Never owned a camper

[DerekFrenette]

Hi, I've been looking at a Scamp 13 2008. The one I'm looking at is pretty much as basic as you can get. I'm thinking about putting in a furnace. Should I go through Scamp and buy one from them ($350ish), or are there after market ones that are better? Cheaper? Can I get away with just using a space heater? I probably won't be camping much colder than 30 degrees at night for a while.
Also, I was planning on putting a 2" receiver on the back of the scamp for my bike rack. Has anyone had any expirience doing this. Scamp's receiver is $140 which I thought was pretty reasonable. Your thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Derek

[BillE]

Derek,

You cant really go wrong with a 13 ft'r. Depening on what you are planning..primitive? You may not even need a furnace.

If it's clean..and a good price...snap it up..they don't stay around for long.

[Jon in AZ]

The Scamp receiver kit requires some significant installation. An additional frame cross member has to be welded under the rear of the cabin. L-brackets are welded to the frame member and the bumper. Then the receiver tube is welded to the brackets. Not knowing any better, I went that route. By the time I paid for the kit from Scamp, shipping to AZ, and labor for a local welder to do the install it ended up being pretty pricey.

As an alternative, there is a bolt-on Scamp receiver here. Shipping is about half what I paid and you can do the install yourself. I wish I had known about this product at the time. That was before I joined this forum, so I was groping in the dark!

You will need to be very careful to maintain adequate tongue weight with bicycles on the back, or you can get dangerous sway. No water in the tank, and all heavy stuff forward.

[Carol H]

I purchased the bolt on hitch the Jon posted the link to. The hitch is made my a member here at his shop and it is VERY well made and was packaged really well when shipped to me with very clear instructions although I had Escape Trailers install it for me on my Scamp 16'.

Been on the trailer for a few years now and has had lots of use with no problems. As Jon says though you need to watch the weight on the rear and I would not load heavy mountain bikes on the back of a Scamp. Also watch the weight of the rack you use as well. I ended up with a 2 bike Kuat rack as it was the lightest I could find at the time - 11lbs I already own a couple of other rather pricey racks but they are much heavier. Although the Kuat is light it is very well made a the most stable of all the racks I have owned.



Carol

[bpfick]

If the unit has no furnace, I'd go another route than having Scamp install the factory type.

Choices include an electric cube when on shore power (absolutely everyone does this) to the Mr Buddy type heaters on small propane bottles. In fact, we're not going to even bother paying the high price for the factory furnace on our new ordered unit. We just came off of 62 consectutive nights in our 13' and never once ran the noisy factory furnace. So? No more of paying $$$$$ for something we just don't use. YMMV

I also agree that if you know where a clean, dry, no leaking, no floor rot (look EVERYHWERE under hatches, especially in left rear under water tank) used unit it, off market, you need to snap it up. These can sell literally in an hour once they hit the market place.

[emij]

We are just using a cube style electric heater for shoulder season camping. During the warmer months, we camp mostly without hookups, but last fall when we wanted to camp and knew the temps would be getting into the low 30's, we just made sure to go where we could plug in. Our little cube warmed the Scamp up in about five minutes and it has a thermostat, so it could click on and off as needed. But with four people in a little camper, it barely ran all night!

[cchandka]

We have a scamp fifth wheel and have been fulltiming this winter, coldest nite in tennessee was 19 deg and we use only a little ceramic heater and good comforters The rigs are surprisingly well insulated and propane is expensivve so use the 110 if available!

[Uplander]

Considering the size of the trailer I'd just get a good thermostatically regulated portable electric heater at Walmart (cost under $30). I have a 26ft travel trailer and even though mine has a factory propane furnace with a thermostat I still only use the electric unit whenever I'm at a campground with hookups.
If you normally camp with hookups at campgrounds the electric will do the job.

[DerekFrenette]

Alright, thanks for all your responses. What about a screen door. Is my only option to go through Scamp? I know they make some cool retractable screen doors for your home nowadays. Has anyone figured out how to put them on campers??

[BillE]

Derek

Scamp uses a roll up screen door now

[DerekFrenette]

Ahh, very nice. Thanks.

[Jon in AZ]

But, of course, the Scamp door is a non-standard size, so I guess you'd probably have to order through Scamp. If you are somewhat handy, you could build a bi-fold door (like Scamp used for several decades) from hardware store stock far cheaper than the retractable door from Scamp.

[Jack L]

I use my propane furnace when I do not have shore power which, for me means lots of the time. I'm guessing the furnace price you got from Scamp is not an installed price. Installing a furnace is a big project, Cutting a large hole in the exterior of the trailer and modifying interior cabinetry are major projects. Adding the necessary propane supply line is also a challenge. If you always have shore power available, you probably don't need a furnace. A furnace also requires lots of battery power to run the blower so solar becomes important too.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Jack L

I use my propane furnace when I do not have shore power which, for me means lots of the time. I'm guessing the furnace price you got from Scamp is not an installed price. Installing a furnace is a big project, Cutting a large hole in the exterior of the trailer and modifying interior cabinetry are major projects. Adding the necessary propane supply line is also a challenge. If you always have shore power available, you probably don't need a furnace. A furnace also requires lots of battery power to run the blower so solar becomes important too.

I don't dispute it can be expensive, but I don't have a large hole in the side of my Scamp for the furnace. It's only for the vent and about the size of a dollar bill. Now, the refrigerator... that's a large cut out on the side and another one on the roof.

[WDavidG]

Derek,
I will reinforce Carol's caution about the weight associated with transporting bikes. I did a series of tongue weight calculations for my scamp 13 based on different loading scenarios including bikes on rear rack. The numbers made clear that I had to give up my sturdy but heavy yakima rack and invest in the kuat 2 (Carol, I think it may have been an earlier post from you that put me on to the Kuats) . Even with that weight reduction I have to be more careful with other aspects of the load when carrying the bikes in order to keep the tongue weight on the side of safety.

Good luck - you have lot's of fun and adventure ahead of you.

[Gordon in Idaho]

One of my favorite additions to my Scamp 13 is an Atwood Everest Star furnace. Camping on a mountain top in Oregon (I'm a forest fire lookout), I used it most every night in the spring and fall. The propane cost about 1 dollar(US) per day and the blower drew about 3 amps (approximately 6-10 amp hours per night). BUT,...feeling that warm air blowing around ALWAYS put a smile on my face! Luxurious! I really appreciate having a warm home.

Assuming that you will always have a place to "plug in" will severely limit your camping options, especially in the western US. And those places that provide electricity are not cheap. Far more than a dollar per day.

Stay Warm,
Gordon

[Karen B.]

Since I'm always going to camp in places with electricity, I've had excellent luck with a small space heater that I got at the thrift store for $5. More often than not, I have to shut it off after a short time because it heats things up so well.


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[Jon in AZ]

In your situation, I would try emij's approach for a season. If it works for your camping style, then fine. And if you find yourself needing something to keep warm off-grid, then you can explore other options.

I find a ceramic heater safe, quiet, compact, with steady, even heat. Costs a bit more, but worth it IMO. I used one in a previous RV.

That said, I like the furnace in our Scamp. Don't need it often, but it's sure nice when we do.

LP options include an in-cabinet RV furnace like the one Scamp supplies, an under-floor Propex heater, and a non-vented catalytic heater, such as the Wave 3. A Google site search will turn up numerous threads on the ins and outs of each.

[john warren]

decide where your going to camp mostly. we tend to camp where there is power. since the very effective propane furnace is a bit noisy,,,and it cycles too hot,,then too cold,,,i find a ceramic cube heater a better option. we rarely use our furnace. the electric cube is quiet, automatic, and cheap,,,,,you already pay for the hookup,,,why not use it.

the only dry camoing I do is sans wife,,,she has a ceramic addiction....
if its really cold I kick the furnace on, but mostly just use a sleeping bag instead.

so my answer is,,,if it doesn't have a furnace...go without for awhile,,,you may decide storage space is more important. oh,,,another option is an electric blanket. 120vlt for hookups...a 12 volt dc bunk warmer you can get at most truck stops,,,for battery only power

[Mitzi Agnew-Giles]

The editor in chief at RVtravel.com recommends a 200 watt spaceheater. He mainly uses it under his desk when he's working but he has almost a 30 ft trailer. Robot Check
I think it would be probably do quite well in a 13 or 16 footer.


Being an ulltralite camper and having taken my Boy Scouts camping in the NW GA MOuntains in the snow, I am looking at JUST THIS + fleece socks and balaclava and a thin layer of petroleum jelly prior to bed. Petroleum jelly is my go-to for cold weather camping. The First Nationers used bear grease topically to help keep warm, the Inuit used blubber topically for the same (and I read the tale of a kayaker who got capsized and rescued and the rescuers old grandmother greased him down with white stuff. He asked what it was, thinking secret Inuit blubber and herbs recipe and she said "Crisco") But I'll let DH run the 200 watt space heater. ;-0