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mamajack's avatar
mamajack
Explorer
Dec 06, 2017

Free-spirited daughter and her plans to live in a cabover

Hello, truck campers! I've only ever camped in a tent or a camp trailer for short periods of time in decent weather.

But I have an almost-eighteener who plans to move out soon. She's a good kid, no trouble at home; this isn't about getting the heck out. It's just an adventurous girl with the usual restless wings, who wants to try adulting in her own way...by moving out in the dead of an Idaho winter to live in a cabover she paid $600 for and has been fixing up. Which leaks a bit. And doesn't have a furnace.

She's also a falconer and will be accompanied by her hawk, an American Kestrel named Clara Hazmat.

As her parents, we've decided the best we can do is let her move out with as little to prove to us as possible, so that should the experiment fail, coming home won't be any harder than necessary.

So, what I want is real nonjudgmental input about the logistics and practicalities. In particular, is there any safe way to heat a cabover (remember, no onboard furnace--and no shore power either, though the truck has that) while she's not in it but Hazzie is?

This girl is an A student, passionate about falconry and very committed to it, unusually cooperative and helpful at home, and very, very determined to tackle this adventure. I just want to help her do it as safely as possible. Arguments against her doing it aren't what I'm after here, although I'm willing to hear cautions and things to consider--especially if there are solutions and suggestions offered.

We think it may be a short-lived experiment that she will revisit when the weather gets nice (and she's safely graduated from high school!).
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  • narcodog's avatar
    narcodog
    Explorer II
    Dec 06, 2017
    Have her get a WAVE 3 heater much better set up than the Buddy type heaters. They are true catalytic heater no open flame.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator III
    Dec 06, 2017
    Buddy heaters heat well and have an O2 sensor that shuts them down if oxygen level drops. It works. Mine shuts off between 8-9000ft altitude.
    The biggest issue with them is they make a ton of water vapor. Hard to keep everything dry in an enclosed box.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator III
    Dec 06, 2017
    Had a buddy who spent a couple years in a similar setup in the mountains year round. Wasn’t even a cab over. It was best described as a crude shelter.
    He fared just fine save for the one night he came home from the bar, lit the little propane radiant heater (the type that screws onto a little green propane bottle) and went to sleep. Woke up to the heater out, went to light it and BOOM. Blew the door off the back and his eyebrows were missing!
    He routinely maintained a gym membership where ever he was living. Mainly for the showers. Seems to be a common workaround with other folks I’ve known with similar arrangements.
    If she’s smart and resourceful, I’d say go for it. No time like the present. When you grow up, you can’t do that fun stuff anymore.

    Good call on driveway camping for a bit to get the basics in order.
  • mamajack's avatar
    mamajack
    Explorer
    Dec 06, 2017
    She won't go if it's leaking--she's got a good enough head on her. I'll have her look into Mister Buddy. She's already looked into solar and plans on that.

    Staying in it for a week once it's fixed is a good idea I hadn't quite come to yet (probably because I'm hoping she won't be able to get the thing in shape at all...which I feel guilty about but it's the truth!) I also have a bestie who lived the 60s in a van, who can give her some advice.

    She has a cellphone. She plans to join a 24-hour fitness club for showers etc. I'll remind her about carbon monoxide. A friend lost her husband that way so I can make it personal and real.

    I am glad to know there is a heater out there that is worth looking into. She listens to us some...but a dealbreaker like "You can't move out because you can't heat it" may make her dig in. She wouldn't freeze to death, because she'd seek warmth. But I worry a lot about Haz. The bird will acclimate, of course--kestrels live outdoors in the wild--but my daughter has reverse-molter her (so she molts in winter), and she's been living in heated and air-conditioned quarters nearly her whole birdy life.

    (Another thing that may prove to be a bigger problem than my daughter realizes is Hazzie's food, which consists of frozen dead things much of the year. The cabover has only an icebox. I guess it will work for winter; she can put a bag of them in the truck cab as long as the weather is cold...)

    I appreciate everyone's suggestions. She's my fourth child, but the olders were less...unusual... :)
  • Reddog1's avatar
    Reddog1
    Explorer II
    Dec 06, 2017
    I am very concerned she will use the oven or stovetop for heat. While it can be done and has been done, it is flirting with disaster. While I would advise her not to do it, I cannot state strongly enough that she keep the camper well vented.

    Use extra blankets at night, with no oven or stovetop for heat. If she ignores this, at the very least open the window by her head at least one inch to insure she has oxygen.

    During the day, especially in the morning, using the oven or stovetop for heat to knock the chill off is not as risky. THIS IS WITH PLENTY OF VENTILATION.

    I don't like to shout the sky is falling, but using the oven or stovetop for heat is probably the most dangerous thing you can do in a TC. The lack of oxygen and/or carbon monoxide are silent killers.

    Wayne
  • jmckelvy's avatar
    jmckelvy
    Explorer
    Dec 06, 2017
    You would be doing her a favor to insist the leaks are fixed before starting her adventure.

    The Mister Buddy heaters work great.

    Good luck to her!
  • azrving's avatar
    azrving
    Explorer
    Dec 06, 2017
    No shore power? No furnace? Maybe a buddy type heater would work but even with that she's probably going to burn a lot of propane. We had a Buddy for a minute but found that even with plenty of window venting it would mess up our sinus. I haven't used a Wave heater but some do say they are better. There is also a Cat platinum company which vents through pvc pipe and is very efficient but it uses 12 volts and may be hard to obtain. They were around $700 iirc. I wont sleep with an unvented heater but to each his own on that point.

    Some of the older TC furnaces didn't need 12 volt power but a few years ago I looked for a new one like that and couldn't find any that didn't need 12 volts. She can operate dry and use a bucket for the toilet and a 5 gallon jug on the counter top for water supply. One way or the other I'd still want as much solar on the roof as possible for lights, computer, cell etc and possibly for furnace power.
  • joerg68's avatar
    joerg68
    Nomad III
    Dec 06, 2017
    Make sure she knows about the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. Never use stove top for heating etc. It is a silent killer.

    She'll be fine. And it sounds she has cool parents where she can go to for a warm bed and shower should she need it.
  • gbopp's avatar
    gbopp
    Explorer
    Dec 06, 2017
    No furnace and no shore power will make it very difficult to heat.
    Any chance she could set up in your driveway or yard? That will give her a taste of what to expect before she goes out on her own.

    Wben she goes, make sure sbe has a cell phone. She will probably be calling. :)
  • work2much's avatar
    work2much
    Explorer
    Dec 06, 2017
    Suggest she spends a week in it parked in the driveway to help get a list of to-do's before hitting the road. That way you are being constructively supportive while allowing her to see what she's up against.

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