Introduction

Lighthawk said:
We just completed our arctic pac, basically following the directions of Ski3pin. It worked great tested to 23F on our Christmas trip. We're going to add extra velco to hold down the corners near the front and rear lift panels. Ski and I talked about it and they are going to do something similar. The current design puts too much pull on the last nine or ten inches of velcro beyond the edge of the window and it needs to be anchored with an extra bit of velcro. We spent ~$175USD for the velcro and Evolution cloth vs. the $475 quote mentioned above for factory option.
Lighthawk, I guess my question for you then would be...
Are you glad you built the thermal pack from the standpoint that it is better than the factory option... or is it just cheaper.
I will likely keep it on year round, so I want it to fold up nice when I lower the top.

BTW
23F = -5C That will be our average daytime high in Feb->March. :)
Right now it's 3F (which is pretty nice) seeing it should be a bit colder.
 
The people at FWC said you can leave the thermal pack on when you collapse the top. I'm not the biggest or best person to sew something like that together and I'm thrilled that FWC is not only customizing the length of my vinyl but the thermal pack too to 6'9" . I do like the army blanket idea though. My buddy owns a military surplus store.
 
Yes you can fold down the top and leave the thermal pack in place. I installed mine last spring and left it on all year.
 
Yes, we also fold our home-sewn liner down which is the main benefit. Previously we used reflectix, which I think was a better insulator. However, our implementation was not as good as we only had self-adhesive pads of velcro and there were gaps. The custom liner we have sewn is using a much better looking material (Evolution), but it is thinner. The air film and captured air layer are it's main insulating qualities, otherwise it's a two ply breathable fabric without any appreciable R value.

If I was spending nights in 3F or colder I would want more. We've considered slipping sections (4' long) of our old reflectix between the new liner and outer wall, especially above the head of the bed. Those could be removed and stowed during the day. Our system is velcro panels with window flaps, so it would be possible. This is untested and only a concept presently.

If you're into insulation, you may want to consider adding some closed cell foam pad, 1/4"thick, to the front lift panel surface. We're thinking of cutting up a yoga pad for this. I currently toss my down parka between us and the chilly lift panel. But again, I camp in California / Nevada with mild temps in the teens and twenties. Apologies for all the imperial / ferinheight terminology, I hope you can translate to metric / celsius better than I.
 
We put reflectix between the arctic pac and the vinyl. It helps quite a lot but is a bit of a pain to put up and stow. We sleep with our heads toward the center of the camper to avoid having our heads by the cold lift panel. Makes it easier to hit the furnace button in the cold morning too. :)
 
takesiteasy said:
We put reflectix between the arctic pac and the vinyl. It helps quite a lot but is a bit of a pain to put up and stow. We sleep with our heads toward the center of the camper to avoid having our heads by the cold lift panel. Makes it easier to hit the furnace button in the cold morning too. :)
Lighthawk, thank you for the concern with the conversion. As a Canadian I've been converting my entire life. The temp. converter is one tool I always keep on my computer.

I had seen the post of Ski making the Arctic Pack, but after looking at it again, I think I would go factory with that option and then just add some reflectix as takesiteasy mentioned. I don't think I will camp below -4F (-20C). That's usually my threshold for having fun outdoors.

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On another note, I'm confused with the cab over bed width on a shell vs. a standard build Hawk. Is it the same or different?
Cab over bed 32" vs. extended cab over bed 48".
 
Bill, you may have already looked at this, but here is what we did with our thermal pack (built from ski3pin's instructions) which could also be added to a factory thermal pack if needed, I think - http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/9686-homemade-thermal-pack/page-2. We like it because, after we take out the corner 'pillows' we can leave the rest of it on when we drop the top. So far we plan to leave it on all the time as I think it will help keep the camper cooler in the summer also. As with all mods though, this is subject to revision as experience dictates!

Robert
 

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