Best Gear for an Oregon Coast Culinary Adventure
Harvest Hosts: No need to worry about getting “The Knock”
When traveling the Oregon coast in my vehicle, I quickly learned that camping overnight for free was near impossible. Legal spots are hard to come by and, when you find one, it is typically filled up. That is where my Harvest Hosts membership became my most used item. With over 50 locations up and down the Oregon coast, you’re set up to stay anywhere you need with amazing options. If the Harvest Host membership isn’t your thing, try their new CampersCard. The CampersCard is a cheaper membership that gives you discounts at hundreds of campgrounds across America. No need to worry about getting a knock on your door in the middle of the night and being asked to move ever again!
Harvest Hosts is a membership program that gives members access to a network of wineries, farms, breweries, museums, and other unique attractions that invite self-contained campers to stay overnight. For $99 per year, you can stay at thousands of locations all around North America.
An “Oregon Seafare” to remember
There’s nothing better than seafood when it was caught that morning, miles down the street. When traveling down the coast, I made it my mission to try every local seafood spot I could get my hands on and it was worth every penny. I can’t even count the amount of oysters, Dungeness crab, and Pacific dulse I crammed into my mouth and what a wonderful experience it was. Make sure you buy local when traveling the coast and support those businesses trying to keep Oregon fresh!
Oregon’s seafood often goes directly from harvest to plane, bypassing Oregon communities. Keeping more local seafood local enhances the environment, economic development, public health, and human rights. The Ocean Cluster Initiative through Oregon Seafare is working to shift this dynamic and make local seafood easier to find and buy through development of wholesale buyers clubs, cooperative marketing, and shared infrastructure.
OPINEL: Something special for the oyster lover
On the note of buying local, you’ll want to have the right tool for the job. One item that is a must-have in my rig is the Opinel Oyster Knife. There’s going to be a time where you get the chance to buy oysters from the beach and you won’t want to pass that experience up and you’ll need your knife to eat them!
The No.09 Oyster Knife was designed to safely stow away, making it easy to carry - whether that’s on a boat, or in your pocket as you head to the beach. With a short, robust blade the unique design centers the knife’s axis to facilitate easy oyster opening. Thanks to the Virobloc® locking ring, it will stay closed when you want it to, and open when you need it to!
Check out some of Opinel’s other Best Sellers here.
CAMP CHEF: Unleash your inner NOMAD chef
Before I had a rig with a kitchen, I lived out of a truck and needed something with the power to cook whatever I needed but had a small footprint. That’s where I found the Camp Chef Everest 2x. This 2 burner stove fits basically anywhere and will cook any meal you need, when you need it. I can’t even count the amount of times I brought my Everest down to the beach and cooked an entire meal by the sound of the ocean. That’s an experience you don’t want to miss out on.
The Everest 2x is both lightweight and portable. Packed with two, 20,000 BTU burners, the Everest offers quick, matchless ignition no matter your coordinates. Adventure seekers will enjoy a generous 215 sq. ft. of cook space engineered for maximum food output. So get out there and conquer your Everest!
MOUNTAIN HOUSE: Life’s a Beach (Breakfast)
There are days where I either don’t have the time to go get food or just don’t want to leave the beautiful place I’m at. This is where my Mountain House meals are a big essential to my day. They’re so quick and easy to make and don’t taste like you’re eating a freeze-dried meal. My go-to meal for breakfast is definitely the breakfast skillet they make and, if you’re wondering, they make a vegetarian option too!
Mountain House meals are made for adventure. Their freeze-dried process has been perfected over 50 years which means they don’t sacrifice flavor. Their meals come in a wide variety of flavors, are lightweight, and are ready to eat in just 10 minutes.
Plan your next meal with Mountain House Adventure Meals.
GO Power! on the go, any time you need it
No one wants to be that person on the beach running a generator to power their essentials if they don’t have to. That’s where the Go Power! portable solar kit comes in handy. They’ve got portable solar panels from 90w up to 200w that you can just toss outside and take full advantage of the power of the sun. That way you can leave the panels to charge up your batteries or run your fridge while you go for a swim or lay on the beach.
Go Power! has grown to become one of North America’s leading suppliers of recreational and business solar solutions. Now a part of the Dometic family of products, Go Power! provides a full range of high-quality solar chargers, inverters, controllers and power accessories — dependable and cost-effective mobile power solutions when grid power is unavailable or unsustainable.
Browse all of the Go Power! products and get powered up.
ORION VANS: BRING THE VIEW (and power) WITH YOU
When I built my rig, one of the non-negotiable items was a roof rack. There are three things I refused to sacrifice: storage, space for solar panels, and the ability to stand on my roof. The Orion Stealth+ roof rack checked off every box for me. The moment I saw this rack with its walkable solar panels, I knew this was my style. It’s low profile, allows for storage, and…I repeat…you can walk on the solar panels! This means you get full use of your roof without compromising space. What more could you ask for?
The Stealth+ Sprinter and Promaster Roof Rack are the perfect solutions for van customization. These racks are proudly made in Oregon and are designed with an ultra form-fitting structure that makes it the best-looking and most functional rack you’ll find out there. Best part about it is that it’s designed for an easy DIY installation. That means no cutting, no drilling, and no crane needed!
Get your van ready to hit the road in style!
Check out the entire Orion Van Gear catalog.
DAKOTA LITHIUM: don’t let rainy days drain you down
With all that extra solar energy, you’re going to need somewhere to store it. I have a few 100Ah batteries from Dakota Lithium in my rig and it’s super helpful when you get those inevitable rainy days in Oregon. It’s important to have good batteries that will keep everything running because you can’t always rely on the sun to be out. Combining my Go Power! portable panels, Orion Stealth+ Roof Rack with it’s integrated panels, and my Dakota batteries I never have to worry.
At Dakota Lithium they help power your passion from morning to night. Built for abuse during long North Dakota winters, Dakota Lithium is a battery designed to endure to help you do what you love longer. A battery made to last. They’ve harnessed the power of lithium chemistry and combined it with North Dakota grit to build you a better battery.
Read our Oregon Coast STORY down below
The feeling of timeless immediacy.
