The ace of FT truck campers tells all: Pt. II

Wow those Tigers are expensive, for the price of a Tiger you could get a great sailboat and visit the 7/10 of the world that is not driveable and most of the countries that are

I still work full time, so extended boondocking for us is usually something over a week. However, many of bka0721's ideas are mirrored in my setup. We do it more for comfort than extended stay and enjoy the luxuries of being connected to the grid while actually being off. Keeping communications with the outside world also allows me to have a more flexible work schedule which allows us to camp more but at the expense of exclusitivity. Since my current truck is at capacity, extra water, power, fuel, waste containment and storage are hauled in the trailer along with the toys. Where and how I camp is also dependent on my DW and animals who bring their own requirements along verses traveling solo.

I enjoyed the article and reading about the boondocking and the set up. It gives me lots of ideas to toy around with. For my wife and I a TC is great because I can take my truck that is paid for, back it under the TC, and go for a long weekend anywhere we want. Then when we get back, drive out from under it and get on with life. I wouldn't want to full time in a TC for sure.
I also get wanting to go way out in some rugged terrain and building a rig for it. I don't understand using a TC for this purpose though...seems like a more permanent fixture built on that chassis would give better options. But I'm still new to them and figuring it all out. Like I said, awesome job, great info in that article.

Interesting read. Got me to thinking if there was ever a time in my life, when the lifestyle of BKA, would have fit me. Don't believe so. My wife and I tried fulltiming, for 2 1//2 years in a Class A and didn't care for it. But our needs and wants have changed over the years, as I am sure BKA's have done. His setup fits his current needs and wants and may forever or may change in 5 or 10 years. None of know where we are headed it seems.

BKA has some unique circumstances that most full time TC people have. One is he appears to be single, as are most, I have met. He has a nice retirement income, is still young enough to safely be out in the woods by himself, LOL. I am sure there are some couples that full time in a TC, but I have never met any, in our travels. Lots of full timers but not in a TC. I enjoy traveling solo at times, but if we tried to full time in our TC, I suspect my wife would do me under, and tell God, that I slipped and fell off the cliff. LOL

It is really great when a plan comes together, like BKA's seemed to have for him. Since I am also a Colorado LEO, (POST Comm certified), I can understand his wanting to get away from the "people" at times and just kick back. He reminds me of some of the old mountain men, type guys I have known in different places, but most lived in cabins, or a tent, or some other shelter, instead of an RV.

Jeffeeeee thanks for providing the link to the interview and Mello Mike for taking the time to present it. Although I have first hand knowledge of Bryan's setup I am still impressed with what he has accomplished with his rig.

The words of what he has accomplished to me is flexibility and comfort for his style of full timing.

Unless you spend time with him and "discover" his routines one would not begin to understand what he has accomplished.

Some of us actually perform the same patterns of full timing although not up to
Brian's scale.

He actually carries his own washing machine and dryer! Buckets and a clothes line.

Wife and I have had many 6+week trips and both of us agree, we could continue for as long as we want. We are comfortable with our rig and we tow a VW Baja or a trailer with bikes, motorcycle(s) and equipment specific for a given trip...

I would say that Solar is the best freedom maker that we can apply to our portable cabins that there is. We just finished 6+week 8,000+ mi trip from home clear to Alaska Prudhoe Bay and back..... Never attached to shore power and only ran the Honda 2000i for the Microwave.... Battery charging is out of sight out of mind! Solar charge controller said we used well over 1000ah on the trip.

Jim

BKA, I hope you understood that I was asking a question to further my understanding, not criticizing your choice of RV (some others seem to have missed seeing the question mark in my post). You obviously find this rig much more suitable to your usage pattern than an "off the shelf" solution like the Tiger.

May I ask something else, and hopefully no one will take it the wrong way? Your rig is meant for extreme offroading. Yet I've read comments by others in the past that a high center of gravity and tall rig run counter to that goal, because getting far off the beaten track often means navigating very uneven terrain and passing under low-hanging trees. Also I've read claims that a trailer isn't suitable because it lacks ground clearance, but you're successfully towing the cargo trailer in your travels. Could you comment on these thoughts and explain whether you feel you have encountered any significant limitations due to these factors?

There are several members of this forum that always attract me to read their posts and BKA and Mello Mike is part of that group. Another informative and well written article, thanks for all that the both of you add to this forum.

Thanks Jefe for bringing this to our attention.

Great article and I'm looking forward to Part II.

I have had the pleasure of camping beside Bryan a couple of times. His rig is truly amazing and not only well thought out but the amazing amount of thought that went into it!!!

Especially the solar system!! WOW!!

Thank you for many of the kind comments, shared in this thread. Jefe is someone I respect greatly and thank you for helping Mello Mike in having more visit his blog, maybe even for the first time.

I have been approached by a few newspapers, magazines and blogs in the last couple of years for sharing my story. I have turned them all down, including Mello Mike, twice. What disturbed me was the tendency to highlight the individual and not further the discussion of what I am doing; Fulltiming and Xtreme Boondocking. This is when Truck Camper Magazine and Mello Mike’s blog both approached me again, to focus on this discussion. I then agreed. In the oncoming months, penned by me, there will be more focused articles on some of the things that I am doing, to further my adventure, that I hope will cause many to consider trying this also. With Mello Mike, his blog is positioned to help those starting out, as does TCM, and a good tilt towards boondocking. It is my hope that many of you will tune in for Part II, as that will answer even more questions and maybe provide more points of discussion.

As for my choices, there was no one to mentor me or assist me when I started my project. RV.net was a great resource and I mined it for 48 months, before I posted my first question. Good information here, but lacking in what I was hoping for my plans. So here I am.

There are 3 people here, that I have been helping get started Fulltiming, and more than 2 dozen that are now doing or contemplating a limited run. One of these 3 be hitting the road in 2 weeks! Another one before the end of the year, as they are picking up their camper this weekend. The last of the “3,” next year. None of these people are even close to what I did with my plans. Why? Because everyone has their own needs and choices. Why should your way be the way? Or mine? That is not the way I think. Each of these people are not selling (well, one is contemplating it) their homes. So there is a distinct difference in not having a home base, to eventually go back to. Me? I am always looking around me, as I travel, as I now have the luxury of picking anywhere I might want to eventually land. Yes, someday I will park the truck and set on that front porch and rock.

But, the process to get there is in my plans, 5, 10, 20 years from now. For if I were to go with a Class B, C, or Coach (I had someone in a Class A tell me; “We don’t refer to them as Class As, but they are Coaches.” All righty!), I am not able to swap out trucks (one of the reasons I have a box chassis truck), swap out my service body and camper to a new truck. As well as when I do get off the road I can use my truck, for other than hauling the camper. So for that reason, a Class B, C, and Class A (Coach) were not considered. Also, Travel Trailers and 5th Wheels fell to the wayside due to their limits of reaching remote locations (I still have my 48’ Gooseneck Race Trailer).

So many of you are not considering the factors of a boondocker, which is what I consider myself. This spring I traveled from Kanab, UT to Page, AZ and it took me 8 weeks. A total of 140+ miles. But, has anyone gone to that place and wanted to stay a little longer? Well, now you know what I am doing.

When you are watching the spring snows melt away, I am out on the road. When you are thinking about celebrating Christmas, I am out on the road. When you are thinking about going to the grocery store to pick up a carton of eggs, I am on the road because I just bought a dozen from a lady with a sign down the lane, from her house. That is it, I am always out here, 365 days a year, more than 5 years now, avoiding campgrounds and parking lots. That’s the difference in the choice I have made. It is a choice.

Thank you Diplostrat, as you are living a dream too! My son just drove more than 500 miles (one way) to visit me for a week, in Glacier National Park. Before that, my granddaughter joined me on the road too. Life is good here on the road and I am proud of the fact so many of you are out in your truck campers too. Whether for an overnight or a week or two. However you do it and have been doing it, I feel I am in good company with all of you!

I hope many here will take more time in sharing how you are doing what you are doing, here, or maybe discussing what I have done and maybe if I would have done something different, I would have had greater success. Like, I really wish someone would have stressed to me how important Solar would be. As I did not put it on a high priority, to do, before I drove that first day. It took me 2 years to finally get it done. So maybe some of you might need the same type of mentoring, as well.

Now who is ready for Mello Mike’s Part II?

b


edit; name correction

I commend the guy for living the way he has and probably wants to. Everyone has the freedom to chose what is right for them. There is no one and only mold that works...