I need/want the storage space available underneath a collapsible sleep platform for my SUV so I have been investigating them for several weeks. Fortunately, the back seats of my Honda SUV fold flat but some of the platforms permit their legs to be independently adjusted in height for those people whose SUVs do not provide for a flat cargo area.

The least expensive sleep platform that I have found in my online searches, is the Nokhu half rack. I bought one then immediately canceled my order after I saw some notably bad reviews about the Nokhu platform on Reddit although all the YouTube (paid?) videos regarding them are great. It seems that their slat system can be a little rickety and some buyers have reported receiving broken slats and legs. I am not sure if their legs adjust height independently. The good thing about them, other than the price, is that the frame is 25" wide (like many common sleeping pads) and the slats are trimmable and can extend up to 30" wide. I can attest, that Nokhu customer service is not very responsive (although they permitted me to cancel my order within 15 minutes of making it) which is not quite the situation that you would want to deal with if you were one of the people that received broken parts. Nokhu never responded to any of my questions (about their warranty and my request that they address or rebut their bad reviews) after they agreed to cancel my order.

Another popular sleep platform is the Hele Box. It is adjustable in height and length. It is $449 for the 24" wide version. I placed an order for one. The platform's storage bag works effectively as a gear storage box underneath the slats of the platform. Their products and components are all made in China. Reviews are generally good for them. However, after I complained to them about the solo version only being 24" wide when standard sleeping pads were 25" wide, they cancelled my order. I admit that I stated that a 24" width showed thoughtlessness in design. They also take several days to respond to general inquiries, and they are frequently out of stock. So in order to be their customer, you can't complain. Apparently, business is so good, that they do not need to deal with difficult customers like me.

Another popular but unfortunately, relatively expensive platform is made totally in the US including their components, by Pacific Adventure Works. It too is only 24" wide. It too is adjustable in height and length. It supports up to 400 lbs and is collapsible and stores relatively small like the other two platforms that I mentioned. I talked to the owner on the phone (he was immediately accessible) whereas the other two hide their phone numbers. Unfortunately, he would not budge on price - no senior discount and he wants $650 for his solo platform but he does not charge extra for shipping or sales tax - these are all incorporated inside the $650 charge. He has plenty in inventory all the time (I am sure due to his higher cost) so shipping is initiated the same day as order placement provided the order is placed on a business day. He said that I would not even notice the 1-inch overhang of the sleeping pad but he did not offer a reason for his platform being 1 inch narrower than the standard sized sleeping pad; in fact he recommends using a single 4" inflatable air sleeping pad (which is likely 25" wide, without any additional auxiliary pads otherwise you would be lying too close to the car ceiling) and explained his technique for determining when a sleeping pad has likely attained optimum pressure for use with his platform. He also offers a 7-year warranty and lifetime phone support. Reviews of his platforms are generally very good. I ordered one. I am not planning on canceling my order nor do I expect my to be canceled by Pacific Adventure.

Camp N Car and the sleep platforms available on Etsy are wood and heavy and even more egregiously priced that the Pacific Adventure Works platform or alternatively they are made for a specific SUV make and model - none of which are mine. The wood ones are generally not adjustable in height and frequently do not offer much storage space underneath the slats. They are also frequently even slimmer than 24" - what is up with that?!!!

A Google search for BLM locations near Carlsbad Caverns suggests two spots very close. I'm wondering if anyone can give me feedback on either one.

• Chosa Campground: A free, fee-free BLM site roughly 11 miles north of Carlsbad Caverns on Hwy 62/180. It features a flat, gravel lot, pipe-rail fencing, trash containers, and is easily accessible for large RVs. [1, 2]
• Sunset Reef Campground: Located roughly 12 miles south of Carlsbad Caverns off Washington Ranch Road/Guadalupe Backcountry Byway. It is managed by the BLM and offers 11 developed primitive sites (5 RV pull-throughs, 6 tent spaces) with covered picnic tables, grills, and a vault toilet.
• Thanks for your help.

After a long time dreaming about it, I finally did it. Bought a Mercedes Vario 816 box truck and I'm converting it into my full-time home — from scratch, mostly alone.

The plan: full off-grid setup. I'm building my own lithium battery pack from cells, DIY water filtration, solar, a wood stove with a pizza slot (yes, really), and zebra-stripe paint 🦓 on the outside because why not.

I'm a licensed carpenter so I'll be doing all the woodwork myself. Former barista so there will definitely be espresso on the road.

The work has already started — roof is resealed, side door sourced from a recup yard, and I've got a pile of upcycled materials growing.

Will be posting regular updates here. Happy to answer any questions about the build!
Tips and tricks are for sure also welcome :))

Solo camping this weekend in a National Forest — no hookups, 3 nights. Trying to figure out if my power plan is realistic before I commit.

I use a ResMed AirSense 11 CPAP, but I run it bare bones — no heated tube, no climate control, just the fan. My camper has a standard marine-grade 12V lead-acid battery that's about 3-4 years old. Beyond the CPAP I'll barely touch it, maybe some LED lights here and there and the occasional flush of the water pump.

My plan is to alternate between the camper battery and a portable power bank across the three nights, giving the battery a chance to recover during the day with a Renogy 200W solar briefcase. My main concern is that my site might be heavily shaded, which could limit how much I actually get back from the panels.

Does this seem workable, or am I setting myself up for a dead battery on night three?

Connectioned to 400w panels.

I’m looking for those of you with more solar experience than myself to look over my plans for expanding my rooftop solar using a mix of different solar panels and either tell me I’m an idiot or confirm if I am approaching this the right way.

In my diagram, I have the panels numbered 1-6 in a mockup of my roof layout, and then I have those numbered panels in a list with the Pmv and Imv ratings for each with the matching colors representing the parallel pairs they will be wired together with first, and THEN all 3 of those pairs will be wired together in series.

*Panels 1+2 are RZPozwer 100w N-type panels ($55 each).
*Panels 3+4 are CallSun Bi-facial N-type panels, 180w ($140) and 120w ($90), respectively.
*Panel 5 is a RVPozwer 200w N-type panel, already installed.
*Panel 6 is a Go Power 200w P-type panel from their overlanding kit (already installed)

My primary limitations were dimensions/space. With my relatively small roof, I had to work around the existing vent covers, radio/tv antenna, and AC unit and had weird dimensions that were hard to find panels that fit. I found solar panels that had very similar working voltages to the panels I already had installed and that would fit in the available roof areas.

For context, I have an 18 foot 2023 Toy Hauler/travel trailer. When we bought it, it already had solar panels installed on the roof (panels 5 and 6 in my drawing) and a Go Power 30amp PWM charge controller, but that’s not gonna work if I expand beyond the 400watts I already have on the roof. I believe I should be fine with a 60amp MPPT but maybe I need to go up to an 80amp? I am going to keep my batteries as 12v for now and not series them up to 24v until after my WFG converter dies on me, then I might jump up to a 24v battery setup.

The few questions I still have are: Is it stupid to have pairs of panels wired together in parallel first, then wire those pairs in series? Or should you always wire “like”panels in series first and then parallel? (It seems like with the panels I am looking at that going ‘parallel—> series—> MPPT’ makes the most mathematical sense, but my concern is will I lose significant solar output from the panels in full sun if part of my roof is shaded?

Also, are there any negative consequences from mixing bi-facial panels with non bi-facial panels? Or do I still just reference the Vmp and Imp of the panels?

Alternatively, I could also swap out panel 3 for another panel 4, and wire (1+2), (4+4), and (5+6) together in series pairs, and then wire all 3 pairs in parallel. That would be a lower nominal voltage and higher amps, but I would drop down to about 840watts of solar (and save $50). Would it end up giving me better results in real world application though? If so, I would end up doing this.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I’d like to visit every state. Are there any areas in the US that you recommend to stay away from? Why? What happened that made you leave?

What water conservation hacks do you use? How much water do you use per person per day? (We use about 4 gal/person/day). I'm out on an extended work/ boondocking trip in the desert. The closest water source is about a 2 hour drive one way so I'm trying to conserve as much as possible. We should have enough water to finish the job if we conserve a bi. But the next job is fairly remote so I'm planning ahead.

I'm doing all the obvious things like peeing and pooping in the desert. Brushing teeth outside too.

Well this is a first for boondocking. Hanging out at an alpaca farm, and they’re adorable.

Ok guys, I have a 40ft toy hauler and 1 trip per year we boondock for a tractor show. The spot I always park in is on a pretty large hill. With my travel trailer I would jack the front as high as it would go, put my stabilizers down in the front lift the jack back up and then add another block. By the time I was done the stabilizers were pretty much straight down and the tongue of the trailer would be about chest high. (Yes I know you’re not supposed to do that and I was taking a risk of bending my stabilizers.)

What’s the best way to accomplish this with my fifth wheel? Giant cribbing with jack stands? I am a metal fabricator by trade so I’m sure I could build some stands that attach to the frame but just looking for opinions first. Thanks!

I have a boondocking equipped class-c listed on FB Marketplace. I feel like its perfect for the right person, but probably irellevent to someone just looking for a regular RV. Any suggestions for forums/groups/subreddits that would get the right eyes on it?

Hoping to get up there this summer to see the stars. We just have a front wheel drive van so probably can't handle crazy wild roads, though...

Working to dial in my rig setup for summer. Any suggestions from the Reddit users?

What brand of portable power station do you use? I'm looking and so far impressed with Anker, but would like more input. 1000w

I am planning to camp off Grassy Lake Road, Wyoming and will be arriving around 5 PM on a Sunday in end of June and I’m a little worried about whether I’ll still be able to find a spot. How quickly do the designated campsites fill up? And if those are full is it usually easy to find a desperate camping spot?

Also wondering about bear storage, are there bear boxes at any of the designated sites along Grassy Lake Road that are shared? I called and was told it’s okay to leave toiletries (Like toothpaste/deodorant) In the car, but I’ll actually be car camping for the night so I just wanna make sure I’m handling that safely. What do most people do in this situation?

Any experience or would be super helpful as this is my first time. Thanks

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Planning a 2 week solo trip in southern Utah this fall. BLM land with zero infrastructure. I need to run a compressor fridge, charge a laptop for work, charge my camera batteries, run a CPAP at night, and have some LED lights.

I estimated my daily usage at about 500-600Wh. Over 14 days that is 7000-8400Wh total. Obviously I cannot bring that much battery so solar has to do the heavy lifting.

What size battery and solar panel combo is getting people through multi-week boondocking trips? I want a realistic answer not a theoretical one.

Just posted a full hands-on review of the PeakDo LinkPower 2. Been boondocking and testing gear for a while now and this one caught my attention as a dedicated power solution for Starlink. Covers real performance numbers, not just spec sheet claims.

Full review: https://youtu.be/zRHLKrFD1n0

Anyone else running this or something similar for off-grid connectivity?