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Water Without Sink?

Pictured is my setup. I carry a water filter with a short hose attached making refilling water bottles convenient. I prewash my dishes with a spray solution of soapy water and a little vinegar, wipe out food particle and then wash in collapsable tub with hot water and dish soap and transfer washed items to collapsable drying rack. I then rinse with a water bottle with small holes drilled in the lid after placing the drying rack over the collapsable sink so all gray water ends up in the tub. Using a prewash spray and rinsing bottle really reduces water usage. Collapsable drying rack has a sliding water catching tray underneath and packs in the left compartment on top of water bottles.
 

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RShep said:
Pictured is my setup. I carry a water filter with a short hose attached making refilling water bottles convenient. I prewash my dishes with a spray solution of soapy water and a little vinegar, wipe out food particle and then wash in collapsable tub with hot water and dish soap and transfer washed items to collapsable drying rack. I then rinse with a water bottle with small holes drilled in the lid after placing the drying rack over the collapsable sink so all gray water ends up in the tub. Using a prewash spray and rinsing bottle really reduces water usage. Collapsable drying rack has a sliding water catching tray underneath and packs in the left compartment on top of water bottles.
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What kind (brand/model) of propane and electric stove do you use?
 
We don’t have the sink on our 550. We mostly camp at State Parks with facilities, so we don’t miss the sink at all. The sink is a good addition if you Boondock a lot. I will parallel Jenn’s thought, if everyone liked vanilla, it would be the only flavor made. And that’s the great thing about buying a Campinn, you can make it your own.
 
Van_and_Terri said:
We don’t have the sink on our 550. We mostly camp at State Parks with facilities, so we don’t miss the sink at all. The sink is a good addition if you Boondock a lot. I will parallel Jenn’s thought, if everyone liked vanilla, it would be the only flavor made. And that’s the great thing about buying a Campinn, you can make it your own.
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I'm of the same mindset. No sink and I'm happy to have one less thing I have to worry about.

Same goes for a built in restroom, not that one would fit in a tear drop.

Love my 550, and have nothing bad to say about it. However, if I wanted more of that type of stuff, I would have been looking seriously into an older Airstream, and not a tear drop. I have to admit, probably could have forgone the Maytag washer and dryer, but I'm happy to have them. :)
 
Apparently I contributed to this thread a couple years ago. We’ve now had several CI camping seasons.

We’re continuing to enjoy using the built-in sink & stove. Even more, for our use, Camp-Inn’s kitchen design is head & shoulders above any other, and is by itself a reason to consider CI.

Pressurized water system - just turn the tap.
Sink to do the “let’s make sandwiches for the day hike” dishes, or to accumulate a small amount of dirty dishes.
Attached table for the larger dishwashing.
The sprayer! So handy!

The stove can travel stowed with a Lodge cast-iron griddle on top... and a cutting board.
Simmers and high heat fast.

All in all a great small kitchen design, that is set up to W.O.R.K! Ready to cook in 2 minutes... stainless counters, a place to stow and a place to use the cooler or refrigerator.

In my opinion, in our use, it’s one of the big selling points for a CI. OTOH, if you have a camp-box system you like (cool!), or prefer a diet of weenies on sticks in the fire on paper plates... good on ya’! Maybe cans of vienna sausages and beans? Some spam? Nothing wrong with that. How about some tomato-juice-can cheese fondue over the fire? Then throw away the can and the paper plates...

I’m doing the same scratch cooking I’d be doing at home, slightly modified for shorter cooking times, easier cleanup and no freezer. There’s nothing I like better than looking at a couple potatoes, onions, summer squash, smoked fish, andouille sausage and asking myself: “What do we eat tonight, and how does it go together? How about smoked trout hash tonight, and squash/sausage stirfry tomorrow? Isn’t there some polenta in the bottom of the food box?” And, there *must* be at least one breakfast of pancakes, bacon & maple syrup on every trip! It can’t all be instant oatmeal.

To each their own, do what brings you joy!
 
SethB said:
To each their own, do what brings you joy!
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I think your last statement really says it all. I have a 2014 550, and I am not the original owner.

And when dealing with my seller, I was not the 1st serious purchaser. I was second.

The 1st potential buyer really liked it, but the show stopper for him was the lack of a sink. Apparently that meant more than anything else. Had that sink not been a show stopper, I would be in a different 550.

Had that 1st serious purchaser not been there, and had my 550 had a sink, It wouldn't have stopped my purchase, but I probably would have never had used it.

I value the opinions of others, it helps to open my my to thinking or seeing things in a different light. I'm glad this forum is here, for people to flesh out their ideas and concerns and share with others.
 

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As we’re just starting out having purchased a new-to-us 550 Special w/o a sink I’m looking for feedback on using a portable “fish table” for hand washing and as a place to do dishes. Assumed is that it’s a campsite with running water and the waste water is being collected for appropriate dumping. Water for washing is boiled on the stove so the sink is used for rinsing.
 
My 500 Special has no sink. I sometimes use the side table with 2 collapsible sinks. I carry a 3 gallon water brick when I don't have access to water at camp. I collapse the sinks and store them in the galley in the right storage area. Works great for me!

when camping at the same site for several days I place the sinks on a folding aluminum table that doubles as a picnic table.

Looks like the sinks I use have increased in price about four dollars each since I purchased them. Would still purchase at that price. Water brick price increased by 100%!!!

https://www.amazon.com/Prepworks-Progressive-Collapsible-Capacity-Portable/dp/B003QP30S0

https://www.amazon.com/WaterBrick-1833-0001-Stackable-Emergency-Container/dp/B0053GVRWQ

I camped several times before buying a lot of items I thought I might need resisting the urge to buy everything others recommended. YMMV
 
Thank youf helping me make up my mind. Initially, I was going to delete the sink and stove, but after reading this thread, I've made a decision not to do so.
 
lorieandkeith said:
I've been torturing Cary with emails as while my husband and I are on break we are figuring out our next trailer and options. We currently have a T@B, and never use the sink. Cary has convinced me that it is nice to have the 8 gallons of water on board. So here is the question:

The sink seems like a waste of space, and that space could be used for other storage. Might there be a way to have a faucet, but not a sink or drain? The faucet could be used to get water for cooking, hygiene and drinking. I am thinking about a washing machine hose with metal webbing that could come out of the cabinet area and attach to a housing near the bottom of the clamshell. Is this crazy or a bad idea?
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Good idea. I find the sink sorta small for actual washup and use a bigger washtub or big cookpot if I have to.

I do use the fold-down faucet all the time to fill coffee pot,water bottles, and that's much handier than unlocking side panel, screwing in hose, *
etc.

So having the counter top faucet alone/pressurized hose and faucet coming out of counter would be handy, and with a sink delete you'd get some space back under that larger countertop workspace.

(*You probly know you can hook up a hose with spray nozzle on outside side aux panel and spray that way? So if you dont mind handling hose from the side you'd keep the workspace even that much simpler by a faucet delete.

I admire the folks who go super minimalist in the 550...see also the Road Toad. KISS is an elegant Way.
 
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Dmitry said:
The classic 7 gallon Reliance Aqua-tainer is everyone's favorite tripping obstacle.
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In truth, we use Coleman 5 gallon water containers AND the teardrop water system.
Cooking & drinking - container filled with our excellent PNW water from home.
Dishes & misc - teardrop water.

At 7 gallons the aqua-tainer is just a little too heavy. The Coleman sits on the back table - no tripping!

Note that we do relatively a lot of scratch cooking & dishes when camping, and don’t use paper plates etc. This system works well for 3-4 nights out, which is a lot of our camping. For longer trips we might bring a second container-full from home, or supplement with campground water, which seems to vary in quality/taste quite a bit.
 
SethB said:
In truth, we use Coleman 5 gallon water containers AND the teardrop water system.
Cooking & drinking - container filled with our excellent PNW water from home.
Dishes & misc - teardrop water.

At 7 gallons the aqua-tainer is just a little too heavy. The Coleman sits on the back table - no tripping!

Note that we do relatively a lot of scratch cooking & dishes when camping, and don’t use paper plates etc. This system works well for 3-4 nights out, which is a lot of our camping. For longer trips we might bring a second container-full from home, or supplement with campground water, which seems to vary in quality/taste quite a bit.
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Ditto
 
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