We still love to go camping when we can get off work during the warmer times of the year, but don’t always enjoy sleeping in the rooftop tent as much when the nights are muggy. To extend the season for rooftop tent camping we’ve been using a couple $30 rechargeable camping fans. These not only keep us cooler in the tent at night, but also help circulate air in the cab when we put the dogs to bed in their backseat den – with window screens installed to keep them from jumping out.
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Why Do You Need a Rechargeable Camping Fan?
A rechargeable camping fan not only helps you stay cooler at night but is also good for keeping flies away when preparing meals – and helping keep mosquitoes away from ankles when sitting around camp in the evening. We’ve been through probably about seven different brands of rechargeable camping fans before finally stumbling on a pair of them that’s held up to the rougher conditions we subject them to. Now I think we’ve finally found the best fan for camping and overlanding, not at a sporting goods store but at Home Depot.
Features to Look For in a Rechargeable Camping Fan
When choosing the best kind of rechargeable camping fan for your needs it’s important to look at some features that can vary greatly from one brand of fan to another. We expect our fans to run all night, meaning they need at least 8 hours of run-time, along with blowing enough air to keep us cool, and also we like them to be rugged and rechargeable in the field.
What to Look For:
- Battery amp-hours and advertised run-time.
- Can be recharged in your vehicle.
- Rugged construction.
- CFM or cubic feet per minute of air flow.
- Stable Base
- Hooks for hanging in tent.
- Swivel Head.
We Took The Ryobi One 7.5″ Fan Camping
We’ve loved using our cheap rechargeable models that we bought on Amazon for about $30 each. They last all night on low and aren’t too loud, plus are USB-C rechargeable. We packed a couple of these with our gear before heading out on a two day camping trip at a drive-up site in Muleshoe Bend Recreation Area near Austin. We knew that the daytime temperatures in early September at the park were still hovering in the 100’s, with nights thankfully being in the mid 70’s, so to make our trip more comfortable we stopped at Home Depot on the way out of town and bought a Ryobi One 7.5″ Hybrid fan.
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How Long Did The Ryobi One Hybrid Series Fan Run?
After setting up the tent and going for a short hike we returned to camp and began getting ready to cook supper at about 8:00 PM. We switched on the Ryobi One fan with a newly charged P104, 4 amp-hour battery pack plugged in and set it on low. We noticed right away that on low the fan put out about twice as much air as our less expensive rechargeable fans do on that setting. One thing that really impressed us was that on the high setting you could feel a good breeze from up to twenty feet away!
The Ryobi One 7.5″ Hybrid 18V Fan Ran For 24 Hours on Low!
It was pretty warm for the first few hours after dark, so we turned it up to medium for about two hours, then back down to low where it stayed for the rest of the night. When we got up in the morning at about 6:00 AM it was still blowing (with the battery pack only half depleted) and the fan kept running on the same battery until we changed batteries at 8:00 PM the next day! There was one bar of battery life left and it may have run longer than 24 hours on low so we’ll test it again the next time we go camping. (Please note that battery life and run times may vary greatly due to factors like outside temperature, age of batteries etc.)
How Noisy is The Ryobi One Hybrid 7.5″ Fan?
We checked the fan when we got back home using a sound meter app on our phone. On low the reading, from one foot away, was 51.2 dB, (same as a quiet office). On medium we measured 52.6 dB and on high measured 57.2 dB, (quiet conversation level) – not bad at all. On the high setting is was a bit too loud for sleeping, but the sound didn’t bother us at all on low or medium. The low setting puts out as much air as our cheaper fan, with much less noise.
Pros and Cons of The Ryobi One 18 Volt 7.5″ Whisper Series Fan
Pros
- Great air flow – much better than cheap rechargeable fans.
- Heavy duty construction
- Runs all night on low
Cons
- A bit heavy with the battery installed.
- Costs more (we paid $65)
- Doesn’t have a built-in charger.
- No hook on top for hanging.
- Doesn’t have a built-in flashlight like some other camping fans.
The Bottom Line
Would we buy the Ryobi One 7.5″ Hybrid Whisper Series fan again? Absolutely yes. It’s a much better made fan than the ones we’ve been using and it should last for many camping seasons. We already have two P104 lithium batteries to use with it and just ordered a Ryobi P131 12 volt car charger to top off the batteries when traveling between camping spots.
The fan also has some nice details, like holes on the back for hanging from a nail, along with hooks on the base which allow it to be hung from storage shelves.
If you’re new to camping or just looking for some more gear ideas you can see our post Essential Things to Bring On Your First Camping Trip.
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