Popup truck camper with soft sides
Can pop up truck campers with soft sides be safely used in Alaska and other wild country? Thinking about bears, big cats, raccoons, etc. Any experienced input appreciated.
Forum Discussion
cewillis wrote:
I did it for 2 months a long time ago. Teklanika campground in Denali had a no popup camper rule, but that was for trailers. They considered a truck camper to be far enough off the ground.
But you realize, of course, that an Alaskan Brown bear (and others) gets into anything it wants to - hard side, soft side, whatever. I would not expect that to be a problem, though, unless you are extremely careless.
Reminds me of an old friend who lives near Warren, Pennsylvania on the edge of the Kinzua National Forest. He put his garbage in his International Scout one evening to take it to the dump and got sidetracked and forgot about it. Heard an awful racket in the wee hours of the morning and came out to see a bear shredding the side of the Scout to get to the garbage. Motto of the story is camp clean leave no garbage lying around and you should have no issue. Bears have wicked claws and are determined. You can always take a long gun along, in as much as you cannot transport a handgun through Canada but you can a long gun or shot gun provided you can show proof of ownership.
