FWC vs. Six Pac

[bobg333]

Greetings,
I am a total newbie. I do not own, and never have, a pickup truck or a camper. In the past, I have owned two short (21') motorhomes and before that done a lot of tent camping out of 4x4 Blazers. I am about to retire and looking at doing some extended travel in Baja and mainland Mexico, some of it off-road.

So I take the wife out to visit the FWC facility in Riverside CA and we get our first look at a FWC. With memories of her beloved Tioga in mind, she climbs into a Grandby. It's small. It doesn't have a bathroom. It's small. It doesn't have any storage space. It's small. She gets out.

20' away is a Six Pac. She gets in. It's no Tioga, but after the Grandby, it seems palatial. "Why do we want the pop-up again?" she asks.

So I'm asking you experts; "Why a pop-up?"

Bob in LA

 

[lqhikers]

welcome bob9333

i'm sure you will get many opinons on camper type's i can give you mine as i have used both six-pac and now use fwc pop-up if you go to member list and look at post #7 you will see my six-pac on tacoma,if you only use camper for light use six-pac is fine nice kitchen area,bed stand up room etc. but take one offroad trip and you will see how slow you have to go on rough roads ,limited areas you can go because of height width weight and mostly camper is not built for this type of use,i have traveled with friends that have reg campers and we are in our fwc that is when you notice how slow you have to go in reg camper! if you are planing Baja type travel the trade off is worth it for easy of driving.that being said i have seen almost every type of camper in almost every where we go so it comes down to what you feel good with!. hope this answers some of your questins drive slow and enjou "its the journey"

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

I hope this links to the aforementioned post...

We all respect the opinion of the man, lqhikers, very highly 'round 'ere.

Welcome to the board, Bob.

 

[DLN]

Bob,

Welcome to the board. Our FWC is our first truck camper and we have really enjoyed the light weight and versatility, not to mention the comfort and warmth after 30 years of tent camping. lq's post concerning the differences between them and Six-Pacs covers the subject very well. If you want to get to the great isolated camp spots and not beat your camper or truck to death FWC is the way to go. Good Luck.

 

[b team]

Don't go popup unless you are going to 4x (not just fire roads I mean stuff like death valley and mojave road, etc), like to travel light and somewhat primitive, park inside a garage with the camper on truck, and get good comments about your camper.

For the money I spent on my FWC I could have purchased a much larger camper with a bunch of crap inside it. Do I regret my decision to buy a popup? Heck no!

You might consider a Class A for the wife and a popup w/4x4 truck for yourself

 

[Brian]

Difference...

Welcome folks....
My take is that I love my FWC pop-up for most of what we do. Even not doing a lot of 4wd roads it works quite well.

Like others have said, if you don't plan on going off road or on severe 4wd stuff, maybe a Six-Pac would fit your needs better.

I have some friends, a German couple who have emigrated to the states. They are now on an open-ended trip down through the Americas. We saw them last in Guatemala heading south. They decided on a Six-Pac camper on a Chevy 3/4T extended cab diesel truck and completely redid the interior for their needs. I think it was a very good choice for an extended trip like that. After the 6th month in it they would have been climbing the walls in a pop-up. They were able to drive every road we did and believe me the roads were rough in places...much like what we call 4wd roads here but they are used by everyone, including buses and trucks of all sizes.

If you are retired and not concerned with how fast you go, as lqhiker says, "drive slow and enjoy, it's the journey" I would probably go for the Six-Pac. I believe they also make a shell that you could customize for your needs if, like many here, you don't want or need the standard rv stuff.

Good luck, have fun and use the camper. And as I am sure you know, if the lady is not happy, you won't be either
Brian

 

[craig333]

Lack of an inside bathroom and shower is the only real downside of a popup to me. My previous camper (and truck) was big and heavy. I loved the storage and the shower but I didn't like constantly (even driving around the neighborhood) watching my overhead clearance. I didn't like the way the truck handled with a heavy camper. I didn't like the gas mileage I got with a heavy camper.

You'll notice most of us, we don't spend much time inside the camper except to sleep, unless the weather forces us to.

You've tented and trailered, I guess you need to see which way you lean.

 

[pvstoy]

...With memories of her beloved Tioga in mind, she climbs into a Grandby. It's small. It doesn't have a bathroom. It's small. It doesn't have any storage space. It's small. She gets out...

...And as I am sure you know, if the lady is not happy, you won't be either...

Now that is something to think about...every day, 24/7. What would be the living comfort zone for both of you???

Welcome to the forum Bob and good luck with your joint decision.

 

[simimike]

Welcome to the forum Bob,

Like you I'm near retirement. When the wife and I went looking for a RV for our Golden Years we looked at everything. We liked motor homes but they just seemed to big. And trailers didn't really work for us. Though sitting under the awning with a couple of plastic flamingos does have a certain appeal.

That left us with truck campers. We both liked Six-pack. We had a FWC prior to this and enjoyed it, So we bought another FWC. I like to think of FWC as super deluxe tent camping. One of the positives to me is not having to deal with holding tanks. To me there is a certain Zen simplicity to these campers that makes the outdoors more enjoyable. Part of the thought process was that as adventure camping lost it's charm we could sell the FWC and buy a hard side. So plastic flamingos may still be in my future.

One thing to keep in mind is first decide on the camper then buy the truck to fit it. No matter which RV forum you go to, NOBODY says they bought to much truck! I bought my truck with the idea that our camping style may change over the years. Hope this helps.

Another option is Sportsmobiles. They make something for just about everyone.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[remithoren]

Tiger Provan or Sportsmobile or a FWC/ATC

And then theres the Tiger Provan. A 4x4 truck chassis and extra cab, with a solid camper attached. Diesal. Fiberglass like a Bigfoot trailer. I saw one in San Simeon and it was well designed, overhead sleeping, bath with shower, settee and the ability to 'walk through.' This walk through is often forgotten as there is safety to not having to go outside of the vehicle to the camper. I think this is one of the advantages of the Sportsmobile. Both the Provan and Sportsmobiles can set you back 80K. If I was doing a 6 month or year trip, or a trip to Alaska/CanadaI would consider the Provan.

Having said all this, for us the FWC Hawk works great. We just got back from Monterey and Laguna Seca. And having a pop up is simpler, the truck handles great and works as an around the town vehicle.

 

[benburnett]

What type of camper

Well as you can tell, everyone has an idea or reason for the camper that they own.

When it comes right down to it, what will the wife be happy with if she is going to be going with you all the time. The guys can live in a cave and be happy as long as there is a tree within walking distance. The wife may be another story.

Look at what type of camping that you are going to be doing and the comforts that the wife wants to have. She has made you happy all these years, now is not the time to tell her to buck up and put up with what she doesn't want.

The FWC will let you get into places that the Six Pack won't. It will be easier to drive but you do have to give up some comforts that the Six Pack has.

Everything is a trade off for what you want to do and where you want to go but the bottom line still comes back to the wife and what will she be happy with and want to go with you in.

 

[craig333]

And if money is no object, you could try the earthroamer. Looks nice but I'd need to win the lottery first.

http://www.earthroamer.com/tab_xpedition_vehicles/vehicles.html

 

[John D]

More than one asked me, “How did you stay warm in that popup in Alaska?” My answer was, “two blankets and one friendly woman.”

 

[chnlisle]

I think you could have done it with one blanket and two friendly women also.

 

[bobg333]

Thanks for all the input

Thanks for all the thoughtful response. I appreciate it. This may surprise you, but my wife read them all and is now leaning toward the pop-up. I have a follow-on question which I will pose in a different thread. ~ Bob