Which model would you get for boondocking?

[Steve Outlaw]

I'm curious where you got the idea that the Oliver does not have a permanent queen size bed plus a side dinette. Also after looking at the Nature's Head, I'm unclear why you couldn't use it in a wet bath. When I use the shower in our bath even the toilet lid hardly gets wet. It would fit perfectly where the standard toilet sits.

[themoreweexplore]

After talking to Oliver, a nature's head will sit around 28" high. I'm wary to get a toilet with an electric fan on it wet.

While the oliver's dinette can be converted to a queen size bed, it's not the same as a traditional trailer with a bed. You can't walk around it, it butts up to the kitchen counter; it just seems a tiny bit too tight in there for living day after day for years.

[Steve Outlaw]

I do agree that living in a trailer would be tight for full time living. Although there are plenty of people out there that do it, none of these trailers are designed with that in mind. The closest you might come to a walk around bed (no climbing over each other) is what we have in our unit, twin beds, no option for a rear dinette. We eat at the side dinette. There is my wife and myself in addition to the three dogs (one at 100lb) but having come from the smaller 17 footer, it's a big step up in size. And though we plan to travel months at a time, I could not imagine trying to live long term in that small a space.


Good luck on your quest. With a $55K budget you should be able to get a pretty well tricked out Bigfoot or Oliver and certainly any of the others.

[themoreweexplore]

Thanks. The twin bed on the oliver looks like a great setup, but I like to sleep right next to my wife.

We're excited to check out a bigfoot in person, they sound great. If only Oliver made a 25 foot model with a little more elbow room in there. All my info about olivers is from scouring the web, I've never seen one in person, but they look phenomenal. I like the lack of wallpaper, no tacky drapes, the great ground clearance, the design is fantastic, i like that you can get them with solar, and they look like they have fantastic build quality.

Thanks for the encouragement and info.

[floyd]

You want a Bigfoot!

[themoreweexplore]

Bigfoot and Oliver are at the top of our "want to check out" lists.

[accrete]

Originally Posted by themoreweexplore

I'm wary to get a toilet with an electric fan on it wet..

greetings,
I'm a fan of the separating toilet idea and is what my wife and I have incorporated into both our van & our trailer. Getting the natures head or the air head wet is no bother and they are in use in custom class b van conversions by a company in Oregon called Outside Van.

Here is a photo from there website showing a separating/composting toilet in their standard wet bath:



Best wishes on the hunt. Our little 15ft Parkliner has a full time queen bed layout if desired, plus side dinette, and wet bath with room for our potty. It's not so hard to do with a bit of ingenuity.

Thom

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by themoreweexplore

. We also don't want a wet bath.

Why? For the little time you spend in a bathroom I would give up full bathroom space for a wet bath any day if it meant I got more kitchen counter space or a bigger bed for example. A wet bath often translates to a lighter trailer which is usually better for off road camping as well. When dry camping you don't spend a lot of time in the shower either due to the need to conserve water.

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by Steve Outlaw

I do agree that living in a trailer would be tight for full time living. Although there are plenty of people out there that do it, I could not imagine trying to live long term in that small a space.

Definitely people should get what fits their need. We stepped down from a 32' motorhome that had plenty of full time living, storage space, thrmopane windows, and easily held up to year round camping with 100 gallon tanks, huge generator, great walk around queen bed and a real shower.

We stepped down to a trailer. The motorhome was 3 times the volume of our Scamp. We seem to have no problem spending over 300 days a year in our Scamp, never once saying we yearn for the motorhome. In a sense it's amazing, really so, but we never stop and question our new choice. We're actually as happy as can be. I know many would die in our little bigger than a twin bed, can't imagine crawl over or getting up for their partner in the middle of the night.

We just crawl over or get up, maybe a light kiss and back to sleep. Nothing as simple as that will disturb us or compare to the fun of it all.

Of course every one should make their choices.

[dvrcdlady]

As for using a composting toilet in a wet bath, could you not just use a shower curtian that covers the toilet when showering?

[accrete]

Originally Posted by themoreweexplore

We'll be fulltiming in a travel trailer soon. ..

: ) Came across this setup last week. Sure is pretty for serious off-road/grid adventuring. . . finally a trailer built for extreme camping adventures that is built in the USA! I watched all the videos and it sure is sweet. Most likely a bit extreme for your "Full time living" thing, but comes in at about the same weight as the BF 25RQ. If nothing else it will get you pondering the possibilities of getting solar on a BF.

Best wishes on your hunt for the _perfect for you_ rig.

ADAK Trailers - Concept/Design - ADAK Trailers





Thom

[Joy A]

The Bigfoot Queen would be my choice hands down. Nice separate bedroom in the back. They are wonderful units.

Thought I just saw one listed for sale on this site the other day.

[llfalcon]

Originally Posted by themoreweexplore

I think i misspoke. It looks like the larger oliver model doesn't have a wet bath. That's good news. I still think I'd prefer a dedicated bedroom that isn't a converted dinette.

I believe it does have a wet bath. Haven't been inside one yet, so can't speak authoritatively. Please take another look.

The larger Oliver has a dedicated twin bed floor plan plus a small side dinette, perfect configuration for two, in my opinion, or at least these two! Look for member "Kentucky" then look through her posts for excellent photos of her twin bed Ollie. I'm seriously in love with it.

[Jim Bennett]

Wouldn't twin beds eliminate one of those camping things that most of us love.... snuggling.

That is one of the nicest parts of camping, especially in colder temps. You gotta get that bed warmed up some how.

[llfalcon]

Heck with that! I got hot flashes to keep me warm, he's got the dog!

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by llfalcon

Heck with that! I got hot flashes to keep me warm, he's got the dog!

Hot flashes end, and dogs don't live as long as we do. Then what do you have?

[llfalcon]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Hot flashes end, and dogs don't live as long as we do. Then what do you have?

Two new dogs?

.

[Bob Miller]

Many years ago, when we full timed in a Airstream for a year, a couple visited with us one night and commented that they preferred the twin beds in their Airstream because "We're to old for that". They were in their late 40's. Huh?

[llfalcon]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

Many years ago, when we full timed in a Airstream for a year, a couple visited with us one night and commented that they preferred the twin beds in their Airstream because "We're to old for that". They were in their late 40's. Huh?

Huh indeed !!

We sleep better apart. He's a belly sleeper, likes light cover, kicks arounds, eats and reads in bed, snores like a chainsaw. I'm a back sleeper, wrestle covers to match hot flash status otherwise lie still, do not eat or read in bed, and I do not snore. We keep a loud white noise thingy between the twin beds to drown him out.

Al that said, visits from the other ARE permitted and encouraged!!

[Bob Miller]

While there are certainly valid reasons for separate sleeping arrangements, I still don't consider age as being a primary one, as was indicated by the couple cited. As we were only in our late 20's and early 30's at the time, we were rather shocked at the thought. I won't mention that age has never been a consideration on our house. (Ooops, I just did, LOL)