Stuff you bought and wish you hadn't

[Kai in Seattle]

So what "job" do you do?


Was this thread about camping tasks or about things we've bought and regretted?



__________________Paul and I split the jobs, each one doing what we do better or best...I decide when the girls need to go out at night and Paul takes them out. I do the trip planning and Paul does the trailer hook-up, levelling, and driving. I make grocery and meal lists and he does the cooking.

[Oliver_Elite2]

My bad! I wasn't paying attention... what can I say?
May I please claim senility or attention divided watching the British Open on TV?

[CindyL]

My problem has not so much been being sorry I bought something (except for the picnic table and Eurovan awning), but buying multiples of things. If something I bought ended up on Kevin's garage, typically in the back of my '68 VW pickup, it was lost forever! So, we would get another one.

Happily, the Silver Cloud gives me the option of keeping stuff in the camper all the time.

And, since we are getting the house ready to put on the market, and since I will no longer be able to drive a stickshift with my disability, the garage was partially cleaned, a garage sale was held, and the pickup was sold. That being said, a few years ago, I bought a plastic dresser to hold my clothes in while camping in the VT, so I could take them out of the van and keep them closer at hand in the screenhouse. I have yet to find that item. That will be the second round of emptying the garage, I guess. With the Silver Cloud, it will go with the next garage sale.


CindyL

[Kai in Seattle]

Bought and regretted:


We found such a good deal on Z-shades at Kmart (we'd seen them in action at a Meet), that we went ahead and bought two 8' ones and a 10'. That's THREE pop-up canopies; none of them white, which was my real choice, and no screens.


We haven't used all 3 at once but we used two. Garage sale & MaryHill Meet 2017.


They are both light and fairly sturdy...we've had some good breezes that only made them flap; water-filled milk jugs hold them well, but look cheap.


Anyway, three was a bit much. That said, we won't soon have to do without, with our pair and a spare.


You know how to tell when you're getting OLD?
You don't run out of toilet paper...and you have spares of everything else, too.


Yup, we're getting OLD. We even have that spare pug.


BEST
Kai

[Kai in Seattle]

Oliver Elite2:
Senility or the British Open are both good excuses...let's go with the British Open?
as is the fact that both those threads are interesting and have overlapped somewhat here and there...not to mention the dog segues!


BESt
Kai

[Mike Magee]

Just don't acquire a spare spouse...

[Oliver_Elite2]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

Just don't acquire a spare spouse...

Yes, only have a parts department for things that need repair.

[Oliver_Elite2]

Kai love it!


We don't use TP.
We use the baby wipes, put in plastic gro bags, take to outside garbage then trot off everyday to the dumpster.
They say they are flushable but sure wouldn't count on it.
We need to save black water tank for wellll black water.
The non-emergency poo we go to the camp bathroom.
No use carrying spare TP and poo

Ah yes, growing old can sure be humbling.
I couldn't camp without my ole lady relief in the middle of the night.
Always have kidneys crushed sleeping no matter how fluffy and padded our bed is.

Spare dogs? No such thing. Carry as many that are comfortable you can.
Sure wish Mabe could go.
I am already having momma guilt leaving her again.
I hope a short campout can launch her into a great campin' baby.

This has been a wonderful thread people!
Friendly, funny, and very helpful.
Feels as tho we have already been campin' together.

Thank all who participated!
Keep em comin'!

[Oliver_Elite2]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

Oliver Elite2:
Senility or the British Open are both good excuses...let's go with the British Open?
as is the fact that both those threads are interesting and have overlapped somewhat here and there...not to mention the dog segues!

BESt
Kai

You are too kind. I had 2 of my starter threads mixed up.
Yah they are overlappin'
Yes I am growing senile and can't do 2 things at once anymore.
I used to be able to juggle but now keepin' 1 ball in the air is iffy.

We are so blessed being able to camp. I love how we can have a wonderful time seeing God's creations with very little things.

Again, thank all of you for your tips and fun!

[Oliver_Elite2]

Kai,

I really like having shelter. We have a screened in cheap Coleman anti-buggers room to get me out of a bugbite attack. Dern bugs love me!

Just enough room for our 0 lounger recliners. The screen is very lightweight but the 2 loungers heavy and bulky. Have lay down literally in the truck bed covered in a camp. Yall can see what ours is like by clicking the palm tree. For FL we will use "neat sheets" that we added grommets to for flooring. They are lightweight and repell water and roll up into a neat roll pack.

Soooo looking forward to a very long campout on the Panhandle soon! Going to the Florida Caverns (never been there) and our fav of all campground Topsail Hill around Destin.

We are so blessed in our aging years to camp. Thank you Jesus!

[Oliver_Elite2]

Cindy,

You too! Who knows where all of our stuff is? You ought to see our garage. Not a spare cranny left. Barely room for the small car and the big truck. Truck only has about 1/2 clearance to close the garage door.

Our other camper resides in our dining room and living room at home. Piled high and deeper with tubs, food non perishable, sleeping bags, etc and extra back cushions from the U shaped table we didn't need because we keep our back sleeping compartment in the bed configuration.

Blessings off to you Cindy!

[Oliver_Elite2]

We are donating the stuff we are ferreting out of the garage and our inside camper the dining and living room.
Our church has a rummage sale coming up in August.

We have hauled our good stuff meant for our temporary tent camping and our two used Coleman popups to them. We have already donated in prior sales.

So far stuff like the light weight recliner folder, old ice chests, new/old cots, a small propane gas grill (new), and our used 2 times tent, etc.

It's weird. No matter how much stuff we move out our garage and inside storage still looks like its still crammed.

The empty spots are filled the stuff that are crammed way back in our archives.

Can't seem to wrap our minds around getting rid of our sleeping bags.
You never know.

They are rolled up on our wooden shelved bookcase in the dining room.

Just a suggestion on what to do with accumulation and duplicates. The stuff we donated was just like practically new. Take care of your stuff and it lasts. The money goes for a good cause for sponsoring church activities and helping the community at large.

We are still here in ETN supporting the Great Smokey fire victims. Our KARM (Knoxville Area Rescue Mission) gives free items to the displaced people still need. Camping stuff is ideal to help them. All our leftover 1 day rummage goes to them.

Again, many thanks out to all of you!
All happy campers I can tell.

Camping is fun!

[Oliver_Elite2]

Don't pick at me please this is not my list of suggestions.

I got slam dunked on another thread I started from another article on Item purchases I didn't say they were applicable wise purchases. Many a big waste of money for the mega RV bus people who have more money than sense.

I find when we are traveling the two most important items are:
my b*tt memory foam tail bone cushion
(haven't tested this yet on a long day trip, short day trip it helped)

and

a cooler with picnic types of food. drinks, and ice
(accessible at road side rest via covered truck bed.)

Now that we have a longer than a tent camper
(our first time still shorter egg RV)
it sure is tricky pulling into fast food parking lots.

So we are only stopping to Pee or ??? hmmm you know ... praying not ... I hate even with layers of TP on the seat doing that... and gas.

We carry a first aid kit in our truck also and tools.

15 Must-Have Items For Your Next Car Camping Trip *says them*

Indexed: accessories, camping, car, car camping, gear

Best Car Camping Gear - 15 Best Accessories For Vehicle Camping#

• Which items on their list is stuff that is bulky and unnecessary?
  
• What would you add? Or not any at all.

[Kai in Seattle]

I was just testing to see if anybody here read the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". It is a great, fun to read, travel book - lots of interesting places out there! --Paul O


Of course I've read it, watched the TV series, too, and read the other 3 books in the "trilogy!" My favorite part of it all is the cover of the pocket guide: Don't Panic in friendly letters!


Somehow, although getting 42 may mean we didn't ask the right question, it also works on so many other levels--how many roads must a man walk down...what's 6 x 7...how many pugs for a perfect potluck pug party...how many chips before you're eaten too many...how many campgrounds in Oregon should one visit before trying a new state...How many miles from Seattle can a Meet still be called a Seattle-Area Gathering...????


BEST
Kai

[Kai in Seattle]

Just don't acquire a spare spouse... -- Mike Magee




Well, there are some days when I surely do wish polygamy was legal and I had more than one spouse...my to-do lists can be fairly daunting!

Paul does insist on knocking off the chores after lunch and sitting in Peanut reading his latest--right now he's reading a history of US Generals...since he actually met Omar Bradley, he's really into this book. But as far as I'm concerned, getting the flowerbeds weeded and mulched...
Ahhh, heck. I just sound mean.
Which I am.


We wouldn't have room in Peanut to take a spare spouse camping...so I reckon that's just one more of so many good reasons not to acquire one.
Though maybe the two would make room by leaving ME home! Hmmm.


O O
---- !!!!????




BEST
Kai
__________________

[Gerry]

Funny thing about buying things we do not need.... Being retired and more or less out of the building/plumbing trade for more then 5 years, I'll go into a big box store and see some tool that would have made my life so much easier 5, 10, 20, years ago and think I need it NOW....I then realize that I would use it once now and it would sit... Thank God for common wisdom I have gained in old age.

[Rzrbrn]

Gerry, yours is an interesting comment. I am in the same place, but without the level of control you have have. I still buy tools I only use a few times or not at all. But I have actually said NO, now and again...

I recently bought a barbed wire stretcher, (Amazon, RanchEx Standard Duty Wire Stretcher) when in federal land sometimes the road is closed with a barbed wire gate. This device makes it a lot easier to open that type of gate...Plus there is a possibility I may be able to use it at home...DRAT, I just bought the Brooklyn Bridge again....

[Oliver_Elite2]

Originally Posted by Gerry

Thank God for common wisdom I have gained in old age.

True words indeed. Thank God.

Common wisdom is not common if you don't listen to Wisdom.

As for our house my DH loves his tools. I can rightly say nothing ever stays broken very long indeed here. He was given and raised with the "knack" of an engineer. I am married to the REAL Dilbert. He is the first son of a manufacturing engineer.

For years and years I went to Sears for the Christmas Celebration specials for his gifts. We don't need less tools we need more room of a giant steel building to lodge our Oliver and all his tools

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Gerry

Funny thing about buying things we do not need.... Being retired and more or less out of the building/plumbing trade for more then 5 years, I'll go into a big box store and see some tool that would have made my life so much easier 5, 10, 20, years ago and think I need it NOW....I then realize that I would use it once now and it would sit... Thank God for common wisdom I have gained in old age.

+10 on that

[Oliver_Elite2]

The Knack

The Knack - Humor - ENGINEERING.com