiator.

I can also buy an aluminum car trailer for about the same, maybe a little more, price as that camping trailer.

So to sum it up my plan is to buy a trailer for hauling my LJ. A better tonneau cover for the truck for security purposes, maybe a RTT for the truck and I’ll take a normal ground tent if I will be camping away from the truck.

I feel this method gives more capability, probably more capacity also, than the small trailer plus provides the safety net in the event something goes wrong with the Jeep. And on long trips, the F150 is super comfortable and quiet.
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Here’s my final setup

7E0E5E2A-CEB7-49F4-8311-997978623AEA.jpeg


2F8531F5-B065-460D-A724-D14A1F411662.jpeg
 
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That's an ideal setup.
Yeah I've been trying to find a smaller fridge that will fit behind the rear seat and slide out on a tray like you have in the back of the Ford, but it's looking like there just isnt enough space in the LJ.
 
GA05LJ said:
I agree a fridge is ideal for worry free food storage while camping. Has anyone here been able to find a decent one that will fit behind an LJ rear seat without going in sideways? Didnt know if anyone was running one, so figured id ask.
Click to expand...
Haven't used this compact freezer myself, but I have it on a watch list for when the kid and I start camping. Some of the reviews are odd, as people complained about leafy vegetables freezing and whatnot.
 
GA05LJ said:
I agree a fridge is ideal for worry free food storage while camping. Has anyone here been able to find a decent one that will fit behind an LJ rear seat without going in sideways? Didnt know if anyone was running one, so figured id ask.
Click to expand...

Dometic has some decent small fridges. One of the 15-20l models will fit fore and aft behind the rear seat if if the rear seat tracks are moved forward about 1". (Mine are and I measured.) A slide would not be necessary.

Alpicool is another brand to look at.

What some guys in CJ's did with coolers back in the day was run the cooler fore and aft behind the driver with a single rear seat behind the front passenger. I scored a folding 1/3 rear seat from an old Willys wagon many years ago that still sits in the rafters of my garage "just in case" I ever want to do something similar in my current jeep with the Engel MT-45 that currently resides in my trailer.
 
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Mr. Bills said:
Dometic has some decent small fridges. One of the 15-18l models will fit fore and aft behind the rear seat if if the rear seat tracks are moved forward about 1". (Mine are and I measured.) A slide would not be necessary.

Unfortunately almost all small fridges of every brand are out of stock (less than 25l). The ones that are in stock are not inexpensive. I've been looking. The supply problems don't seem to exist for the larger fridges, 35-50l, but none of them will fit fore and aft behind the rear seat.

What some guys in CJ's did with coolers back in the day was run the cooler fore and aft behind the driver with a single rear seat behind the front passenger. I scored a folding 1/3 rear seat from an old Willys wagon many years ago that still sits in the rafters of my garage "just in case" I ever want to do something similar in my current jeep with the Engel MT-45 that currently resides in my trailer.
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I've been looking at your build for a while now, pretty impressive the amount of gear you fit in the LJ.
I will probably wind up moving my rear seat forward like you did in order to fit a fridge behind the rear seat. Only reason I have been hesitant so far are my two kids are pretty young and my son rides in a car seat which puts his feet pretty close to the back of my seat already. I think this will get better once he's out of the car seat and is lower in the jeep.

I don't need a fridge to store a week's worth of food, our usual camping scenario is a couple days of tent camping on the weekends. So a smaller fridge should work fine.
 
To me, minimalist camping will definitely include sleeping in the vehicle and not having as many tools and knick knacks around. Just the basic necessities. Way to get food or eat, way to make fire or cook foods, way to get in and out without leaving too much of a mark
 
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