Any Alaksan's in Calgary, Alberta?

[Vic Harder]

Looking for a tour of an Alaskan, before heading out to inspect and purchase one myself.

Thanks in advance!

Vic

 

[dastrom]

You might ask in one of the Alaskan Camper groups on facebook. Much more traffic and a better chance of finding one to check out close to you!

 

[Taku]

Giving up the ATCs Vic?

 

[Vic Harder]

Giving up the ATCs Vic?

not necessarily. And I try to avoid FB....

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

not necessarily. And I try to avoid FB....

What’s FB?

 

[Vic Harder]

camping in Joshua Tree and a brand new 7.5' Alaskan pulls up in the site next to us. He wants to talk solar, so we bond pretty well. I ask him how he likes his new camper and well, he said some VERY unflattering things. And he's not new to popups, having owned a Hallmark for quite some time.

I took a good look at the Perrelli Seals, as that was one source of annoyance for him. They do look like they would leak air, dust, bugs etc. Especially at the corners. He has small "bean bag" sized insulation bags stuff into those corners. I looked at the many small gaps I could see through to the outside, and wondered about the problems this might cause.

AWESOME looking camper otherwise.

His conclusion is that the Alaskan can't possibly be a 4 season camper. How to the experienced folks here view this?

(Disclosure: I really want to like the Alaskan.... I dream of building one out)

 

[Kansafornia]

I *believe* that that's part and parcel to the changing of the guard over at Alaska.

The street is talking about design flaws (like the seal issue your friend ID'd) and that these are at the front of the line via new specification(s). It's apparently not only colors, rebadging, and new marcom but also a desire to design upgrades/fixes into future models - things folks have been back-channeling to Alaska for years.

I guess we'll see...

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Vic, I like them, too. In my rambling around, I’ve run into a number of folks with Alaskans, and the bugs in the corners story is often mentioned, usually with a no big deal “just wad a towel in it”. The gaposis Pirelli seal issue might need more attention if it’s as bad as was mentioned. IMO, the Alaskan is the most comfortable camper I’ve ever been in. The dinette seats have superb support for my back.

My general 2¢ worth is that because of the design and construction, they probably need more care and feeding that some campers, and I’d certainly recommend storing under cover… but, the are so blasted cool.

Here’s one that was a full time live in for 14 years as of about 7 years ago. John Armitsge took it into so truly rough country, beat it hard, and then had Bryan and Rick patch it when needed. The tray is an aluminum build by Highway Products in Southern Oregon.

 

[OregonOzzy]

Having owned an FWC Hawk and now an Alaskan, it will be very hard for me to go back to something with fabric type walls. The solid wall sealing of Alaskan is incomparable and much desired camped in snow in the Oregon high desert. As for the Pirelli seals, in the PNW weather they should last 6-7 years, maybe not so much if you are in the NV desert. Easy to replace a simple DIY project. Make sure to overlap and have the surfaces wipe with the recommended bulge per BryanW. Solid construction and with that comes the only real downside - WEIGHT. They are not mean't for the Taco/Tundra weight class. Put it on a 1-ton and forget about it.
Waiting to see where the new owners take the company.

 

[Vic Harder]

Having owned an FWC Hawk and now an Alaskan, it will be very hard for me to go back to something with fabric type walls. The solid wall sealing of Alaskan is incomparable and much desired camped in snow in the Oregon high desert. As for the Pirelli seals, in the PNW weather they should last 6-7 years, maybe not so much if you are in the NV desert. Easy to replace a simple DIY project. Make sure to overlap and have the surfaces wipe with the recommended bulge per BryanW. Solid construction and with that comes the only real downside - WEIGHT. They are not mean't for the Taco/Tundra weight class. Put it on a 1-ton and forget about it.
Waiting to see where the new owners take the company.

Thanks for that perspective OO.

 

[Vic Harder]

Waking this thread up again, I really wonder about inside storage room in these Alaksans. It seems like the hydraulic pump and other "infrastructure" bits take up most of the lower storage cabinets, and room for our "Stuff" would be mostly found in the overhead cabinets. Is this true? I currently have sooo much storage, that would hard to give up....