Dometic makes a greater transportable water faucet

As a reluctant doomsday prepper and keen vanlifer, Dometic’s battery-powered Go Faucet has, for the previous couple of years, performed a central function in my bougie bug-out equipment and my tenting rig’s water system. So it took me all of two minutes with Dometic’s new Recon 360 Faucet to understand it’s an improve in each single approach that issues — after which confirmed after per week of testing it.

As to the upgrades, the Recon 360 Faucet ditches the easy-to-miss contact floor for actual mechanical buttons. One button produces a typical water circulation to brush your enamel or fill a glass, and the second, bigger button emits a extra forceful stream for laundry dishes, your hair, or rapidly filling a water bottle earlier than heading out on a hike. The water stream shuts off with a second press of the energetic button, in any other case it’ll mechanically cease the circulation after 90 seconds or 1.5L/3L to keep away from depleting that treasured useful resource.

In my testing, urgent the smaller button extracts one liter of water in 41 seconds (at a loud 52dB from arm’s size), whereas the quick button yields one liter in simply 24 seconds at a fair louder 60dB. The low-flow mode is quieter than the unique one-button Go Faucet, with a much less annoying drone as a result of its decrease pitch. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless too loud for vanlifers to sneak a glass of water at night time whereas others sleep, though the brilliant LED gentle that illuminates the stream actually makes it potential.

And because the title suggests, the bottom can now be rotated 360 levels for extra placement choices. It’s a welcome change that ought to scale back the variety of occasions I’ve to wash water off my kitchen counter when the stiff, crimp-resistant water hose — included with each Dometic fashions — prompted the light-weight faucet to twist away from the sink.

Fortunately, the brand new faucet has additionally been migrated from Micro USB to a USB-C connector for charging, with a battery that’s nonetheless good for about 150 liters (about 40 gallons). The Recon 360 Faucet now additionally has just a little LED meter on prime that reveals the remaining cost.

The tap is barely smaller however just a little heavier than the Go mannequin. It comes with a choice of metallic pucks that may be adhered to a countertop or water jug to create a platform for the tap’s magnetic base. The pressure of the brand new magnet feels about twice as sturdy because the older mannequin, which ought to maintain the tap in place higher when driving down bumpy roads. That’s good as a result of I’ve despatched my Go Faucet flying by way of the van about 5 or 6 occasions now, but it simply retains on pumping. I hope the Recon 360 Faucet is simply as sturdy.

The one actual difficulty is the value: $149.99 for the Recon 360 Faucet, as an alternative of $99.99 for the Go Faucet, which Dometic nonetheless sells. The Go Faucet is nice, however the Recon 360 fixes so many little complaints that I believe it’s value each further penny. Sure, there are cheaper and less-functional options available on Amazon and Aliexpress, but when you could use a transportable faucet repeatedly, like I do, then Dometic’s sturdy and feature-rich taps gained’t disappoint when you can afford them.

All images by Thomas Ricker / The Verge