Barth All Aluminum Truck Camper 1967

dadwolf2 wrote:
Good thing you said in your post that you weren't parting with the Barth. Many guys (myself included) were getting ready to PM you and start negotiating a price!!

I haven't seen either in person but why do you believe that the Bigfoot 3000 is a better winter performer than Northernlite or even the 2500 series? I thought the two brands were close to being clones. Is the 3000 series something new? I only see a 1500 and 2500 on their website.

I haven't checked this thread for a while. Sorry for the delay responding. I like winter camping. Or I should say, I like to be warm in the winter. It started when I could not find a hotel or motel in ski country when I was young. I resolved not to be dependent on anyone after that.

I looked for a winter capable Bigfoot 2500 series for many years. The prices on those are very high. I changed my focus to the 3000 series and found one I liked. The 3000 series is no longer in production. It is more boxy shaped which is less well suited for fiberglass construction, but also gives them more room and storage inside. The 3000 series is better insulated (R12) than the 2500 series (R8). The 2500 series is all fiberglass which is better. The 3000 series is cheaper to buy and heavier to carry.

I got a good price on mine and only had a few things that needed to be fixed. The savings gave me more freedom to upgrade it with solar panels, and higher capacity batteries. I am delighted by how well it has turned out. Mine has a wet bath, which works fine for me. It also has a rubber roof which seems to be in fine shape. I found a spot at the front center bevel of fiberglass nose piece where there was a 3 inch gap in the insulation--now filled with spray foam.

What is nice about winter camping is many places are empty in the winter. No one bothers me if I pull over for a while. If it's cold out, people are somewhere warm, not causing trouble. There are so few people winter camping that seeing one camper is briefly noteworthy and then forgotten. People are not worried about someone homesteading--they know you are traveling. With that in mind I was only looking at winter campers or camper I could make cold weather capable.

I plan to improve the insulation further by fitting rigid foam panels under the bed, in the cab-over cabinets and over some windows--every place that's feasible. There are always places than could stand a bit more insulation. At some point I'll borrow a thermal imager and find all the remaining problem areas.

All this is just to save on propane. I can boon-dock for a week in the summer until my water runs out. I have similar problems in the winter with propane running out in less than a week. Better insulation means my propane will last longer.

Next up is installing a solar hot water system. I found a 4 square foot solar hot water panel on Amazon that is sized right for a 6 gallon water tank. I'm making a few more upgrades to the water system; including a hot water loop to cycle hot water to the galley sink so no water is wasted waiting for it to come out hot. I also want to modify the winterizing loop to refill my water tank from an external tank. I may add a second water tank in the generator compartment. My water tank only holds 32 gallons, I'd like to double that.

Winter means lower sun angles. I am debating installing stick on thin solar panels on the front of my cab-over which will help keep my batteries charged up during that season when it is facing south.