So the wife and I are taking our little one out to spend a few nights at Jordan Lake this holiday weekend :) I cant wait.
We have started packing and I'm realizing that I have far more hobbies than I have room for but luckily the QS 10.0 seems to be accommodating thus far.
The site does not have water or electric but that's fine by me since I don't have anything that truly requires electric. I have a few things that would add to our comfort, but since we can charge our phones on 12V we shouldn't have much else we need to worry about. Though this has brought some interesting ideas up for me. I have a small Honda knock off generator that runs the AC unit (which is the single biggest draw I would have), yet I find myself asking, at what point is the generator worth bringing. The day time temps are going to be around 80 and I don't foresee us being in the camper much during the day, and the lows should be around 50 (very comfortable in my opinion). That knocks out the AC (for the most part) for requiring electric. Plus with daylight lasting late into the evening, we shouldn't need to run electric lights for long (if at all) considering we will have gas lanterns. I figure I wont be in the camper except to sleep so if I'm being generous I might need lights for 30 min at night. That's strike two against the genny as far as I see it. I can think of only 1 half way decent reason to bring it on this trip, and that would be to allow the deep cycle battery to recharge. I do have a very little solar panel that I'll have set out to do what it can, but I don't expect that to actually put a charge back into the system. I wish I had a electric meter I could use to track how much I use on a nightly basis, that would tell me a lot.
Long story short I'm excited to get out this weekend and do a little camping, fishing, kayaking, and relaxing with the family! I'll be sure to get some pictures to share.
P.S. We just upgraded to a new Honda Pilot and I cant wait to see it hooked up.
I'd be kinda leary about using a gas lantern inside. Maybe I'm too timid.
Since I have just about every Ryobi One+ tool they make, I bring along a pair of their LED lanterns, which work great and run almost forever on even the small battery packs. Bring and extra battery and top them off when you get home.
Alternately, an LED lantern that eats D batteries would be more convenient for a long road trip, you can buy replacements anywhere as needed.
I have no ideas about how to measure via the DC system. One thought would be while home, connect to a 20 amp circuit, disconnect the battery, and put a Kill-a-Watt between you and the plug. Will give you an overall draw through the AC. Just don't run anything that you wouldn't run when only on DC (like the Air Conditioner or Microwave).
For just a few nights, you won't draw down the battery much. I have a strip of LED lights and have gone 4 nights one the battery. Volt meter read 12.1 afterwards - hardly any drawdown. If you use the lights sparingly, you won't need any generator. Worst case you have to use flashlights. Certainly the forecast is beautiful! This is fine weather for camping in NC with low dew points and cool nights.
Me - I'm leaving Durham and heading for Charleston, SC with the kids and another family with our QS10. Weather there isn't quite as nice, but still good for late May.
Quote from: @pinstriper" source="/post/1163/thread" timestamp="1400768558I'd be kinda leary about using a gas lantern inside. Maybe I'm too timid.
To clarify I wouldnt be using the gas lanterns inside. I doubt the risk of harmful fumes is all that much in the QSs but why risk it needlessly.
Also along the same line of thinking I have a range of flashlights so we should be covered.
I'm looking at this as a good dust off run. It should be interesting :)
Quote from: @subaruwx" source="/post/1169/thread" timestamp="1400808954For just a few nights, you won't draw down the battery much. I have a strip of LED lights and have gone 4 nights one the battery. Volt meter read 12.1 afterwards - hardly any drawdown. If you use the lights sparingly, you won't need any generator. Worst case you have to use flashlights. Certainly the forecast is beautiful! This is fine weather for camping in NC with low dew points and cool nights.
Me - I'm leaving Durham and heading for Charleston, SC with the kids and another family with our QS10. Weather there isn't quite as nice, but still good for late May.
I agree, I dont think the draw on the battery is going to be all that bad.
Good luck on your trip, I'm sure it will be a blast :) I've always like the Charleston area.
I will admit to being paranoid about propane fumes/oxygen depletion in confined spaces. And also about running out of battery.
I'm paranoid but not motivated enough to take the prepper route and actually figure it out. So I have two propane tanks and don't use them. Have one battery and won't camp off grid until I have a second. Won't use the fresh water tank because I don't trust I can manage to keep it drinking safe and only drink bottled water.
So don't mind me. Experience will loosen me up, I expect.
Experience is key for sure. The goal is to get the experience while not getting hurt to much. I remember the stories of people using their propane devices inside during power outages and it ultimately kills them. The biggest thing to remember is anything that burns also puts off some fumes that can become harmful if they reach the right concentrations. Propane is usually considered to be the safest depending on the appliance. For example I have a vent free propane fireplace in my home that I use as additional heating in the winter. I have read its documentation over and over, and confirmed with the installation expert that its safe as long as you understand how its designed to work. Being vent free doesnt mean it doesnt put off fumes, it simply means that when installed in a large enough space that has a reasonable amount of air movement the fumes wont build up enough to be harmful.
In a QS I'm actually more concerned about the fire hazard over the fumes. In one of the travel trailers I see a much larger chance of fumes becoming a problem.
For lighting inside the camper or tent we use battery powered lighting. I have posted pictures of LED string lights that we have used inside the camper on the Livinlite Yahoo website, these lights put out enough lighting for us.
A quick update from this weekends trip. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. The weather was amazing and the rig performed even better than I expected. I'll have some pictures and a longer write up later.
Trip Summary: Memorial Day 2014
Location: Jordan Lake, Parkers Creek Campground, NC
This was our first trip with the QS 10.0 and our new tow vehicle, a Honda Pilot 4x4. The QS towed like a dream to the point I was never worried about it at all...sort of :). I was using this as a test for a system that used the QS as transport for two kayaks as well. I was a little nervous about how everything would actually travel, it was one of those situations where it seemed like a good idea in theory. While loading the rig everything seemed very stable and showed no signs of stress. Though I also know how something looks doesn't always correlate with how its actually reacting.
We packed up and headed for the campground Friday afternoon, luckily work was slow so I was able to cut out a bit early. We arrived by 4 or maybe 4:30 in the afternoon and the sites were already filling up. We had had our site reserved for a long time because even though we had never stayed at this campground we assumed it was going to be busy. The travel time from our house to the campground was only about 20-30 minutes and that was partly due to me taking it easy with the first outing. I was ecstatic with the towing and maneuverability. I only had the slightest of difficulty in backing into the site as my wife and I refined our communication on which way "left" actually meant :D
After getting into a reasonable location in the side we quickly came to realize how incredibly unlevel the site was. This brought up my first note for next time. I need to invest in a good leveling system, or at the very least a couple of 2x6s to use as riser blocks. I had to use a dedicated jack to lift the rig to the point I was almost maxing out the stabilizer legs. On the bright side I can honestly say this was the most difficult part of setup so I guess I don't really have much to complain about.
After getting everything setup we hung out at the campsite which was right on the water. My daughter and dog were having a blast in the water.
As the sun set we settled down for the night and cooked dinner over the fire. We tried a camp version of pigs in a blanket. It was as simple as wrapping a host dog in canned crescent roll dough and letting it roast. I'd say this are much better in theory vs. practice. I found it difficult to get the dough cooked right, but I'd be willing to give it another shot. There is something that I cant describe about sitting in front of the campfire. Its entertaining and peaceful all at the same time.
The night was great, as the temp cooled down we were all comfortable without anything more than an average blanket. I think the cool temps were also part of the reason we had almost no bugs.
The next morning we were up with the first crack of daylight. It was great seeing the sun rise over the lake. No boats had made it out onto water yet and with no wind the surface was like glass. The magic hour as the sun comes up but everything is still sleeping, not even the birds are singing yet.
We spent the morning out on the water in our kayaks. We had no real destination in mind so we just explored the shoreline and all the little nooks and hideouts we could find. My daughter is still small enough she fits well in between my legs down in the cockpit. With a recreation kayak there is plenty of room for us. The downside is that she wants to help so badly that it can sometimes make it difficult to get some distance in, but I couldn't care less about the mileage when I'm with her. It makes me proud on so many levels to see her enjoying the outdoors with no reservations. She jumps right in with both feet first.
After kayaking we just hung out at camp a bit, and eventually made out way over to the "beach" area. This was nice since it had a playground for the kids. I cant say I enjoyed the actual beach area all that much. The ground was hard with a sharp dried clay like feeling. This was like walking in a mine field since you never knew if you were going to be stepping on something soft, or rock solid. I know its minor, but considering we had lake front access at our site there was really no need to hang out at the beach.
That evening we got back to camp to find the neighboring site had changed occupants. The irony was that one of the new neighbors was a former co-worker of my wife. He and his camp mates were awesome and we loved hanging out with everyone. They were out with some slightly older kids who also loved playing with my daughter. It was one of those unplanned moments that make the best memories.
We were all up late that night and were already very tired from all the activity during the day. Everyone slept like a rock, but we all woke up clearly exhausted. After giving ourselves some time to get up and moving we realized the little one was not in a good mood being so tired and we were also drained. We decided to amend our plans and hang out until we got motivated and eventually head home. Looking back on it I'm very happy we decided to head home early. It got us home with time to unpack, clean, and recharge before going back to work.
Overall I must say everything worked amazingly. The main take away for me is to figure our a leveling system, work on my lighting for when we wont have shoreline power, as well as a project to get running water.
I have a few pictures of the adventure posted here https://www.flickr.com/photos/52403555@N05/sets/72157644591580078/
Great report !
Might I suggest a dutch oven for baking the pigs ?
Thank you for posting your trip report, we have a Quicksilver 8 model. You may want to check out a Bal-Leveler for camp sites that are not level. Dutch oven cooking is something else that you may want to check out and it is something you can do at home to practice cooking meals in them.
+1 for the BAL leveler. Tried backing onto 2x4s one time, then bought the BAL leveler. Worth every penny. Note that if you have the off road package with larger wheels, it's a bit of a tight fit for the BAL but does work.
I've heard good things about the BAL leveler but i'm being cheap at the moment :)
I'm sure I'll end up with it at some point
What is the BAL leveler never heard of it.
For single axle campers, it seems to be on the top of everyone's list for easiest way to level. It cradles the tire from below, then uses a big bolt to raise the wheel.
http://www.amazon.com/BAL-R-V-Products-Group-28050/dp/B000BH5MAA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402015134&sr=8-1&keywords=bal+leveler
Its a great idea for leveling the trailer by raising the tire/axle. Doing a google search shows its available at many different locations as well. I think its a bit expensive, but who can put a value on your time and energy when it comes to setup time.