I had a pickup mounted camper for about 15 years. I used the heck out of it and found it really a great compromise for the bulk of my needs. There were a couple shortcomings that needed to be addressed which actually were not workable. A new plan had to emerge.
One issue, I would arrive at a fishing spot, I could launch the boat and have a great little camp to come back to, However some of the boat launches were so steep that it was quite awkward launching the boat depending upon the tide schedule. Even fresh water launches were a challenge at times. Hunting with the camper was not workable trying to drive around the remote and rough roads. Off loading the camper was scary and difficult on uneven roads, the soft ground, and strong wind blowing made getting that camper off the truck a nightmare.
After years of using this, I decided that I really needed a camp trailer rather then a pickup camper. Easy to hook up and unhook, giving me the use of the truck for hunting. The fishing thing was a bust with the camp trailer, no way to pull both. So we bought a smaller high end inflatable with an electric motor to get us on the lakes we needed to fish on. All this fit in the back of the pickup under the canopy.
Still compromises but now we have a plan to better use the "toys" for the chosen adventure. When I was looking at the trailers everything seemed huge compared to the tiny little Lance pickup camper. We wanted three things in the camper when we started. A walk around bed, a dry bathroom, and a basic kitchen. No sofa, no lounge chairs, no fluff or space for kids, grandkids, or visitors. Just Mom and I period. Having camped in a tent for 45 plus years caring my kit on my back thousands of miles across the alpine lakes wilderness of Washington, plus Alaska, Idaho and Montana, the kids and grandkids can learn what camping is for those few times we are all together. The trailer is not to be shared with anyone!
Selfish? Okay I'm fine with that. I'll gladly accept that! We bought a 22' trailer which is 25.5 feet long from hitch to bumper. Not exactly sure where the 22' measure comes from? Must be living space but the way I measure it, it's about 20.5' long? must be some magic RV formula they use. After searching and reading countless reviews we made our choice and learned of a few other things we had to have.
One was, that it must be a four season engineered design, a fair additional expense which narrowed the field considerably. However now we can (and have) camped below 20 deg without anything freezing up on us and the furnace runs about 15-20 min per hour compared to the 3 season pickup camper which had the furnace running 45 min an hour and a few times continuous. Several people I know don't even use their trailers in the cold as they have had the pipes freeze and cause massive amounts of work to tear them apart to fix.
Another must have, was the fan in the ceiling called the thermostat controlled fantastic fan with the rain hood. I can pull a draft through this camper from the front window to the exhaust in the bathroom ceiling now that is impressive and cools the whole thing down in minutes. Finally from the dealer or Manufacturer, I want a huge fresh water tank to be able to arrive in the bush and stay for a week or more. That narrowed the field again by a huge amount. The biggest fresh water tank I could find was 80 gallons. Some had 70, with the odd fine print saying you should not travel with more then half a tank of fresh water. Not sure exactly how you arrive with half a tank and get the use of 70 gallons? It's like they wanted to claim a big tank, just can't have it full to drive. I found one that actually claimed the extra big tank was fully safe to drive on or off road with because they had a fully welded and contained structure inside the frame.
I've since added a number of things that seemed like good ideas to make life better in there. The best changes were swapping all bulbs to LEDs. Now I have less amp draw with every single light on then when I had only a single incandescent light on! Then switching to 2 interstate 6 volt Lead acid Electric vehicle batteries rather then a single 12volt battery. My big Trojan 225 in the pickup camper was a beast, I think it weighed 65lbs. These intestates are if I recall 75 each. I now have 150lbs of lead amp storage! To this I added a marine charging and consumption monitor to watch the power and monitor use.
Our longest dry camping trip to date has been in Canada fishing in Northern BC. We parked at the outfitters ranch and stayed there for 5 days and 6 nights. At the end I had 82% of my battery remaining and we watched a movie every night on the 22" flat screen 12 volt TV with the DVD player running as well.
Our weak link seems to be the water capacity. Even with 80 gallons, by the time you shower and wash off the trail dust from the horse pack trip up to the river every day that water goes fast. The Grey tank and black tank each hold 40 gallons. I don't think the two of us could fill that black tank in a month or months! The grey tank is another matter.
While camping with this trailer in Arizona this past late spring, we found that all the campgrounds want you to have a hose to drain the gray water onto the lawn and trees at the camp sites ( RV park type sites) there is a dump tank cap made with a threaded section for a common garden hose. So a section of hose and that cap lets you drain the tank onto the lawn, trees, and to put out any fire you might have had with very good results. Clearly not a black water idea!
This setup has worked well for us now with 14,000 miles and 70 nights in the last 8 months. Another thing or two needs to be sorted out, but over all this is really the right product for the needs we have now at our age and with my business needs. I have changed a number of other things and build shelves where there was only closets and the invaluable coat hooks to hang things from inside.
For us this as a base camp is awesome, as comfortable as being home, but parked anyplace you can find a flat spot to stay the night.
