Grasshopper loop is the good kind of primitive — lakefront, fire rings, zero electricity. We're an electric family with air mattresses, so three systems make camp run like home. This page is the decision log: every pick, every pass, and the why. Researched July 2026; prices are street prices.
A self-contained water station: drop it on the table, click in an M18, snap the line onto a jug, flip the glowing switch. Everything wet lives in the tray; everything electric lives below deck.
Any toolbox with a lift-out tray and a flat wall section (the Akro-Mils 09514, 14×8×8, fits snug — a 19–20" box fits comfy). Pump + dock + buck + wiring below deck; coiled suction line, jug cap and spares ride in the tray.
M18 dock → 10A fuse → buck converter set to 12V (verify with a multimeter before the pump ever sees power) → big lit 12V rocker switch → pump. The lit rocker rides after the buck so its lamp sees clean 12V; pulling the battery is master-off. Pump draws its 6A max only at pressure-switch cutoff (~3A flowing).
¾" GHT bulkhead tank fitting out to the sink hose · ½" barbed bulkhead in from the jug. The suction side must be airtight (thread sealant + hose clamps) or it loses prime and machine-guns.
Brass garden-hose quick-connects on the suction line, ending in a dip-tube cap that snaps onto a 5-gal crown top (Flojet-style bottled-water cap kit, ~$18) — no open jug necks at a campsite. For the Aqua-Tainers, the line drops through a drilled spare cap.
Panel-mount SAE charge port wired through its own fuse (charge the box without opening it) · pump mounted on its rubber feet to a plywood scrap · battery dock oriented so the release button faces the lid.
Full jug, box at tailgate height (self-primes 2–4 ft), open and close the faucet a few times. A clean click-off = done. Rapid cycling = air leak at a suction clamp — a two-minute fix at home, a dinner-dishes crisis at camp.