comparing Northern Lite and Bigfoot 25c 10.4

burningman wrote:
Northern Lite equally sucks on waste hose storage. Fixable the same way, but what’s with that, you Canuks?

From what I've heard lately, the hose and connector Northern lite supplies fits in their bumper. If you go to any other type of hose or connections however they don't. I agree it seems fairly simple to just provide a slightly larger sized storage location to solve this issue for good.

Northern Lite equally sucks on waste hose storage. Fixable the same way, but what’s with that, you Canuks?

I agree,as previously mentioned, both are good campers. Owning our 10.4 for almost 9 years the short queen bed hasn’t been a issue, nor has the mid bath that divides the camper into sections. The refrigerator door can hit the bathroom door if fully opened,but rarely happens. The dinette is fine for my wife and I. The panoramic view from the rear of the camper as Beagle mentioned,makes the floor plan. The skylight is another hole in the roof but the natural light in the early morning allows me to read without lights on. The ducted furnace provides more than enough heat to the whole camper quickly. Especially nice on those cold mornings is the duct in the bathroom. Sewer hose storage on the Bigfoot was poor. I attached a 6”x6” vinyl fence post under the camper bumper for storage. We are overall pleased with the camper. A lot comes down to personal preference

The Bigfoot 10.6 and NL 10.2 aren’t same layout.
The NL dinette bed is over 6’, the BF under 6’. Significant if you use that bed, not so much if you don’t.
You can get a NL with sliding glass windows.
“Sportsman” series has glass - but I think the 10-2s all have the acrylic windows.
Example

One thing I do not see addressed is the floor width aka the ease of two people passing each other..Looking at pictures it is hard to tell other than the Bigfoot 10.4 has the narrows towards the back...

I am interested in the 9.6 BF or NL for my needs back in the hills.I could go larger but that's not why I came back to a TC..

By pictures only the AF 865 looks the roomiest or has the widest floor but pictures never do justice.

As an example,my Lance 9.6 is kinda narrow until you pass the dinette then it is pretty open, enough for two to pass with ease.

They are both good campers, a tier above most other brands in construction method and execution. A couple of misperceptions however:

The Bigfoot is available as the 10.4 (with forward bath) and 10.6 (with aft bath). They are exactly the same shell, and are both about 11' actual box length. The 10.6 floorplan is virtually identical to the NL 10-2. The NL is about 2 or 3" longer overall than the Bigfoot. So pick the floorplan you like, Bigfoot has both while NL has only the rear bath. I looked specifically for the 10.4 forward bath because I like the panoramic view. The downside of the arrangement is the small dinette. The dinette in the 10.6 is about the same as the NL.

The cabinets in the Bigfoot feature oak doors and drawer fronts, but some sort of simulated would-be-wood for the face frames. The vinyl covering on these does not hold up to much abuse.

You can open the fridge in the Bigfoot 10.4, but the doors hit the bath wall at about 80 deg open. I've never thought it the slightest problem in 5 years of use.

The claimed dry weight of them are similar, within a few pounds. I'm sure, like all RV manufacturers, they both lie about it.

The BF has a flimsy plastic Dometic skylight but glass double pane windows. The NL has a flimsy plastic Dometic skylight and flimsy plastic Dometic windows. The queen bed in the BF is a "travel queen" or 74" rather than 80". This can be a problem if you are tall.

On the heater, the 30KBTU installed by Bigfoot is way more than necessary, if I were ordering one I'd have them put in a 25 or 20Kbtu, unless I was expecting to camp in -40 weather. I swapped mine for the 15/22 dual stage version, not sure they make that anymore after Dometic acquired Atwood. Even 15 kbtu is plenty until you are well below freezing.

When I was shopping I looked at both. I liked the bathroom and holding tank sizes in the BF. I liked the fit, finish and seating/living area of the NL. The BF weighed more than the NL.

In the end I liked the "openness" of the NL and went that way.

- Mark0.

My 2005 9.6 2500 Bigfoot was advertised as having 1.5" insulation, this was not true as the entire roof has 1" expanded polystyrene. The roof layers are as follows 1) fibreglass, 2) 1/2" plywood, 3) 1" expanded polystyrene, 4) 3/8" plywood, 5) carpet. Much of the bottom floor isn't insulated and what is, was poorly placed 1" insulation. I don't know if the new campers are built this way oe not.


The 30000 btu ducted furnace in the Bigfoot is nice to warm things up quickly but the downside is turboprop type noise, lots of amp draw, and when the temps get cold 0 degrees f and lower it can use propane faster than the 20lb bottle can let the liquid propane evaporate to gas, so the furnace doesn't make the full 30000 btu's this causes the furnace to run longer and use more battery power at temps that already have the batteries at a disadvantage.


My Bigfoot, niether the propane or battery box were insulated and allow alot of cold air in. Also the bottom of the fridge had no insulation.

When using it in really cold damp places the NL does tend to get condensation under the bed, the solution for that is a Froli mattress support setup. It also makes the bed more comfortable. I just put one in. Cost $450... that sucked... but it’s really cool.

I second Burningmans assessment almost word for word. I too had the opportunity to view both of these campers side by side at the recent Seattle rv show. On paper I preferred the Bigfoot, but in person I preferred the Northern lite.

A huge plus for the Bigfoot is the bathroom. It is probably one of the best bathrooms I have seen in a non slide camper ever. It even has a window. But, it does divide the camper into two sections, but some people prefer that so that's a preference thing. Another thing this design does is make the tv difficult to see from the dinette if that is something that interests you.

I would suggest that you take a look at the product reviews on Truck camper magazine if you haven't already. They have an in depth review of both of these models. Just look under their review tab and scroll down.