New Guy from Oregon

[Jim49]

Hello my name is Dave and I live in Oregon. I'm looking at purchasing my 1st pop up camper and am going to go with a FWC Hawk shell. Have lots of questions but just wanted to say Hi.

 

[MarkBC]

Welcome to WTW, fellow Oregonian!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Howdy DaveS! Welcome to the group!

 

[The view from here]

Hello, I'm new here as well and looking for FWC owners to see what kind of modifications some of you have made. I bought a Hawk model last year, put it on a 2000 Ford 150 with the V6. It's a little underpowered but after many years of driving VW campers, and crossing large bodies of water in a small sailboat, going slow is a welcome throwback. Dave, I started my design with the shell, but after much deliberation as to weight and what I would want to build(I'm a finish carpenter) decided to let FWC do all the work (and use their very light Siberian Birch plywood and stock that I could not fine easily)and got the side dinette model with a furnace, refer/freezer, stove and the Zamp 80W solar panel with two house batteries. I camped all winter in and around the Colorado Plateau from Flagstaff to the north side of the San Rafael Swell with no difficulties aside from finding water. I now carry a 12V pump and two inline carbon filters along with 25' of hose and can now take water from wherever I can find it. I'm heading out to the Oregon coast in November and will face the challenge of very little sunlight for weeks at a time and have started my search for a very small portable generator and/or a high output alternator for the truck. Also wondering about the possibility of a foot powered generator
Apparently it's not possible to post pictures with dialogues here. Any suggestions? Where might I see what FWC owners have done modifications?
Randy (TVFH)

 

[billharr]

Welcome "The view from here"

Camper build can be found here. May be more info than you need.

Small modifications can be found here.

 

[Ace!]

Howdy,

I was considering a shell too. After figuring out exactly what I wanted, I have decided to let FWC do the work and now I'm ordering one fairly well appointed. My plan is to order it this coming weekend.

 

[norcalhawk]

Welcome DaveS. and The view from here (Randy). There is a mountain of talent and expertise on this site.

Good luck

 

[PaulT]

Welcome to all you new guys.

As far as filtering local water in Oregon, make sure that your filters take out giardia, (AKA Beaver Fever). Granulated charcoal will not do that but some solid carbon block filters are made to filter them out. Sawyer makes inexpensive filters that are made to provide sanitized water in less friendly locations.

Honda and Yamaha make 1 kW very quiet generators that could meet your electrical needs, and be non obtrusive in terms of noise. As far as foot powered, I found these:in a quick search but don't have any experience with them.
http://pedalpowergenerator.com/shop-pedal-power/belt-drive-bicycle-generator-systems/
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AHuman%20Powered%20Generator

The 300 watt generator looks interesting as it produces a significant amount of power and if you are a good DIY'er you might be able to set up with a bicycle, wind power, or possibly a paddle wheel in a stream to supplement our feeble winter sunshine.

Paul

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Yes,welcome to all new comers . This site has been the source of a great deal of good info.
Have enjoyed it for the past 6 years.
Good luck on the FWC shell.
Frank

 

[Dphillip]

Welcome, we are new owners as well. We took delivery in March of our Hawk and just spent a full week in it during the Sturgis Rally. We parked at a very nice older campground will full hookups. This is more our style of camping. Our Hawk is nicely equipted however we deleted the refrigator for a shortage cabinet.

 

[Happyjax]

Welcome all! This is your best bet for info and help. The folks on here are knowledgeable and very happy to share

 

[longhorn1]

Wow! Welcome to all of you newcomers. You can get so much help on this site. Good Luck. jd

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Wander The West mobile app

 

[N'kwala]

Welcome new guys. This really is a helpful site, and the trip reports are often inspiring. Enjoy and keep in touch.

 

[Jim49]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

 

[Bigfoot]

New owners FWC 3, all others 0. Even a carpenter can't compete with FWC's interior. They must be doing something right!

Welcome Oregon and Colorado wanderers!

 

[4llamas]

Hello my name is Dave and I live in Oregon. I'm looking at purchasing my 1st pop up camper and am going to go with a FWC Hawk shell. Have lots of questions but just wanted to say Hi.

Yo Dave,
Greetings from the southwest corner of the Willamette Valley.