Gear Reviews — Honest, Long-Term, Van-Tested on Create A Van Life

Goal Zero Yeti 1400 Review: 7-Year Full-Time Verdict

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I bought a Goal Zero Yeti 1400 in October 2018 when Karlee and I started living full-time in our 2017 ProMaster.

Seven years of daily van life. Arizona heat, Colorado winters, Florida humidity, New York cold. Mission Beach coffee-shop charging sessions. Mountain power failures. The seven-day Florida overcast week that rewired how I think about power. Eventually, capacity loss after our 8-month Southeast Asia trip and a final induction-burner zero-out that ended the era.

BLUETTI AC180 Review for Van Life

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Honest opener: we don’t own the BLUETTI AC180. We do run a Bluetti Elite 200 V2 every day — that’s our daily power station after 7 years of running a Goal Zero Yeti 1400 ahead of it. So the brand we trust is the one this unit is built on, but our hands-on hours are with the Elite 200 V2, not the AC180.

BLUETTI AC200L Review for Van Life

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Honest opener: we don’t own the BLUETTI AC200L. We do run a Bluetti Elite 200 V2 — different unit, same brand, same family, roughly the same capacity tier. So our brand-confidence on this page is real and our hands-on hours are with a sibling unit, not this one.

EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max Review for Van Life

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Honest opener: we don’t own the EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max. We run a Bluetti Elite 200 V2 in roughly the same capacity tier — different brand, different ecosystem bet. So this is a spec-and-comparison analysis through the recovery-first lens we built across 8 years of full-time van life, not first-person hours on this unit.

EcoFlow DELTA 2 Review for Van Life

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Honest opener: we don’t own the EcoFlow DELTA 2. We run a Bluetti Elite 200 V2 daily — different brand, different ecosystem, different ecosystem bet. So this is a spec-and-comparison analysis through the recovery-first lens we built across 8 years of full-time van life, not first-person hours on this unit.

Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus Review for Van Life

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Honest opener: we don’t own the Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus. We run a Bluetti Elite 200 V2 daily — different brand, different ecosystem bet. So this is a spec-and-comparison analysis through the recovery-first lens we built across 8 years of full-time van life, not first-person hours on this unit.

Anker SOLIX C1000 Review: From a Bluetti Owner

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Honest opener: we don’t own the Anker SOLIX C1000. We run a Bluetti Elite 200 V2 every day and we ran a Goal Zero Yeti 1400 for 7 years before that. So this isn’t a 6-month real-use review — it’s a spec-and-comparison analysis through the recovery-first lens we built across 8 years of full-time van life. We’re treating that as a feature, not an apology. Most reviews on this unit are launch hype. This one is honest about what kind of read it is.

BLUETTI Elite 200 V2 Review for Van Life

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I bought my Bluetti Elite 200 V2 on Black Friday after running a Goal Zero Yeti 1400 for seven years.

Going from a 25-hour wall charge to roughly 1.5 hours felt like a different world. Not a small upgrade. A different world. The Ninja Crispi air fryer that wasn’t even possible on the Yeti now just runs. The seven-day Florida overcast week that nearly broke us in 2019 — Yeti era, hauling it into coffee shops every day for 12% per two hours — would not happen on this unit.

EcoFlow River 2 Pro Review for Van Life

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Honest opener: we don’t own the EcoFlow River 2 Pro. We run a Bluetti Elite 200 V2 — different brand, much larger capacity, different size class entirely. So this is a spec-and-comparison analysis through the recovery-first lens we built across 8 years of full-time van life, not first-person hours on this unit.

BLUETTI Charger 1 Alternator Charger Review