Gladiator Expedition Rigs

[Mules]

What made you choose the XL burner vs the portable height adjustable one?

More Power! This one also has removable legs that adjust to different height. ?

I have a Wok for my gas kitchen stove, but I’ve never been able to get it hot enough like Chinese Restaurants. This burner definitely has the power to seer any steak, deep fry anything, and make great stir fry. It’s quite a bit bigger than a Skottle, but I’ll use it a lot at home also.

I’ll still get a small camping stove for when I don’t want to bring the big boy.

Sponsored

 

[Mules]

Well I finally cleared my trail enough to get the Jeep to the camp site, but it wasn't level enough to camp. Good thing I've got a small backhoe to level it out. I've cut about 2 miles of trails with that little guy.

 

[Blade1668]

Thanks for the responses and I love the subject of camp cooking. Below are some options. Is anyone trying induction or microwaves? Love to see pictures of your camp kitchens.

Not a microwave or anything super fancy.
I was using one of my Jet-Boil gas mix a week back it was about 35-40° F outside there and since the gas was low it wouldn't burn hot enough to heat water for coffee. I had to swap over to propane to fix coffee. Now the advantage of the dual fuel Coleman is it will run on unleaded gasoline (actually the regular ones will too) ....
I do have a truckers 12v lunchbox cooker I've used it to fix chicken and rice plus some other things too a while driving. Problem with it is you need to keep a eye on it or you will burn the food on drives 2 hours.

 

[Mules]

Not a microwave or anything super fancy.
I was using one of my Jet-Boil gas mix a week back it was about 35-40° F outside there and since the gas was low it wouldn't burn hot enough to heat water for coffee. I had to swap over to propane to fix coffee. Now the advantage of the dual fuel Coleman is it will run on unleaded gasoline (actually the regular ones will too) ....
I do have a truckers 12v lunchbox cooker I've used it to fix chicken and rice plus some other things too a while driving. Problem with it is you need to keep a eye on it or you will burn the food on drives 2 hours.

Thanks for the post! I love the old school Colemans and didn't know they are available to run on unleaded gas. Pretty cool.

 

[mx5red]

I would be deathly afraid of using gasoline in a stove.

 

[Rusty PW]

I would be deathly afraid of using gasoline in a stove.

They been doing that for years. I remember my dad using gasoline in the stove in the early 60's. And that was an old stove then.

 

[Mules]

So I've spent a couple nights in my rig camping recently and it's getting pretty cold at night. I'm looking for a simple, very small heater. I like the electric blanket option, but don't want to spend the money yet on a power supply (Jackery) big enough to power it.

Since my rig is open to the cab, I can also run the truck heater, but would prefer not running the truck at night.

I would also like a tiny cooking stove, in the camper. Assuming I get a CO detector, and crack the window at night for ventilation, what do you folks think about the following dual purpose heater/stove options?



Any other small options?

 

[fourfa]

The one time I tried one of those, a Coleman heater of some sort, the CO alarm went off immediately. That was the end of the experiment for me.

Question re stoves - ”white gas” is just gasoline without all the additives that make gasoline engines happy. Is the objection to these additives? Or the volatility / toxicity of white gas? Just curious. I’ve been using a Coleman white gas stove as my primary camp stove forever. I don’t feed it with automotive gasoline, as it’s easy enough to keep a small can of white gas around, and it lasts forever. I’ve read that pump gas will leave more deposits and gunk up the valves in the stove, but maybe that’s just old tales.

 

[Mules]

The one time I tried one of those, a Coleman heater of some sort, the CO alarm went off immediately. That was the end of the experiment for me.

Question re stoves - ”white gas” is just gasoline without all the additives that make gasoline engines happy. Is the objection to these additives? Or the volatility / toxicity of white gas? Just curious. I’ve been using a Coleman white gas stove as my primary camp stove forever. I don’t feed it with automotive gasoline, as it’s easy enough to keep a small can of white gas around, and it lasts forever. I’ve read that pump gas will leave more deposits and gunk up the valves in the stove, but maybe that’s just old tales.

Thanks for the response. You saved me from doing the same experiment


Below is a description of White Gas I found:

Is White Gas The Same as Gasoline?
No white gas is not the same as gasoline. White gas aka Naptha is way more pure than gasoline. White gas burns way cleaner and burns at a lower temperature. So your stove will be easier to start , cleaner, and run way better than if you used gasoline.

Gasoline will also damage the internal components of your stove. The additives used to make cars run smoothly will eat away at your stoves pump and fuel line. It will work in a pinch if you buy low-grade gasoline with fewer additives.

To add more complexity to the equation additives and mixtures change regularly depending on the region and time of year. Gas might be fine to use in Texas, but terrible in Colorado during the winter. It’s really hard to say what you’re putting in the stove.

Can You Use Gasoline Instead of Coleman Fuel?
I wouldn’t recommend using gasoline in your camping stove. With that being said I have used it dozens of times over the years without problems. Kerosene is way better to use if you can find it.

If you go on enough camping trips you will eventually forget to pack your fuel or run out early. Don’t run around searching for white gas when you can get gasoline locally.

 

[BearFootSam]

All right I need some help again on the subject of an overlanding toilet. Look, I'm a dude that is pretty comfortable carrying a roll of TP and sitting on a downed tree in the woods. For some reason, this isn't acceptable to my wife and daughter.

My simple solution is a Lug a Loo with biodegradable potty bags. It's mostly my property I camp on, so I just bury the bio bags. I'm curious about Porta potties, but do I really want to dump all that sewage in a toilet??

Let me know what you use!! This should be a fun subject.

From when I was a kid to now as a parent, I have embarked on a long annual vacation almost every year. In 2020 as my wife and I evaluated the options in the context of covid we decided on a long road trip from MD to the Flathead NF in NW MT. Our plan was to avoid motels/hotels and restaurants to the maximum extent possible, so we outfitted our Forester for overlanding. The normal camping gear was easy enough and I mounted a RTT to provide shelter given the climates we would traverse. The difficulty was the loo...

Cassette toilets were overly expensive or too large to fit reasonably in the Forester with two adults, a toddler and three weeks of food and gear. I was also watching weight since the RTT alone was 168lbs and with all our kit plus water we were at close to max weight. I ended up going with the luggable loo and a few packs of liners as a low cost, light weight option to see how she goes.

Pros:
- Cheap
- Lightweight
- Comfortable for what it is
- Easy to dispose of the liners in any common trash receptacle.
- Relatively sanitary

Cons:
- Liners do cost a bit depending upon your stomach (see next point)
- While the liners have an absorbent material that gellifies your waste, they do not mitigate odors. The liners are a few bucks a piece so you don't or can't dispose of them after every use. This results in the unit getting quite malodorous in a very short period of time. Brave is the user who cracks the lid on day three....
- To mitigate the above, we stored the loo in a 20-gallon trash bag to act as a vapor barrier. Still, given the forester does not have a bed, having a loo full of poo residing in your car becomes bracing despite the over bag.
- In the wilderness you cannot dispose of the liners correctly so you must accumulate them resulting in the above problem.
- It's bulky and awkward to pack as a cylinder. Once it has been used you don't usually want to utilize the empty volume for other sundries.

In the end, though we did make good use of the loo when traveling, in the backcountry we all preferred to use the earth instead. A solid Gerber folding shovel became our no.1-No.2 friend. The shovel as the added feature of being a handle to support yourself while squatting on a steep slope and doing double duty as last-ditch bear defense mid-movement.

My advice - if you are in a location where the luggable loo would be necessary the E-Tool - Pick | Gerber (gerbergear.com) is your best bet. As a bonus, in several years of hard use the e-tool has outlasted all of my army issue ones and has found dozens of other useful roles in and around the camp.

With all things camping whether overlanding or backpacking, the tendency is to fill every available nook with gear. You soon realize that you forget about half of it or have to find a reason to use it. Less very often is more. That was my theory with the Forester until I literally started breaking it (CV axles etc.) by using it far past the design limits. We made it over cinnamon pass in the darn thing which was impressive but wasteful in the end. Hence the Gladiator replaced it as the more suitable vehicle for our purposes.

 

[BearFootSam]

The one time I tried one of those, a Coleman heater of some sort, the CO alarm went off immediately. That was the end of the experiment for me.

Question re stoves - ”white gas” is just gasoline without all the additives that make gasoline engines happy. Is the objection to these additives? Or the volatility / toxicity of white gas? Just curious. I’ve been using a Coleman white gas stove as my primary camp stove forever. I don’t feed it with automotive gasoline, as it’s easy enough to keep a small can of white gas around, and it lasts forever. I’ve read that pump gas will leave more deposits and gunk up the valves in the stove, but maybe that’s just old tales.

In a sense they are the same but as Mules said, white gas is more refined and without the additives. I have an MSR dragonfly which can burn any liquid fuel and per the manual, auto-gas will create more deposits. That said, cleaning that stove is easy enough for it not to be a concern. Whenever possible I like to consolidate uses so if you have a rotopax of gasoline it makes sense to use that instead of carrying two flammables.

I have a dual fuel coleman lantern which can also use gasoline, but it is far less optimal than in a stove. I believe the additives cause issues with the mantle and degrade them. So long as a stove is designed for gas I'd not think twice about using it. It does smell more offensive and will leave a residual odor whereas white gas evaporates and then is undetectable.

 

[Mules]

Every time I start investigating heating options, the diesel heaters keep popping up. My problem is that I want my interior furniture and camper to be easily taken in and out, or on/off, so I can have my truck back. I don't want to do a permanent install of the diesel heater, or drill holes in my bed for the exhaust.

I have stated to see some "All in one" cheap diesel heaters" which fit my strategy. I could throw one in the truck, and let them run outside, with the heat hose in the window, or leave it inside, if I can figure out how to route the exhaust out.

What are your thoughts on using a cheap Diesel Heater?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B42CVN2W/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_190?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pd_rd_plhdr=t

 

[BearFootSam]

Every time I start investigating heating options, the diesel heaters keep popping up. My problem is that I want my interior furniture and camper to be easily taken in and out, or on/off, so I can have my truck back. I don't want to do a permanent install of the diesel heater, or drill holes in my bed for the exhaust.

I have stated to see some "All in one" cheap diesel heaters" which fit my strategy. I could throw one in the truck, and let them run outside, with the heat hose in the window, or leave it inside, if I can figure out how to route the exhaust out.

What are your thoughts on using a cheap Diesel Heater?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B42CVN2W/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_190?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pd_rd_plhdr=t

Looks like a neat system but the price is surprising. If it works, it works, the outlay minimizes the risk. In Europe wabasto heaters are not uncommon in diesel vehicles that live in cold climates due to their high thermal efficiency reducing cabin heat generation. I’ve driven a 15pax sprinter with one and it made a world of difference keeping the large cabin warm at temps below 30*F. I think they are almost required in the far north like Finland where the temperatures stay below 0* for months.

For more cost you can get an integrated unit that permanently mounts and runs on gasoline so you aren’t relying on carrying two fuels.https://www.heatso.com/webasto-evo-40-air-top-12v-petrol-universal-heater-kit/
That same vendor also has some cheaper versions and you might be able to find a take-off for sale used.

Edited to say, in Afghanistan our MRAPs often had auxiliary diesel heaters. The 2-3” steel armor made them massive heat sinks and sitting in one would suck the heat from your bones when it was below zero. My knees ache just thinking about it. I recall the unit in the MAXXPRO being particularly loud but very effective. Here is a picture of one:https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2136/9617/products/hunter_heater_720x.png?v=1571309744

 

[Jeepasaurus_Rex]

Every time I start investigating heating options, the diesel heaters keep popping up. My problem is that I want my interior furniture and camper to be easily taken in and out, or on/off, so I can have my truck back. I don't want to do a permanent install of the diesel heater, or drill holes in my bed for the exhaust.

I have stated to see some "All in one" cheap diesel heaters" which fit my strategy. I could throw one in the truck, and let them run outside, with the heat hose in the window, or leave it inside, if I can figure out how to route the exhaust out.

What are your thoughts on using a cheap Diesel Heater?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B42CVN2W/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_190?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pd_rd_plhdr=t

What about a "gullwing style" approach on the side or rear of the topper. Install it on some magnetic mounts, and have closeable hole(s) cut for the inlet/outlet?

 

[-miko-]

Every time I start investigating heating options, the diesel heaters keep popping up. My problem is that I want my interior furniture and camper to be easily taken in and out, or on/off, so I can have my truck back. I don't want to do a permanent install of the diesel heater, or drill holes in my bed for the exhaust.

I have stated to see some "All in one" cheap diesel heaters" which fit my strategy. I could throw one in the truck, and let them run outside, with the heat hose in the window, or leave it inside, if I can figure out how to route the exhaust out.

What are your thoughts on using a cheap Diesel Heater?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B42CVN2W/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_190?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pd_rd_plhdr=t

They make a lot of sense. It seems the biggest challenge of the propane heater is managing all the moisture (assuming it's burning cleanly). With some vents/ducts you can have the diesel heater running outside the truck so no issues with moisture or exhaust gasses.

Here's a setup that would work pretty well - though you could run it into your rear window since your access is via the tailgate.

Sponsored