Boondock campers with no plumbing?

jmcgsd wrote:
Good opportunity to buy an old 50's canned ham TT. My 53 Aljo was like that. It may have had a small fresh water tank and a hand pump and that was all. The coolest thing about that little guy was the propane lights. There was no battery. Those propane lights served double duty during the winter in that they provided heat also.

Wish I still had it! :S

That's what I was thinking. I looked at a canned ham that was 10'. The guy who owned it replaced the axle with an axle off a 4x4 pickup, put huge wheels and tires on it, and reinforced the frame. It needed some work.

I was interested, but my wife said no way.

I spend a fair amount of time in places like you discribe in October hunting. I think I would be hard pressed to take the TT down any road I need that much clearance on. But that sounds like you got a perfect rig for it, or a really nice Wall Tent with stove. I know there are few of these we see every year that have a great camp set up at over 9000 feet in October.

Good opportunity to buy an old 50's canned ham TT. My 53 Aljo was like that. It may have had a small fresh water tank and a hand pump and that was all. The coolest thing about that little guy was the propane lights. There was no battery. Those propane lights served double duty during the winter in that they provided heat also.

Wish I still had it! :S

A company called Runaway Campers makes a small camping trailer with no plumbing. We just had a discussion about them here a day or two ago.

Two sizes, roughly 4x8 and 6x8 interiors, they are empty boxes with RV doors and windows, maybe some insulation, maybe not (it is a plywood box). These are compact enough for hauling into the boonies, but this also means no stand-up room.

For stand-up room in a camper with no plumbing, consider the Scout line from Aliner. This is not an empty box, it does have furnishings. A "park ready" package adds electrical and city water connections, but no waste tanks or fresh water storage, and so does not really turn it into the Ranger model. I think the Scout comes in one size only, the 12-foot box.

Another thought would be to talk to the manufacturers of molded fiberglass trailers who sell factory-direct, as a lot of their business is built to order, and at least one does special builds for an export market. Both Scamp and Casita build "standard" models without bathrooms (that space gets used for storage, seating, or bunks) so that the only plumbing is for the kitchen, and you might be able to order a build without the kitchen sink and water tanks.

If haven't looked as much into the other egg campers still made, suspect that some other manufacturers may offer models with features at the "Scout" level, or can build you one. Similarly, LivinLite might be persuaded to build a no-plumbing CampLite, but they sell through dealers, which makes custom builds more difficult.

JiminDenver wrote:

acoustic5679 wrote:
Winterizing is not that big of deal to me either. Its just I choose not to fill up the tanks with water cause of where I am camping usually. Last weekend for instance I was 47 miles on a forest service road that was 4x4 high clearance. its not recommended to have a full reservoir of water in my popup camper filled while doing roads like that. Plus I would love the extra storage room. I currently have a jacked up popup with 14" clearance. cage/toy hauler on front. I was just curious if there was a market out there for something like that. Sounds like I may be a minority there. Thanks for all the replies!

I can't take out trailer where you can take your pop up.

I don't care how much lighter it is, we wouldn't be able to take out 25 ft trailer over much rougher than we do now even if I reversed the axles. You can only tip a box like that so far before it gets too top heavy, the length means special attention has to be paid to the waste valves in the back and I always have to know what each of the 8 wheels is doing at any time. Anything above a crawl will shake the trailer and everything in it and the thought of getting it stuck makes me about as cautious as you can get.

It took us 45 minutes to go 4 miles a few trips ago, I wouldn't do 47 miles like that.

I would echo this same thought.

A heavier hard sided trailer is not going to be fun to deal with on rough unmaintained roads. Longer, heavier trailers will bog you down and if you don't bogged down a good chance of dragging front, rear or both ends of the trailer on rocks, mud and such.. Not to mention high centering the entire rig.

I spent a few years cleaning up trees at my BILs place, he has some really rough "trails" if you could call them that.. Ruts as deep as 2 or three feet in places.. No way I would ever want to drag my 18ft Flatbed trailer in there let alone my 26ft TT!

I parked my flat bed trailer at the beginning of his trail, and used my 4x4 tractor with front loader to "shuttle" the fire wood nearly two miles back into his property.. I didn't even want to take my pickup truck into that mess..

acoustic5679 wrote:
Winterizing is not that big of deal to me either. Its just I choose not to fill up the tanks with water cause of where I am camping usually. Last weekend for instance I was 47 miles on a forest service road that was 4x4 high clearance. its not recommended to have a full reservoir of water in my popup camper filled while doing roads like that. Plus I would love the extra storage room. I currently have a jacked up popup with 14" clearance. cage/toy hauler on front. I was just curious if there was a market out there for something like that. Sounds like I may be a minority there. Thanks for all the replies!

I can't take out trailer where you can take your pop up.

I don't care how much lighter it is, we wouldn't be able to take out 25 ft trailer over much rougher than we do now even if I reversed the axles. You can only tip a box like that so far before it gets too top heavy, the length means special attention has to be paid to the waste valves in the back and I always have to know what each of the 8 wheels is doing at any time. Anything above a crawl will shake the trailer and everything in it and the thought of getting it stuck makes me about as cautious as you can get.

It took us 45 minutes to go 4 miles a few trips ago, I wouldn't do 47 miles like that.

westend wrote:
I use to camp in a trailer like that. It was a deer camp special where the owner removed all the plumbing. It was a lot roomier inside than the original.

If you want something newer and want to off road, maybe a trailer mfg would remove the water systems while building to your spec..

Our 62 Cree was the same way, made it real simple and nothing ever broke down.

Years ago... the dirt motorcycle racers.. had cargo trailers setup with hinged beds mounted on the walls... and Heat. 2 windows.. and bike stuff...
and a Few had generator, TV and VCR... Lights... 12 volt and 110.

acoustic5679 wrote:
Yes this makes a lot of sense. We have a Viking popup with water lines, water heater, sink, but no toilet. We carry our composting toilet with for areas we go in that require that. But codes and standards would most likely prevent what I am looking for. At least to be manufactured on a mass scale and make it economically viable for that company.

This has been hashed over, and over and over..

In reality the idea of building something in mass quantities you MUST appeal to a BROAD AUDIENCE. Building a product with no plumbing at all is not going to appeal to a broad audience.. I would place that in a "niche" type "market", a very narrow market which will not support very much in sales. Can't make money if you have one or two buyers every few years.

You have several options.. Build something for yourself without plumbing, buy one with plumbing but don't use it, buy one with plumbing and gut the plumbing.

Personally, it really sounds like to me you are only looking for hard sided "shelter" and that would make a cargo trailer conversion to sleeping quarters a pretty good and viable choice. Just add insulation some heat and a few beds and call it good.

2oldman wrote:
interesting first post.

No plumbing? No, I don't think there would be any demand for that.

Hmm... Dare I say it?

Shades of "Darla" popping back up???