Right truck and camper setup for a northern Alaskan winter

[theauroracle]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on this forum, so before I start talking about my requirements, I will talk a bit about myself. I have been actively chasing the Aurora Borealis since 2016 and although I have chased it outside the United States a few times, 99 percent of it has been from Alaska, more precisely, northern Alaska. A lot of my travel takes me north of Fairbanks into the Dalton Highway and I have photographed the Aurora from almost every nook and corner of the Dalton till Prudhoe Bay. I started by renting cars from Fairbanks and then because of covid last year, I got an opportunity to spend a winter near Fairbanks and remotely work from there and go at it the entire winter. I also wanted to have my own car, which is a 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser, and wanted to be in Alaska starting fall, so I even towed my Lance 1685 travel trailer and camped all over the Dalton throughout the month of September. Was it the most pleasant experience towing a Lance 1685 with a Land Cruiser? I will definitely say no but it did the job just fine. I was hauling 25 gallons of gas and 40 lb propane on the rack of my car as well, so climbing up steep hills, expecially the Atigun Pass was not fun, but again, it did the job. That was back in mid-September when a sudden cold front moved in while I was camping in the north slope and pretty much transformed the entire area from a fall landscape to a winter wonderland. It was the first time I realized a camper would have been so much better when descending the Atigun Pass on my way back, I was going all over, the trailer was pretty much pushing the cruiser down in whatever direction it wanted to, I had to be very careful with the brake controller and kept adjusting it throughout the descent to make sure the wheels of the trailer do not lock. Probably the most nerve-wracking experience of my life but I did learn a lot from that incident. I have pretty much parked the trailer in front of my Airbnb for the winter and have been exploring in the cruiser and its pretty much made for that, but I do end up needing to sleep in the car for multiple nights, not that its impossible but I am getting old and I personally feel I am ready to start bringing a camper along with me during the winter months as well. I have driven so much on the Dalton in the harshest weather that I even understand small local weather and wind patterns there, so if I ever have to do it, now is the time, and I see so many truckers pulling such heavy loads, so I will take it as a learning curve. Another big reason is I travel with 2 cats, they traveled with me in the trailer and I having a camper will solve the problem of needing to leave them behind as well. I stay in a pretty remote Airbnb east of Fairbanks and power cuts are not that uncommon there which pretty much shuts the heat off, so I have gone above and beyond to get notified of something like that happening but nothing beats having them with me all the time. So that's why I am here, I am planning this trip starting this fall from Seattle WA and I will need to get a truck as well as a camper that will be suited for this job. I might keep the cruiser, I might even sell it, I have not decided that, it's an amazing car. I also have plans to visit Dempster Highway in Canada and drive up to Tuk in winter as well, could not do it this year due to Covid restrictions in Northwest Territories. I might eventually end up buying or building my own place in Alaska, so having a capable truck will definitely come in handy. That's where my lifestyle has been heading over the last few years so I do see it as a good investment. I need some help in deciding both the truck and the camper. For the camper, I have my eyes on the Northern Lite campers, not a big fan of Lance, it did well but I had to put bandages all over the interior to make sure stuff stayed in place, otherwise, everything would have come off from everywhere, even at very slow speeds if the road gets bad. But I am definitely open to all suggestions. I consistently stay and shoot the lights at extremely cold temperatures. This year, I have even stayed out in my car with temps hovering around -60F. I don't care about restrooms, good to have it in fall but I don't expect it to work in winter. All I care about is some heat inside, a bed to sleep and a small kitchen to make some food, and most importantly, the ease of having to maintain and drive it in such conditions. The last point also holds for the truck as well. I might park the camper from time to time to explore the area just in my truck so that might be a consideration between DRW and SRW but I have almost zero knowledge about it. Sorry for being ignorant about these things, I am always good at planning and executing things but with these trucks and campers, I always get very overwhelmed and lose my way completely. I am happy to answer any questions, go and look at resources, any help will be appreciated. Given demand and supply, I think I have to act pretty fast if I have to make it happen this Fall. I am sharing a link to a bunch of pics that I could find where the road is visible, that will give you guys some idea as to the type of roads I am talking about. I am not interested in extreme offroading, my offroading needs are mostly governed by the destination I want to reach or what I want to do. I will prefer reliability over capability in a terrain and place like this, thats the very reason I sold my Land Rover for the Land Cruiser before I made the trip last fall and that was the best decision I took.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8gjwVSJD9yqMeGTE9

[TxGearhead]

I know nothing about Alaska except I want to go there.
The OP: If you do Facebook look at sites for Northern Lite and Bigfoot.
I'm obviously biased to Bigfoot but look at the issues the new Northern Lite's are having.

[Bedlam]

Loaded with camper, my truck rarely needs 4wd. Unloaded, I need 4wd sometimes just to get out of my driveway with DRW.

[restlessways]

mkirsch wrote:
So right off the bat, it seems you have a misconception that a truck camper means you need a DRW truck. Yet you also seem to be looking for a basic camper which would naturally be lighter in weight, and not requiring a DRW truck, even for "safety."

A DRW truck is not the best choice to be exploring the Alaskan wilderness. An SRW truck's rear wheels follow in the same track as the front wheels, making traveling through deep snow and mud much easier. Each tire on a DRW cuts its own rut, so six ruts vs. two. Takes a lot more power and effort to charge through tough going, if you can make it at all. My DRW is helpless in deep snow, and it's a 4x4 with aggressive tires. Once the rear wheels hit deep snow, it stops. I can back right out, but the front end won't pull the whole truck through.

Ultimately what's "best" is entirely up to you. Everyone has their own idea of "best."

I have seen people say this but it's never been my experience. While I do agree that the rear tires have to cut their own tracks which translates into a different type of handling, I have never had traction problems with my duallies in snow, off road, etc. I run aggressive tires as well.

[welsteach]

Have camped in Alaska in -20F in our Bigfoot 2500. We were warm but shot through propane like water. Also, -40 is a no flow in the propane. You would need hookups and an electric space heater as well as bottled water for that (so as not to burst pipes in basement that gets no heat without a furnace blowing. It could be sone with a homemade build designed for winter and a mini wood stove.

[jimh406]

notsobigjoe wrote:
Can I ask the stupidest question in the world? What do the animals do when it's that cold?

People adapt to cold or extremes in temperatures, too. While I was in college I worked at a market similar to 7/11. My job to stock the 38 degree cooler, but also, I kept the bathrooms clean and cleaned up outside including sweeping at what ever temperature it happened to be. It was frequently near or over 100 during the summer.

When I started, I wore a jacket to go into the cooler. By the time that I worked there for a while, I went in to the cooler with just a short sleeve light shirt with no issues. I also wore that same shirt outside. I remember that year I never got cold the entire Winter no matter if I was walking or standing still while hunting. The point being even fragile humans have the ability to adapt.

Animals can adapt quite a bit with their fur coats and/or layers of fat. Even birds or bees have survival mechanisms like huddling together and are mostly good as long as they aren't wet. Youtube and other shows like Discovery etc go into details. Over time, the animals that can adapt stay there and the ones that can't simply die off.

[notsobigjoe]

Can I ask the stupidest question in the world? What do the animals do when it's that cold?

Thanks for the answers. I had no idea! It is an amazing world is it not. I did ten years in the navy in Norfolk VA and was on a destroyer. We always were sent to the middle east and being from NYC it was hot to me but I adapted as mentioned. The few things I did see in my travels were whales, Many whales in their natural habitat. Dolphins, Stingrays etc... I was lucky because I didn't party much back in those days "that's pretty much what the cold war sailor did". LOL, so when we put into port I went ashore looking for sites to see. I saw many!!! My best times were snorkeling in pristine water. Now I sit in front of a computer.... It's an amazing world gentlemen!

[jimh406]

free radical wrote:
Im surprised no camper manufacturer offers diesel heater such as Webasto or Espar.

No typical RV appliances work on diesel, so if you had a gasoline truck, you'd have gasoline, propane, and diesel to carry with you.

[free_radical]

theoldwizard1 wrote:
I don't think you will find camper that will keep you warm when the temps are below -20°F and the wind is blowing, even with a furnace. Propane turns to 100% liquid around -40°F so it will not burn.

Im surprised no camper manufacturer offers diesel heater such as Webasto or Espar.
Very eficient btw using litle electric.

One could also get Chinese copy of those for much less money.

These can also run on kerosene.


https://youtu.be/CpdcRwgHCtQ

[Wheeldog]

Not a stupid question. Most don't understand much about the arctic.

The mammals that live up there have an amazing coat of fur. Natives have been using their hides for thousands of years to stay warm. Don't think there are any "man made" materials that are as warm. I have used beaver hat and mitts, caribou (reindeer) mukluks when it's real cold. A beaver hat is too hot if it's above zero. The parka squirrels, martin, fox, and wolverine are also used. While the hair on moose and caribou are extremely warm, the fur is brittle and makes a mess when you use it. They don't make many garments out of them. The native were using mouton for parkas and put a cloth cover over them back in the days when we lived out there.

The birds are what amaze me. Never could figure out how they keep their legs/feet from freezing??? Ravens seem to love bad weather and go out and play in the wind. I have had camp robbers land on the edge of a hot frying pan and it doesn't seem to bother them.......go figure.

[Grit_dog]

notsobigjoe wrote:

Can I ask the stupidest question in the world? What do the animals do when it's that cold?

Ha! Not the stupidest question, cause it's fvckin COLD!
Grizz - hibernate
Polar bears - go swimming and eat seals and unsuspecting oil field workers.
Arctic Foxes - Well they stay alot warmer than their campers, bearing the same name, in the winter.
Lemmings and Hares stay warm running around trying not to get eaten by Arctic Foxes.
Musk Ox - well they have enough hair for themselves and the rest of the fauna up there, so they stay warm.
Moose and Caribou gut it out and get pretty skinny by spring time.
Many Caribou migrate between summer and winter grounds, but winter is still very cold, just not quite as cold as the Tundra, but more importantly, to areas with standing vegetation vs the tundra.
Wolves take down and eat anything they can get their teeth on, in the winter.

Animals adapt pretty quick, as do humans. Haivng lived from the N Slope of AK to Phoenix AZ, pretty much both ends of the spectrum, it's uncanny how a person adapts.
Winter #1 in Phoenix/Yuma, I wore a t shirt most days and locals thought I was nuts. By winter #2, the hoodies came back out on the "cold" days.
We had the same dogs both in Northern WI and Phoenix.
In cheeseland, they spent all day outside regardless of temperature, unless we felt sorry for them on the very coldest days. Their hair was longer and twice as thick and the hair growing out of their paws needed to be cut periodically because it would get so long, they'd' come in walking on solid ice balls stuck to the hair. Same dogs wintering by pool in Phoenix, looked slim and trim and never put on a winter coat.

[notsobigjoe]

Wheeldog wrote:
I don't think a truck camper is the best thing for staying out in the extreme cold. You also shouldn't be out wandering around in -60F temps. One winter I worked on the ice roads up on the slope. They shut us down when it got past -30. A lot had to do it was too rough on the equipment. Steel gets brittle at real cold temps and starts breaking. We also let the equipment run 24/7. When we did have to turn things off during a phase 3 storm it took days getting everything running using Herman Nelson Heaters. Keep in mind during a phase 3 snow will pack everything solid full of snow. You have to shut your rig off as the engine will suck snow in it and will do damage. It takes a while to clean it all out.

We drive our pickup camper down to America in November and back in March. Don't think you can carry enough propane to stay out any amount of time in a camper. This year when we came down it was a little below zero. We kept the heater running while driving so our stuff wouldn't freeze (the camper was winterized). A tank of propane would only last 2 days. We used a Big Buddy heater when we stopped.

As someone mentioned propane doesn't work at -40........well unless you pour some gas on it and set the tank on fire. Used to do that to start my pickup when I would get back to the trail head after a trip in the back country. We used to use a couple sections of 4" stove pipe with an elbow at the end pointed at the oil pan and put a weed burner in the other end to heat up the engine so it would start. How do you plan on getting you vehicle started if you have to shut it down? What is the coldest you have started it after it sat for a while without plugging it in?

If you are serious about camping in those extremes get yourself an Arctic Oven Tent with a wood stove. You can stoke that stove to drive you out of it at -30. The add says -60, but....... I know when you get you far enough north there is no wood. We got a couple cases of those fire logs like you see in the grocery store. Doesn't take much to heat one of those tents.
https://www.airframesalaska.com/Arctic-Oven-Tents-s/2025.htm

Get yourself a Wiggy's Antarctic Sleeping bag and a reindeer hide for a sleeping pad. Nobody makes anything warmer to sleep in that I know of. I carry one when we head south.

https://www.wiggys.com/sleeping-bags/antarctic-mummy-style-sleeping-bag/

Just keep in mind if you get caught in a storm, you better be able to take care of yourself, cause it could be days before someone is able to help you out.

Can I ask the stupidest question in the world? What do the animals do when it's that cold?

[Grit_dog]

^ Good recommendations!
Hence my recommendation of 3 types of heat.
Hope the auroracle didn't turn into spring bear food. (likely he just flaked out...)

[Wheeldog]

I don't think a truck camper is the best thing for staying out in the extreme cold. You also shouldn't be out wandering around in -60F temps. One winter I worked on the ice roads up on the slope. They shut us down when it got past -30. A lot had to do it was too rough on the equipment. Steel gets brittle at real cold temps and starts breaking. We also let the equipment run 24/7. When we did have to turn things off during a phase 3 storm it took days getting everything running using Herman Nelson Heaters. Keep in mind during a phase 3 snow will pack everything solid full of snow. You have to shut your rig off as the engine will suck snow in it and will do damage. It takes a while to clean it all out.

We drive our pickup camper down to America in November and back in March. Don't think you can carry enough propane to stay out any amount of time in a camper. This year when we came down it was a little below zero. We kept the heater running while driving so our stuff wouldn't freeze (the camper was winterized). A tank of propane would only last 2 days. We used a Big Buddy heater when we stopped.

As someone mentioned propane doesn't work at -40........well unless you pour some gas on it and set the tank on fire. Used to do that to start my pickup when I would get back to the trail head after a trip in the back country. We used to use a couple sections of 4" stove pipe with an elbow at the end pointed at the oil pan and put a weed burner in the other end to heat up the engine so it would start. How do you plan on getting you vehicle started if you have to shut it down? What is the coldest you have started it after it sat for a while without plugging it in?

If you are serious about camping in those extremes get yourself an Arctic Oven Tent with a wood stove. You can stoke that stove to drive you out of it at -30. The add says -60, but....... I know when you get you far enough north there is no wood. We got a couple cases of those fire logs like you see in the grocery store. Doesn't take much to heat one of those tents.
https://www.airframesalaska.com/Arctic-Oven-Tents-s/2025.htm

Get yourself a Wiggy's Antarctic Sleeping bag and a reindeer hide for a sleeping pad. Nobody makes anything warmer to sleep in that I know of. I carry one when we head south.

https://www.wiggys.com/sleeping-bags/antarctic-mummy-style-sleeping-bag/

Just keep in mind if you get caught in a storm, you better be able to take care of yourself, cause it could be days before someone is able to help you out.

[notsobigjoe]

Wonderful pics, Stunning to see the sky lit up like that. I'm not an adventurer but many on here are and will help. It will take time but stay in touch with the thread as that makes members post more. The only thing I can say to your situation is last year they had a couple of Northern lites here at the huge dealer in Sanford Florida. They are very well built and very beautiful and it looks comfy too but as most adventurers on this forum would say it's the truck not the camper.
Good luck OP! Joe.