Life before FWC/ATC

[kcowyo]

There have been a couple of posts lately from folks showing their pre-camper set ups. I know I haven't always had a FWC, (but I'm not sure how I lived without it). So I thought maybe it would be fun to post up pics and/or descriptions of how you got around prior to owning a camper.

So let's see what you had!

During the 90's I had a nice '84 Jeep CJ-7. Probably the most fun vehicle I have ever owned. In the fall of '97, I took a 2 1/2 month trip in it from CO to WY, MT, ID, WA, OR, CA, and AZ. 100 days on the road travelling solo on a big loop around the west. With what I thought was a unique idea at the time, I pulled the rear and passenger seats out, made a deck/bed out of plywood and stashed my gear in milk crates underneath.

The above photos were in Death Valley. It was an easy set up that worked great and cost next to nothing to make. Space was tight but I could lay flat and sleep at night and I used the tailgate for cooking. It also was very low profile and drew no attention which as a solo traveller, was important to me.

I took it on a few other shorter trips around Colorado while I was a resident of Lake City. Sadly the Jeep met it's demise in a rollover just above Silverton. Today it still sits in Lake City, in the graveyard of the local Connoco gas station. I traded it to the station owner who had dreams of fixing it but has never gotten around to it.

 

[kcowyo]

Next is the first set up I had with my T100. A sleeping deck built with plywood and 2x8's with access lids to my gear stored underneath. Similar to what I had done with the Jeep years before but with a lot more room. Again, a stealthy arrangement that drew no attention.

I actually could have made sleeping space for two but Mrs. kcowyo at the time wasn't interested in joining me. Gave her the heave ho (or was that leave ho...?) made the deck for one and ran this system until I landed my FWC after two years of searching.

The above photos were taken on the White Rim Trail in Moab, Utah. Eventually I started getting the 'coffin effect', and started to dislike dressing laying down, not being able to sit up very much to read at night, etc. The final straw was a night at the Escalante SP in Utah and it dropped to 18 degrees overnight. I barely slept from the cold and woke up to ice covering the inside of the windows.

Immediately after that trip I returned home and began my long search for a camping solution that would allow me to have a heater, standing room and a comfortable place to get out of bad weather. Unfortunately I still have to deal with the 'coffin effect' when sleeping, but it's more than a fair trade-off.

 

[erod]

good thread kc!

well, here's where it all started, built the platform myself. it had a removable center section that still allowed the dogs some room and the ability to move large items without removing the whole deck. we just slid it in on the floor...really dug this set up but with 2 people and 2 dogs...lets just say it got old.

next, the wildernest...really liked this setup! kept the platform in the truck, tons of storage. when we took the center section out when the wildernest we popped you could use the shelves as benches. lots of pics here, mostly ut, id. and mt. worked great in warm dry weather! even stayed dry in the rain and snow but only while it was popped, if i folded it up all the moisture was transfered to the bed. also, the company was out of business so parts and support weren't readily available...sad to see her go though, if i would of had a garage i most likely would have kept it...hard to find one in that good of shape.

 

[erod]

lets see...couple more in the wildernest. we cooked on the tailgate or inside, depending on the weather. here are a few of the sleeping area and lookinh down into the bed. really a unique and creative idea. super low pro when folded and still retained most of the bed space...

 

[erod]

ok, couple more of the WN and i'll shut up. i miss that rig ! but sold it and found a fwc and am very happy, being able to stay comfortable in bad weather is important and being able to cook/dress/chill inside...well, priceless ...cheers!

 

[Sam]

Wow, that Wildernest is pretty sweet, not sure I would have given that up, though I guess it won't work in the snow?. I'm baffled how the lid can open up and be strong enough to hold 2 people unsuported. Also really clean job on the platform in the bed.

 

[erod]

Wow, that Wildernest is pretty sweet, not sure I would have given that up, though I guess it won't work in the snow?. I'm baffled how the lid can open up and be strong enough to hold 2 people unsuported. Also really clean job on the platform in the bed.

thanks, yea, it was hard to let go for sure...the platform is supported internally with guy wires...you can see these in the photo. i had it for sale on the wtw forum for a while.

oops, forgot to post the photo, here you go.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Edna and I camped by sleeping in the bed of a black '02 Chevy Avalanche Northface edition for a few years. We cooked on a folding table and the tailgate. We also had a tent for extra family members. We stowed gear on the roof rack. We had a lot of fun in that 'truck'.

Two summers ago we spent six weeks with three kids in the East and it rained all the time. Everything was eventually saturated and muddy, even though we packed in dry bags and did our best to keep clean. We spent a lot of money on restaurants, motels and laundromats.

I looked into teardrops for awhile, but eventually sold the Avalanche and bought the '98 F150|'01 Hawk combo for the money I got, plus $1000, plus a trip to the West coast.

This brings to memory a crucial though difficult choice I made-- Although we already owned a 'nice' vehicle, it didn't do for us what I believed we needed. We got a less nice vehicle that did. Edna has come to agree.

Use things. Love people.

 

[brett13]

Amazing that I can't find a pic of this, but we bought a "SUV tent" that just barely fit on our 02 Landcruiser and 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee before that. Found a pic of the same tent on a minivan on the web. This was great for a while because when the tent was off, it was just a Landcruiser that could go anywhere and fit in anywhere. We put a Yakima rack on the roof for firewood, garbage, chairs and whatever else. The downside, was the back was just a mess full of gear (didn't think to build a platform). We got really tired of packing and unpacking, plus just try to find something on a travel day. It was tight between the wheel wells and hard to sleep on. 2" thermarests didn't cut it, we eventually went to an air mattress, which leaks and compresses in the cold. Did I mention cold? Nowhere to escape the weather, and you dressed outdoors or laying down. And we brought all sorts of mud into an otherwise very nice vehicle. Basically, small tent camping. When we got a dog, there just wasn't much room, so we started looking at campers and our expedition rig will never be the same again. For the better, of course.

 

[flinchlock]

Before my ATC Cougar (on order for June 2008).

Mike

 

[Marc]

Before my ATC Cougar.

 

[chnlisle]

I gotta get a slide scanner. Any Suggestions?

 

[erod]

marc, sweet alaskan! those are awesome...nice rig too, any more pics? interior? how do you like the ATC in comparison?

 

[Marc]

Hi erod.
the old Alaskan was a great rig, a true four season camper with good insulation. When that pic. was taken in 02 the old gal was 27 yrs. old and still had alot of life left in her. The down side is they are heavy, about 500lbs heavier than my ATC with similar gear and no cab over bed. Alaskans still use a wood frame. All in all they are very well built just some what heavier. I'll see if I can find some old pics of the interior.

marc

 

[craig333]

Like most I tented for a long time. Used my backpacking tent for camping too, mostly because I couldn't afford another tent. Then I got the brown truck. You can't see it in pic but it has a steel shell on it. Unfortunately it also had and extra gas tank in the bed so it still wasn't good to sleep in.

Then I got the camper you can sort of see in the next pic (these are the only ones I could find real quick, I"ll post more when i find where the rest of my pictures are). This is when it got lonely and decided to join us at the pizza parlor. Replaced that camper with another full size camper until, one day I was coming home down 395 towing the Jeep and a rear tire blew out. Had it not happened on a straight stretch of road I doubt I could have kept from crashing. Being as the camper was way too heavy and had some rot going on, and the truck with the 454 got about 8 mpg, no air bags, anti lock brakes or any other safety feature other than bulk, that incident is what made me decide it was time for a new truck and camper, which brings us up to today and the dodge diesel and fwc.

 

[craig333]

Oh, and the snow pic. Turns out we weren't really stuck. After digging for an hour we realized it had popped out of four wheel drive.

 

[erod]

WOW, that shot of the truck into the building is something!

 

[flinchlock]

I gotta get a slide scanner. Any Suggestions?
Some Epson scanners can do slides, and the price is usually less than $100.

Mike

 

[DLN]

Craig,

What kind of pizza did the truck order?

 

[craig333]

I believe it was a combination. Wait till I find the other pics. You won't believe it also had a trailer with the Jeep on it behind it. Btw, I'm a big fan of chains and binders if you're towing on a trailer