Pop-up campers in high winds?

He'll Jfet, you could don scuba gear and use it as a shark cage! Is that what that "toybox" REALLY is? :)

No kidding. I bet you could even pull faces at him! :)

Jfet wrote:

SugarHillCTD wrote:

If you think that your hardwall TC will keep a determined bear out- think again. We have had local bears rip car doors open. Think your 2" EC walls will stop a bear????

Hardside TC, softside hybrid, pop up, tent, pop up TC......ALL can easily be torn apart by a bad news bear

I dunno, I have my doubts of a bear getting through our welded steel frame. It would have to be a very motivated bear.

Since you essentially built a bear cage and closed it in , you are probably right LOL :B

SugarHillCTD wrote:

If you think that your hardwall TC will keep a determined bear out- think again. We have had local bears rip car doors open. Think your 2" EC walls will stop a bear????

Hardside TC, softside hybrid, pop up, tent, pop up TC......ALL can easily be torn apart by a bad news bear

I dunno, I have my doubts of a bear getting through our welded steel frame. It would have to be a very motivated bear.

Guess there are key words in your question. Girlfriend instead of wife. Is there long term commitment warranting changes such as "house" and "RV". Probably, or you wouldn't be considering it.

Does she go with you and LOVE it, or is her preference just because she THINKS a pop-up will make a house move easier? I mean you can store a pop-up outside as easy as a hard-side. But can you find a house where you can justifiably store a camper in ONE WHOLE garage bay? Do you have two cars? Does the change plan require finding a house with a three car garage? Might make house hunting a bit HARDER!

Some pop-ups will be better quality than others. I think THAT will become more important than whether "pop-ups" in general are comfortable enough in the wind. Hard to do other than trial and error, but if you look at enough brands you'll get a "wind related" comparison soon enough.

Our pop-up was a 2003 Starcraft Lonestar and was too awesome (and that isn't top of the line). Travel is so easy. It allowed snow (dust?) intrusion especially around the door, because there was no door header in the base unit, just the pop-up top roof. That upper box area "spread" a little over time. If you do it, I recommend a "short door" to avoid that issue. No cassette, just a porti-potti. Loved the ease of that for dumping (frequent was acceptable over trying to locate an RV dump station), Like a cassette, you can use an RV dump OR an outhouse, and everything in between.

Smaller fridge? Beer get's it's own ice water cooler (better than fridge anyway) and when the ice melts you add beer to the fridge nightly for the amount you drink daily. Produce get's it's own cooler (a couple of blue ice things) and that keeps the stuff from freezing in the fridge due to cold spots. Those two things free up a LOT of fridge space for other stuff.

Maybe girlfriend is thinking about the ease of popping up the camper in the garage for cleaning, loading, unpacking. Or not even a need to pop-it up for much of that. Makes those tasks much nicer if it isn't outside (assuming it's windy or cold or hot out there, or if the outside storage is much further from the main living area than is the garage storage site.

And btw, it's NOT still a tent. There are so many differences it's not even worth addressing that statement. (No offense meant here).

Hi ya 'Geewizard'! How's it goin? Keep'n those polar bears in line?

Geewizard wrote:
Regarding bears and pop-up TCs......I'd sure like to hear any factual evidence regarding the dangers. All I've read so far is WAGs and assumptions.

The only RVer on record as having been eaten by a bear was in TT in Colorado. Pulled the door right off the frame. Bears can get into _anything_.

There have been invasions of pop-up tent trailers in recent years. Maybe with some injuries, too, but no deaths that I'm aware of.

A guy in a nylon tent on the main road near Cooke City (just outside of Yellowstone NP) was eaten by a starving sow a couple of years back. That is an area that has seen some campground restrictions in recent years, too - - hard sided campers only (which arguably doesn't include pop-up truck campers, but...). If there is any such restriction, you don't wanna be camping there regardless of what kind of camper you have. You're better off a couple of miles away by yourself in a National Forest. I think Colorado and maybe California have finally wised up and just shut down campgrounds to _everyone_ when they have an agressive animal problem.

In any event, having a run in with an agressive animal in the lower 48 is extremely rare. And usually the human is at fault: "Oh! Let's go over and pet the bison, Johnny!" Despite the intense anti bear programs they have had in Yellowstone for many years, it seems that campgrounds still get raided by bears, there. Friends of ours from Germany reported being awakened in the middle of the night by rangers running through the campground shooting at bears (presumably flash-bangs and rubber bullets). In any event, even if one _feels_ secure in one's camper, the wild animal is much more likely to whack you when you are walking around outside. Bison, bear, moose, elk, javalina, wild pigs,cougars (the feline as well as the human kind!) are just a few of the animals that, on rare occasions, can ruin your day. I myself have dressed appropriately in rattlesnake country (boots and snake guardz) only to let my guard down in the campground where I've nearly gotten 'tagged' walking around in sandals. There's always sumthin wait'n to git ya.

I advise not buying in a subdivision that doesn't have enough room for a pole building for all the toys. This keeps the garage clear keeping the cars in better shape.

With a higher door on a pole building you have the freedom to make choices as life changes with the future.

Do everything when young and pay it off before getting older. That's the ticket.

>> ...how would a pop-up camper handle that wind though?

It'll blow over like a pop-up trailer and then the polar bears will eat you.

...Sorry, ....couldn't resist. I was just kidding. We have been in a lot of high winds and have never had any problem in the OUTFITTER.

FOUR-WHEEL makes pretty sweet basic campers and I feel safe to say that the quality has only gotten better since its last management change. I really don't think you can go wrong with the Granby.

What I would worry about in very windy and dusty conditions is dust infiltration. That can be pretty annoying (...but stick a toothbrush in your mouth and it will reduce your plaque load). Our OUTFITTER was very well sealed and I've tweaked it to make it even tighter against dust and no-seeum bugs.

I would add that we _never_ even drop the jacks when camped with our rig. Just takes longer to make a fast get away (we always deploy chock blocks for safety - - that one's for you, Diane T.!).

My concern would be the dust in the atmosphere during high winds. My bro John (JR) has an OUTFITTER!, the largest one made, and we were camped side by side at Means Dry Lake, the campground for King of the Hammers and other off-road events in Johnson Valley, CA. The wind came up and while he did not have any woes or damage because of said wind, i took a stroll inside after his race and the whole interior was filled with alkalai dust. Everything had a coating. Mine was more or less air tight and had no dust parked right next to him.
This is the only caution I would have. For many people, especially younger ones, a pop up is the ticket.
jefe

Bears are going to follow the scent trail. They have no concept of tent, fiberglass or aluminum. That scent trail is going to probably be through an open door or window.

If a bear tries to get through the vinyl material; first its 7 feet or more off the ground, why would a bear want to do that, it would probably go through an open window/door. A bear would just tear the window out, the siding and that strong aluminum frame that the manufactures talk about, would be trash. We camp in bear country and I have seen what they can go to a several hundred pound dumpster, its amazing.

If a bear did come through the vinyl, I would drop the roof, that's right it would be a "bear trap" and that would drop several hundred pounds on its head, maybe run the drive for awhile longer to put some extra pressure on the invading beast, maybe running it up and down so the animal can get away or if necessary trapping in long enough to allow us to make an escape. Most of the bears in the 48 states are black bears and that should be enough to make then leave. (oh, we do carry bear spray and a bear gun but I think the trap is the ultimate defensive weapon.)

I have never lost a second of sleep in our TC over bears.


Good Luck.