Thanks..and a Slide Question

[Riley01]

First I want to say THANKS for all of the help this newbie has been getting with all of my questions on buying a truck camper.

My question this time is on slides. Can anyone who has gone from a slide to no slide comment on slide vs. no slide? I really like the Northern Lite but they don't have a slide so I'm a little hesitant to go there. They do a pretty good job of making them look roomy so it is tempting. From what I can tell the quality is top notch for a truck camper.

My use will be mainly my wife and I flitting around staying a couple days here and a couple days there and taking some motorcycle rides. I'll be pulling a 6x10 trailer with my bike in it. We may leave the trailer behind sometimes and do some boondocking. The only thing that bugs me about the NL is the small FW tank (35 gal). All comments are appreciated.

Thanks,
Rick

[Kayteg1]

Even I've been RVing for over 30 years, I never looked at TC till I saw 1 with a slide and remote -controlled jacks.

[Camper8251]

If you are just sleeping in it.. Then it would be ok, but wait till those couple of days when its raining cats and dogs and you are stuck in the camper together..

It will get cramped real quick... IMO

[garyemunson]

One person can get along just fine without a slide. Two will bump into each other more without one.

[GeoBoy]

We have had both slide and non-slide TC’s. If it was just myself I could get along without the slide but my wife and I like our AF 990. The slide makes it nice and roomy and when we are in one place for a few days the extra room is nice.

[Grit_dog]

Ha! Glad it was informational.
Slide vs no slide, for only 2 people, IMO, is personal preference. But moreso, if outdoors people and mostly good weather camping, shorter trips, the additional room of a slide out on a med size camper vs no slide is not a big deal.
For us, with a family of 4, or friends in and out of the camper, a slide out at least makes the space a bit more inhabitable and roomy.
That said, I like the room of a slideout even when I stay in it by myself.

Bigger deal for me is tank capacity and fridge size. Alot of our trips are boon docking and the convenience of more water and more cold/freezer storage is a benefit. You don't feel like your "camping" out of a cooler where everything is rationed or metered to have enough room for enough food and drinks for everyone for X number of days. Big fridge and ample storage, combined with an extra 50 gal fat sac full of water in the pickup back seat and full fresh water tank, 4 of us can go get lost for a week and not run short on good food, drinks and showers. Showers might get scarce, but with the 50gal water bladder, there is usually somewhere to top off water somehow nearby.
Once, we didn't want to leave, out of the 100 gal of water brought in, I backed the truck down to the (clear cold) river, used my ballast pump to fill the sac. Drove it back up to the camper, filled the camper tank and we were good for a couple/three more days of luxurious truck camping! Just didn't drink the water out of the tap from that batch....just in case.

IMO coming from mostly tent camping all my life, I can easily put up with a little more weight on the back of the truck for more luxury while "roughing it." Besides, it's not like I have to carry the extra weight of a slide out camper...the truck does and it doesn't care!

Only downside was winter camping. We weren't overly prepared, and new to the camper thing, and leaving the slide out in temps that dipped down to single digits at night used ALOT of propane and battery juice.

[smarty]

The slide question is really about two things: extra space (only you can decide if you need it) and the additional weight/cost of the rig due to the slide.

[Lwiddis]

Carry a couple of jerry cans with fresh water in the trailer and either dump or pump them in your tank when needed.