Some Gear I've Packed: It's All About the Space
The time is fast approaching when I'll slip down the cover, dust off whatever needs dusting, polish up the chrome and aluminum, and open up the Road Toad for a breath of fresh air.
Mid March will herald the traveling season with a teardrop gathering at Black Rock Canyon Campground in Joshua Tree National Park. There are 8+ teardroppers so far participating, this being the first time the Road Toad will be attending such an event. For those who are interested, the next few posts will detail what some of the Road Toad has been outfitted with up to this point.
Cost of accoutrements has approached the purchase price of the Road Toad itself it seems. As with a house, one has to fill it with furniture, appliances, kitchenware, bathroom essentials, and a quantity of other trailer and camping related goodies.
Mid March will herald the traveling season with a teardrop gathering at Black Rock Canyon Campground in Joshua Tree National Park. There are 8+ teardroppers so far participating, this being the first time the Road Toad will be attending such an event. For those who are interested, the next few posts will detail what some of the Road Toad has been outfitted with up to this point.
Cost of accoutrements has approached the purchase price of the Road Toad itself it seems. As with a house, one has to fill it with furniture, appliances, kitchenware, bathroom essentials, and a quantity of other trailer and camping related goodies.
Space is naturally at a premium when one tows a small trailer like a teardrop. Fortunately, we have online access to sharp, designing minds, plus there is Google and Amazon to peruse. With these three elements (and some wonderful ideas gleaned from the Little Guy Forum) I was able to maximize precious galley space via folding and nesting utensils, coupled with many hours of organizing, "deorganizing", and reorganizing the galley over and over again, eventually gaining maximum benefit of storage space and satisfying my OCD at the same time. At least so far...
There are several things I've learned about configuring and outfitting a teardrop:
- Rule #1: You'll never have enough room.
- Rule #2: You want to purchase "Just one more thing." for your tear (pronounced"teer": a contraction for teardrop).
- Rule #3: Now you're going to have to find room for that one more thing.
This is a collapsible coffee drip made of food grade silicone. It uses a Melita No. 4 paper filter, making about one to two cups of coffee. Yummy! I love drip. A French press is cool too, but there isn't enough room in the tear for one, at least for the moment.
 |
 |
To compliment a collapsible coffee drip, one must have a collapsible tea kettle, also made of silicone. It can be plopped on top of a propane stove to boil water in. Can't use it over a campfire though, or the sucker'll burn up. Comes in several other vibrant neon colors besides lime green.
 |
 |
And what would compliment a neon green collapsible tea kettle? None other than a neon green collapsible colander. This one is the perfect size for rinsing berries and enough vegetables, etc. for 1 - 2 people.
 |
This is a mug that a dear friend of mine gave me, expressly for camping with the Road Toad. Been looking high and low online for one by the same artist, but apparently, he's taken a sabbatical creating this particular series. How fortunate my friend had this one to offer. (Thanx Tommy!)
 |
| -Andrew Kliss |
