New to the world of Podding

Jason and Kim:

You're just like us.  We got our first POD last year, a 171 and thoroughly enjoy it.  We've been out only 3 times because we got it late last year.

Your mods are the perfect firsts.  We changed ALL our lights to LED's right away.  For storage, we found that the Home Depot "HOMER" buckets fit perfectly under the mattress area.  We put tape on top to tell us what's in them.  Also, used a homer bucket to put an opaque empty vinegar jug with an 18 foot led string into it, poked a hole in the homer bucket and in that configuration, it is a good porch light...looks like a pumpkin.  If you pull out the vinegar jug, you have a nice bright LED string to see stuff with.  LED's are the way to go.

We also added a long dump tube holder on the right side to fit the RHINO tube.  It's real handy placed right there.

Other than some inside foo-foo stuff, it's all ready to go this year.  My wife is making blackout curtains for the bedroom area and we have used the 3M stickup stuff to hang a few accessories.  I'm in the process of cutting up and routing some high density plastic to put over the kitchen sink for use as a cutting board.

We also found some great small plastic boxes at the Container Store that fit nicely under the sink area.  They are clear enough to see what is inside them.

For known camping, there's the deal in Seaside and there is also a Country music festival in Brownsville sponsored by Bi-Mart. Both are in August.

When we were camping at Crow Butte, an island in the Columbia river, we had our RDOME out, the Orange Homer bucket lit up at night, sitting in the tent and had many people come by and ask us what this is and where did we get it.  After that, we thought the factory should hand out a stack of brochures for us to hand out.

Happy Trails

Burt, Laura the White Tornado, and Buddy the Wonder Dog

Greetings back to you!

Good question on the sewer tube.  I got the name off the original sewer tube that came with the POD.  It was only about 2-1/2 feet long.  It will not fit a rhino tube.  The name on the tube is www.dwincorp.com and their phone is 800-255-0829.  Their "super tube" size fits the rhino hose.

I installed ours on the same side as the clean out fittings just forward of them with the end that opens toward the tongue.  The fit was just about perfect for the 171 and I don't know about the 177 you have.

The installation was easy.  I found out the floor thickness, drilled appropriate fastener holes (on the RPOD site is your floor and sidewall thicknesses) and using stainless steel screws with silicone applied, I fastened them up into the side wall first, then into the floor.  The Super Tube comes with ears with holes in them for the fasteners and it worked perfectly.

Like you, we didn't want any septic issues inside the POD, so this was a first priority for us.

This should help you get going on it and keep your POD safe from infectious material or smells.

Burt

The RDOME question...

We just use the suction cups.  We haven't had it in high winds but don't think we'd put it up in high winds anyway.

Most others don't use the dome unless they are out for a few days, not just one night.

The Rdome is a good tent.  I also suggest getting a couple of those 2 foot long surveyor stakes (Home Depot) to use as stakes.  Bring along a 3 lb. hammer.  Use a couple of nails though the survey string holes to hold your supports down real strong.

Another bring-along that helps in the Rdome is a large enough tarp for a floor.  It keeps you from tracking too much stuff into the POD.

There is a you tube that shows some folks putting one up.  It's kind of funny.  We found that a small stepstool was a great help in sliding the fastener in the track.  I used silicone spray to help it slide in the track.  Before doing that, I made sure all the fasteners were in tight and wouldn't prevent stoppage.  2 people can do it easily.  Don't be scared of it, just go do it.

you are wise to hook up and take down all stuff in your driveway prior to going out.  Suggest sleeping in it also.



Happy Podding!

Burt, Laura the White Tornado and Buddy the Wonder Dog

Thadd, I looked on the end of the factory short tube and there was a www. address. I googled it, they had a 1-800 number, I called them and they make a longer tube custom made for the R Pod. It was less than $30.00 . I built brackets and mounted it toward the front of the pod across from the main frame rails. Be careful of gas lines and wiring. I would post a pix but have not been able to figure how to reduce the size to get it to post, if you cant find it email me and I will get the address for you. I really like the 15 foot hose and connections I got from camping world that fit perfectly into the larger tube.

Thanks for the info, Burt and others. It would be really nice to free up the precious storage space and keep the (un)sanitary pipes where they belong. On the outside