Family of 5 and cat in FWC Hawk? Ideas Needed

[TravelAmateurs]

Hi WTW! This past week we met an awesome family (2 adults + 3 children + 1 cat) traveling in an Airstream since 2008. The crazy part is they are planning to downsize to a FWC Hawk!!! Love it!

They are currently on their way to Woodland, CA to order a Hawk shell and build out the interior to accommodate sleeping for 5. They haven't quite figured out how to accomplish this so I figured I'd pose the question to the more experienced WTW builders. They plan to do a tour of Baja Mexico in the Hawk and then ship it to Europe for more exploring.

So the question is....How would you build a (non-flatbed) FWC Hawk Shell to sleep 5?

and here is a link to the family - http://malimish.com/blog/about/

 

[LookyLou]

Tow a trailer behind it.

 

[BobM]

They are in for a rude awakening

 

[DrJ]

It's all about personal space.
Some of my most fond memories of my life are camping with my 3 brothers and my dad in a late 1960's Siesta Truck Camper.

I have camped many times with my four children. We were all pilled into my Hawk rollover couch.

It was too tight of a fit for sure.

In 2 days, I'll have a Grandby front dinette with the king slide bed up top.
I am not sure of a better setup with several kids than that.
If you have one, I'm all ears.

I own a 26 ft toy hauler too. The toy hauler and the Grandby are meant for very different kind of trips.

 

[pawleyk]

Why the flatbed limitation? Sure does free up space to get rid of the bedsides..

 

[GroovyDad]

I browsed their blog and they're not just camping, which would be tight enough, but from what I read, they're living in their rig full time! I love my pop up and its versatility, but I don't think I could pull a rabbit out of that hat... They'll need more space, especially as the niños grow. They have a very nice blog.

 

[97grandby]

It could work. but VERY tight. I camped all the time with 3 other brothers and my dad in our 8ft camper. my dad slept above the cab, two kids on the bed over the table area, a make shift bunk bed above the table area, and one kid( normally me) in front cab of the truck. This was back 25 years ago and two kids ride in the front of the truck and the other two in the camper going 55 mph down the highway. Good times.


Sent from my iPad using Wander The West

 

[Durango1]

Pup tents for the kids.

 

[Cayuse]

Trailer is right. This family http://www.clunkmonkey.com/ is also a family of five plus two dogs, The kids are a bit older. Parents, the youngest kid and the animals sleep in the camper, older kids sleep in the RTT on the trailer. Their setup is pretty slick and really nice people with a great story.

 

[TravelAmateurs]

It's all about personal space.
Some of my most fond memories of my life are camping with my 3 brothers and my dad in a late 1960's Siesta Truck Camper.

I have camped many times with my four children. We were all pilled into my Hawk rollover couch.

It was too tight of a fit for sure.

In 2 days, I'll have a Grandby front dinette with the king slide bed up top.
I am not sure of a better setup with several kids than that.
If you have one, I'm all ears.

I own a 26 ft toy hauler too. The toy hauler and the Grandby are meant for very different kind of trips.

That does sound like a good setup. Since they are going for a shell I wonder if they could build out a larger front dinette to accommodate two kids on a converted dinette and the adults and little one up top.

 

[TravelAmateurs]

I browsed their blog and they're not just camping, which would be tight enough, but from what I read, they're living in their rig full time! I love my pop up and its versatility, but I don't think I could pull a rabbit out of that hat... They'll need more space, especially as the niños grow. They have a very nice blog.

Yep...full-ish time in a Hawk! I do believe they will go back to trailing something after their initial plan for baja and who knows where else. For now they really want the go-anywhere flexibility of the FWC. These kids are road-life experts so I think they have a good chance of pulling it off. As long as they are following good weather (baja) and using the outdoor space for relaxing and cooking, they only need sleeping and storage in/on the camper.

 

[TravelAmateurs]

It could work. but VERY tight. I camped all the time with 3 other brothers and my dad in our 8ft camper. my dad slept above the cab, two kids on the bed over the table area, a make shift bunk bed above the table area, and one kid( normally me) in front cab of the truck. This was back 25 years ago and two kids ride in the front of the truck and the other two in the camper going 55 mph down the highway. Good times.


Sent from my iPad using Wander The West

Good times indeed. Your comment about a make shift bunk got me thinking. I wonder if it would be possible to build a flip-up kid bunk going north-south on the passenger side of the Hawk. It would cover the side window when flipped down and could be supported by a bracket on the rear wall and a kick down leg. Lot's of vertical room to work with in a Hawk shell....

 

[TravelAmateurs]

They are in for a rude awakening

possibly...but then again...it just might work : ) Met a lot of people "full-timing" since we got on the road. Plenty of people spend 1-3 years doing the Pan-American highway in the back of little SUVs, pickups w/shells, VW busses, etc. We've been feeling pretty roomy in our Hawk after seeing other setups.

 

[pawleyk]

From the the social media posts it looks to me like they're doing just fine sqeezed into that camper!

 

[DrJ]

We camped with our 4 kids in a hawk for some time. It all worked out fine, despite what others say.
That's certainly not the same as full timing it for sure.

I imagine their family is having the time of their lives.

 

[XJINTX]

I have a new Hawk and it's only my wife and I. However, I have a daughter, son-in-law and two small granddaughters that want to go camping with us. They have little to no camping equipment themselves. So we are going next month in my Hawk but I'm towing my trailer too. My son-in-law and I will sleep in my OZ tent and the girls can sleep in the Hawk. We will be able to pack needed gear in my off road trailer and they will drive their car. I am only hoping the weather is good enough for us to be outside. I know the Hawk would be crowded and this OLD MAN would be driven up a wall with everyone crammed into it.

I know this family likes it and has experience but I thnk they may be in for some major adjustments. I wish them all the luck in the world!!!