The very first improvement we made to our new Micro Lite trailer was to remove the television.
We go camping to be in nature. Instead of watching sitcom reruns, we’d rather sit by the fire, sip a glass of wine and gaze up at the stars. That’s why we rarely camp in RV parks, preferring instead to bunk down in state or national parks.
Removing the TV was an easy, one-beer job. The TV slid off its mount and eight screws later, the mounting bracket was off.
In place of the TV, we screwed in an adjustable, Rubbermaid FastTrack wire shelf bought at Lowes. We use it for hats and ballcaps in camp. The lower shelf holds coffee cups, wine glasses, a 12-volt clock, an indoor-outdoor thermometer and other odds-and-ends when we’re in camp.
Do we miss not having a TV? Never.
If we want to watch a video or stream something over the internet, we can do it on our laptops or iPads. And if it’s a sports event we want to see, we can always head for a sports bar or better yet, we’ll bring over a six-pack and watch it at your trailer.
As the chief, on-the-road dishwasher in the family, I wanted to have a decent faucet with a pull-down sprayer and a single handle for setting temperature and flow. We went with a WEWE kitchen faucet in brushed nickel finish, which cost about $80 at Amazon. On this model, the faucet handle can be mounted in front or to the side. I chose a front mount to keep the handle from hitting the blind.
Installing the faucet was a fun, two-beer project on our trailer (Micro Lite 21DS = Mini Lite 2104s). Access under the sink comes through a drawer opening. Installation required removing the old faucet, cutting a center hole in the counter top for the new one, tightening everything down and connecting the water lines.
Instead of cutting lines and installing new connectors, I simply used nipples to connect the factory water lines to the new faucet. As a result, it takes a bit longer for the hot water to cover the extra distance from the tank to faucet. A few nylon straps keep the lines from bouncing around. So far, no leaks!
One of the big reasons we wanted to upgrade from our little A-frame folding trailer to a Micro Lite was so we would have an actual bathroom with a toilet and separate shower. Here are some of the improvements we’ve made to that shower.
One of our first upgrades was to ditch the origial shower sprayer.
We replaced the stock spray head with an Oxygenics sprayer. We went cheap and installed the white standard model #26781, which cost about $40 from Amazon. It provides a much more pleasant spray and supposedly uses less water. Installation involves little more than unscrewing the old hose and screwing on the new.
If I had it to do over, I might opt for one of the more upscale Oxygenics sprayers, but this works fine.
The cheap plastic clip provided with the Oxygenics sprayer would not hold the shower head in the desired position, so we replaced it with a rotatable aluminum bracket, which cost about $10 from Amazon. With it, the shower head stays nicely in position.
The Oxygenics shower sprayer has an on/off push button for use when taking sailor showers. It’s designed to allow a minor flow when closed, supposedly so the water temperature stays constant. That’s not an issue when camping with full hookups, but when boonie camping, that constant dripping is wasted water doing nothing more than filling the gray water tank.
To cut down on water waste, we installed a KES chrome shutoff valve (about $11 from Amazon) on the shower line. Flip the lever to the left and no water flows through the pipe. Flip it all the way to the right and the flow is full. Anything in between moderates the flow to any desired pressure. We love this thing, and have never had an issue with water temperature not being constant.
After the first few camping trips in the new trailer, we found we were collecting hair in the shower drain.
To solve the problem, we picked up a package of cheap drain strainers, probably from the Dollar Store. We leave the plug in the drain while traveling. When we get to camp, the plug comes out and the strainer goes in. No more hair in the drain issues.
To provide a place to hang wet sox and dainties, the female half of the family wanted a retractable clothesline across the shower (about $15 from Amazon). It turns out this was pretty much a waste. Instead of pulling out the line, she has found it is more convenient to simply hang the wet items over the shower door.
Finally, we added some command hooks to the shower stall walls for hanging wash cloths, a back brush and a shower squeegee.
