Trailers I didn't buy

[Gina D.]

After my last outing facing just about everything mother nature could throw at me except sun and heat, I am SO glad I didn't buy, for one reason or another, any of the trailers I looked at in my quest for suitable towed housing.

The Trails West Campster I missed the bid on.. the pop top never would have withstood the wind in Tehachapi. It would have to have stayed down, and it's too short inside that way, even for me. No doubt, towing it in the wind as I had to for short periods would have bounced it big time, and driven rain in thru the top seal. It probaly would have been a major pain to close up with the soaked canvas as well.

The Eriba Puck would have had the same pop top issues, + it required more tank filling and draining as it was not equipped with larger tanks. It also didn't have a drain to the outside as far as I could see, just a catch basin under the sink. Too much going outside to do dirty work in the extreme weather. (I still want one tho!)

The Aliner. Would have blown apart, or at least the wind would have rattled it silly. Same tank problems as well. Even tho it is a quick fold out and tear down, I still would have not wrestled it in that rain. I would have gotten WAY more water in it than can be a good thing...

All three of these trailers have less interior space as well. Under "normal" conditions, when you spend most of your time outside, it would have worked, but being stuck inside almost 100% of the time with 2 dogs

My shower set up would not have worked in any of these accept the Aliner either. Running to the campground john would have been a major chore. All three had porta potti spaces, but not an easy way to rig a shower.

So, the Burro was a good investment if just for this little experience, and the issues I did have with it seem minor compared to what it COULD have been.

I cleared out the Burro today, and the leaks and wet stuff I did experience did not turn into the horror I thought it would. Nothing was ruined or moldy, just dirty.

[Donna D.]

I think the point about a molded lightweight fiberglass trailer being an all-weather trailer is what sold me! As a hotrodder, I think teardrops are the bomb pulled by a classic tug. But, can you even IMAGINE the horror of trying to prepare a meal...and eat it, in the rain/wind? What would you have to do...laydown to eat? I can just see me pouring soup down my neck Flexibility is a real plus. I have the option to cook or eat inside or outside depending on the time of day or the weather. Setup/takedown takes minutes, not hours. AND, it doesn't cost the moon to provide enough fuel to go somewhere

I think you're preaching to the choir here Gina

[Jackie]

Prior to buying my Scamp, I did have a tent trailer. I think it actually weighed MORE than my Scamp (really pulled the engine on a steep grade - same car). I went to Waldo Lake in central Oregon in late October. I could NOT get warm in the trailer, despite a 3000 BTU propane heater-on-a-bottle. My friend, in the second bed, actually worked her feet out throught the wall under the canvas and was quite cold that night . That was my wake-up-call to go ahead and really hard for my little trailer.

[jack maloney]

Another eggvantage:



One of our favorite campsites is at Eagle Creek, a USFS CG just outside the east entrance of Yellowstone. Beautiful mountain stream, excellent trout fishing. Only hard-sided RVs allowed, no tents or pop-ups, due to grizzly problems.

[Donald Stahl]

Gina,
Last summer we were pulling our Casita through Salt Lake City. While on the freeway exiting town, we noticed a very dense, very thick bl;ack sky ahead of us. It turned out to be the worst cloudburst we had ever been in. Traffic crawled at 5 to 1o mph, nothing could be seen on either side of us, in the rearview mirror or in front of us, save for the faintly glowing red tail light from the car in front. It was a real stress trying to maintain proper distance with such conditions.

The Casita didn't seem to mind though. There were no leaks, no intrusions of water. When I think of a hail strom which made mince meat out of an aluminum trailer we once had, I am doubly glad for the fiberglass unit we have now. I don't suppose it could withstand an asteroid strike, but who knows?

[Gina D.]

I did mention in another thread that trying to sleep in the egg during a downpour was like trying to sleep in a popcorn popper.

I have been in stickies in the rain like that. I don't recall them being THAT noisy, but it seems a good trade off anyway

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Gina,
Suggestion: Ear plugs should be standard equipment! Don't you have a spare pair from your professional life?
Actually, you've probably arrived at your own unique list of standard equipment in view of the experiences derived from this last trip.
Glad to hear the drying-out is progressing.
Kurt & Ann K.

[Bill Abbay]

I have been in stickies in the rain like that. I don't recall them being THAT noisy, but it seems a good trade off anyway

Not as noisy, maybe, but still stressfull. ...in the sense that water on the roof of our two previous stickies has always meant leakage and infiltration somewhere, with later rot and major repairs.

...or in a tent, it means you lay awake, wondering if you trenched enough around the edge, and you get up a couple of times to check...

When we finally traded in all of the above for our Bigfoot, it took a few nights of listening to the splatter of what sounded like cup-sized raindrops on my impervious FG roof for me to realize that we were immune, finally, from all that. And to embrace the racket, turn over, snuggle down, and smile knowing that tomorrow the sun will be out, the ol' trailer will be ready for the road ahead, and the years to come.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Then there's the Bill Maudlin cartoon from WWII with Willie and Joe sitting in muddy foxhole on the rain in their ponchos and steel helmets and one remarks "Now that you mention it, it does sound like the pitter-patter of rain on a tin roof".

My Scamp, with the ratfur and Reflectix, is no louder inside than my old Jayco was.

[Gina D.]

Mine is fully insulated, but it makes a great chamber with the double shell.

I thought of tossing a tarp over just to get a little mute going, but I would have lost more rest doing that than just putting up with it.

Kurt, earplugs are a perfect way to let all kinds of critters and unsavory stuff to fester in your ears. I never use them for work. Gun shooting, etc, head sets are what I will use.

Kinda hard to do precision mixing when you filter too. The sad truth is that ya gotta hear everything.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Speaking of Trailers I Didn't Buy...

New "Roadrunner by Sun Valley"

I L Ked at the 160 model on a dealer's lot. Then looked at the specs for the 130. I went back to the dealer, and asked about that one. He said he would have to price it the same as the "discounted" 160 already on his lot, to order one in. That did not sit well with me.

I wasn't enthusiastic about the square shape, either.

I'm glad I waited, Bought the Compact Junior, and then the Fiber Stream. I've spent less on both of them than the one stickie...

[Gina D.]

Case in point! This woman was in Death Valley at the same time I was trapped in Tehachapi. Now, Death Valley is 100 or so mile away from where I was, but out in the high desert like that, it's all the same.

From the Aliner/Chalet yahho group:

I bought a Chalet XL model in November and over my long winter
break took it to Arizona
> and then to Death Valley, CA. I `was' loving it. On the 31st there
were some strong winds
> that blew outside items of many of the campers at the Texas Spring
campground away and
> my entrance mat is history. But otherwise the only thing I noticed
was a lot of sand
> covering everything inside. (I was gone at the time of this wind
storm) Then on January
> 2nd there were some more strong winds. I'd just gotten back from
the day of visiting the
> park and was standing inside the camper thinking about how it was
swaying and
> wondering how I felt about being inside when suddenly the entire
front section opens up.
> The front roof section is still attached but is folded out parallel
with the ground. I get
> outside pretty quickly, then four or five other campers help me
fold the roof back against
> the wind and we close the camper up. The roof is now not aligned
properly so the latches
> don't engage so we tied the roof down with ropes and I end up
staying in the motel at
> Furnace Creek. Drove two long days and I'm back home in CO.
>
> The wind completely pulled the metal plates out of the roof on the
front roof section,
> broke the bungees and the front metal wrapping, (extrusion?) is
ripped a bit at both front
> corners and as mentioned the roof panel doesn't align properly
anymore.
>
> I was a little angry at Chalet's response to my call and personally
I don't think they inform
> sufficiently of the wind worthiness of the campers. But I suppose
this incident is a little like
> an `act of god' HOWEVER the act only affected my Chalet so
seriously of all the other
> campers in the campground. I personally think Chalet should
replace the roof (period) but
> looks like my insurance will have to take care of a proper repair.
>
> I will get it repaired correctly and look into a high wind kit (I
understand Aliner makes one
> for their units). Right now I just wonder how I will feel in the
camper next time the winds
> pick up.
>
> I just thought other a-framer's should be aware of the potential
wind hazard. The visitor
> acknowledged the winds were high but it didn't seem that they were
that unusual. The
> campground is pretty exposed. Next time I might upgrade to the
other campground where
> there are at least a few trees to help block the wind.

Brand New trailer. Trashed.

[Craig Nold]

And to think, I nearly purchased a Chalet from that dealer in Colorado.
We should start another thread. "Trailers that I owned and wished I hadn't."
I would start that thread with the Apache tent trailer that I owned in the '60s. It was one with a mechanism where one bed went down and the other went up over it. Every part of that trailer wanted to stick me or bite me. You could follow my travels by the trail of blood from one campground to the next. The Naugahyde cover was always two sizes too small on a cold morning and the tent was designed to keep the rain in and the mattresses were to soak it up. During the years that I owned it, Colorado never had a drought. The Apache was a guaranteed rainmaker. I traded it for one of those tents like they use on Mt. Everest. It should have come with a team of Sherpas to set it up but it was still a big improvement.