Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

working on it wrote:from another thread... I'm just now trying to get my plans for next fall's trips together.... I'm ordering some fishing gear, since I can no longer hike, bike, or much else at camp. I thought I might try fishing...my gear disappeared in the 80's, so I bought a rod & reel at Walmart, just as starters, yesterday: a $22 Berkley catfish rod, and my first-ever Zebco reel, a $25 "Max 33" (my last set-up(s) were my well-worn Lew's SpeedStick and Abu-matic 160, and a Browning baitcast rod with a Ambassadeur conventional reel from the '50s). Just to get my feet wet, again, to see if it takes, at least more-so than biking. A coupla years back, I bought a cheap "mountain bike" to see if I could bike a bit, while camping, but my knees said "no" after a few miles.

• I don't know if it will pan out, trying "fishing" again, after 35 years since my last fishing trip (a party boat trip into the Gulf of Mexico, where I caught several 10-20 lb King mackerel and a 5-ft shark - half consumed in a big fish-eating fest that night, & half frozen for my return home-)...or since my last lake fishing trip, possibly 36 years ago, catfishing. I never really liked the hassle of large-mouth bass fishing (going to specific hot-spots jealously guarded by the bass fisherman crowd), and only liked striped bass fishing on the big lakes, so I settled into a habit of crappie and cat fishing, from the bank, as a more relaxed experience (plus, the panfish and especially catfish, were more to my taste for cooking). And, it didn't require a boat!
• Since I don't bike or hike very well now, then I'll try fishing again while camping (or soon from my father-in-laws large "tanks" - that's Texan for "pond"- off of a small creek, near Granbury). I have few friends now, none who fish at all, except that I've seen a couple of S.Central Group campers fish. I waited too long to try Beaver's Bend, now that we won't go there for awhile, and several waterside campsites in the past, so maybe we'll be lake/creek/riverside camping in the future? Anyway, I got a Texas Senior Combo hunting/freshwater-fishing license (though none is required for state parks), and started acquiring some basic gear for bank fishing, focusing on catfish. Cheap, too, but not so cheap as to fail immediately, but I shouldn't spend big bucks if I don't like it. So far. I've spent around a $100, for basic gear (including a "ready to fish" tackle box that I haven't opened yet. It's a start anyway. My bike was only used one time, and now it hangs from the garage rafters with a flat tire...I'm glad I didn't spend over a $100 for it, either.
• Well, as is my usual custom, of making stuff for my TTT and camping trips that are few-and-far-between http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=70367&hilit=usual, I'm going to construct a custom rod & reel transport tube, to mount on the roof of my TTT (I love modifying my TTT), and which I can detach if I need to safely transport my rod & reel via my HHR or truck. I've broken several rod tips in the past, and even damaged the reels, in the days before I started buying pickups (2 with shells added, later) to haul gear (fishing, camping, hunting, baseball, softball...all long ago). Since I've already exceeded my weekly spending limit (wife-imposed), I'll have to build my storage tube next week, if I can. I've already sourced the parts (some nearby at HD, some online, and a 2" pvc tube I have leftover from my last home project. I have already made a scale? drawing, and just need the parts to build it. Mounting system will be figured-out later, though, but I already have the attachment points for the 7' tube marked. I sure miss the construction phase, and like small projects like this.

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  rod tube drawing.png (298.25 KiB) Viewed 6092 times

• Custom-sized for my rod & reel (which most likely will be the only gear I'll ever get again), the tube will be painted Massey Ferguson grey, like my TTT, and will be mounted curbside, where I usually have my canopy-covered "porch". and won't be in the way of the streetside door/sidetent on there, or the canopy wall I usually use. If I choose not to be a fisherman later, I can make it appear as a "M18 recoilless rifle", just for kicks.

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  M18 recoilless rifle.jpg (48.68 KiB) Viewed 6092 times

slowcowboy wrote:Done it 3 years ago to bulky to big folks think its a spud gun on your suvs roof rack..i use the 2 inch pvc pipe with the slot in it for the real to hang out...cover the reel wirh a cablelas reel cover...i got a fly rod moutain case that I pack extra rods in with the reels off in a stuff bag in my tear..the pvc 2 inch pipe is normaly for a fast grab rod..like a small one for creek fishing normally a miro lite shackspear...and some easy fly reel or spinning reel that i use just for creek fishing..slow..

• To close out this thread, I did finish my fishing gear storage project, which is more fully outlined in another thread. http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=70367.
• The storage tube ended up 98" long, and sits on two supports, over the center roofline, accessible from the rear. I spent much more than I wanted to, but once I get an idea in my head, I usually go to any length to make it happen. I figure that I spent around $175 for everything used to construct and mount the tube (with adhesives, screws, and some paint leftover for other projects, included), and 15 hours of my time (no cost there...I'm retired) in assembly and installation. And probably 30 hours on my labels, and another $25.
• Once again, I went overboard, having imagined the project to be inexpensive and easy, but it ended-up not-so. In my defense, after completed it, I now can safely store my 6'6" catfishing combo rod & reel, my 6+' hiking staff I made years ago, and a 30" Dock Demon rod & reel combo (bought for $10, as a spare) inside the tube, and not just thrown into my truck bed. At 8'2" long, it can probably hold other supplies, after the rods/reels have been inserted (18"long x 6"diameter space available).
• The tube should clear the garage door with 1.5" to spare, if my latest measurements are correct (I've measured three times), but haven't yet tried to pull the trailer from the garage. My vision isn't what it used to be, so I need a second set of eyes to observe the tube as I pull the trailer out, to make sure there is no contact made. My wife is never home anymore, or is busy in her home office, or something else, so I haven't asked her to come look, yet. Maybe tomorrow, if it doesn't rain?

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  lockable storage, out of the way, on top of the trailer!

  conduit carrier to be used for fishing gear.jpg (87.88 KiB) Viewed 5661 times

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  adding my "personalization" to the tube

  tube-labelling complete.jpg (211.39 KiB) Viewed 5661 times

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  inexpensive rod & reel combo, bought as a spare

  Dock Demon combo for backup.jpg (138.12 KiB) Viewed 5661 times

Aguyfromohio wrote:PVC pipe for a fishing rod case has worked perfectly for me for 30 years....

• Since I have a life-long tendency to over-pack/over-equip, whether for personal solo trips, or for team efforts (softball league team from work, or drag racing team: for both of which I assumed a logistics role, as well as being a participant), I always needed just a little more space to carry along all the gear, sometimes breaking stuff due to lack of room. Back in my teens & twenties, prior to buying my first small pickup in '80 (a '81 Ford Courier long bed, with an aluminum topper added soon after purchase), I just threw everything in the trunk or rear seat of my cars: (1)two bowling balls, bags & shoes,(2) multiple bats, gloves, cleats, bases, too, (3)two rods & reels, minnow bucket, tackle box, stink bait (be sure to completely seal it away, and don't leave it for months in a trunk in a Texas summer!), and (4) the largest cooler(s) I could cram in. And a automotive tool set, that grew in size and complexity over the years.
• Some of my vehicles could absorb all the gear, though packed-in tightly, but after I downsized for a few years into VW Beetles/Superbeetles, I'd have to constantly clear out my gear if going out at night. Especially the fishing gear. Damaged several rods stuffing them back into the rear seat of VW's, and also into my Volvo 142's trunk (scene of a disastrous stink-bait episode!). But then, I decided to get a small truck, and the storage no longer was a problem...for awhile.
• I quit bowling, hunting, fishing, softball etc. soon after I married my soon-to-be (soon, but not soon enough) ex-wife, and never took up my hobbies thereafter, even when I re-married. Thus, I had no gear storage problem, even though the next pickup, an '86 S-10, never received a topper, but only a special compartment I made for my 200+ lbs of tools I carried (personal tools, and for contracted work-related trips). All unbreakable. As my automotive hobby started growing, after getting a three-car garage in my early 40's, I started carrying even more equipment, which reached a peak in the mid-2000's, with 1000+ lbs of tools & supplies for my drag-racing team being carried to each race.
• Forward to 2013...began camping again after 38? years. My gear fetish continued, but with camping gear now added to it. Completely filling the rear of my single-cab pickup, after already filling the 4x8 TTT with "necessities", I once again started to add more gear, just in case. The latest gear added was to be fishing gear (I suddenly started to dream about it, 35? years after I quit). And since I am still determined to go camping more each year (though the fates and my wife conspire to halt that), I was going to be sure to carry fishing gear along, just in case there's water nearby. As I related earlier in this thread, I've observed a couple of campers fishing, and wished I had some gear to join in.
• That's where the tube comes in...not wishing to either leave home without my gear, nor to risk damage or theft, by throwing the poles into my truck bed, I thought I could make my own PVC rod tube, and mount it on the trailer. I have lots of leftover PVC from the "new home project" of last fall, and thought I could use that to make my own. Wrong. I ended-up buying all-new PVC, and the special hardware to make the large tube. Now, I have to fish when camping, just to justify (to my wife, if not to myself) the money spent on this resumption of an old hobby. I doubt I'll get 30 years of use from my PVC tube, as I'm 68 this month, but I'll hand it down to my wife's family, whose youngest generations are becoming avid outdoor sportsmen.