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Primitive Truck Camper boondocking thread.

Arktikos
Explorer
Explorer
We just got back from an overnight trip with our camper where we got a few miles off the pavement down a one lane rutted dirt trail in a mountain pass in the extreme N.W. British Columbia region. This is one of those places I probably wouldn't have gone with a heavier rig. I thought I would like to start a thread about this type of camping where there are no facilities for dumping tanks, and how others get by without hot and cold running water, showers etc. as well as experiences, places others have gone (hopefully with pictures or maybe even maps!

I'll start with our own new experience with our 8' cabover that doesn't have grey or black water tanks and how we have been "getting by". My wife and I come from different backgrounds when it comes to road trips and camping. She was a tent camper and I owned a 29' motorhome (before we met). I never liked tent camping on the ground. Never liked screwing around with tent poles, melting ice in the coolers, the sudden rainstorm at 3am etc. But the real thing that caused me to get little sleep in a tent was the idea of being trapped inside basically a bag when a grizzly bear decides it wants to snack on one of us!

Anyway now we have what we both consider the perfect solution! Our 8 foot camper without any "facilities" has just enough room in it, yet feels light enough for our Chevy 2500 HD to handle like it isn't even there. Here is a picture of our latest adventure up in the pass in a place we might not have tried getting to with a bigger camper and certainly wouldn't have gone with a tent either.



This is an idea I came up with to ease the burden of not having the convenience of a shower or hot water at the sink. I bought a 2 gal pump sprayer and attached a garden hose nozzle, the type that has a rotating head for different spray types. By heating up water on the stove and pouring it into the sprayer it makes a great outdoor shower as well as a good way to wash dishes in the sink! This is a great addition. Now we need to come up with an outdoor shower curtain. Hopefully someone has figured that out on here and will share their ideas! Hope to hear from others as to their "boonies" adventures as well as ideas for making their "primitive" TC's a little less so!



Note: Maximum photo width is 800, with 640 preferred.
31 REPLIES 31

Jfet
Explorer
Explorer
tonymull wrote:

Ever looked at what camper walls are made of?


Why yes, yes I have looked. Welded steel wall frames with corner angle reinforcements, not too dissimilar from an actual bear cage. ๐Ÿ˜‰

profdant139
Explorer II
Explorer II
Arktikos, all I can say is congratulations on your choice in a wife!! Mine is very rugged, too, but she does like her hot inside shower on cold windy days.

Those of us with really adventurous spouses should be very grateful (and audibly so). When I met DW 41 years ago (!), neither one of us had ever done any camping and never intended to do so. Yet here we are, boondocking all the time.

But not in remote places in Alaska. (Not yet, anyways.)
2012 Fun Finder X-139 "Boondock Style" (axle-flipped and extra insulation)
2013 Toyota Tacoma Off-Road (semi-beefy tires and components)
Our trips -- pix and text
About our trailer
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single list."

tonymull
Explorer
Explorer
Jfet wrote:
tonymull wrote:


They don't need can openers. If a bear really wants inside a camper he'll get in.


Not all truck campers are built out of wood and duct tape.


http://www.theobserver.ca/2014/07/11/bear-rips-siding-from-ontario-home

That was a black bear. What do you think a brown bear double that size could do?? Ever looked at what camper walls are made of?

Jfet
Explorer
Explorer
tonymull wrote:


They don't need can openers. If a bear really wants inside a camper he'll get in.


Not all truck campers are built out of wood and duct tape.

CampinMike
Explorer
Explorer
You need to go to the teardrop and tiny travel trailer website tnttt.com or to the expedition portal and ask there. Lots of great info.

jefe_4x4
Explorer
Explorer
We have a primitive truck camper and occasionally, when there is an absence of other humans, use our Trekker from Cabella's. What a great rig: Lightweight: It's like a pop-tent: easy to pop into action: hard to put the genie back in the bottle. The point is, we try to keep a wide, varied and lightweight splay of campable equipment, choosing the roster for each trip to cover the demands of the season and venue at hand.
If you really want to get with the boondocker thing, go to the Boondocks forum on here. There is a wide gamut of people on there from survive-with-nothing young people, to pull your TT down the hot and dusty road. A great percentage of the TC-er's on here are already boondockers. For many it's the reason why they chose a TC.
jefe
'01.5 Dodge 2500 4x4, CTD, Qcab, SB, NV5600, 241HD, 4.10's, Dana 70/TruTrac; Dana 80/ TruTrac, Spintec hub conversion, H.D. susp, 315/75R16's on 7.5" and 10" wide steel wheels, Vulcan big line, Warn M15K winch '98 Lance Lite 165s, 8' 6" X-cab, 200w Solar

bcbouy
Explorer
Explorer
my last camper (pop up) had no battery,no toilet and no grey/ black tank.just a 20 gallon water tank.i added a small atv battery and a water pump.we also used the cabelas shower enclosure with a 5 gallon bucket and a 300 gph bilge pump and a shower hose from home depot running off another small atv battery that sat inside it.it was enough to keep the wife happy.when she saw the northstar 850 at the rv show all bets were off.queen n/s bed ,shower, water heater,large tanks and casette toilet, now we boondock in comfort.we still carry a lot of our old tenting stuff to help keep the camp cozy and so we can cook outside.
2012 ram 2500 hemi crew cab sb 4x4 2015 northstar 850 sc 14.5 g3 guide custom fly fishing boat

tonymull
Explorer
Explorer
:W

tonymull
Explorer
Explorer
Peg Leg wrote:
It was surprising how many people worried about bears getting to us in our popup Sun-Lite. I just told them bears like canned people but not many carried a can opener.



They don't need can openers. If a bear really wants inside a camper he'll get in. I watched a brownie rip out the whole side of a trailer and make off with the vent hood from the stove....somebody's been cooking bacon ๐Ÿ˜‰

But there's no more danger in a popup than anything else.

Peg_Leg
Explorer
Explorer
It was surprising how many people worried about bears getting to us in our popup Sun-Lite. I just told them bears like canned people but not many carried a can opener.
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retired gadgetman

Joe417
Explorer
Explorer
Our TC has 4 marine chrome clevis bracket, 2 mounted high and 2 mounted low and about 40" apart.

Previous owner said top bracket held a curved piece of conduit curtain rod with ends mashed flat and drilled to fit into the clevis bracket then a pin was inserted to hold the curtain rod. Lower brackets held a straight conduit rod as a back curtain.

Brackets are similar to the link below except have 4 screws holding each.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Chris-Craft-Boat-Roof-End-Brackets-Wooden-Boat-Marine-/221681211202?hash=item339d3ad742&vxp=mtr

They didn't include the rods when we bought it. Would be a very in-expensive way to add an exterior shower area if buying galvanized rather than stainless or chrome.

Also wouldn't take up much storage room if not in use. A folded curtain and 2 rods.
Joe and Evelyn

Dakota98
Explorer
Explorer
As an added feature to using an outside shower tent, get a few of these & turn them upside down inside the tent & one for outside. It sure helps even if the tent has the mesh floor.

They double as storage containers in the coach also.

Been there, done that.

I'm an expert in only one field....I believe it's somewhere in Kansas.

2000 / 22' SKYLINE NOMAD LITE
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USMC 68-74

ticki2
Explorer
Explorer
Nothing wrong with going minimalist , getting out there and camping has many styles . For years I traveled around in a truck cap , a coleman stove , and a home made kitchen , each has there own unique experience .
'68 Avion C-11
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed

anutami
Explorer III
Explorer III
coolmom42 wrote:
I've used this pop-up shower/toilet shelter from Cabelas and it works really well. Plenty big, folds down very compact, fast to set up & take down.

Trekker Fold-a-Privy


X2...it works great! We use our outside shower on the the TC

2001 Ford F350 LB Diesel 4x4 CrewCab Stick
2015 Wolf Creek 850 Thermal Pane Windows, Oven, Reinforced Anchor Bolts, 200w Solar, Torklift Tie Downs, Fastguns, Stableloads