bka0721 wrote:
Excellent Trip Report, Michael. Made even better by getting a new truck camper. Happy Birthday to you. Maybe I might be the only one, but you changed from a pop up to a hard side. Why the change? You know there is that thinking that only pop up campers tread on dirt. Tell me you are not quitting going off road!
b
Quitting going off road is like asking a fish to quit going in the water!!
Why the change? Wow, that's a tough questions to answer. The Outfitter /Pop-up vs Hardside debate. So many pros and cons to both.
Pros to Outfitter: Smaller on the outside made going off-road easier. The storage the Apex 8 has is amazing an easily exceeds my new hardside. It feels airy inside, many hardsides I've been in feel claustrophobic. There are many great things to the Outfitter and Terry Rey has recently expressed them and I don't disagree.
Cons to Outfitter: It's smaller on the inside (but not by much). One of the biggest cons is the getting in and out of the upper bed. My wife has some ankle/foot issues that makes it difficult for her and was only going to get worse. One of the cons that I didn't have until I got the new hardside is the cassette toilet. Initially I thought it was fine and it is an option on the Outfitter that I chose so it's not really a pop-up or Outfitter negative. The 4.5 gallon black cassette tank meant that more often than I wanted I was searching for a place to dump.
Pros to our 86FB: It's bigger on the inside. It has a huge bathroom. It feels open and non-claustrophobic to me compared to most hardsides I've been in. When we stop somewhere I never have to consider the raise the roof question or not. Did I leave something important in a storage bin that I need to raise the roof? Does it look inappropriate if I raise the roof for 30 minutes while stopped and take a 30 minute nap or whatever? It is a LOT easier for us to get in and out of the bed area. My wife loves the rear powered awning that she can operate by herself. It doesn't feel any different driving with the new hardside than it did with my Outfitter. It's got pretty good sized holding tanks for an 8'6" TC. The 31 gallon black tank means I don't have to empty our tank until we come home on most trips. I don't have enough experience with the hardside yet but I think it's quieter inside, especially at night.
Cons to the 86FB: It's bigger on the outside!! It has a little less storage than the Outfitter. It's bigger on the outside...oh yeah, already mentioned that one!! I am concerned that there are several places that I use to boondock in that I won't be able to get to any longer. Primarily it's the height. I use to be able to duck under the Juniper branches and as it was I had plenty of desert pinstriping on the Outfitter. I am really going to miss some of my Top Secret locations!!
On one of our more recent trips to Death Valley we met some truck campers and had some good discussions on the subject of taking our campers off-road. Some personal discovery is that apparently I'm not as willing to take our truckcamper off-road as far as you've seen others go. Too many times I stopped on a trail and said, Honey, I'm not comfortable taking the truckcamper any farther and my wife said, we need a Jeep! So that is the new direction we are heading. Hardside camper with a Jeep in tow. Now you know another reason I have a great gal!! :B
Wildflowers from our Mojave National Preserve trip
