16 Items We Use Teardrop Camping

[@christineknox78]

Dutch ovens are nice for baking biscuits, cornbread, pot pie, breakfast casseroles, cakes and cobblers a multitude of other meals. We really enjoy piping hot meals on cold mornings and evenings

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Christine, we have heard great things about Dutch ovens as well. That all sounds like delicious camping meals! We hope to get one down the road as well. Thanks for your tip.

[@adambraly2481]

Found your videos because I was thinking of ordering a Bend Teardrop and wanted to learn more. Put in a deposit last week! Thanks for the content.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Adam, congrats on the purchase! We hope you enjoy your teardrop as much as we're enjoying ours. 👋👍🤗

[@marlenen6130]

I’d recommend getting a mini dehumidifier for the trailer. You can run it at night when you have power hookups or try using DampRid, I keep one in my Aliner all the time, as well as our house bathrooms and it’s amazing how much moisture it collects from hot shower mist. For cold weather camping I recommend using an insulated sleeping pad, the one we love is the Exped Mega Mat Duo 10. It comes in a few sizes and now there is one that is 15 cm thick. Ours is a self inflating foam mattress (it’s adjustable) with an R value of 9.5, it has fully supported sides, so there isn’t the rolling out and it won’t get mold and mildew, as it’s able to be wiped clean. It made a huge difference sleeping in a tent in the early spring when we were camping up on Mt St Helen’s. It’s totally worth the money. An ice fishing instant insulated tent can be a great place to set up your outside cooking and changing room. I use a hand pump pressure garden sprayer for washing dishes and putting out fires. I have a mesh bag that I put clean wet dishes in to dry and hang it on a branch.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Marlene, we did end up picking up some damp rid and we'll see how it goes. We have a regular queen mattress with a air flow mat underneath. We're considering an outside tent but haven't made a decision yet. Thanks very much for the great tips! 😊👍⛺

[@marlenen6130]

@@HighwaytoHoeftland I understand you have a regular mattress currently. I’m not suggesting you throw it away, but just leave it at home and use a high quality insulating mattress during cold weather. The exped comes in a few larger sizes, ours fits the Honda Pilot, the larger one fills a full size truck bed or 3 person tent. Many regular mattresses become hard and stiff when cold, and once cold they take forever to warm up, making getting a good nights sleep impossible at really low temps. My Exped mattress stops the cold from coming in from underneath, it quickly warms and then radiates my own body heat back to me and the immediately surrounding area (ie., the tent or trailer). If it can warm me in a tarp covered, zipped Hennessy Hammock in 28F, then it can probably help raise the temperature of your tiny trailer with the two of your body heat. The pad is much too warm to use in the summer but it’s so comfy I’m considering buying the non-insulated version also, 😂. Maybe it will help with the condensation also, as the propane heater is adding about a liter of moisture to that small space if you run it all night. Imagine what that moisture is doing to your mattress.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Marlene, It sounds like your setup works very well for warmth and comfort, so we'll have to consider that for sure then. Thanks again and happy camping! 😊

[@CinkSVideo]

I have a little foot pump operated hand wash station. Uses a fraction of the water compared to other options and the gray water is in the bucket it attaches too.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Oh, that's a great idea! We will look into that. Thank you!

[@TCat-ve9qi]

I’ve watched a few vids I really like your guys approach. My wife and I had a pop up and then bought a 22ft travel trailer, we now traded it in after just 2 years for a year drop. So much more fun actually feeling like your camping! Great ideas

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Thank you! We're glad you're enjoying the teardrop camping lifestyle, too! Happy camping.

[@davidf9630]

You made a nice video for the simple campers ( me and my wife). We always have our cooking equipment in the Teardrop so it’s always ready to go. It’s bare bones so we don’t have power or a sink. But you can’t go wrong with a Coleman propane stove and an aluminum coffee pot. We often hard boil eggs or pre-scramble them for easy travel. We live in a little warmer climate ( central ca ) so our biggest problem is condensation. For that, we have a battery operated usb desktop fan that circulates air all night. If I can think of anything else I will get back to you. Finally, collapsible products are the way to go. Happy Camping

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi David, thanks for adding your tips. We like your fan and pre-made eggs idea. Aren't the Coleman stoves great? Central CA sounds lovely right now. 🌞 Thanks again! Happy camping

[@davidf9630]

@@HighwaytoHoeftland … can’t beat the weather here for camping. 40° to 65°. We have a little Teardroper gathering next month at Pinnacles National Park south of Hollister. I’ll try out our new collapsible gear…I was ( gifted) a 5 ga water bottle with a spigot a few years ago. It’s time to retire it. Also, when you think you have enough bungee cords, go out and buy more.

[@davidf9630]

@@HighwaytoHoeftland … now you have me running through our camping process in my head and one thing that comes to mind is our ice chest. We usually freeze water bottles before we go camping and put about a half a dozen on the bottom of our ice chest rather thanhunt around for bags of ice. Another way we keep our food cold is we take our meat products frozen camping, so when it is time to eat they are most likely thought out inside of the ice chest. It saves on money and mess. You don’t have to drain out water all over the place once you’re done.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

True about the bungee cords! They always seem to come in handy. We would like to attend one of the teardrop group events one of these days as well. Have a great time! 👍

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

@@davidf9630 More great ideas! We have noticed that dealing with ice all the time can be a bit high maintenance. Our ice melts so fast. We might buy a more expensive cooler and/or try your idea of freezing water bottles and bringing frozen meats. Thanks again for your helpful advice. :)

[@ninefingers5415]

Can you tell me the name your collapsible trash can? I'm picking up my teardrop this week and your video was great for things I didn't realize would be handy. Thx.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

We're glad it was helpful! Here is the link to the collapsible garbage can we bought on Amazon: Coghlan's Pop-Up Recycle Bin www.amazon.com/dp/B006EHAJSG/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_YN96BHTE1BM7NJF6M4C2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[@marie3919]

Very useful

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Thank you! We're glad you enjoyed the videos. 🤗

[@kevinhannah8636]

Great video. Lots of ideas for when my Bend Teardrop is born in March. Do you have a regular mattress or a fold-up kind? Do you know the weight with your accessories added? I know Dave says 1,200 lbs but I think that is without the assessors. Still debating on the electric brakes.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Kevin, March will be here before you know it! We bought a regular queen mattress. It just barely fit. It was about $200 and we put a topper on it for more comfort. Dave mentioned that the foam mattresses collect moisture so we opted for the spring mattress. I can see how the fold-ups would be nice too. We haven't checked the weight of the trailer yet with everything loaded up. Our truck can tow up to 5,000 pounds so we haven't been too worried about it, but as soon as we check the weight, we will let you know what it is. Thanks very much for watching our videos. Have a great day! 🙂

[@michaellong9526]

Nice to see other teardroppers. I have a CampInn, use it up in Manitoba Canada so used to cold camping . Just FYI if using a buddy heater have a carbon monoxide sensor and be aware propane based heaters give off a lot of moisture in the air if you are concerned on condensation.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Michael, Those CampInn's are so nice! How do you like yours? Thanks for the good safety tips about using the Buddy heater. It's definitely important to be careful when using it. We do have a carbon monoxide detector and use the Buddy heater for a limited time with windows open. Thank you again and happy camping!

[@aoronbarlow6524]

Hi @Highway to Hoeflands Couple of questions that I have and maybe someother potential teardroppers have is the portable toilet. I think you have not mentioned anywhere in this video. I think its the one of the main concern for potential teardroppers like me. Can you make a video on this or share some tips in your future videos ? Secondly I can't get it why you have so many converters that you have to carry around ? Cheers, Please keep posting your videos :)

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Aoron, that is a great video idea. Thanks for your suggestion. We will consider making a video about the toilet situation soon. The lack of the toilet in the trailer is the biggest downside to owning a teardrop. The way we manage it is to bring a portable toilet and a small tent to set it in for privacy. We bought a porta potty at REI and a shower tent at Amazon. It's not the greatest, but not that bad either. Regarding the converters, we may have gone overboard with those, haha! You never know when they might be needed. 😀 Hope that helps and thanks again for the video idea!

[@Jay-hr3rh]

The little plastic table tend to be very expensive on Amazon and Walmart. My fiancée found them at ocean state job lot for $12.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

That's a great find. Thanks for sharing!

[@jonimurray1184]

What do you do with your gray water you collected in your bucket?

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Joni, there is usually a grey water/kitchen water dump at the campgrounds we stay at. We walk the bucket over to those. If not, just do your best and try to use eco-friendly soaps, etc.👍

[@jonimurray1184]

@@HighwaytoHoeftland Thank you.

[@hadguy1]

Fire starter, wrap candle end in small bit wax paper. Fire kiss it’s called.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Thanks, Tim! Good tip.

[@Royjohnston-p1p]

You seem to be taking alot of electrical things with you. A lot of things that you,re taking I would leave behind. On the other hand it,s all down to personal choice, over the yrs I,ve managed to whittle down quite a lot of things I consider surplus + un-needed. Roy,Haarlem, Holland.

[@gabriels32]

what about portable toilet

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Gabriel, yes, good point. We forgot to include that. We have a basic Lugaloo that we bought at Lowes. We might make a round two video of items we bring camping. Thanks for your comment. 🤗