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LosAngeles's avatar
LosAngeles
Explorer
Dec 07, 2018

What fridge? Instant shower? ATC Cougar vs Puma? etc

What fridge? Instant shower? Cougar vs Puma? R6 in floor?

Hi all

Just spoke with Marty at All Terrain Campers and he was nice, and helpful. For us he recommended a Cougar or Puma, but not with the dinette, but with the side couch instead, for more storage space below, and the most floor space.

He clarified that the outside window flaps are removable, and are in addition to window flaps on the inside.

I am hoping to get a pop up camper - either a FWC or an ATC, for the three of us. Not planning on towing, and no extreme off roading.

Does anyone here own an ATC Cougar or an ATC Puma?
What might be best for the 3 of us? (Cougar or Puma)
The Cougar is 84" wide and the Puma, 78" or 72”
I am leaning towards the 84” wide cougar, and would likely get the Ford long towing mirrors anyway, with the built in turn signals.

Has anyone put some foam, and also Reflectix under the over cab bed, for some insulation? That area is not insulated on an ATC.

In the walls ATC puts a pretty good insulation - duct wrap. R3.4 in walls, R6.8 in roof.

Marty at All Terrain Campers said in the floor there is no insulation. He offered (at build) to put 1” hard slats under camper, and put 1” R6 insulation between the slats. Any downsides to this? (it sounds good to me)

ATC does not install an inside shower.

Anyone used a Zodi Hot Tap instant shower? They use the little green propane tanks. They get a wide range of good and bad reviews on Amazon. :E

http://zodi.com/hot-showers/hot-tap-with-case

Marty (ATC) said I could supply my own Engel MT45 fridge. They can build cabinet around it. Open top with nice wall. 12v / 120v 2 way fridge.

Has anyone used this fridge?

https://www.engelcoolers.com/mt45f-u1cd-p-mt45f-combi-fridge-freezer.html

Fridge option B) I have reads good things about the fairly big Nova Kool RFU6200. 6.0 cu. ft. (170 L) 12v / 120v 2 way fridge. Yes I know it is 93 lbs. and we would need to get at least 250+ watts solar on the roof, and two nice AGM batteries to run this fridge, and it is quite expensive. We do like to get far off the beaten path, and frozen fish, etc is very nice to cook.

Fridge option C) can anyone recommend a (roughly) 5 cu. ft. or 6 cu. ft. 3 way fridge?
We’d need propane for a furnace, for sure, so we’d have propane on board. (not sure if ATC use 10 or 20 gallon tanks)

Thanks for any and all thoughts. :)

4 Replies

  • JD5150 wrote:
    Awesome to here the outside window flaps are removable.


    You might be able to have ATC build you under the bed storage so you can have more space to put some insulation and for more storage.


    Seen this today of a neat indoor shower setup for an Alaskan camper which will work in a pop up or any camper without an indoor shower.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4VzZHkKprk


    Yeah I asked Marty at ATC today if they could do under bed storage, and he basically said no. (due to weight, i think)

    too bad as it would be a great place for a lot of storage.... and also be some thermal isolation from the outside.
  • Good to hear that Marty at All Terrain Campers was nice and helpful.

    Have you considered renting a truck and camper to try a TC before you buy?
  • Awesome to here the outside window flaps are removable.


    You might be able to have ATC build you under the bed storage so you can have more space to put some insulation and for more storage.


    Seen this today of a neat indoor shower setup for an Alaskan camper which will work in a pop up or any camper without an indoor shower.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4VzZHkKprk
  • If you don't mind a "Navy shower" I guess that Zodi is okay. You had better expect to use 1 tank per shower ! If you a camping in summer/warm weather, a solar heated shower bag works well.

    Regarding small refrigerators/freezer. Any of them that uses "cold plate" technology (Peltier cooler) do not perform well in hot (90F+) weather and they consume a lot of electricity.