I just bought a 1973 8' CO last week ... Everywhere I go people say oh cool camper but those Alaskans are so heavy! I'm not talking FWC-type afficionados here, just folks comparing it with regular campers. My Alaskan weighs 1,450 lbs (I actually weighed it to get the exact dry weight, and it does correspond with the plate by the door). From what I can tell, it seems that the older NCO Alaskans range from 1,050 to 1,200 lbs and the 8' COs are in the 1,400-1,500 lb range. So why the reputation for being super heavy? I mean, it's not uncommon for a regular hard side camper to be 1,600 lbs and up and in fact it seems like anything under 2,000 lbs is advertised as light weight! And lots of the newer campers (although they may *look* lightweight and even have names that suggest they are) are a lot heavier than that.
Really, as far as I can tell the Alaskans aren't particularly heavy as campers go (and they handle better than a tall camper). And they aren't even all that heavy for a pop-up. A friend of mine has a newer short bed pop-up with vinyl sides (not sure of the make), and it's over 1,400 lbs but no one ever tells her it's heavy. (Personally I think that's because it *looks* lightweight.)
So what gives? Why does everyone say the Alaskans are "so heavy?" Is it because they just "look" heavy? Is it because they have fewer features and less storage space for the weight? Or is it because they look sort of like a canopy, and psychologically people feel like they should weigh more like a canopy would?
I do have a concern with the weight of my Alaskan because I haul a horse trailer in mountainous terrain with a '92 Dodge diesel 4x4, and I'm pushing the GVWR with this set-up. If it proves too unwieldy I may have to go back to my FWC Grandby (which I like a lot, especially the lighter weight, but it fits so tight in the tailgate that loading and unloading is a white-knuckle event). But ... wherever I go to horse events I see people towing trailers with full height hard sided truck campers that weigh at least as much as the Alaskan, and commonly more, with trucks that often are no more suited to the extra weight than mine is. It seems that when people *do* think about their weight rating they typically don't actually weigh their rigs, they just go by the curb weight listed for the vehicle (in my case the listed curb weight of my truck is 1,300 lbs less than the actual weight with a full fuel tank) and the (often optimistically) listed dry weight of the camper. Which leads me to believe that there are a lot of overloaded trucks out there. So how come everyone thinks mine is especially heavy?
Really, as far as I can tell the Alaskans aren't particularly heavy as campers go (and they handle better than a tall camper). And they aren't even all that heavy for a pop-up. A friend of mine has a newer short bed pop-up with vinyl sides (not sure of the make), and it's over 1,400 lbs but no one ever tells her it's heavy. (Personally I think that's because it *looks* lightweight.)
So what gives? Why does everyone say the Alaskans are "so heavy?" Is it because they just "look" heavy? Is it because they have fewer features and less storage space for the weight? Or is it because they look sort of like a canopy, and psychologically people feel like they should weigh more like a canopy would?
I do have a concern with the weight of my Alaskan because I haul a horse trailer in mountainous terrain with a '92 Dodge diesel 4x4, and I'm pushing the GVWR with this set-up. If it proves too unwieldy I may have to go back to my FWC Grandby (which I like a lot, especially the lighter weight, but it fits so tight in the tailgate that loading and unloading is a white-knuckle event). But ... wherever I go to horse events I see people towing trailers with full height hard sided truck campers that weigh at least as much as the Alaskan, and commonly more, with trucks that often are no more suited to the extra weight than mine is. It seems that when people *do* think about their weight rating they typically don't actually weigh their rigs, they just go by the curb weight listed for the vehicle (in my case the listed curb weight of my truck is 1,300 lbs less than the actual weight with a full fuel tank) and the (often optimistically) listed dry weight of the camper. Which leads me to believe that there are a lot of overloaded trucks out there. So how come everyone thinks mine is especially heavy?
Well, sure. No argument there. I'm just talking in comparison to a regular hard side camper.
