Products I Use and Recommend
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Table of Contents:
- Overland/Camping/Offroad
- Home and Garage
Air Up/Down Tools
The basics
This is the minimum recommended set of tire tools for overland/off-road travel. Air down with a stick or pull the valve stem core out, don’t drop it!
Viair 00088 88P Portable Air Compressor
Portable 12V air compressor. Can be slow but small package size, no need to wire anything, and can be moved between vehicles easily.
ARB 10000011 Speedy Seal Tire Repair Kit
Basic tire repair kit to plug a puncture and service valve stems if needed.
Advanced tire tools
Some additional capability, by no means required but can reduce time to air up/down and increase convenience.
Coyote Automatic Tire Deflators, 4 to 56 PSI, 4 Pack
Automatic tire deflators. If not available on Amazon I’d recommend reaching out direct to Coyote Enterprises. Harry will take excellent care of you!
ARB ARB600 E-Z Deflator with Bar/Psi Gauge
EZ deflator, contains the valve stem core, faster than the auto deflators but you can only do one tire at a time. Best for when you want a pressure other than you preset auto deflator pressure.
ARB CKMTA12 12V On-Board Twin High Performance Air Compressor
The mack daddy of offroad air compressors. Fixed unit version requires hard mounting and wiring. Reduces air up times significantly. No more putting away a hot compressor into a carry bag or waiting for it to cool off, just roll.
AstroAI Digital Tire Inflator with Pressure Gauge, 250 PSI Air Chuck
Used in conjunction with the ARB compressor with auto pressure switch. This eliminates the need to detach the hose to check the pressure. Use a rubber band or gear tie around the trigger for hands free filling.
Coilhose Pneumatics CH15 Closed Lock-On Chuck, 1/4-Inch FPT
I got this tip from Lifestyle Overland. This double biting air chuck gets a much better grip on the valve stem and less likely to damage the threads from lazy install of a single sided chuck. Warning it’s a little too long of a bite for newer Toyota TPMS valve stems.
Dual Battery System Components
Some of the tools and parts needed to link a starting battery to an auxiliary (house) battery safely without risking a dead starting battery. I’ve also covered this along with solar charging and power distribution more in depth over here in the Ultimate DIY Overland Dual Battery System with Solar – Simple, Cheap, and Effective.
Blue Sea Systems 7610 Automatic Charging Relay (ACR)
Simple relay to charge a second battery off of your alternator with the engine running, but decouple them when not running so your starter battery will never go dead. Automatic, no switches to wire or mess with. Will also backcharge starter battery from solar if wired properly.
THOR Manufacturing ANL Fuse with Block
Massive fuses for a safe dual battery installation, install one at either end of the link cable. Many sizes available. These are sturdy blocks and come with the rubber boots. They don’t get dirty and brittle like the clear plastic covered fuse blocks for audio gear, not meant for offroad.
Dual Wall Heat Shrink Tubing 3:1 Ratio Heat Activated Adhesive Glue Lined Marine
This is the good stuff. The ratio is important to make sure it shrinks super tight. The adhesive inside seals it nicely. No rolled edges or loose areas and holds up well to heat and dirty environments.
EWCS 2 Gauge Premium Extra Flexible Welding Cable 600 Volt – Red – 25 Feet – Made in The USA
Large gauge cable for linking batteries together. Consult amp/length chart for appropriate sizing. This extra flexible stuff is great for running through automotive engine bays and interiors.
ABN 16-Ton Hydraulic Crimper Tool with 11 Dies for large gauge wire
Crimp tool for adding the proper sized lugs to the ends of larger cables. All of the yellow boxed ones on Amazon are about the same and I’ve found this chart for die size recommendation works for my different brand crimper.
SELTERM UL Listed Heavy Duty Wire Lugs, Battery Cable Ends
I like this brand because they have all the different sizes available. Tinned is not necessary to automotive, plain copper works just fine. Make sure your ring eyelet size matches what you’re linking to (battery/fuse/circuit breaker/relay) and barrel size matches wire size. The smaller eyelet sizes can be drilled out to match odd sized terminals but not a preferred practice.
Portable Power Solutions
If you want portable power instead of a hard wired dual battery system, there’s plenty of options our there from many vendors. The one we bought and use has been awesome so far!
Bluetti AC50S 500Wh Solar Generator
Lithium Ion battery pack with 37.5 usable amp hours for 12vdc. Pure sine inverter, wireless charging, DC and USB ports galore. Recharge from AC, DC, or solar! Prices may vary by color selection on Amazon, or check out the direct deal through Bluetti in the link below.
$60 off Bluetti AC50S 500Wh/300W Portable Power Station use coupon code: AC50S60
Bluetti AC200P 2000Wh Solar Generator
Or if you’ve just gotta have the largest pack they make and still be able to charge it from the car, here’s one that’s 4x bigger than ours at 150 useable amp hours! It features all the same ports plus dual input to charge twice as fast!
$200 Off Bluetti AC200P 2000Wh/2000W Portable Power Station use coupon code: 200offAC200P
Home Office Productivity
2020 came with the challenge for many of figuring out how to work from home full time. We take for granted the 100s of identical corporate cubes or common workspace desks. Laptop on your lap on the couch is NOT the best way to stay productive. Here’s what I’ve used to create a working space at home in a small bedroom.
Dual Motor Adjustable Height Electric Standing Desk, 48 x 24 Inches Stand Up Home Office Desk
People’s biggest complaint is the 2 piece top. Look, it comes in a box to your door, is cheap, easy to assemble and works well. You can deal with one tight joint in the top. I missed my standing desk from work and this was one of the best options for my space size and budget.
The mic on the Sony headphones is great for bluetooth calling when connected to a phone, but my laptop couldn’t handle toggling bluetooth audio from music to 2 way communication well. The solution to having crisp clean conference call audio is this little boom mic. Don’t be the guy with echos and kids crying in the background.
There’s no shame in a wired connection. When the rest of the family is burning up the wireless network streaming TV shows make sure your video conferences are smooth and uninterrupted by wiring direct to your router.
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Canceling Overhead Headphones with Mic for Phone-Call
I’ll admit these are quite spendy but I for sure got them on sale for much less. Also consider Amazon warehouse deals and just return if they are dirty or damaged. I can justify the expense because alternatively looking at soundproofing even a single room is all but impossible/entirely too cost and labor intensive. Instead I have minimally invasive portable sound proofing that plays music great too!
Noise Blocker Adjustable Door Sweeps 34inch
The most likely source of sound transmission from room to room is the door, notably the gaps around the door. This is how I “seal” the bottom to keep my talking in and the world out a little bit more. It prevents my mic from picking up the washer and dryer right outside the door.
Door Weather Stripping, Self-Adhesive Soundproofing, Epdm D Type (4 Seals 78 Feet)
Taking door sealing one small step further. This is as good as it gets without replacing the cheap hollow door for a solid core door. Enough sealing strip to do 4 doors, or have a bunch left over for windows, etc. around the house to prevent drafts and save on heating/cooling costs.
