Another new Outfitter Caribou 6.5 Lite

[LosAngeles]

Great info on this thread... thanks!

am considering a Caribou Lite 8.

Bob (Outfitter) just mentioned that they'd do the extended bed (king) over the cab with no moving parts. Sounds better to me than a slider.

John

 

[4wanderers]

Yes, would be. Slider is a bit finicky in the Outfitter iteration. I would strongly suggest north south bedding - that I would NOT give up. You don’t want to be climbing over someone at 1am with barely 2ft of headroom. But that means you will have a long Cabover if no slider

 

[Swaff1]

Still have the Caribou Lite?
I am thinking about buying one and I am wondering how it holding up & under what kind of usage?

 

[4wanderers]

Yes, we do. We are now 9 months into an overland trip on the PanAmerican Highway. Started in Deadhorse, Alaska ( that’s mile 0 you might say ) and are now in Banos, Ecuador. We expect to be in Ushuaia, Argentina by May which will be 12 months since we started and ( by then ) 20,000 miles under our belt. We do a blog each week ( not sure if I am allowed to mention the name here ) and I often comment on camper matters. I also did a feature story on the unit in TruckCamperAdventures online magazine where I outlined all the pros and cons.

Basically, it is serving us very well. Minor gripes, as with everything, but it has been solid so far and it has been on some very rough terrain. As far as serious pop-ups go, the Outfitter Caribou Lite 6.5 is good and the new owner, Scott Mavis, has addressed the issues that people complained about under the former owner.

Hope this helps !

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Yes, we do. We are now 9 months into an overland trip on the PanAmerican Highway. Started in Deadhorse, Alaska ( that’s mile 0 you might say ) and are now in Banos, Ecuador. We expect to be in Ushuaia, Argentina by May which will be 12 months since we started and ( by then ) 20,000 miles under our belt. We do a blog each week ( not sure if I am allowed to mention the name here ) and I often comment on camper matters. I also did a feature story on the unit in TruckCamperAdventures online magazine where I outlined all the pros and cons.

Basically, it is serving us very well. Minor gripes, as with everything, but it has been solid so far and it has been on some very rough terrain. As far as serious pop-ups go, the Outfitter Caribou Lite 6.5 is good and the new owner, Scott Mavis, has addressed the issues that people complained about under the former owner.

Hope this helps !

blog link is fine as long as its not commercial. I think it would be great to follow along.

 

[4wanderers]

It's www.oneendlessroad.com.


Enjoy !

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

It's www.oneendlessroad.com.


Enjoy !

I edited to make the link work. Looks like interesting reading.

 

[Corvus1]

Just curious how condensation has been in the camper? I know it's been a problem many have reported in the FWC models and those who have the Overland X have reported far less condensation. Just wondering how it is in these.

 

[4wanderers]

You picked a good time to ask. We are just ( temporarily we hope ) back in Canada ( due to Corona virus ) after 10months travelling the PanAmerican Highway through Latin America. While we have mostly been in hot weather there have been times , usually at high altitude, where it was very cold and we needed to use the furnace. Here are a few points I would make to address the condensation issue:

1. We get very little condensation but the worst examples were when we just used the cooktop heat to warm the camper, rather than the furnace

2. I assume that is because the combustion occurs in the camper with the cooktop whereas when using the furnace, the combustion is exhausted outside

3. We used the cooktop when we just wanted a little heat - we have found the Suburban furnace to be terrible. Big, heavy, noisy and with no speed control so we hated using it. I would DEFINITELY pay more and get a smaller, more efficient and quieter Propex unit if I had my time over. Or a diesel heater

4. We don’t spend a lot of time in cold weather but what we have done to combat the condensation is to just turn the heat on and warm the camper before we go to bed and then turn it on again in the morning before we wake up. We just have enough blankets to stay warm at night when sleeping

5. The other trick if you have the furnace on at night is to allow some cold air into the camper- roof vent or window, which allows some air exchange


I don’t think the condensation issue is related to brand of camper as much as it is to the simple science of heating an area/surface when the outside area is much colder. Likely it is exacerbated in pop ups because of the soft sides.


Hope this helps.

 

[Adevntureklaus]

Since there isn’t much info out there on Outfitter Caribou Lites I’m going to start sharing my experience with the one that I own. We will be living in it full time for the next 3-9 months. I purchased it this past summer. It’s a 2016. So far it’s holding up really good. Everything works great and has been. We just started on the road (11/27/20) I have it on 99 Ram 2500 diesel and it drives really well with it. The last couple nights have been in the mid 20s. At night it’s been getting a little cold inside but works well. Feel free to ask any questions. I will post here with updates.

 

[BDO]

I am about to purchase a Caribou Lite 6.5 and am wondering if the Suburban furnace that they currently use is still the same model that you have (and hate)?

 

[solinski]

Adevntureklaus, I have been seriously considering the Outfitter Caribou Lite 6.5 for a couple of years. There are so many things that I like about the Caribou Lite, especially when compared to a Four Wheel popup. So I'm very glad that you will be open to questions. I have owned several hard sided truck campers and a Four Wheel popup. I have not found much owner information concerning the Outfitter Caribou Lite and that is what has kept me from buying one. I live in California but I don't mind driving to Colorado to buy the camper I want. My concerns with the Caribou Lite= Vacuum formed sidewalls (exterior bubbles or de-lamination?), quality of the lift mechanism?, overall fit and finish, soft side rain leakage?,just to name a few. I look forward to hearing about your experience with the 2016 Caribou Lite! Happy travels!
solinski

 

[4wanderers]

I can weigh in here. Have had the Caribou Lite 6.5 for 5 years and have enjoyed it overall. Mine is a 2015 and I have heard that since Scott bought the company from Bob Ward and his son a few years back that the previous ‘gaps’ in quality control have been resolved.

The unit itself is sturdy - generally well built. We have had :

1. no issues with structure and no delamination anywhere, and we have been on very rough roads and through significant weather extremes ( all documented in our blog www.OneEndlessRoad.com ). It was stored outside in the off season in sub zero ( centigrade) temperature most years.

2. no issues with the lift mechanism ( and ours is the old style - I understand it has since been upgraded, and I suggested to Scott that it needed to be ) other than it is rather basic and not particularly stylish. The FourWheel mechanism is/was easier to use and looks better

3. no leakage anywhere

4. no issues with parts breaking although fit and finish in some areas in our model left something to be desired. We corrected it all ourselves and it’s fine now. I know Scott was tackling that as his number 1 issue. It would have been our only serious complaint with the unit

I would suggest the following:

a) lift the roof before you buy. Ours is a bit heavy mostly because we have two fans and had the cabover was extended by 12” adding to the weight. Again, I believe this issue has been resolved in newer models. Be careful how much weight you add to the roof

b) we bought a new counter top and redesigned the layout to make it more space efficient and it made a huge difference. Bob’s old designed was terrible. You can see it on our website

c) do not get the standard furnace ( Atwood/ Suburban ). They are ghastly. Big, heavy, noisy with no speed control. A Propex propane unit would be MUCH better or an Espar/Webasto diesel unit. Worth the extra money if you go anywhere cold. Truly.....

Ours has served us well and with the upgrades since Bob Ward sold the company they have addressed the few shortcomings the units had.

Happy camping !

 

[Taku]

Note: I have been looking at a Caribou Lite 8 and did ask Scott about installing a Propex which he is not willing to do. You might be able have them not install the furnace and do your own install of a Propex. One question on the interior - it appears they use vinyl to cover the interior walls - is this correct?

 

[4wanderers]

Not sure why they won’t install a Propex but if not just buy it without and do it yourself or have someone do it for you. Bit more money, but better, smaller, and quieter. One tip - install it lower down ( given hot air rises ), perhaps to the left of the door as you step in. Easy exhaust points nearby and it will keep your feet warm. Not only do we not like the Suburban unit but ( in our camper anyway ) it is installed up high, to the left of the battery just under the counter. Takes up valuable drawer space and never heats below that point.

Re the walls, yes it is a vinyl product I think. It does not look too bad and is very durable. It’s not something that bothers us and I am not sure what else would look, work better ?

 

[Sedro F. Woolley]

Caribou Lite 6.5 in NW
We currently have a 2009 Tacoma long bed with a 2011 4WD Finch, but are seriously considering upgrading to a Caribou Lite 6.5. The initial main attraction at least for my wife was being able to use the east-west bed without having to slide it out. I liked the part about not having to use the slide-out, but wasn’t at all keen on being the one sleeping on the cab side all the time like I was in our old Jayco Sportster 7 that we had before the Finch. She said if we got the Caribou, she’ll take that side of the bed. Hmm, maybe I’m not so keen on being the one who gets crawled over all the time either. So, what about the extended cab over, north-south bed option? Now we need to learn more about that, like does it give you a full length bed without having to slide it out?

Most of all, though, is we would really like to take a look at one before we order. Maybe at some point I’ll be up for flying down to Denver and going up to the factory in Longmont, but I’m not sure when that will be. We’re in NW Washington. Does anyone have, or know of someone that has, a Caribou Lite 6.5 somewhere in the Washington-Oregon neighborhood that we could come take a look at?

 

[4wanderers]

I am in Kelowna, BC so not far away but my Caribou is in Chile right now ! We have the custom extended cab with a 15 inch slide out and that gives us 75 inches of bed length. It’s plenty and we really really really like sleeping North South versus East West. The pull out is easy to use. It’s a 60“ x 60“ cab over with the mattress of the same size and two 30” x 15“ mattress extensions that we pop into the pull out when it’s extended. The reason we have a 15 inch mattresses extensions is simply to make handling them a little simpler -it’s easier to store and handle 2x 30 inch long mattress extensions than 1x 60 inch mattress when you are in a confined space.

When it is daytime and we are staying in the living area of the camper those mattresses should be thrown up on the bed.

 

[Sedro F. Woolley]

Thanks for your reply, 4Wanderers. I have enjoyed reading about your amazing journey south.

Thanks too for explaining how the north-south bed works. It sounds like it’s basically the same setup we have in the Finch, where you have to push the slide-out portion of the bed back in and stow the bed extension cushions during the day. At this point, I’m thinking that wouldn’t be enough of an improvement over the Finch to make it worth spending so much money. It would also be quite a bit more weight on the Tacoma than the Finch, but you have a Tacoma too, correct?

Any idea when you’re going to pick up again with your trip? At this point, it seems like it would be easier for us to see your rig in Chile than it would for us to drive up to Kelowna. Joking of course, but this time last year we were staying at Sani Lodge on the Napo River in the Ecuadorian Amazon as part of a three week natural history tour. First time in South America for both of us, but hopefully not the last.

Things are really rough for the indigenous folks down there right now due to COVID and a nasty oil spill that happened on the Coca River, a tributary of the Napo, back in April. You probably took the main Pan American Highway route through the mountains on the E45. If you took the E45A along the eastern slope of the Andes, you would have passed right by where the two major crude oil pipelines collapsed into the Coca, as well as the San Rafael waterfall, formerly the highest in Ecuador before being destroyed by the same runaway river bed erosion that took out the pipelines. That happened a year ago tomorrow, but we didn’t find out about it for months. If you’re interested in any of this, I’d be happy to send more info.

Meanwhile, I hope you stay safe and healthy and are successful in your quest to reach the end of the road (and, presumably, drive back up again).

John