Truck Camping on the ragged edge

[Less_Stuff]

My new truck and camper.


My old truck and camper in Georgia.


Old truck and camper got about 14 mpg on the highway.

My new truck and camper gets better than 20 mpg.
Present tank full reads 23.2 mpg.


Wow that really opens things up for me!
It still has a 382 mile range, all that and the tank only holds 26 gallons.

Main things I disliked about the old truck and camper.

Whenever we had to camp around most dog owners.
Long cold evenings cooped up in the camper.


Things I may dislike about the new camper.

It sure is small.

Down sizing can open doors. Less money spent on a RV can mean more money for travel.

We have found long cold evenings can be fun in a hotel with a pool and hot tub.

My new rig is small but a night or two in it then a night in a motel can be nice.
We started truck camping that way then went to the Lance. Now smaller again.

Oh yes we tried this Jeep Patriot and tent on top trailer.
Alas it was a lot of work for this old goat.



So now it's just 17.6 feet of total length.



My wife has a dear lady friend who drove the Pan American Highway. She has a husband whose thinking about it.

[campn4walleye]

Ductape wrote:
We were in Glacier NP not long ago, and a couple of older folks from the Midwest were camping near us in the back of their truck. With a tarp over metal racks. I admired them for doing what we would have many years back. Too soft now. 😉

You hit it...we're too soft now to camp in the truck or in a tent. Our backs can't take a cot anymore and I hate to cook in the wind and rain. Face it, I'm spoiled.

Less Stuff, I'm sorry irresponsible people ruined your fun. I'm one of those people who carry baggies in every pocket and offer one to every dog walker I see. "If you forgot your bag, I have one". :B

Have fun in your travels.

[Less_Stuff]

campn4walleye wrote:
You bought that because of other people's dogs? WOW.

You certainly can't call a hotel "camping" and it's not on the "ragged edge".

BTW, your wife is an angel. Have fun hoteling.

Well ill behaved dogs weren't the only reason but it's a big one. Seeing a dog is no problem, hearing them is quite another. Stepping in dog bombs ended RV parks for me!

No hoteling is not on the ragged edge my new camper may be for some.

YES my wife is an angel thanks for saying!

[Ductape]

We were in Glacier NP not long ago, and a couple of older folks from the Midwest were camping near us in the back of their truck. With a tarp over metal racks. I admired them for doing what we would have many years back. Too soft now. 😉

[campn4walleye]

You bought that because of other people's dogs? WOW.

You certainly can't call a hotel "camping" and it's not on the "ragged edge".

BTW, your wife is an angel. Have fun hoteling.

[Less_Stuff]

sleepy wrote:
.....This is about as close to homeless as one could get.

This being the Truck Camper Forum.... not the truck forum.

I guess people all over that are sleeping in their automobiles every night could call them Motor Homes... as long as the car has or had a motor (engine) and it's the only home they have. At least they have a recliner... and can stretch out to their full height.

I think most of us know what constitutes a truck camper. A contained unit that is removeable from the bed of the truck... etc.

OK understood, you don't like my shopping cart.
And wish I would just go away!
However I thought you may be interested in seeing the inside of my

"removable from the bed of the truck" unit.

BEFORE i've littered it with personal things.


If Rick Steves can tour Europe for months with just a carry on bag I should do just fine with the space below my bed platform.

[joeshmoe]

sleepy wrote:
Part of my collection fluoresced... but so did the bed cover... every bit of organic material on the bed lite up... there was spit, snot, puke, semen, blood, feces and more... food, drinks, and who knows.

People have sex on the beds covers, they also go to the toilet and don't wipe well... then sit naked on the bed... if you can imagine it... people do it.

Food and drink in bed absolutely ticks me off.;)

Seriously, regarding truck bed camping, some of my fondest memories as a kid were camping/hunting for Javelina in AZ and Elk hunting in Colo.
We would go places that you absolutely could not get a truck camper into. No roads. We would literally 4 wheel up and down mountain sides to get to "that" spot. And Not without sustaining some damage to the truck. That's how tight it got. Completely cut off form anything and anyone. In retrospect, we probably went too deep in the back country, but it sure was fun.

3K lb. plus truck camper hauling is inherently more complicated than towing a TT. That's a fact. Just look at the ongoing threads. Weight, tires, weight, wheels, stability, weight, tires, weight, stability.

None of my immediate friends has or ever had a truck camper. Either class C's or TT's or a truck. When asked why not a TC? Invariably, they've answered either too much work loading/unloading, too much cost or too small for what you pay.

I do think there's something to be said in just hitching up and leaving.

Then there's the "other" campers. Or more specifically, annual vacationers. Of all my neighbors on the street, only one has a TT. And my street has a lot of homes on it. The ones I do know and talk to, are the get on a plane, go to destination, stay at hotel or relatives place, rent camper or go to an RV park for a week and come home type people. That's their idea of camping.

When we first bought the camper and came home, my next door neighbor (a Volvo driving stock broker) asked if we had gone on vacation. I told him, no. We just bought it in Oregon and brought it home. For some reason he couldn't understand why you would drive to another state, buy a camper and not make a vacation out of it. I told that we take short trips rather than full blown vacations. Again, his idea
of getting away isn't a 2 or 3 day weekend. It's has to be minimum 2 week vacation on the East Coast. LoL

Oh well. Tomatao, tomatoe, I guess.

[Reddog1]

I think there has been enough discussion on the sanitation of not RVs. It is off topic, and offers little or nothing to the point of this thread.

Wayne
Moderator

[Less_Stuff]

sleepy wrote:

Less Stuff wrote:
Please explain why hotels are worse than RV dump stations!

We've spent many nights in very nice hotels from Hawaii to Russia. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
In fact we are planning a European trip next spring. No RV!

Should have explained better but this is my Third Pick Up with a topper. We have experience!

Take a laboratory black light with you....

... or just take a taste test... lick the bed spread around the area where people would sit....

You'd never get the taste out of your mouth.

Think about this... when is the last time you saw a bed spread in the linen pile to be washed in a motel hallway... the staff cleans the hotel rooms in 10 minutes.... a strip of paper over the commoce seat doesn't get the poop off the bed spread that is used over and over...

And think about the chemical labs.... one pot crack manufacturing.... you see them on the TV news... you see them in the newspaper.... even on your smart phone.

Heck... I'm even amazed and appalled that people would use a nasty campground bath house.... let alone sit or lay down on a hotel bed spread


I can understand someone traveling a great distance and taking a nap in a motor vehicle that has no toilet or place to was up... or even a place to sleep comfortably.

As far as he homeless comment... most of the people that we see sleeping in their cars or pick up trucks have an unwashed look.... and the inside of the vehicle is piled high with trash and personal possessions. We have seen them in every state in the Union.

Good Grief Sleepy have you ever been in a nice hotel?
Most don't even have bed spreads anymore!
As far as the topper goes we have already had three on two different trucks.

[Less_Stuff]

joerg68 wrote:
I like your truck! Then again, we drive a plain white work truck ourselves...

If the camper top works for you, all is well - isn't it? After all, this whole thing is about what YOU like! I couldn't do without a shower, stove, oven, heater... but thst is a whole different story. Sometimes we are looking at smaller, simpler rigs. Then we decide that our camper is right for US and we don't want to trade 🙂

Have fun with your new setup! It sure sounds like you do already 🙂

Yes we like the white much better than the very dark color of our last truck.

We hope to be over on your side of the pond next spring.
Copenhagen first then Slovenia and Lake Bled then on to Rome.
Getting very excited already.

[sleepy]

Less Stuff wrote:
Please explain why hotels are worse than RV dump stations!

We've spent many nights in very nice hotels from Hawaii to Russia. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
In fact we are planning a European trip next spring. No RV!

Should have explained better but this is my Third Pick Up with a topper. We have experience!

Take a laboratory black light with you....

... or just take a taste test... lick the bed spread around the area where people would sit....

You'd never get the taste out of your mouth.

Think about this... when is the last time you saw a bed spread in the linen pile to be washed in a motel hallway... the staff cleans the hotel rooms in 10 minutes.... a strip of paper over the commoce seat doesn't get the poop off the bed spread that is used over and over...

And think about the chemical labs.... one pot crack manufacturing.... you see them on the TV news... you see them in the newspaper.... even on your smart phone.

Heck... I'm even amazed and appalled that people would use a nasty campground bath house.... let alone sit or lay down on a hotel bed spread


I can understand someone traveling a great distance and taking a nap in a motor vehicle that has no toilet or place to was up... or even a place to sleep comfortably.

As far as he homeless comment... most of the people that we see sleeping in their cars or pick up trucks have an unwashed look.... and the inside of the vehicle is piled high with trash and personal possessions. We have seen them in every state in the Union.

[Less_Stuff]

HarryBB wrote:
I guess I would rather have the dogs nearby than the humans.

Your sentiments are very common these days. I sure find that sad. Other people make life worth living.

[Less_Stuff]

profdant139 wrote:
Less Stuff, I admire your minimalism -- and I admire your wife's good attitude even more! Well done.

Thanks profdant
I admire your pictures and your small trailer. My sweet wife of over 50 years lets (makes) me travel alone often.

[Less_Stuff]

Please explain why hotels are worse than RV dump stations!

We've spent many nights in very nice hotels from Hawaii to Russia. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
In fact we are planning a European trip next spring. No RV!

Should have explained better but this is my Third Pick Up with a topper. We have experience!

[JacintoKid]

Whatever makes you happy is what you should use. I don't understand the "homeless" insult but, whatever. My first camper was a Lance 835, my second camper was an AF 990, and my latest camper is a FWC Fleet model. Although, I'm too old and fat to sleep in a shell, I wanted something lighter and leaner as my camping style has evolved over the years. I guess I'm doing it wrong. Enjoy your current rig until it no longer suits your camping style. You can certainly get to some out of the way places. Beats camping at WalMart. Cheers!

[sleepy]

Less Stuff wrote:

sleepy wrote:
This is about as close to homeless as one could get.

Sleeping in a shopping cart might be closer.... hitch hiking from place to place.

Wearing a diaper would solve another problem.... makes my eyes burn just thinking about it. Bottled water and a sponge...

Setting the ice chest below the tail gate solves the step problem...

Sounds like a self contained truck camper to me...

Are you homeless if you own a home but are out camping?

Sleeping under the stars or in a tent is not truck camping yet many find pleasure in the outdoors.

Being as tall as I am helps with the step problem.
Self contained absolutely not but I can live with that.

Told you this was Truck Camping on the ragged edge!

Oops! I didn't realize that you were serious.

This being the Truck Camper Forum.... not the truck forum.

I guess people all over that are sleeping in their automobiles every night could call them Motor Homes... as long as the car has or had a motor (engine) and it's the only home they have. At least they have a recliner... and can stretch out to their full height.

I think most of us know what constitutes a truck camper. A contained unit that is removeable from the bed of the truck... etc.


------------------------

As far as hotels go.... UGGGGG!

Many years ago when I was a college student using my GI Bill I took a lot of courses that had field trips.

I took a geology trip where we would be in the mountains until dark... and then move to another area, stay in a motel overnight and put in the next day in a different type of enviroment.

One night I spread all of the days rocks that I'd collected on the bed in my room to start identifying them. I plugged in the black light that I had with me that had a couple of frequencies. I turned it on to one of them and shined it on the rocks and the bed of course..

Part of my collection fluoresced... but so did the bed cover... every bit of organic material on the bed lite up... there was spit, snot, puke, semen, blood, feces and more... food, drinks, and who knows.

People have sex on the beds covers, they also go to the toilet and don't wipe well... then sit naked on the bed... if you can imagine it... people do it.

Now-a-days it is even worse... drugs are sold, bought, used, spilled, or even made in crack labs in the hotel rooms... you see it in the news everyday.

So, don't try to convince me that hotels and motels are places that are good to stay in.

I think that I'll stay with our truck camper.

I'm sure glad that I didn't take that early retirement.... retiring at 65 has worked out well... and at 75 I'm back in shape.

Good luck to you.