Retro Post: Our Portable Firepot - Roadii Fire Grill Clone

This past weekend I undertook some upgrades to the portable firepit system we often use when camping.  When I started writing things up, I realized that I hadn't really ever documented the original construction and use.  So before I cover the upgrades, let's back up slightly and talk about how we do campfires.

Chuckbox 102: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

As I have mentioned in my previous post Chuckbox 101, gear storage is a "continual improvement" process for me.  I'm constantly refining how I pack, store, and use my gear to improve my experience and gain efficiency.  Things have changed enough that rather than simply update old posts, it's time to present a whole new write-up.

Two factors drive the most recent change:  First is that small organizational changes as noted in this post have let me reduce (or at least relocate) the volume of gear in my kitchen kit.  Secondly, I'm on a larger push to put the rig on a diet to ensure we stay under our GVWR.  This involves lots of steps such as the recent roof reconfiguration.

Cutting to the chase, here's the new package.  Read on to see how I built it:

Chuckbox 101

So after my last post about organizing my food box, in which I referenced the Chuckbox, I got some questions about the box itself, and figured I was due to write that up as well.

Trying to describe our portable camp-kitchen is a bit like trying to hit a moving target - it's constantly changing, and it packs in a lot of functions.

Thanksgiving 2016

This year the Choose Adventure crew decided to take REI's #OptOutside one step further and actually celebrate our Thanksgiving in the beautiful Anza Borrego Desert State Park.  It's been a couple of years since we've enjoyed the Blair Valley/Little Blair Valley area, so we loaded up the van for a single over-nighter - just 26 hours of adventure, but it was great!

2015 American Adventurist Desert Rendezvous

2015 Sees the American Adventurist Desert Rendezvous return to the BLM land east of Split Mountain Road, just outside Anza Borrego park boundaries.  This is a lovely area, and the silty washes were in better shape this year for our trip once we departed the pavement.  Kimberley was much less white-knuckled this year, for sure.

2014 American Adventurist SoCal Mountain Rendezvous

Despite the fact that we've enjoyed various Desert Rendezvous events since 2011, this year marked the first time we'd been able to attend the companion Mountain Rendezvous, put on by the excellent team from American Adventurist.  As always, the Rendezvous are a wonderful time to make new friends, see some cool rigs, and eat awesome food.

South Carlsbad State Beach - 2014

It's become a bit of a tradition to try to spend a week of our summer at South Carlsbad State Beach.  For the second year in a row, we elected to spring for a delivered trailer, rather than "roughing it" in the van.  It adds some cost, but it's less than the price of the hotel rooms on the other side of the main road, and we've got a better view of the beach!

2014 American Adventurist Desert Rendezvous

A pair of annual Rendezvous events, one Desert, one Mountain, are fast becoming must-do events if you live in the SoCal area and enjoy overlanding, camping, adventure, good people, and/or good food.  This year's desert event was no different.  I was sad to be attending solo, since Annika's soccer season was in full swing during this event, but by the end of the trip, I think the rest of the family was glad they hadn't joined me!

South Carlsbad State Beach-2013

We returned to South Carlsbad State beach late this summer.  After last summer's success with a bluff-side site, I was willing to hold out for that again this year.  It's really worth going on whatever days are available in order to be on the bluff, instead of taking the convenient weekend days on the street side.  The sounds of the ocean waves crashing on the shore lull you to sleep, and rouse you to wake.  They also drown out the noise of your teen-aged neighbors!