Dumpster Diving - Camping Style

[Terry]

Ok --- I am not a dumpster diver by any means...but last night about 9:30 I decided to empty my blue tank and pulled up to the dump station....as I go by the trash dumpster I notice something big and shiny that makes me curious....While the tank was draining I go over and look and there is a nice Portable Ice Maker on the ground next to the dumpster and the box sitting on top of the trash heap.

Well I am pretty handy so I think..well I have nothing to do tomorrow so I should tinker with this for fun.....well as it turns out it was pretty new but the previous owner got a lot of dirt in it...there is a filter in it that was clogged and keeping it from working....a few minutes of cleaning it and..... poof -- ice is a coming.....

I got home tonight and cleaned it really good with detergent and then a little bleach....it is basically brand new.....and fills up with ice quick.....

So I am pretty excited about my find....

So....what "treasures" have you found camping that others have just left behind?

[Crabman]

Like Charlie Brown, "I got a rock".

[amabee]

Isn't it amazing the stuff people will just toss out because they don't want to take time to fix it.

[bigbird]

Not a camping find but camping related. A few weeks after buying our trailer I was driving about a half mile from our home when right in from of me was a ten foot slinky. I had to go around to avoid it but stopped to pick it up and check it out. It was like brand new so it must fell out of a camper. Its funny because i was going to buy a ten footer since i only had a five footer.

[OnTheGo]

... one person's trash is another person's treasure. Last season we found a wheel chock somebody drove away and left sitting on the pad. It was the big rubber triangle type with a pulling "eye" ... would hold our Z on a 10% grade.

Isn't it amazing the stuff people will just toss out because they don't want to take time to fix it.

... or don't know how. It is amazing.

[exjay1]

nice find Terry!

[OnTheGo]

Terry, when we meet at a CG, how much are you going to charge me for a 10 Lb bag? (Don't try and gouge me cause I know what you paid for the ice maker.)

[firefighter]

great find

[FPM III]

A previous occupant in my campsite left a lantern holder still wrapped around a tree.

At a rally, one of the attendees in the campsite next to me left their tongue block behind. I took it home and it lived in my garage until I could return it to them at another rally two years later.

[dalenoel]

One site had a ratcheting cargo strap between two trees. Was new and never knew who was the original owner. Works great on my cargo bed.

[Seann45]

[QUOTE=Terry;122087]Ok --- I am not a dumpster diver by any means..

Terry you say that like it is a bad thing....LOL

I just "scored"2 automatic satellite internet dishes.. all I had to do for them was help the owners get them off the roof of their RV's. I am not sure if I will go back to Sat Internet but I am sure I can modify them to receive TV

[mcfarmall]

I'm a hardcore DD and proud of it! Got a Black & Decker workmate and an adjustable mobile base for a table saw along the road, a really nice pre-lit artificial Christmas tree that we use every year. While camping/hunting I found a stainless steel backpackers cook set and a folding pocket saw, heavy duty hot dog forks, a wasp trap and much, much more.

[Doug]

I guess I am a Dumpster Diver too.
Neighbor across the street moved and left a vacuum cleaner at the curb. He said it was broke.
My daughter needed one so I though I would take a look at it.
Cleaned up the roller, cleaned and oiled the brush bearings, new belt and she worked like new.
Eureka Upright with attachments = $1.50!

Dumpster Diver Doug :-)

[chipper]

I like to DD.

Not camping related.

A couple years back, I found a Double Jack Screw Clamp in a dumpster. It's an adjustable clamp used to hold pipe in the correct position during welding. They list new for $1200 to $1800.
It was in the original box; and looked as if it was only used a few times. I listed it on EBay with NO RESERVE; and a guy from Australia bought it for $450 + shipping.
photo from the net



Last Sept., I pick up a Draw-Tite Class IV receiver hitch which was leaning next to a dumpster. Below is the actual hitch. I lightly sanded it and applied a couple coats of black paint. Problem is, I don't know what vehicle it fits on.
actual photo


In another DD, I found a Ranch Hand grill guard. This brand has a model number stamped on the bottom of the lower support.
A search revealed it fit a '99 - '05 GM truck. I gave it to a friend of mine, who happened to have a '03 Chevy 4X4.
photo from the net

[krackeer]

Geez the best thing I ever found was a splitter someone left on the water connection at a campsite. Guess I better start paying more attention!

[Jagiven]

Great find; I bet they left it out in the rain a few times and the dirt splashed up on to it.

I’m a proud DD. Over the years I have found lots of great stuff. While camping, I cannot think of anything special I have found. Sounds crazy but I usually just find firewood. In many parts of the state it is illegal to transport non heat treated wood. Last fall shortly after our CG neighbor left (MH) we found a portable power box, not sure what else to call it. It was a rechargeable battery in a plastic box, with a 12V outlet and a 120V inverter (no jumper cables). The DW wanted me to grab it, but I decided to leave it. My gut feeling was a tenter plugged it in right after the MH left, as I did not foresee any reason for MH to plug something like that into the electrical post to recharge.

[Ladywendolyn]

We always walk around and pick up fire wood that has been left behind..

[Locky66]

About 15 years ago my wife and I were tent camping at a campground and notice the people next to use packed up their gear and left without taking their trailer. I hooked it up and pulled it on home. Later that evening after getting bailed out of jail we found out the people had a seasonal.

[amabee]

[tlhdoc]

3 DD stories from me.

#1 Memorial day weekend Friday night. I took the PU to the campground and camped Thursday night. Left in the morning to go to work. Picked up KFC and the boys after work and we went to the campground. The boys took the KFC scraps to the dumpster after dinner. They came back and told me there was a cassette for a cassette toilet in the dumpster. I thought right. Saturday night I took the trash to the dumpster and sure enough there was a cassette in the dumpster. All that was missing was the cap for the dump hole. I cleaned it up, replaced the seals and put a new cap on it. Worked great and gave me the option of changing the cassette and dumping when it was convenient.

2. Blackwoods campground in Acadia NP. There was a 3 foot threaded rod with the ends bent 90 degrees that had been used as a fire poker. It is the best fire poker I have ever used. If anyone has camped with me they know who "Mr. Poke" is. We camped 13 nights on the site. When leaving one of the boys became upset because I packed Mr. Poke to take it home. They told me I should leave it in case the owners came back for it. I told him that the owner did not come back in 14 days I didn't think they would. Then we stopped at the campground office to see if anyone was looking for it. After the ranger told us it was ok to take Mr. Poke home, I was allowed to do so in peace.

3 Labor day weekend I had to take the boys back to town on Saturday morning to register them for their bowling league. We had the breakfast trash in a bag for the dumpster and a bad of dirty clothes to drop off at our house. One of the boys threw the trash in the dumpster. We went to the bowling alley, stopped by the house to drop off the dirty clothes and guess what. We had a bag of trash with us. I had to go dumpster diving back at the campground to get our dirty clothes back. Not a fun time.