Panther Plan

[ScottBailey]

6 more nights!

Just got back from a nice little beach camping vacation at El Capitan State Beach. My apologies for not mentioning I'd be in the neighborhood, but we had a very busy trip...

Started out at Lake Perris SRA. Never camp with boaters. Picked up a daughter from LAX, then on to El Capitan for four nights on the beach. And broke up the return with a night in Idyllwild (pictured).

I completely failed in the picture department. Just a few.

In the picture, the camper is level, but doesn't look like it. We put the tent up at 11PM-ish. Easy with the floods. I hardly ever use them, but they work great when I need them.

I replaced the porch and awning lights with LEDs. They worked great. Accidentally left the porch light on a time or two with little effect; maybe 2 amps total? Maybe 0.2? By the time I noticed the panel was pumping.

Speaking of which, It's great to simply turn on a fan and not worry about how much juice it's drawing. If the sun is up, the panel will run a fan.

Sadly, after depleting my old battery twice, it was no longer holding a charge. So I upgrade the Interstate DCM75 to a DCM90. I bought it on the way out of town and installed it in the first camp site. PITA, but only took 15 minutes. It's about 20% more juice for the same price as the 75. It's a 27 series so it's larger, but -- I think -- worth it.

A couple thoughts from this trip: the camper is SO small. Quite a few times I wished we had a trailer camper or a BIG camper w/ a slide (on a dually, of course!). BUT, it's a wonderful camper. The moment I had to back the thing through pines in the dark (dumb mistake on my part), I forgave it. Driving it through LA was a breeze. Nothing has this maneuverability, save a smaller camper.

Why is it so small? 6 people. I'm really looking forward to an upcoming trip where it's just my wife, youngest, and me! How roomy the camper will be without the extra gear!

Super frustrating: the Little Camper got his fingers smashed in the folder! Luckily, he'll be fine in a few days. If I were starting from scratch, I'd skip the folder and do a different seat back.

Anyway this brings me to 11 nights this year for a grand total of 18 nights in the camper.

Pics:

• Little Camper in the door
• group camp
• The beach!
• idyllwild

 

[chnlisle]

Scotty,
Campelito looks none the worst for wear that kid is way cute. But you blew it. There was free fish and beer to be had from TT and Sun San. MMMMMMMMMM CI Ale

 

[mtn-high]

Everything seems small when you have kids and have to take most of the free World's consumer goods with you.

Are we there yet? Daddy...I have to pee...

 

[SunMan]

Scotty,
Campelito looks none the worst for wear that kid is way cute. But you blew it. There was free fish and beer to be had from TT and Sun San. MMMMMMMMMM CI Ale

Not too far from our neck of the woods at all...out of curiosity, how far in advance did you make your reservations? Were you there mid-week? That place is next to impossible to get into...on weekends anyway.

 

[ScottBailey]

We had an RV spot. Booked mid January I think. Our friends booked the group site on the first day. There were RV SPOTS available every night we were there. But not as nice as the group or mixed. However, the RV spots were quieter! We slept in the camper, but "lived" in the group site. We arrived Sunday, but our friends made it out Thursday.

 

[EdoHart]

I could have stopped by for a visit.

Not too far from our neck of the woods at all...out of curiosity, how far in advance did you make your reservations? Were you there mid-week? That place is next to impossible to get into...on weekends anyway.

El Capitan is just down the road from me. I often take the dogs near the area of Gaviota State park for the day. Because high tide was mid-day this past weekend, we didn't go there.

 

[Alaskan Snowbirds]

Scott,

This last post prompted me to go back through your whole thread and I enjoyed it a lot. I had been through parts of it but hadn't gone start to finish and I picked up a few new tidbits like the reference to Mark's water pillow, your shovel mount, the pin for the fridg etc. Lots of good reference...thanks!

The beach trip looks like it was a fun one...always enjoy seeing pics of "The Little Camper"...makes me smile

In one of the pics it looks like there's a solar oven set up...yes? If so, does it work pretty well? Is there a range of outside temperature where it works best???

Happy Trails!
'birds

 

[ScottBailey]

Scott,

This last post prompted me to go back through your whole thread and I enjoyed it a lot. I had been through parts of it but hadn't gone start to finish and I picked up a few new tidbits like the reference to Mark's water pillow, your shovel mount, the pin for the fridg etc. Lots of good reference...thanks!

The beach trip looks like it was a fun one...always enjoy seeing pics of "The Little Camper"...makes me smile

In one of the pics it looks like there's a solar oven set up...yes? If so, does it work pretty well? Is there a range of outside temperature where it works best???

Happy Trails!
'birds

Thanks for the compliment!

While I'm thinking about it: my shovel has ridden about 1300 miles in this mount. I'm calling it good. Someday, maybe, I'll replace the wood screws.

Also, bolt through is the ONLY way. No worries about the camper at all.

On to the oven. But first, some background. We camped with some families from my wife's "mom's lists". A number of which were girl scout leaders. Very organized camping with group cooking and activities. We'd never camped with them before, so had no idea what to expect -- that's why I just skipped mentioning our plans.

So, that is indeed an oven, although NOT solar. It's a "box oven". Here's a link. Basically the box reflects and contains the heat from some charcoal. We had brownies.

As a child, we lived in Anchorage for a number of years. I can't tell you how many attempts I made to heat food with the sun! With highs in the 60's it never worked.

 

[chnlisle]

Sunny Pam and I have lucked out a number of times by hitting the Captain on Wednesday. Having said that it is a long way to go for nobody home.

 

[Alaskan Snowbirds]

...bolt through is the ONLY way. No worries about the camper at all.

I've been hearing that from you guys that have more experience with the campers off road than I do. pvstoy had a write-up of his experience with bolt through that was pretty convincing too.

I like having the cheap/easy to fix part be the weak link and I haven't had any problem installing/checking the turnbuckles so far but (with the camper) I've only gone steep or deep off road (and little of that), not rough. If the turnbuckles get to be a problem I'll look at bolt through (though I'd be likely to add some kind of dashpot in the system somewhere if I do go that route).

Edit: After thinking about this a little a spring (like a rubber doughnut or even an old piece of conveyor belt) would be better than a dashpot/shock absorber since the shock absorber wouldn’t “recover” and would probably allow too much slack in the system.

...It's a "box oven". Here's a link. Basically the box reflects and contains the heat from some charcoal....

Cool! Seems like something I could have some fun playing with too, just like the rest of the 'scouts

...As a child, we lived in Anchorage for a number of years...

We spent summer '74 through fall '75 in Anchorage. Took some classes at UAA but they didn't offer much in engineering then so went to UAF to finish up my BSCE. Fairbanks is my favorite but had to compromise with Juneau to get back to AK

Happy Trails!
'birds

 

[ScottBailey]

Huh... Looks like I forgot to post my GC pics. Maybe I'll get that later.

Anyway, here is a nice pic of our campsite at Pioneer Pass.


I call it "Cactus in the Pines".

 

[lostnot]

Today marks 30 days from receipt of the camper.


We've had the camper out 3 times and here are some of my negative/critical thoughts/observations/ramblings, and a few positives, too:

• Table post mount. Bad place: toe stubbing. Do we really need the table?
  
• Curtain rods suck: flimsy plus mounts pushed holes in screen of rear door. Use Velcro mounts instead?
  
• Need a factory option for Ax and shovel brackets. These are too necessary in the Southwest.
  
• Porta Potti storage is inconvenient: it should slide out (ala FWC). I have a plan to "fix" this, just no time to do the work!
  
• King size bed is awesome and should be a standard factory option with extra lights and--maybe--relocated safety equipment. (I don't think the smoke/co2 alarm will work well with the top down.
  
• Could the king bed be done without a slide? Extending the bed farther forward above the cab? How much of a PITA would the top be to lift? Just thinking...
  
• Lifting the back is easy, the front seems--while not hard--awkward.
  
• The front sliding window is a waste. I don't care for it. I'd rather have flat "glass".
  
• The arctic pack seems of mediocre durability. If a guy had time, he could make a better solution.
  
• The 3-way fridge is OK. Lighting it can be a PITA. If the Nova Kools hold up to the vibration, I think a Nova Kool and solar would be a better way to go.
  
• If I were building from a shell, I would consider an Engel fridge/freeze. There's a lot to like there. I'm thinking I'm buying a small one anyway...
  
• Always get 2 powered fans. The cost is small relative to the benefit.
  
• In future, I'd skip the 110v system.
  
• Running water is awesome. I'm through with stupid 5 gallon cans.
  
• Wouldn't it be nice if the stove and furnace were diesel?
  
• I prefer the full length aisle of the Panther compared to the Hawk. Also, stove position is better in the Panther.
  
• The 4" factory foam is adequate. No need to consider any alternative.
  
• Ford's factory tow mirrors make this an easy drive.

All criticism is generally minor. The camper is great! It makes getting outdoors possible for us.


As an aside, we just retired the truck to full recreational/hauling duties with the purchase of a cheap commuter. We figure we'll be ahead at the end of 5 years. With the difference in cost of fuel an maintenance we should do OK. Amazingly, the Hyundai has a 60k bumper to bumper. I wish Ford had that warranty.

 

[lostnot]

Scott

A few nice things about the slide window.

Nice to have when picking up long items such as a 7 foot roll of carpet. Stayed inside through window so we could continue to shop without having back door open or tied to roof.

Open both sliders and have a long stick to beep horn in case of problem people.

Allows cool air in to circulate through camper and out fantastic fan.

Pass thru from cab to camper or camper to bed.

 

[dsrtrat]

Scott,
I also had the rear curtain rod wear a hole in the screen. Here is what I did to all the curtains.

I removed the factory curtain rods and replaced with nylon pad eyes and black parachute cord. I also replaced the snaps that furl the curtains with velcro straps. I can still slide the curtains on the cords like the rods. To wash them all I have to do is untie a knot and slip them off the cord.

Dsrtrat

 

[ScottBailey]

Scott,
I also had the rear curtain rod wear a hole in the screen. Here is what I did to all the curtains.

I removed the factory curtain rods and replaced with nylon pad eyes and black parachute cord. I also replaced the snaps that furl the curtains with velcro straps. I can still slide the curtains on the cords like the rods. To wash them all I have to do is untie a knot and slip them off the cord.

Dsrtrat


Thanks. That is a GREAT idea.

 

[ScottBailey]

The first pic was of a camping trip with some friends. I blame them for causing me to need a camper. The second was labor day on the Mogollon Rim. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Not that busy for such a huge weekend.

The easy auto lighter failed, I need to dig in and properly install the Atwood electrode. <sigh> I think I'm done with it. I'll likely add another battery and the Nova Kool 2600 over Christmas IF I can scrounge up the cash...