New Gear for Season Six
The list of new items for Season Six is short, but we’re sharing them in hopes they might help you.
Item 1: New tools for lowering spare tire
The tools that came with the EKKO for lowering the spare tire were insufficient. The spare tire sits underneath the vehicle and where you need to attach a wrench to crank the tire up and down is in an awkward location. We found the extra tools we needed were a 1/2” extendable socket wrench with a universal joint (paid link), a 24” socket extension (paid link), a 2.5” extension (paid link), and a 1/2” universal joint socket adapter (paid link). We’ll put together a future post on what is involved with lowering the spare. We also bought a lug nut socket (paid link) for easier removal of the lug nuts when changing a tire.
Item 2: Camera mount for bike
Keith already had a Peak Design camera mount for his bike (paid link). Ann decided to join the club and purchased one for her bike. It requires a Peak Design phone case (paid link) in order to work. The phone locks into place on the mount using a strong magnet. Two opposing buttons are pressed in to release the phone from the mount, which is easily done with one hand. Quick, easy, and secure. You do have to make sure you get it locked into place. Ann didn’t one time and her phone went bouncing down the road as she started pedaling. But the case prevented any damage to the phone. She hasn’t had a problem since. We like having our phones mounted on our handle bars. Having our phones there is helpful for navigation and for taking videos as we’re pedaling down the path or road.
Item 3: Camera wrist strap
Ann was looking for a better way to carry her iPhone while on her paddle board. The floating pouch (paid link) she was using. Although you can still use the phone and take pictures with it while it is in the pouch, it sometimes added glare to the pictures and, with her old eyes, she had trouble reading the phone display and activating the touch screen controls. A fellow member of the Broomfield Photo Club recommended a wrist strap made by PeakDesign (paid link). It works with the Peak Design phone case that she already purchased to use with the camera bike mount. The Peak Design phone case has a could have mounting points for attaching cords. A little cord with a button attachment goes on the phone. The button snaps into the attachment on the wrist strap. Again, easy on and off while also being secure. So if she drops the phone out of her hand, it dangles from the wrist strap. She has already tried the setup while on the paddle board.
In addition to the wrist strap, she added two camera floats (paid link), now that she has a phone case that she can attach to. She felt a little better having a backup. This way, if the wrist strap fails, her phone will float on top of the water instead of sinking to the bottom. The phone was easy to use while on the board and dangled from her wrist while she paddled. However, it did bang against the paddle a little bit.
So she has since come up with a solution she likes better. Just using the two camera floats, she then attaches the phone to her life jacket. It is more out of the way there, doesn’t bang into the paddle, and still in a convenient location to use. She still plans on using the wrist strap in other situations where she is concerned about dropping her phone. She’ll let you know how that goes.
Item 4: New iced tea pitcher
Ann likes drinking iced tea everyday. She stores it in the fridge so it lasts longer and is cold, ready for drinking. She’s tried several different pitchers and has not been happy with any of them. The plastic ones stain easily. The one she had been using the past couple of season was a glass container with a plastic lid. The container was like a milk jar. Although glass typically doesn’t stain, the opening at the top of the container was too small for her to get her hand inside, which meant it was hard to clean. And the plastic lid would stain and was hard to clean as well. Then Cindy Adair recommended a water pitcher (paid link) on the Winnebago EKKO Facebook group. It fits perfectly in the bottom of the EKKO fridge. So Ann decided to give plastic another try.
Ann is happy to report that the pitcher is working out wonderfully. It is easy to clean. It does not stain. It is smooth with rounded corners, making it easy to clean. And it fits in the bottom drawer of the fridge like it was made for it. Thank you Cindy!
Item 5: New ice cube tray
In previous seasons, we’ve used a silicon ice cube tray. The tray had a lid, but it was not very secure. So we would always try to fill up the tray when we knew we were going to be stationary for a little while until the ice started to form. We never had the water splash around inside the freezer, but we never really tested it with water in the trays while driving down the road. Some people on the Winnebago EKKO Facebook group suggested a couple of different ice cube trays that looked more secure. We decided to give a couple of them a try. We bought both the Icebreaker Pop (paid link) as suggested by Korinne Sharp and the OXO Good Grips (paid link) as recommended by Greg McHugh. Korinne and Greg, thank you for your suggestions! We tried both of them out during our Solar Eclipse trip (Total Solar Eclipse, Lake Whitney, Texas - April 8th, 2024).
Both of the trays were secure and did not leak; however, we always kept the OXO tray flat and never put it up on edge. The ice cubes in the OXO tray are larger and easier to remove, but they are a little too big. It was hard getting one of those cubes into Ann’s mug, as the opening was not large enough. And there were only six cubes per tray.
The cubes of the Icebreaker Pop are smaller. You can put the tray into the freezer in any orientation, including on edge, without spilling. This is nice option for small freezers where you have to play Tetris to get everything you want into the freezer. Getting the cubes back out is a little more involved. You pull the straps to break the cubs away from the tray, then shake the container to get the cubes to break apart from one another. We found that it is a little easier if you first run water over the outside to help things break free (something we did as kids when we had metal ice cube trays with a pull release lever). It is also pretty loud when shaking the trays. Not something you want to do in a campground with close neighbors during quiet hours.
There are pros and cons to everything, but we decided to go with the Icebreaker Pop. So we bought a second Icebreaker Pop and gave away the OXO Good Grips tray. It seems to suit our needs. We don’t use ice all that often, unless it is really hot outside. Ann normally keeps her iced tea in the refrigerator, so it is cold to begin with. She only adds ice on hot days or when she has just made a fresh batch and it isn’t cold yet. We noticed that there is now a version 2 of the Icebreaker Pop, but we don’t know what they have changed. If you try the new version, let us know what you think about it.
Item 6: Topo trail runners
We have been using Altra Lone Peak trail runners as our everyday shoes. We’ll wear them on short hikes, with easy terrain, although we’ll switch to our hiking boots for longer hikes or tougher terrain. When we returned home from Season Five, Ann bought a new pair of Altra’s. However, just a few months later, the Altra’s were already worn out. A hole started forming at the back of one of the heels and some of the stitching on the tops was coming out. This was over the winter, so we weren’t hiking and Ann wasn’t wearing the Altra’s every day. Being frustrated by the shoes not lasting as she expected, she decided to try something new.
Some long distance hikers were recommending Topo Pursuit trail runners, so that is what she ordered. Keith also ordered a pair, but returned them because he didn’t like how they fit on his feet. Ann was happy with her Topo’s at first. They have wide toe boxes and a zero drop, just like the Altra’s Lone Peak. The tread seemed a little beefier than the Altra’s. However, a couple of months into our travel season the Topo’s started wearing out. Holes were forming inside at the heel. The treads were wearing off the bottoms. Luckily, Ann brought her old Altra’s with us. So now she is alternating between the two worn pairs of shoes, hoping she can make them last the rest of the season. She doesn’t know what she’ll buy next. Are there trail runners out there that will last more than two or three months?
Well, that’s the list of new gear. Some of the items worked out well. Others did not. But hopefully the information will help you get the gear you want or need.
Check out our related video: New Gear for Season Six