Minimalist approach?

Hi la_morris
You can buy some led bulbs off amazon look for the "k" rating 5000 is real white 3000 or 3500 will be more yellow. We did that in ours with just the first bulb that comes on. Leaving the other one in will really provide light if needed.
We also have a large dog 88lbs. It's a work in progress he will go in and is learning, salami helps a little. We dont use it every time.
Plastic foot stool then he goes to the bumper step area the up in to the camper. Like I stated work in progress. Ours wanted nothing to do with a ramp.
Russ

Well equipped ATC Cougar
 
It seems like there is a lot of complicated monkeying around and moving parts involved in being "minimal" and "simple". In my non-minimal set up I add food and water and gas and drive and forget about the camper. What I want and have is minimal messing with the camper.

No chasing ice every week and opening and closing cooler as fast as possible or not adding warm drinks and food to avoid melting finite ice. No 3 or 4 or 5 part water and drain system. Fill tank, open faucet, have water. I spent more time in my shell than at home from Sept to December last year and never dented the stored battery power with my factory 160w solar power. The first trip I carried a 100w auxiliary solar panel with a long wire I could set out but jettisoned it when I figured out it was unnecessary. My fridge was a two way ARB 50qt and I also ran the lights and furnace on battery power. Based on my experience I've never understood the battery monitoring obsession I'm always reading about on WTW. I've never had to give power a second thought.

Non chlorinated clear mountain water is great, once you filter it. Unfiltered it tastes great, but you get giardia just about anywhere you can drive to. You need to filter it whether it goes in an on board water tank or a water jug. The camper water tank is in a cabinet near the center of gravity of the camper and out of the way. I'd take it any day over having several jugs of water stacked in the camper. Even if you carry a spare pump (15 min swap out time) you have a much easier and space efficient water system than jugs of water. The tank in FWC camper is 20 gal (plus 6 in hot water tank if you have one). That's 5 or 6 5-gal jugs flying around your camper.

I almost always camp where I can just let my grey water run into the ground. But if I ever need to catch it I have a hose and foldable container tucked into the wheel wells I can pull out and use.

I keep my camper parked behind my house in a slot with lots of trees and very high walls on the east and west. It barely gets sun. I have left to fridge (built in FWC factory two way) running (empty which is very inefficient) for a month now. Batteries have stayed topped off from the solar system and fridge has maintained low30s F and freezer compartment has stayed well below freezing).

I like a minimal experience too. As minimal messing with gear and supplies and camper systems as possible. Fill it and forget it has been my experience. I move around a lot when I'm camping. I use my truck to drive around nearly every day so the camper needs to be set up and broken down most every day. I hate having to move stuff out of the way to set things up and reverse it every time I set up. Now I pull a milk crate with bottled water, a shovel, small folding table, camp chair(s) and the step stool out of the camper and pop it up. 5 minutes to set up and break down.

It's such a small amount of stuff to move I can crawl into to dinette bed to sleep if I want to without moving anything or popping up (like along the road in transit or at a rest area for a few hours).

I guess I don't get the point of having the added weight and bulk and loss of truck bed storage and gas mileage reduction of having a camper compared to just having a truck bed "cap" shell if you don't have the camper systems (power, fridge, water, heat). There is a lot to be said for being able to stand up indoors out of the weather but if that's all you gain is it worth the trade-offs?
 
Your post is making me think I should have gone with a water tank and sink. How do you store cookware, non-refrigerated food, clothing, bedding, personal items (toiletries, books etc) to avoid having to re-arrange for set-up and take-down? And in my case, all the dog stuff. That is my current challenge.
 
la_morris said:
Your post is making me think I should have gone with a water tank and sink. How do you store cookware, non-refrigerated food, clothing, bedding, personal items (toiletries, books etc) to avoid having to re-arrange for set-up and take-down? And in my case, all the dog stuff. That is my current challenge.
Click to expand...
Pots and pans are in cabinet under stove. There is a drawer for utensils. Main food is in cabinets on passenger side of camper. With backstock of food in storage under dinette. Clothes I keep in a duffel in my truck. I either take the clothes I want for the next day out of duffel and throw on bed when I pop up or take the duffel and put it on the bed. I keep undies and socks in a stuff sack in duffel and usually throw it on bed when I pop up. Books are on my phone. Bedding is a sleeping bag and pillow in stored under dinette cushion or just floating on dinette to be thrown on bed when I pop up. Toiletries are in a dop kit in a cabinet plus a toothbrush and toothpaste in the drawer or in one of the "mechanical" cabinets so I can reach it from outside.

This readily accessible storage in the accessible cabinets is why I'm glad I went from a shell model to a built out model. That said, there are always tradeoffs but it works for me.

When I go hunting I even have a yeti 105 qt ice chest in the cab of my truck for boned out meat. I removed the big (60%) seat and with two blocks of wood the yeti sits in the center with duffle bags and optics, rifle, bow, etc stacked on either side or on top.
 
Thanks for the rundown. I misunderstood and thought you still had a shell. Since preserving open floor space is a priority, I don't regret the shell, but cabinets would be so convenient.
 
I am exactly in agreement with abqbw on this. I would say in this case more (built in stuff) is less (futzing). I came from a wildernest camper, via a pop top landcruiser, to a Fleet Flatbed. I was very skeptical of all the built in stuff when ordering, but now that I have it, I realized not having to deal with water jugs, buckets, ice, cooler draining, buddy heater, bin shifting etc is in many ways a far simpler existence. We pick a camp spot, pop the top and flick on the three switches for hot water, pump and furnace and we are setup.

abqbw said:
It seems like there is a lot of complicated monkeying around and moving parts involved in being "minimal" and "simple". In my non-minimal set up I add food and water and gas and drive and forget about the camper. What I want and have is minimal messing with the camper.

No chasing ice every week and opening and closing cooler as fast as possible or not adding warm drinks and food to avoid melting finite ice. No 3 or 4 or 5 part water and drain system. Fill tank, open faucet, have water. I spent more time in my shell than at home from Sept to December last year and never dented the stored battery power with my factory 160w solar power. The first trip I carried a 100w auxiliary solar panel with a long wire I could set out but jettisoned it when I figured out it was unnecessary. My fridge was a two way ARB 50qt and I also ran the lights and furnace on battery power. Based on my experience I've never understood the battery monitoring obsession I'm always reading about on WTW. I've never had to give power a second thought.

Non chlorinated clear mountain water is great, once you filter it. Unfiltered it tastes great, but you get giardia just about anywhere you can drive to. You need to filter it whether it goes in an on board water tank or a water jug. The camper water tank is in a cabinet near the center of gravity of the camper and out of the way. I'd take it any day over having several jugs of water stacked in the camper. Even if you carry a spare pump (15 min swap out time) you have a much easier and space efficient water system than jugs of water. The tank in FWC camper is 20 gal (plus 6 in hot water tank if you have one). That's 5 or 6 5-gal jugs flying around your camper.

I almost always camp where I can just let my grey water run into the ground. But if I ever need to catch it I have a hose and foldable container tucked into the wheel wells I can pull out and use.

I keep my camper parked behind my house in a slot with lots of trees and very high walls on the east and west. It barely gets sun. I have left to fridge (built in FWC factory two way) running (empty which is very inefficient) for a month now. Batteries have stayed topped off from the solar system and fridge has maintained low30s F and freezer compartment has stayed well below freezing).

I like a minimal experience too. As minimal messing with gear and supplies and camper systems as possible. Fill it and forget it has been my experience. I move around a lot when I'm camping. I use my truck to drive around nearly every day so the camper needs to be set up and broken down most every day. I hate having to move stuff out of the way to set things up and reverse it every time I set up. Now I pull a milk crate with bottled water, a shovel, small folding table, camp chair(s) and the step stool out of the camper and pop it up. 5 minutes to set up and break down.

It's such a small amount of stuff to move I can crawl into to dinette bed to sleep if I want to without moving anything or popping up (like along the road in transit or at a rest area for a few hours).

I guess I don't get the point of having the added weight and bulk and loss of truck bed storage and gas mileage reduction of having a camper compared to just having a truck bed "cap" shell if you don't have the camper systems (power, fridge, water, heat). There is a lot to be said for being able to stand up indoors out of the weather but if that's all you gain is it worth the trade-offs?
Click to expand...
 
IMO abqbw is absolutely righ on the money with his assessment. The only difference is that I really like my 3 way fridge and do not have solar.

cwd
 
After thinking of what "bling" we would add to our camper, the most frequent item we talk about is a toilet. The largest detriment to adding a toilet is dumping the tank including finding a dump site and so we are still undecided as to how to do this upgrade. After 600 camper nights, we consider it a blessing not to have a refrigerator or water tank... We tent camped for 20 years with three kids coast-to-coast without a cooler or refrig and developed a food system that does not require a lot of cooling. Now we have a cooler, two beds, a furnace, a sink, lights, and cabinets and feel we camp a hassle free life of luxury. :love:

We did build a large base of camping experience. First, 20 years of family tent camping with trips up to 3 weeks long. Then, solo (me) tent camping in northern Minnesota in April, May, September, and October which are the cooler flank months to learn how to camp more months per year after our kids moved on. Then, solo Aliner popup trailer camping in northern MN in those same cooler months. Trailer camping turned out to be better for base camping and not well suited for our wandering from trailhead to trailhead. We had a high degree of confidence based on a lot of camping when we choose our options. We are also experienced at studying multi dimensional (cost, comfort, convenience, completing a task: day hiking) trade-offs to maximize our happiness. I was an optimization engineer specializing in economics.

Footnote: I only heat my house with wood. Our propane furnace was last used 15 years ago. At home, I only eat homemade bread...
 
There are already a lot of great replies here. I'll just add my 2 cents about the truck length. We run a 2015 2500HD extended cab with an 8 ft bed. With two young children, the Grandby was a must. Although, a flatbed Hawk may have been a consideration, I'm not sure. At any rate, turning radius is less ideal, if I could have a 6 ft bed, I'd do that. Even when the kids are older, we'll always have a crew or extended cab, for gear and dog(s).

In short, my ideal length would be a short box, extended cab. In your case, I'd let first figure out what size camper you need, then commit to a truck.
 
TwoWanderingDocs said:
In short, my ideal length would be a short box, extended cab. In your case, I'd let first figure out what size camper you need, then commit to a truck.
Click to expand...
Woot! So I have the "ideal" truck! I note with interest that even my 2500HD has a less than idea turning radius, and is 19' 2" long, which is 2" longer than some NPS parks allow on "tenting" sites. Do you think they would hassle me about the 2"?
 
My replies also in red.

Happyjax said:
Hello all,

Hi!

I can't speak to the truck - I have a Tacoma and love how nimble it is. But I'm also 5'4 on a good day with shoes on, so the smaller Fleet (vs Hawk) isn't as big a deal. I do know that Hawks are niiiice for more space, but I'm happy with my Fleet. Me n' two dogs did a lot of traveling in this rig comfortably.

I read many threads about problems with the water system, freezing, pump failures, tank water tasting funny, and I wonder if there are more than a couple folks who have gone with the simple concept of water jugs, gravity and portable sink receptacle.

What I found with my water tank is I pay attention to the weather. If I have water in my tank and weather report says below freezing during the times I'm not driving/that I'm camped, I usually open the water pump access door and keep my furnace on. Sometimes I have drained the water, but doing it the other way I haven't had issues.

Many of the water heaters heat 3-6 gallons of water when I would rarely need more than 1. I would think heating a gallon on the stove would be more practical but the water heater might be more energy efficient?

I've been living in my FWC Fleet since Dec, bought it new Nov 2015 and I've never used my water heater! Ha! If I want hot or warm water, I just heat it up on my stove.

I like the concept of a basically self working shower system such as the road shower, thanks for showing me that Squatch, which under decent circumstances will heat the water and deliver a shower without using anything but mother nature and when she doesn't cooperate a kettle on the stove should fill the bill. Anyone else using that system or something similar and what do you think?

Another thing I haven't used. In my months on the road, there have only been a couple of times where I felt "geez, I really need a shower". Most of the time, showers have appeared when I want them. Campgrounds, friend's houses, or when I was still working and I took 4 day trips, I'd just shower before I left and when I got home. Then again, I'm not a "must shower every day" kind of person either. Even when I'm home, I only shower every few days.

Anyone use a water purification system for the water you get from available sources on the road?

I'm looking forward to reading other people's answers on this. But so far, I've not had any issues. And when I have felt concerned about the water in my tank, (mostly irrationally, honestly), I boil it before use, or let the dogs have it, and have my own store-bought jugs to drink.

As far as heat I am thinking a furnace might be better to control condensation but I know there are many who use the Wave heaters so any opinions from those who have used both?

I am so glad I got the furnace. Having a thermostat is GREAT.

Cassette/porta potti vs Luggable Loo..... I know there are many threads but are there those who have done both and have a preference :)

I originally had a porta-potti, but after dumping it a few times, I got grossed out by the splash potential and where stuff got stuck inside the unit and after about 6 months ownership I went to a Luggable Loo. That's what I've used since. It's so easy.

Hope this helps! I also thought about going bare-bones and getting a Coleman stove and carrying a water container, but there's a reason I'm not in a tent. Well, there's a few reasons. Regardless, I am so glad I got the stove and sink and FLUSH MOUNTED (totally worth the extra cost). Furnace with thermostat is fantastic because you don't have to self-monitor, or turn it off at night (I set mine at 54F overnight), I ordered the solar with the Fleet because I knew trying to put it in myself would be nigh impossible and probably way more expensive. That said, I wouldn't mind a bigger panel, or another one.

I'm still a little torn on the fridge. I definitely would have some fridge - screw coolers, they are a headache. The Dometic one I got with the camper is fine, but sometimes I wonder if opting for a very efficient top-loader might have been better. That said, I also wondered how I would have installed and fit one in.

Hope my rambling helped!
Dawn
Click to expand...
 
Happyjax,

As I am sure you have seen so far the answers you have received have been as varied as the experiences and preferences of the person responding. Even the concept of what does "minimalist" mean. You have probably noticed that most campers who have been doing this for awhile have evolved their campers to fit their specific needs, desires, and preferences.

Since you have not mentioned if you currently have a camper or if this will be your first and whether you plan on buying new or used, I would suggest that before you make an unwise (and costly) camper selection on your first attempt, buy an older less expensive camper (and maybe truck) and use it for a year. Most older campers will sell for what you paid for it, so it is a cheap way to figure out what you like and what you do not. If it has a water tank, try a few trips with only jugs. If it has a hot water heater, don't us it; Heat water on the stove. If it has a refrigerator, try using a cooler. You get the idea.

Also, a hot water heater takes up about two cubic feet of space or 10% or more available cabinet space. Is that the best use of that space if you only occasionally plan on showering while camping? Again, you get the idea.

Realistically if you had Vic's camper, you might not be happy because it is what Vic wanted and not what you wanted.

And that's my 2 cents worth, Good luck.
 
Boonie said:
Realistically if you had Vic's camper, you might not be happy because it is what Vic wanted and not what you wanted.

And that's my 2 cents worth, Good luck.
Click to expand...
Great advice, and besides, Happyjax can't have my camper! :D
 
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