Blog: Latest Wild Camping Tech? … Think Before You Buy!

Technology has evolved at a rapid pace and the Wild Camping and Overlanding Community is also a beneficiary of some amazing gadgets and gizmos that make our African bush experiences less complicated, more efficient, more dependable and the ability to pile on more and more “nice to haves”.

At the forefront would obviously be the advancement of 12v Lithium Batteries but same could be said for DC-to-DC Charges, Solar Charge Controllers, Fridge-Freezers and as of late, unlimited and untethered communication via Elon’s Starlink. The drive amongst the Overlanding equipment manufactures and brands is to produce simple singular “multiple purpose” products or units that replace the need to have multiple units scattered all over the place performing the same function.

Let’s take battery charges for example – manufacturers of latest tech products will sell you a ONE SINGLE UNIT, in a plug n’ play format, that replaces the need for a separate crank battery DC-to-DC charger, a separate Solar Charger for your rooftop panels, a separate Solar Charger for your portable panels and separate AC-to-DC charger when Eskom is available, all neatly wrapped up in one single unit that fits in the palm of your hand.

Another example would be the spectacular advancement of Lithium batteries – nowadays, there is no need to haul along 3 separate 100Ah batteries with cable all over the place interconnecting them when you can instead install 1 single 300Ah battery. Simple, less complicated more efficient. Fridges also come into play – why have 2 smaller separate fridges when you can get a massive fridge/freezer combination that will store absolutely everything you shlepping including the frozen meat you will braai 5 days after your return back home.

It all sounds logical and sensible not so…… yes, it does, until things go wrong that is!

Redundancy 

You see, it’s all a question of Redundancy – in engineering terms – “it’s the inclusion of extra components which are not strictly necessary to functioning but may be necessary in case of failure in other components” – Dr Google

So, in the instance of the single multi-use battery charger, if something goes wrong with it deep in the African bush, you will be “amp-less” with hot beers, sour milk and meat only good for hyena consumption. You would not have the ability to re-configure your separate Solar Charges because you have none. Ouch, same for your single 300Ah Lithium battery – it cannot be chopped up and re-configured into separate batteries providing at least some power somewhere, maybe your camping lights, or your fridge.

I guess what I am saying is this: Technology is great, and we must, and we need to embrace it and similarly, simplifying our rigs to make them simpler, lighter, more efficient and more dependable is necessary … who wouldn’t want that? I know I do. However, out there in wild yonder there aren’t any fitment and repair workshops under each Jackalberry tree so there needs to be an element of Redundancy considered in our planning and for me, I would rather have 2 X 150Ah Lithiums instead of 1 X 300Ah and at least separate Solar Charge Controllers for my rooftop and for my portable panels. That way, I can reconfigure stuff if stuff goes wrong. With respect to fridges, nothing wrong with having a separate 30L or 40L fridge/freezer in the cab and a bigger fridge/freezer in the back or in the trailer. I also believe a crank DC-to-DC charger must be on its own, isolated and protected at all times and left to do it’s one single function and absolutely nothing else.

What do you guys reckon?

Harry Nicolaides

Wild Camper Wannabe