Fulltiming in a 13 Footer

[Pamela S.]

L n D in the Geezer Egg, and anyone else out there: Who all is fulltiming in a very small egg, and how is it working out for you? What tricks and ideas do you use to give each other space?

We hope to full-time, or at least part-time at some point in the future, but I figured we'd need at least a 16 or 17 footer for two adults and a (small) dog for anything very extended. How do you make it work in the smaller camper?

Thanks for the ideas and input.

[Pete Dumbleton]

I full-timed alone for nine years in a Jayco 16' and then my Scamp 13' -- I ran into several couples Full- and Half-Timing in 13' and don't know how they did it

[Anne Badgley]

I full-timed alone for nine years in a Jayco 16' and then my Scamp 13' -- I ran into several couples Full- and Half-Timing in 13' and don't know how they did it

How long did you full-time in the 13' and how did YOU do it? I am thinking of full or half timing in a 13 with my dog. Did you have a bathroom? How did you handle filling/emptying tanks? Did you stay in one place for long periods or stay on the move? What would you recommend?

[Pete Dumbleton]

I FT'd for three years in a Jayco 16', followed by six years in Scamp 13'.

I didn't have a bathroom in the Scamp and didn't use the one in the Jayco (Except to hang rain-wet clothes), just a porta-potty (Seldom used; I just had it for when weather was bad or I might be sick) -- I used CG facilities, jumped in rivers, lakes, etc. -- Not having a bathroom means NO constant hunting for dump stations, no waste of space, no heavy water heater, no heavy tanks, more battery life, etc. -- I was conservative with water, using paper plates, stick-free pots, so my gray water tank was a laundry jug on my sink drain; empty in toilet.

Raya, I learned a trick from a guy from Tennessee in Newfoundland -- Get an empty squeeze dish detergent bottle, rinse thoroughly and fill with fresh water -- When you need water for dishes or hands, just pick it up and squeeze -- One uses very little water that way because you can aim it more precisely.

Sometimes I would stay for a while (Often wintering in RV Park near Tampa and friends), other times I would keep moving -- Depended on the weather and my mood -- Usually preferred rustic, no hook-ups CGs in Natl Forests, etc. -- Very unstructured.

[James G]

Been away a few days and returned to find the TP. Sway bar discussion. Not accustomed to so many interested in your club. Will drop in for the meet and wing it for space whereever. I am using a sway bar and my Limited Grand Cherokee with the 4L will pull it to 85 plus with no sway. Hvy cross winds are ok. Works as well as our 38 ft Beaver with 9600lb 27ft cargo for 4 yrs full time when the wife was still alive. I would suggest air bags in the rear springs to level your towing vehicle if you have a unibody to prevent torqueing and springing the body which a wt dist hitch will do. The bags are great and much easier to tow with.

I cannot imagine having used toilet paper inside my 17 Casita in any form. Thetford and Scott single ply have both worked for this first year. One can always use the Arab method of a bowl of water close by for the left hand. True story as anyone who has trvled Mid East knows.

What a cheerfull and helpfull group you are! I look forward to meeting many of you.

Meant for this to go to forum on hitches and what to take. My apologies. Still learning the "how to"

[Anne Badgley]

Thank-you for your experience, that was exactly the kind of information I was wondering about. I, also, think hauling and emptying tanks sounds undesirable and kind of reduces the flexibility and efficiency that I hope to get with a small egg. I am thinking of a composting toilet with urine separator for the "necessary". I am interested in boondocking or parking on a friend's out-of-the-way lot where no facilities would be available.

I've heard of the squirt bottle trick. It does work well for washing small areas. I also heard about using a small (new!) garden sprayer with a pump pressurizer for "showering". I am going to try that one.

[Raya]

Pete,

I like the squirt bottle idea I had a friend who lived without plumbing (in a cabin) and used to use empty Hershey's Syrup squeeze bottles for same, but I had forgotten about that. Thanks for reminding me!

Anne,
I lived with a garden sprayer shower for years (on a boat) - can't say enough good things about it (and have gone on at length previously on this forum...).

Toilet paper in a small wastebasket never seemed all that bad to me (of course you can flush any really bad bits), but of course it's subjective.

Raya

[Frederick L. Simson]

Toilet paper in a small wastebasket never seemed all that bad to me

This is the standard practice in Mexico.
Friends tell us it is also done this way on South American Cruise Ships.

[Joy A]

I've been toying with the idea of fulltiming and have a 13 footer. I know Lily, my pouchie, and I could full time in the 13 footer.

In the last few years I've gone out on 3 month long trips and just loved it. I do have an awning which adds space. I put the awning out with collapsible fences erected for Lily and we have quite a yard with the added extra space. On my 2 long trips I moved about every 4 days. If I were full timiing I'd stay longer having no reason to move on until I was ready, no schedules to meet.

My Scamp has lots of goodies but as far as water goes, you will have a fresh water tank with a hand pump. I don't see a reason to put the water in a squirt bottle, just pump what you need. In fact, I had been thinking about putting in an electric water pump when I met Pete. Pete told me he had taken his out because he used more water. I got to thinking about that and I'm sure I'd use more water with an electric pump as it would be easy to leave the water running. So I stayed with my hand pump but do have a city water hookup when a hookup is available.

I've met several couples who full time in their 13 footer. Some of them had vans which held extra stuff, clothes etc. that won't fit in a small trailer. The same goes for the couples I met that full time in 16 footers. It's definitely do-able.

[Raya]

I'm thinking about putting a "Baby Whale" foot pump in the Boler. They're the pumps I've used in the head in boats (they pump less volume than the type I've used in the galley, but then we carried 70 gallons of water aboard; less volume would be good for the smaller water reserve of the trailer). I like to be able to use (or wash) both hands at the sink.

I think the goodness about the squirt bottle over the standard hand pump and faucet is that you can very efficiently aim a relatively high pressure stream at a given spot, and thereby use a bit less water. Also, you can mete the water out by 12oz. (or whatever) increments.

Raya

[Loren G. Hedahl]

Thank-you for your experience, that was exactly the kind of information I was wondering about. I, also, think hauling and emptying tanks sounds undesirable and kind of reduces the flexibility and efficiency that I hope to get with a small egg. I am thinking of a composting toilet with urine separator for the "necessary". I am interested in boondocking or parking on a friend's out-of-the-way lot where no facilities would be available.

I've heard of the squirt bottle trick. It does work well for washing small areas. I also heard about using a small (new!) garden sprayer with a pump pressurizer for "showering". I am going to try that one.

I expanded the bathroom to the front of the trailer, deleting the left third of the front bunk, to provide room for a composting toilet. The one we have is a SunMar Compact.

It has two problems for small trailer use. First is the size and there's not much one can do about that. The second is the design was not for mobile installation. The air inlet holes had to be plugged and re-drilled higher and the drawer that opens to the front had to be modified and a new cover made that was absolutely leak proof.

This was an experiment using the composting toilet we had in a small barn in the garden area of our property. It has been in the Scamp for four years with several modifications along the way. However, it will soon go back to its original location in the barn and I will go with one of the urine separating unites that have come on the market in the meantime made for yachting
use.

I haven't decided which of the two, Air Head or Natures Head will be selected. Either will allow the bathroom to be put back to the original configuration and allow a small dinette to be provided in the front.

Like Pete, I removed all permanent water tankage. We have several 5-6 gallon poly water cans in the tow vehicle, and two one-gallon jugs for the trailer. One jug with good water for coffee, tea and the other with whatever water for washing. The sink drains into a 2 1/2 gallon poly jug (ours was a freebe, a bright yellow restaurant sized mustard bottle, free for the taking from a restaurant, no less).

[Cherie Ve Ard]

My partner, Chris, and I full timed in a 16' T[at]b Clamshell for 7 months in 2007. The interior space because of the shape, was comparable to many of 13' egg we saw out on the road. It worked quite well for us. We didn't have much for plumbing, other than sink and a portable chemical toilet. That didn't turn out to be much of a problem or limiting factor for us at all.

Our biggest problem was just slightly offset sleep schedules. In the T[at]b, we either had a bed OR a table. And as we live and work out of our rig, it was a pain to constantly convert up and down, and one of us compromising sleep/work habits.

So, we upgraded last summer to a 17' Oliver, which has allowed us keep a table area and a bed area all of the time. It's been fantastic for us. Oh, and bonus - we now have plumbing Of course, people still comment on how small a space it is for two to share. For us, it's down right huge in comparison to our smaller rig, but we love it.

Happy trails ahead...

- Cherie
http://www.technomadia.com

[Anne Badgley]

My partner, Chris, and I full timed in a 16' T[at]b Clamshell for 7 months in 2007. The interior space because of the shape, was comparable to many of 13' egg we saw out on the road. It worked quite well for us. We didn't have much for plumbing, other than sink and a portable chemical toilet. That didn't turn out to be much of a problem or limiting factor for us at all.

- Cherie
http://www.technomadia.com

Cherie! I read many of your blog postings back when I was researching teardrops (didn't you have one before the T[at]b?). I drooled over the info about your Oliver! I am consoling myself that I might be able to graduate to the Big Girl's Egg someday...maybe when I grow up...

Loren-- I was looking at the Air Head or a design of my own (to save > $900 on the premade version). What did you mean by "Either will allow the bathroom to be put back to the original configuration and allow a small dinette to be provided in the front." If you put a small dinette in front, where will you put the composting toilet? I am trying to think of different possibilities for turning the front bunk into a toilet area. What is your idea?

[Mitch Johnson]

Thank-you for your experience, that was exactly the kind of information I was wondering about. I, also, think hauling and emptying tanks sounds undesirable and kind of reduces the flexibility and efficiency that I hope to get with a small egg. I am thinking of a composting toilet with urine separator for the "necessary". I am interested in boondocking or parking on a friend's out-of-the-way lot where no facilities would be available.

I've heard of the squirt bottle trick. It does work well for washing small areas. I also heard about using a small (new!) garden sprayer with a pump pressurizer for "showering". I am going to try that one.

Anne.......back in '90, I crossed Africa for four months. Very hot, very dirty. And we used a weed sprayer to shower off with. They work great, and its surprising how little water is used.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Paint the sprayer flat black and you have a solar shower! Put a strip of masking tape down one side so you can see the water level.

[Joe Diaz]

Paint the sprayer flat black and you have a solar shower! Put a strip of masking tape down one side so you can see the water level.

Just remember that 1 gallon of water weights 8.3 pounds.........start multipling people.....weight uses more gas....everytime that me and that wife go camping and we use the 6 gallon tank for potable water that we have....we replenish it to the top even if we use an ounce....if youre tow vehicle over heats....you got water all the time....stop and take and break and use the facilities at supermarkets ot fast food places until you get to the next campground....and use what is free and use it alot...it is easier to ask for forgivness that to ask for permission......