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segbrk

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I know there have been a number of posts with advice on sleeping in the Gravity (big thanks to @raleighone for pioneering for us! 😁), but they're spread throughout all corners of this forum and some may be outdated. What are your camping tips and tricks?

I'm looking for things like:
  • Organization/storage tips and builds
  • Shades, insulation, etc. for both privacy and efficiency
  • Climate control - keep mode vs creature comfort? how much power does it take at different temperatures overnight?
  • Door locks / fob control - I know we're definitely not sleeping with the fob in our pockets, but are we still dropping the fob in a Faraday pouch and/or disabling auto-lock/unlock? why?
  • Lights - how do we best avoid making neighbors and significant others grumpy by blinding them in the night?
  • Power - both with and without the power package, how are you running things and what are the pain points?
I'm planning a cross-country trip soon with most nights being dispersed camping in national forests. My current gear plan is:
  • Bluetti Elite 100 V2 1kWh power station - I don't have the power package, so this will be my "house battery" charged from the 12V whenever the car is awake
  • Nuwave PIC Diamond 1400W induction hob - bringing a saucepan and frying pan from home. I could bring lighter backpacking gear instead, but if I'm going for electric glamping, may as well go all out!
  • Dometic CFX3 35L mini-fridge - powered from the Bluetti's DC outlet
  • Dometic GO 11L water jug with electric faucet
  • Homemade 6" latex mattress - this is going to be ludicrous, but again, all out comfy
Measuring out the back for all of this reminds me yet again just how crazy the packaging is. The flat surface in the back is 87+ inches long! That'll fit a California King-length mattress with wiggle room!
 
Having done a few camping trips in our GGT I can share what I learned:
  • Because I have the 5 seater, we like using the storage under the trunk floor for firewood
  • @raleighone made cool window blocking pieces & a cool curtain rod drape across the back of the front seats to block out light but we found even just stretching a dark sheet across the front setbacks was enough to darken the back area for sleeping
  • Keep mode shuts off the HVAC after a while where as Creature Comfort stays on all night unless you open the driver door
  • after shutting off Auto Lock I found I didn't need the faraday pouch after clicking the lock from inside the back as long as you don't go shaking the fob
  • The only way to exit/enter the vehicle without the headlights, tail light bar, and interior lights all popping on was to only go in and out through the rear doors. If you open either front door or click the frunk or trunk open all the lights come on. If the doors lock while one of you is outside the other has to open the rear door from inside or Boom! on come those lights so I would leave the door slightly ajar if you want back in easily after say walking up to the camp bathrooms and back.
  • the power outlets worked fine after we clicked Keep On
Other thoughts:
Using an electric cooler for food and then a traditional Yeti cooler w/ ice for drinks worked well; no more food ruined by cooler water!
We love our Dometic water jug and it stores in the 3rd row gap
Exped makes a car shaped inflatable pad that fits well in the Gavity and deflates and rolls up to store taking up less space than thick memoryfoam mattress


That's all I got
Have Fun and please do post your experiences here
 
I just did some testing with the trunk 12V socket since I’m relying on it to keep my power station topped up. With creature comfort active and me in the car, 12V turns off 30 minutes after locking the doors. Unlocking and locking again gives another 30 minutes. Same while outside of the car. From the app, if you turn on creature comfort: nothing. If you remotely turn on creature comfort, unlock, and then lock again: 12V is powered on for just a minute or two, not 30.
 
I hope they fix this WHEN they finally release Camp Mode. I was using the 12v to trickle charge my Oupes Power Bank but when I ran into the major 12V error I had, at the time, they recommended I use the AC instead, which I did. Since then, I've just used AC but if they fix the 12v to always charge while car is driving AND if "keep on" or "Creature Comfort" or upcoming "Camp Mode"...I'll probably go back to that since it's DC to DC.

Thought I'd attach a photo to show what I do: I have a spooled extension cord that fits under my shelf (sorry, can't see it in pic) and I plug my power bank into it. Then, I just feed the ext cord across the car to the AC outlet. However, if I'm at a campsite w power, it's super easy to just unspool the cord out of the back so I don't havre to use my car's battery. Worked really well and winds back up quickly and neatly.
 

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By the way, also in the photo is my single favorite car camping purchase: on the shelf, check out the pumpable water bottle. A few pumps and it's perfect for drinking, cleaning dishes, brushing teeth and I've even done a poor man's shower with it. lol I think it was $30 and worth every penny!
 
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