ATC Bobcat after one year...

On the 10th of September of last year, I picked up my Bobcat from Marty in Reno. It was to become and has become my primary living quarters for my book project on Kodachrome film. Now, over a year later, I have logged tens of thousands of miles and nearly 200 days and nights in the camper.

I get lots of great inquiry and compliments on it and it has been virtually flawless. I have even enjoyed putting my touches on it. I know every inch of it's build and operation, I run it like a tight ship, everything in it's place, everything taken very good care of. I was going to do a deep clean in January when my project ends, but Burning Man was exceptionally dirty / dusty so I took it to a friend's house and went to town on it, removing the cushion covers and rinsing them in fresh water, fully cleaning both Fantastic Fans. For the harsh conditions of Burning Man, I created a fully closed loop vent system consisting of old seat cushion material and the use of one of the two fans in exhaust mode only. Three pieces of cushion filtered the incoming air, the primary in the front slider window, secondary in the louvered side window and a small round one in the aft access port under the galley. To help cool the camper overall, I wrapped the entire upper of the camper in Reflectix and sealed it with gaffer's tape. This protected the pop-up portion and dropped the interior temperature by at least 20 degrees. While it was 95 outside, it never got over 80 in the camper, it worked killer.

The purchase of my All Terrain Bobcat is by far one of the best investments I have ever made as a professional photographer as it creates a safe working environment, a safe and clean place to live, all in one light and tight package that goes literally everywhere. I have been on the road now in my longest sustained trip in what I now call the "Silver Goose", some 54 days in a row, the longest stretch will be 96 days finishing the year. The solar is one of my favorite things about the camper, keeping the battery at 100% constantly. The propane lasts forever, even with the heater going and the fridge running full blast. When I am done with my project, I will have logged at least 250 days and nights in the Bobcat, will remove it from my truck and put it in my friend's workshop for a month as inspect it, clean it and do all the little mods I want to do to make it even better.

So my hat is off to Marty and Jeff for making a great camper for me, I hope at least one of the many people that have checked it out will come your way and give you the business you deserve.

Sincerely,

Kodachrome…

I've had my ATC since Jan '07 and I have had a great time in it. Three cheers for Marty, Don and Jeff!

Stew

Three cheers for Marty and Jeff!

Stew


Kodachrome, thanks for the update on your well used and appreciated ATC. I will second Stew's "three cheers!"

I purchased my fully loaded Bobcat in March, 2008. I also think I made a great choice. We use it almost every weekend.

Darryl

Nice testimonial. Great idea on the reflective stuff- looks cool too.

Now, about the chain in the front of the truck. Are you trying to keep the truck from wandering off?

Also curious: did you make that wind reflector or buy it somewhere?

Thanks for the long term report.

A little off topic, but can you detail the trucks suspension and how it has held up.

I've had my ATC since Jan '07 and I have had a great time in it. Three cheers for Marty and Jeff!

Stew


I agree about Marty and Jeff, but don't forget Don...He's there too.
Three great characters who build fantastic campers. Those guys will
always have my camper business.

Another Hats off to the guys at ATC...I have had my Bobcat for a very short time (<1-yr) but have already put over 30 nights in it, 20 of those with 2-adults and an 8-yr old, and taken it on some pretty rough trails. No problems so far and I love it more and more everyday.

Cort

I agree about Marty and Jeff, but don't forget Don...He's there too.
Three great characters who build fantastic campers. Those guys will
always have my camper business.


Mr. Delta, thanks for the correction. We should not forget Don. Here's to the three great characters!

The chain was were I locked my bike which worked great until I was out photographing a precession of rabbit people and leaned it against a pole and it got stolen right from underneath my nose, that was day three of a week on the playa.

I made the wind fairings out of a sheet of aluminum and mounted it on a Thule rack, it adds a mile or a bit more per gallon but really kills vibration and noise the most, keeps bugs off of the camper, well worth it.

The suspension is Camburg 2.5 inch coil over shocks and Icon billet arms up front and Icon rear reservoir shocks with air bags on the back. The suspension had been really great, about 25-30 pounds of air in the bags. The 4.0 V6 has a TRD super charger giving it a ton more power with a much broader range of torque, it pretty much screams even with the camper and all of my gear on it.

Overall, it is one incredibly able machine. I hope to create removable darkroom components next year for developing and even printing fine art film images while in the field.

Thanks to Don too!

Kodachrome a couple questions if you have time:

So is the reflectix in ADDITION to an artick pack or whatever ATC is calling it?
Do you feel it would work inside as well as it does out or is reflecting the direct solar gain the major benefit?
How long does it take to put it in place and gaffer tape it in?

Sub 80 in the camper when its 95 outside is very,very impressive.

Just a brief note to say that every time we use our Bobcat, we are impressed with how well it fits our needs. Marty, Jeff, and Don worked out a dinette that is a pleasure to use, built a camper that fitted our specs, and were (and are) great to deal with.

my response......."yeah what he said....times 10"

57 days since my last post, all in the camper. She is still holding up good, but New England put it to the test, seriously. Right now, the wind is out of the front left side, blowing 25-45 sustained, gusting to 60, the rain is still coming in bands, a serious blower storm on am island in Maine.

Shortly after this post was started, my aux battery died, was not holding a charge, got an optima blue. Some days I think the solar is fine, other days not so sure, but this is New England in November after all. Glad I have the artic pak insulation, it is the least you should do in these maritime climates...

Now for the not so good news......leaks, bad ones in fact. In early October, Vermont was hit with near record rain in a storm born of a hurricane remnant. During the 36 hour non-stop deluge, I bailed out over one gallon of water out of the back of the camper. It was leaking in 4 spots, the worst in an area that always saw at least a small amount of water by the door between the left lower door moulding and the bench / storage compartment. Then near the fridge at the bolts for the rear step, in a wood seam under the fridge overhang ad finally from a faulty seal job of mine from the rear roof vent.

So after a week of drying out, I took apart the gas can holder, removed the rear steps and added loads of seal to the vent. I also added silicone to every little seam and hole I could find on the rear. Now the only leak is the one under the fridge compartment seam. So I am much dryer but not totally sealed yet.

Little crap has happened as well like one of the curtain button wraps losing it's button. A turnbuckle access port slider splitting when it got sticky in very cold and wet weather. Then I stupidly forgot an object on the storage above the side window when closing the roof and split the wood on the rear lower folding roof upright, temporarily fixed it with some wood veneer and gaffer's tape.

So I have 60 more days before I am home, she is holding up ok considering I live and work in it full time.
My advice would be that if you are from a cold wet climate and camp in such, you will want ATC to make good and sure that your unit is sealed really well. Right now, the fridge compartment is getting hit hard by the wind, if I hold my hand around any of the seams, I can feel cold air coming in. So I put trimmed strips of gaffers tape on them to keep it out.

It's cold rainy and windy outside, I am warm and cozy in the camper, but it took some work on my part to get it that way in this part of the world....

To add, the split in the wood was only 3 inches long, had not grown due to my repair, again, my fault, most likely will need to replace that back lower panel though once project is done.

A year of more or less what I would call full timing! An envious adventure indeed!

While I don't have an ATC, your report based on the sheer amount of time in use says a lot for this brand. I read with interest your earlier posts from when you took delivery. Your outside shower curtain idea is/was first rate. It is good to read it is serving you well. When and if I find the need to upgrade I will certainly need to give ATC due consideration. Hopefully the big three will go back to wider tailgates thus eliminating that scenario.

In closing thank you for the link to your Kodachrome project. I admire your photographic ability!

Day number 113 on this leg, probably hit 117 before I am home. Since July 20th I have spent a total of one week at home, not in my ATC. The lab stopped taking the film from the entire world for good at noon on the 30th of December. All kinds of news agencies showed up, tons of photographers and Fedex, UPS and the USPS with get this...close to 10,000 more rolls of 35mm still, 8mm and 16mm movie film showing up in the last two days they would accept it.
Needless to say, even though the lab is no longer taking the film, they are processing it nearly 24/7 until late this week.

So I am still here, stealth camping at a rest stop on I-70 West of Hays Kansas, snowing, cold, cozy in my ATC, alarm set for 6:30 so I can shoot a truck stop by day break...

I have been interviewed several times, TV, newspaper and magazine:

http://www.newsweek.com/video/2011/01/04/kodachrome-a-little-stained-glass-window-of-truth.html

But a little known fact....one that I am trying to keep fairly quiet but might be sort of safe here is that unlike the rest of the world, I am still shooting the film as per an agreement with the lab going back about 6 years ago.

I am the only person in the world shooting the film now and will be the very last person on Earth to do so....

Great interview and statement about your work. Thanks.

Kodachrome, enjoyed the interview, photos, and information about your project. Thank you for sharing. And its great that an ATC camper is involved in the project, that's pretty cool for us wanderers here. Thanks again and best of luck with the continuing project.

Great interview and work Daniel, glad to see you're still around here.