63 replies to this topic

[Kodachrome]

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…:-)

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

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

[ski3pin]

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!"

[Darryla]

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

Darryl

[brett13]

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?

[Overland Hadley]

Thanks for the long term report.

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

[K6ON]

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.

[Cort]

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

[ski3pin]

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!

[Kodachrome]

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!