Hit my 24th night in the camper this weekend with my late rifle elk hunt. Buddy and I spent 4 nights in northwest Colorado chasing the wapiti. Unfortuneately we ate tag soup, but we had a great time and saw some beautiful country. Overall it didn’t get that cold at night except the last night (about 5 degrees) and we stayed very comfortable. I did tuck a layer of reflective floor underlayment insulation under the canvas straps all the way around and I think that really helped contain heat tremendously. Best part is it was only about $10! I Velcro’d some to the ceiling as well but that stupid Velcro just won’t stick to the insulation very well.
I learn more about it every time I use it. The good is the solar setup, even in winter has been great for keeping everything going and the furnace will a little albeit ugly insulation can keep it comfortable even to very cold temps. I did have a 20 degree sleeping bag so that helped too.
The bad is that I definitely need to redo the angle of the tie downs. With the old setup the camper never moved, but this way, on an off camber section of off-road dirt, she shifted a solid 6 inches sideways and I thought we were going over!
Looking to the future- I certainly lust after a new camper. I’m worried about the longevity of everything given the amount of fairly intense off-roading I keep finding myself doing. I’m just waiting for the trip where we get to camp and the top won’t lift because the lift system snapped or some wood torqued too much on the road getting there. Further, our family is growing, we’re expecting our first child at the end of February and will definitely need some more space. I think the ultimate dream is to throw a flatbed on the ole dodge and plop down cash on a hawk flatbed model. We’ll just have to see!
Hopefully some pics will post in the next post of the trip!
