Teardrop Camping in July: Highs & Lows

[@michaelhoeft9638]

Fun Weekend!

[@mikecrawford7352]

After having both a teardrop and tent trailer. Tent trailers heat up a lot more. The key to a teardrop is to close it up early when its still cool try not to get in it if don’t have to. Ventilation is a must in the heat at night.

[@CampingTherapy]

I have one of those small Clams also, but I rarely take it. I need to start taking it with me more. It also makes a great storage place for chairs, bikes and stuff when it rains.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi, that is a great idea about using it as a storage place to keep everything dry and out of the way. We don't always take our Clam tent with us either. 👍🤗

[@thecreativepivot]

We bought a yeti cooler with our 20% off coupon at the last REI sale. Testing it out next week for a camping trip up to the Olympics.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

We are curious about the Yeti cooler as well. Seems like a simple solution. Could you let us know how you like it?

[@Butcher7484]

Hello, we upgraded to the Ausranvik 37qt 12v/110 fridge, off of Amazon, from a cooler. A close second to the Propex2000 heater it is the best teardrop upgrade. After spending 9$ a bag of ice in the Tetons it has easily paid for itself. Bonus no more wet food or bloody water in the cooler. We Use a 100w solar suitcase and have no issues with power.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Mike, that is a very helpful tip, thank you! We ended up buying an RTIC cooler for the interim, but we're thinking your fridge set-up would be most ideal. We hope to get a fridge like yours, eventually. We agree that the ice is high maintenance and the cost adds up too. Thanks again! 👍

[@kevinhannah8636]

We use a fridge called F40C4TMP 24 quart size ( on Amazon). We have had it for the past year and no problems. You can use it as a fridge or freezer. We use it mostly as a fridge. This weekend we will be camping at Cape Lookout near Tillimook for 3 days and will use it as a freezer and take a cooler with us as well. We have a Bluetti 700 watt solar generator and have a 100 watt solar panel for it. We also bought a CLAM Quick-set Venture screen room, like yours but a little bigger and bought the panels as well. We will use this as you do but also as a change room.This will be only our third camping trip in our Bend Teardrop as I procrastinate in booking camping sites in western Oregon. Love you videos.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Thanks for providing the details of your set-up. We are getting lots of great ideas! How are you liking your Bend Teardrop so far?

[@austinwhipple1136]

I got tired of soggy, wet food in my ice chest. Especially after long trips. So I got a camp fridge and run it off a jackery if I have no power. And charge it with a solar panel. I actually have two jackerys, use when and charge the other when not in use. A bigger jackery would eliminate that but I couldn’t afford a big one. They also run my lights and tv for movie night and various electronics. Love the videos! Keep them coming!

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Thank you, Austin! What kind of camp fridge do you have? The jackery is also on our wish list.

[@austinwhipple1136]

It’s a Astro AI. Got it on Amazon. Went for the biggest, cheapest one I could find. Figured I’d it was a bust I could always get a more expensive name brand one. So far I’ve had it over a year. Camp at least once a year and the longest trip was 9 nights. From desert to mountains it’s always worked great. I plan on getting a bigger Jackery. Maybe even the 2000 at some point.

[@austinwhipple1136]

Camp at least once a month, not once a year.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

@@austinwhipple1136 Camping once a month is definitely more fun! 😃👍

[@AmyJo5578]

Those plastic rugs are amazing. We have one for the side door and by the galley. If I had one of those Clam things, I would definitely get one.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi Amy Jo, another rug will definitely come in handy for the Clam tent. We want to get one for next time. The plastic rug is a good suggestion, thanks! We hope you're having a good summer so far! 🤗👍

[@billleland957]

Yay you are back! I made the switch to a 12vdc cooler this year. It is a BougeRV 30 quart. It is very efficient. Has plenty of room for a weekend trip. For a longer trip I keep a 20 quart RTIC Cooler for drinks only. And on the longer trip (out of precaution for my trailer AGM Battery - we spent a week off grid) I ran the 12 VDC refrigerator off my Jackery 500 & recaptured power with the Jackery solar panels.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Those are excellent solutions, thank you! We will look into your set-up. We also like the idea of just having a drink cooler to create more space, but then you don't necessarily have to worry about keeping the ice cold at all times for the food. Thanks again!

[@ericmudge8375]

Check out the BougeRV 12V Car Fridge. Here is a link to the 23 QT. They also make a 30 QT that is still reasonably priced. I have seen nothing but great reviews on these.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Great! We will look into it. Thanks very much for your suggestion, Eric. 👍

[@RhinoVenturesOutdoors]

Looks like. a wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing. Incredible how well the fan/windows can cool down the camper.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Thank you! Agreed, we would never want to be without that fantastic fan in a camper. We hope you're doing well and having a great summer so far. 🤗

[@davidf9630]

Hey guys! Nice video , in regards to the ice situation. We freeze 12oz water bottles and line the bottom or sides of our ice chest. We’ve kept things cold for 3 days and still have 1/2 frozen bottles when we return home. It’s less messy and you have ice cold water when you need it. And for your clam tent, I would get a piece of outdoor (fake) grass carpet. We picked up a piece 6x8 at our home center for outside of our teardrop… give it a try and let me know what you think. Cheers and happy camping

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi David, that is very good advice. Thanks very much. Such great tips! 🙌

[@adambraly2481]

Was just thinking yesterday "it must be about time for their next video!" -- great timing :) Thanks!

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Thanks for watching! 🤗

[@Nwtripfinder]

Did I hear y'all right that you got the additional 12V battery to charge off solar? Do you find you need two of them? Also I'm wondering how the 12V ICECO cooler refridgerator would do with that setup. This is the cooler we're looking at.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

Hi, yes, we purchased two batteries for our teardrop. It seems worth it to us because we're happy to be fully charged when we're camping off-grid. We are also curious how the batteries would handle the refrigerator. Many of our subscribers are saying that they supplement the batteries with a jackery and solar. We will need to research the options a bit more and get back you. We've never used a 12v cooler.

[@jlscielo]

Oh I definitely appreciate having my clam venture it’s the medium size one and it’s perfect as a single female tent camping to place my aluminum kitchen table with the stove and a little plastic side table next to my chair I also have a padded bench I bought from REI and the dogs have their large cot laid out in it and I use a waterproof beach blanket on the ground and then I shake off the dirt when I’m packing up. I also keep a small mini broom brush and dust pan that goes in a set together to keep the dust off the beach blanket. To keep the ice in the chest I freeze the 16. 9 ounce water bottles in the freezer before I go and use those instead of bags of ice you buy at the grocery store in the cooler. Amanda outside uses 1 Gal bottles in the cooler she freezes. But those are too big for me once I pull food out it’s hard to put it back in.

[@HighwaytoHoeftland]

We love the idea of having some type of waterproof blanket/mat that we can easily brush off. We'll have to try the water bottle idea to see if that will work for us. We also watch Amanda Outside's channel and enjoy it. Thanks for your good suggestions! 🤗