We thought we’d share some of our favorite must-have products!
Coffee is a huge part of our lives. Katelynn started roasting coffee in 2015 and worked for a few very well known specialty coffee roasters. Ethan worked as a barista for a few years at specialty shops in Nashville. Here are some of our favorite products to get the perfect cup!
We always recommend buying fresh beans from a specialty roaster. We roast our own out of the van, if you would like to order some send us an email or dm us on Instagram! Buying specialty coffee ensures sustainability and that the farmers are paid a fair wage.
Kalita Wave – Although we love our Chemex, we don’t want it in the van since it is bulky and glass. The Kalita is our go-to brew method. Not only is it stainless steel but the flat bed allows coffee to extract more evenly giving a fuller more balanced flavor. Another great option is a V60.
Hario Stainless Decanter & Beverage Warmer – It’s hard to find a decanter that is not glass. This one is great because it’s stainless and keeps the coffee warm.
AeroPress – We love the AeroPress because it is plastic so it is very vanlife/camping friendly! It’s super quick and take under 2 minutes to brew a cup! It’s also really easy to clean – we just pop it right into our compost when we’re done.
Baratza Encore Grinder – Baratza makes some of the best home grinders in the game. When brewing a good cup of coffee it is important to use a burr grinder, as burrs grind more evenly (whereas an electric blade grinder grinds very inconsistent). For a more affordable manual hand grinder we love click here.
Hario Gooseneck Kettle – A gooseneck kettle is important for making pour over coffee because it allows for a consistent, controlled pour.
Hario Coffee Scale and Timer – Weight and time also play a crucial part in the perfect cup of coffee. We recommend using a water to coffee ratio of 16:1.
Keep Cup – We try to avoid disposable to-go products as much as possible. We love these because they help us reduce waste, they keep our coffee warm and some coffee shops will often give you a discount for bringing your own cup 😉
Hydroflask – We swear by Hydroflask. We have tried many insulated water bottles but it really is the best and worth the price. We have kept water and ice in it for 24 hours and the ice still wasn’t melted. A lot of water bottles that we’ve tried have leaked if they aren’t standing upright and this one doesn’t.
Magic Bullet – We love our magic bullet. We use it all the time for making smoothies, vegan sauces, cashew cream, grinding chia seeds (you better be grinding those chia seeds people! ;)), etc. We like this because it’s smaller than other blenders and only uses 250 watts!
Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Liquid Soap – This soap has 18-in one uses and is biodegradable. We use this for everything (body wash, dishes, laundry, cleaning).
Cannon EOS Rebel SL2 – This is our go-to camera for pictures and video!
GoPro Hero Black – We have used GoPro’s products for years and love how convenient they are. They’re also waterproof!
Kindle – Katelynn had a pretty big book collection before downsizing for van life. This helps save SO much space and you can bring all your books with you wherever you go.
Nebula Solar Portable Projector – Since we don’t have the space for a tv, a projector is the perfect solution. This thing is a whole new experience – it’s like we’re in our own movie theater! Plus its portable so we just tuck it away in a cabinet when it’s not in use, plus we can bring it outside and have an epic outdoor move night!
Ahyuan Ecology Reusable Cotton Mesh Grocery Bags Cotton String Bags Net Shopping Bags Mesh Bags Pack of 3 – We love these bags and store most of our produce in them. It allows us to free up fridge and cabinet space.
Macrame Plant Hanger – We get a lot of questions about our plant hanger. Someone made ours for us years ago, but this one looks similar.
Macrame Plant Hanger – We have this one hanging in the back area of our van.
Osprey Fairview 55 Backpack – We love this backpack because we can take it on longer trips or detach the daypack and take it on shorter day trips.
Magneto Cruiser Skateboard – We stay in a lot of parks and this is a super fun way to get around.
Jackery Explorer 1500 Solar Portable Generator – We love our Jackery! It allows us to bring our living room/ office outside. It’s great having the extra backup and peace of mind.
Compact Ultralight Camp Chairs – These chairs are the best! They are meant for backpacking so they hardly take up any room in the van and only take a few seconds to set up.
GCI Compact Camp Table – We love this table because like the chairs it also folds up and is compact.
EvaPolar Air Cooler – We love our Evapolar EvaLight Plus for those super hot nights. It’s a personal air cooler (not an AC) so it won’t cool the whole van only your personal area and it’s definitely saved us on those unbearable nights where I don’t think we would be able to sleep without it. It’s energy efficient, can plug into USB, it’s portable, and also helps purify and humidify the air.
MAGZO Custom Magnetic Bug Screen – We can’t recommend this enough. This bug screen has SAVED us during a New England summer. Say goodbye to mosquitos in the van! Use our coupon code HUNTERSVANLIFE for 10% off!
Shipping can take a while since the company is international. Found this one on Amazon! Since it’s not custom fit you may have to cut the bottom to fit.
Tucktec Foldable Kayak – We LOVE being out on the water! This kayak is perfect for vanlifers – We knew we wanted a kayak but didn’t want to store anything on the roof since we like being pretty stealthy. The Tucktec was the perfect solution since we can store it inside the van in our garage. It takes 2 min to set up (probably faster than it would take getting one off a roof) and weighs under 30 lbs. Use our code THEHUNTERSVANLIFE and with each purchase you’ll get a free set of paddles * just make sure you add the paddles to your cart to activate the code.