Possible mod to bunk STEP, not ladder.

[Crowe]

Still RVless and still thinking about a truck camper. One concern keeps coming up-climbing down the bunk ladder, especially for those fun potty trips at all hours of the night. (Sorry, but this 52 year old lady has a 52 year old bladder!) I am a klutz, and both my hubby and son (as am I) are concerned about the possibility of a fall in the middle of the night when I'm half asleep. Has anyone done any modifications to make the ladder "safer"? I also have some minor mobility issues at times due to arthritis-and being a klutz! Thanks!

[MTRhino]

New S&S campers are factory only (I think) out of Kalispell MT, but there are a number of good used ones around. Especially in the Pacific NW area. Someone with good finish carpenter skills could build something similar in any camper, as long as the cabinet space is available to slide the step into.

[wjkdan]

build you a small cabinet and serves two purposes, a step and storage place.

[Greg_B]

As stated by others, look for a basement model. This raises the floor by 8-10 inches and makes the distance much more manageable.

[Crowe]

OMG, Stars, I can just picture that! And I almost wet my pants laughing! (It's a girl thing ya know!).

MTRhino, we are interested in Lance, but S&S are worth a look-see if I can find a local dealer. If nothing else, that pic gives us a good idea on a possible mod.

[MTRhino]

Look at S&S Campers. Some of them had some very unique steps for getting onto the overhead. We saw a few that had steps that slid out of the side of the dinette to make it an easy climb up or down.

here is a picture of one on the Eastend camper website:

S&S camper steps

[Stars101]

Our son sleeps East/west across the front of the TC on the dinette (very rare floor plan). His dinette cushion has one small area with no support under the front most edge. I forgot about that one night.

DH and I sleep E/W and I'm on the front side. So I carefully climb out over DH and streeeeeeeeeeeeetch my foot down for the dinette (feeling around with my toes to avoid DS). Success! I feel the edge of the cushion and put my full weight on my left leg (in the one small place that has no support under it).

WHAM - CRASH - THUMP. I go down @$$ over teakettle. Luckily no damage to either me for the TC. Probably b/c one foot was on the floor and the other was hung up in the bedding.... my thighs were so sore the next day from the unintentional split I did.

My DS still laughs about the time Mommy tripped over him and almost wet her pants trying to get to the bathroom 🙂

Ahhhh, but I still love our TC LOL. But that first step can be a doozy.

[Eycom]

I can tell you one thing. It doesn't get any easier with age. I've missed a step twice in the past 9 years in my non-basement model and picked myself up off the floor. And, God help you if a health issue requires diuretics. It's an interesting and somewhat humorous challenge having to get your wits about you posthaste. A TC, with it's versatility and mobility, works best for me in business travel. When the golden years start in 10 months, I'll gladly look for more room with the bed & bath on the same level. I'm getting a little too old to be climbing up to the bed and dining table and back down... YMMV.

[CAJW]

Some of the newer basement models have very little elevation change between the floor and the cab over bunk. Some newer models have the floor between the pickup bed rails which raises the floor, allowing for more floor space and decreasing the distance to the cab over bed. Our Arctic Fox is very manageable for ingress/egress, but the best course of action would be to go to some camper dealers and try out the midnight run scenario in person. 🙂

[Crowe]

Sorry, you are right-it's a step. Just a long one. Maybe an additional step. The bladder isn't the only thing falling apart!

[Crowe]

Bedlam, we don't have a TC yet-we are still trying to decide what our next type of unit will be. It's been a while since we looked at one but I agree it's more like steps. My fear is I'm SOL, that it is what it is. Evacuation slide sounds like fun, but I'd probably sprain my ankle!

[kayakin]

I don't know what camper you are looking at that has a ladder. Ours has a little rubbermaid bench to step on on the way down.

A couple of thoughts:

You could add a few handicapped hand rails in strategic places.

The "lights" (radio, refrigerator, all the alarms in the camper keep it pretty well lit at night.

Good luck finding what you want so you can get out camping.

[Bedlam]

Most TC's don't even have a ladder - It is a series of well placed steps. Check out some of the ladders used on TH lofts and see if they are any better than what you are using now.

I could suggest an evacuation slide would that blow open the rear door, but you still have to get back into bed after business is done.