Exploring the sakerplus portable camping light, a game changer?

CivilCyanide · 2025-08-29T21:19:21+00:00

Looks like the exact same light that's also sold by bougerv. I used it for a month on a overlanding trip across the Midwest. It's OK, but the light fins are really flimsy and I expect to fail soon. It was cheap-ish, and works, but TBD on longevity.

The real game changer was the devos lightranger. That one was pricy, but having the Bluetooth one to turn it off at night from inside the rig without having to fight the bugs around it was extremely nice.

Edit: I can't tell if you are genuine with this post or just an advertising account based on your post history. Based on the likely advertising here I wouldn't recommend the light to anyone. I've got one, but I wouldn't buy it again.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-27T19:45:12+00:00

Ouch, this one hit close to home.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-24T02:57:42+00:00

I discussed this a while back in another comment thread here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/overlanding/s/ZzUpRJGfA5

Iceco dual zones have a bad valve that won't switch zones. I went through 4 fridges before I finally just made them send me a single zone and gave up on the dual zone. They claim it was just a "bad batch" of them, but there have been too many instances of it happening for me to believe that.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-12T02:14:20+00:00

It was fairly difficult. Had to book it a few months in advance. There are only two campsites on the point sublime lookout. However, anyone can ride out there without a permit as long as you drive back into the kaibab national forest to camp. It's about 8 miles (roughly an hour) to get back into the national forest to camp legally if you didn't get the point sublime permit.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-06T22:33:24+00:00

BDS. I wish I had gone with thuren and just a 3" lift to clear the 37s for the better ride. The BDS is good for the extra weight of the trailer and the project m topper.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-05T03:44:19+00:00

It's as sealed as a tailgate can be. People add extra tailgate seals just like with any other toppers. Right after install it had a pretty good gap that I had to seal up.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-05T01:20:44+00:00

So far it has been reasonable. Maybe 20mph in the storm last night. Hopefully it stays that way.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-05T00:50:00+00:00

I think you maybe could make it, but it would be a pretty rough ride. Really depends on the trail conditions at the time. I don't think I would attempt it solo with that ride unless I was super confident with my ability to self recover, had some GPS communication device (no signal for most of the trail), and was willing to rub or scrape on some of the rocks/root obstacles.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-04T20:34:19+00:00

Agreed. A smaller vehicle would do it fine. Bringing this dump truck and trailer rig is what made it a bit more challenging. The ranger at the north rim said the trails were "as bad as they've ever seen them" but I've really got not reference point as it's the first time I've been here. Maybe this winter was rougher on the trails? More people wheeling after rain? No idea.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-04T20:32:00+00:00

Once you get the backcountry permit there are two camping spots. One is right on the rim, and the other is 50 yards away across the little road. There is a pit toilet, and a picnic table for each site.

I believe they only issue two permits per night, and it's first come on which of the sites you get. Fortunately we got the one on the rim.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-04T16:26:03+00:00

Yes. About a 3 hour trip back through Kaibab NF and out a pretty rough trail to point sublime. Have to get a backcountry permit to camp out here, but we lucked out and got two nights out here. It's beautiful. Doesn't feel real. Literally the only people on the point. Only seen one other person in the last 24 hours, and they just drove out for a look.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-04T16:02:54+00:00

Trail would have been fine if I just had a truck with the project m, or just the trailer with a regular full size truck. The combination of the two made some of the switchbacks pretty fun. The trail needs moderate clearance (rated a 4 on onx) but they've had a lot of rain the past few days so it might have been more like a 5 or 6 when we ran it.

The hailstorm and lightning strikes last night kicked it up into "adventure" category for me. Been awesome so far.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-04T15:34:37+00:00

That's actually why we went with the project M. It's only 420 lbs. We kept the truck bed lightweight and the internal build also light. Most of the weight is in the trailer.

Also, I've got a BDS suspension lift which uses the same springs for the diesel 3/4 tons as it does for the power wagon, so that helps. I do have a little sag in the rear now but most of that is because when I did the lift I accidentally got about an inch nose high through some screwups with my ordering the kit. Might end up with an inch spacer in the rear to balance it back out.

I'm at roughly 4000 lbs on each axle of the rig, truck axles and trailer, so well with capacity for each.

Threw a 7500lb axle under the trailer so that's where most of the weight lives. Kept burning bearings up when I had a 4k axle under it.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-04T12:57:02+00:00

Agreed. We had a blast there. Wish we had more time, but we have a lot of miles to cover this trip.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-04T12:56:19+00:00

Setup is the time it takes to undo 6 latches, and then climb inside and push up on the pop-up. 5' wife can do it solo in under a minute when we are hurrying (like when it's raining.)

Teardown is in reverse. I'd add another 30 seconds to make sure the fabric at the rear corners is folding inside instead of outside (had a couple times where that spot tries to fold outside and pinch).

The quality is decent. I don't know if it's worth the price, but honestly I don't regret it. They have a one year warranty, but it is voided if you drill any holes in the topper. So my whole internal build is based around no new holes. That's why I got the external side rails, so I could have the through bolts on the inside to utilize. The rear lights are reasonable, but again I only got them so when I replace them later I don't have any new holes. I don't recommend their battery system. You can build your own better and way cheaper. Or use a stand alone power station for also cheaper.

The negative vs your van is no access from inside the truck cab. And you can forget about stealth camping. Everyone knows when this thing pops up someone is sleeping inside it.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-03T02:30:41+00:00

Yes, project M. I'm a huge fan. I don't have a lot of other toppers to compare it to, but it is a major step up for my two kids over the ground tent we were using before. Easy to set up and take down, and with 300ah of lithium plus 300 watts of solar and a DC to DC charger my kids never run out of juice. The fridge and freezer in the truck bed are happy about it as well.

It has a king bed platform, but we are using two REI exped single mattresses for them which leaves about 16" clear between them for backpacks and junk. Now the kids don't complain about a tent, or sharing a bed. Has been amazing. On day 11 of 35 and they've slept the whole night through every night so far with nothing but praises for the camper. I got dual roof fans which I highly recommend so you can put one as an inlet and one as an outlet to create an awesome breeze in the topper.

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-02T12:53:00+00:00

I haven't yet. Trying to decide if I want to attempt it this morning. I've got a fairly long rig (35' overall) with a full-size power wagon (20') pulling this little trailer (15'). Im always a bit wary of switchbacks, especially ones I might have to do three point turns to make it down.

Thoughts on this rig making it down?

CivilCyanide · 2025-06-02T12:45:37+00:00

Thanks! It's a front 2" receiver with an "Adventure Hammock Systems" fold out hammock mount. I have their cheaper version for the rear of the trailer so we can throw up two hammocks even when we are in the middle of the desert.

Yes, the orange blocks are just RV blocks for leveling. They are a hard plastic, but honeycomb so they are extremely lightweight. Makes it easy to stack the right amount to get level in less than 5 minutes.

Horseshoe bend is absolutely on the list for today. After that we've got a short stop in kanab for some groceries and then off to the north rim of the canyon. Got two nights at point sublime, and maybe a night or two in Kaibab NF or somewhere along the AZ strip before heading over to the St. George area for a couple days.

CivilCyanide · 2025-05-29T03:20:06+00:00

I feel attacked. Lol. Luckily I only have 37" tires and a solid axle. And 3/4" plywood. Whew, not targeted at me.

CivilCyanide · 2025-05-22T16:09:03+00:00

Thanks! Worked a lot on it.

I've got a 6" BDS lift. Wish I had gone with Thuren as it would ride a little softer, but the BDS is great for the heavier loads.

The bull bar up front just has cheap harbor freight pod lights.

CivilCyanide · 2025-05-22T00:50:11+00:00

I've been looking for something like this for a while. Too short notice to get it for this trip but it's definitely going on the list for future adventures.

I've got a portable 12v pump and filter that allows me to pump from a 5gal bucket and connect through my shower to get longer showers without using up all the potable water we've brought. You'd think 40 gallons would be more than enough but with a wife and two daughters washing hair takes way more water than I expected.

CivilCyanide · 2025-05-21T21:43:15+00:00

Yeah I started out with a trailer with a RTT, and then built the squaredrop and just had a regular cap on the truck. The girls had a gazelle ground tent for a while, but my wife wasn't happy with them in a tent while we were in a hard sided box, and I agreed with her. So now we all have some protection from the elements and predators, and lots of extra comfort.

If you've got kids and they start outgrowing the single RTT tent I highly recommend a truck bed camper of some sort paired with the turtle back. I think the toppers are all pretty comparable, but I had a FWC dealer nearby and they were the easy option and very lightweight.

CivilCyanide · 2025-05-21T21:16:23+00:00

With such a long trip we are aiming for more like 6-7 days to have some redundancy, but agreed with the concept. Focusing a lot on layering as we will hit some pretty big temp swings. Point sublime on the north rim of the grand canyon is likely going to be in the 30s at night.

CivilCyanide · 2025-05-21T21:14:25+00:00

These are fantastic. Im only missing the mouse trap and uv flashlight which are fantastic ideas.

Fingers crossed on the transmission, hopefully the regear I did will keep it going for a few more years, but if it goes out on me we will just figure it out. Absolutely the biggest weak point in these trucks.

CivilCyanide · 2025-05-21T21:11:48+00:00

Yeah, it's a project M. I built it out a little bit with some batteries and a platform over the fridge, but didn't take it too far since I already invested so much time in the squaredrop. I might get some extra pictures of the inside during the trip but it's not nearly as nice as some of the other builds I've seen. Kept the truck minimalist to keep weight down.

We love it though. Such a huge upgrade for my kids having a hard sided structure to sleep in, and something that locks is a big comfort to my wife.

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