Best Mods for Your Free Camping
We’ve come up with nine of the best mods for your camper, 4WD or Rooftop Tent that will make free camping awesome.
Your annual leave is approaching and escaping to a free bush camp is necessary. What do you need to make this the best yet?
How good is it when you discover an awesome free campsite, away from all the crowds and without a worry in the world? You don’t have to worry about running out of power or water, keeping clean and hygienic, eating poorly or sharing it with a cast of hundreds just because you found a great spot that is difficult to locate. Nope, we’ve come up with nine of the best mods for your camper, 4WD or Rooftop Tent that will make free camping awesome.
Battery Power
If you want to spend two weeks relaxing in a free campsite without the stress of worrying if your battery is going to cope, upgrade those heavy, wasteful AGMs, with lightweight, hard-wearing lithium batteries. This goes for your camper as well as your 4WD auxiliary batteries. I’m unsure if you realise that your AGM will struggle, especially as only 50 per cent of the power is available, while lithium offers a higher voltage delivery for longer with 95 per cent of useable power. Lithium batteries also recharge very quickly compared to an AGM.
A lithium battery may seem expensive, but it is a cheaper option in the long term
An AGM battery is heavy and you can only use 50% of its charge
DCDC Charging
Few campers come with a DCDC charger for charging your camper battery when driving as standard these days, they either have a VSR or nothing at all. Often the 50amp Anderson plug that connects to the camper battery is installed, so it is a simple job for an auto sparky of a DIYer to install a DCDC charger in the camper to better manage the charging of auxiliary batteries. Most DCDC chargers also contain MMPT solar management as well. A DCDC unit works well with smart alternators as well as being able to cater for a variety of battery types, including AGM and lithium batteries.
Installing a DCDC charger close to your auxiliary battery is a great mod to keep it charging correctly
Cover for Rain and Sun
I’d consider an awning to be an essential item when it comes to free camping, as it offers shade on a sunny day, cover when it rains and could even be used to collect rainwater for washing the dishes. Even better if you have one on your camper and one on your 4WD, as you can extend the amount of cover you get or move the cover to where you want it to be by relocating your 4WD. It seems the 270-degree awnings are all the rage these days, especially ones that are self-supporting. Not only do they provide maximum cover, but they are also quick and easy to set up and pack down.
An awning on your camper will provide shade and protection from the rain
Keeping Clean
An ensuite tent is a marriage saver, especially the ones that are hard mounted and fold out to make a good-sized privacy screen. They are definitely easier to set up and pack down than those pop-up types that takes an engineering degree to work out how to fold it back up.
Add a hot water service and you can enjoy nice hot showers for as long as there is water in supply. By a hot water service, I mean a metal bucket warmed on a fire, a solar warmed unit mounted on the roof of the 4WD or camper or a portable unit that runs on propane or LPG. Throw in a 12V pump and you have hot, flowing water.
A fold out ensuite with a solar heated water supply
A portable instantaneous hot water unit
Water
As explained in more depth later in this edition, installing water tanks or jerry cans to allow you to carry as much water as you need is crucial when it comes to free camping. So, here I just want to add a couple of mods that will help you collect water to keep water storages topped up.
The first mod is a water lift pump that allows you to draw from any watercourse and turn it into potable water. All you need is a decent 12V pump connected to a battery, a hose suitable for drinking water, a charcoal filter at the bilge end and a silver filter before it reaches your water storage. It can be hard mounted in your camper, or a portable solution, and we will be making one soon to show you how easy it is to do.
The second mod is using your awning to collect water when it rains. You can buy kits such as the Rain Saver Gutter or just make your own using a bucket with a hose connection fitted to its base, a length of drinking water hose and a filter before the water storage, allowing you to easily top up your tanks with fresh rainwater.
Real Power
If the thought of having to start using instant coffee while free camping off-grid is enough to make you go completely mad, there is a solution to allowing you to run your 240V coffee machine and milk frother by installing an inverter.
A pure-sine inverter is the best type to use for electronic items that need a constant charge and best replicates the power you use at home. A modified sine wave inverter is a cheaper option, however, the charge it outputs can fluctuate, which isn’t something your laptop or camera batteries like.
The best way to calculate the size of the inverter required is to look at the specifications of the devices you are thinking of running and add up the number of watts they draw. Once you’ve reached a total, it’s simple to find the right inverter. You will also need to see if your auxiliary battery can handle the inverter outputs because a 100Ah battery won’t last long with a 2000W inverter running an induction stove, hairdryer or electric kettle.
Get the right sized inverter to suit your needs
Cooking Up a Storm
Having the right cooking gear will allow you to cook like a Master Chef or Harry Fisher (Fire to Fork) in no time. A 12V oven, such as the Aussie made Travel Buddy, is great for heating the pies, sausage rolls and doughnuts, cooking a roast with all the trimmings and reheating casseroles, lasagne or leftovers.
Cutlets cooked in the pan while the Travel Buddy took care of the roast veggies
A stove, either butane, propane, LPG or induction is very handy for cooking meals the same as what you have at home. Many free campers don’t leave home without the BBQ. All these tools can be used, even on days of total fire ban.
Cooking with fire is a real skill, developed over years of camping, or get your hands on cookbooks such as Viv Moon’s Outdoor Cookbook or Fire to Fork by Harry Fisher. From these books, you’ll learn how to cook over a fire using camp ovens, woks, grill baskets, braais, grill plates and portable fire pits.
Pimping Your Roof Tent
If your free camp set-up involves a rooftop tent, some mods can improve the living conditions and they are also a great place to mount solar panels/blankets. One of the first things I recommend adding, if the tent doesn’t come with one, is a condensation mat. Darche sells one that fits most rooftop tents, and it lives underneath the mattress. I bought one before my last trip because I’d noticed moisture under the mattress after camping in the high country at the start of winter. Eight weeks of outback camping with warm days and chilly nights and the condensation issue was gone.
An aftermarket anti-condensation mat
Sometimes, the day temperature doesn’t drop too much at night, making sleeping difficult. This is where a fan can help and it doesn’t matter if it is a cheap tent fan, an expensive Sirocco, or a battery-operated Coleman portable fan, just having air moving around you can make life better.
When it’s cold, or your free camp is covered in snow, there are a few options, but staying safe is important. A 12V electric blanket or a diesel heater is a good option. A heater that uses butane or propane is not, as they are a fire risk when they topple over and create CO2 that is lethal.
Free Camp Entertainment
Two weeks camped beside a remote waterhole may be perfect for some, but a little boring for others, so what is needed to relieve that boredom?
Funky party lights: Some brands of LED lighting offer a variety of light colours or a shuffle mode to change the colours regularly, adding a party feel.
Bluetooth speakers: Whether for listening to an audiobook, podcast or music, a rechargeable Bluetooth speaker is essential in my book.
Fishing Gear: A collapsible rod, fishing tackle or yabby net are lightweight and easy to find space for. Don’t forget your fishing licence.
Canoe/SUP: The water looks inviting, but you don’t like swimming? A blow-up canoe or Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) allows you to experience the water like never before.
iPad or Kindle: Great for downloading books to read and easily recharged. An iPad is also useful for watching downloaded episodes of your favourite Netflix channels.
