Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Off Road Pop-Up campers?

"Ah feeelz yo' pain." I drive a Nissan Frontier. It'll tow like crazy considering its size but the carry weight is not quite enough for a slide in camper.

I have a couple balancing problems with a towable.

(1) One of my uses for either would be coyote hunting in winter. To get there I have to cross the Oregon Cascade range. Much of the winter, the highway regs allow me to tote a camper without chaining up (if I'm under 10K GVW) but if I'm towing, even a 250 pound trailer, I gotta chain up. The hassle difference matters.

(2) One of my deer / elk huntin' fishin' etc spots has a couple monster water bars to cross. They're not "drive over", they're "drive down into" size water bars. Tank traps almost. From the bottom, ground level is about even with the bottom of the truck windows. I have to take them diagonally else the class IV receiver hitch drags. No way could I cross those pulling a trailer 'cause the hitch assembly itself would bottom out ... maybe worse things would happen as well. I think, though, with a full sized truck with a little bit of lift, a smaller slide-in would be fine.

I don't have a full sized truck though. For now, I guess its tent camping. Yech. I hate setting up tents in the rain and I hate the contortions I have to go through to dry one back home even more.

Tom

I've been eyeing these too, though I doubt I'll pull the trigger any time in the near future. I've currently got a '89 Jayco 1006 that I may just modify instead....add a 3500lb trailer axle with legit springs and some heavier duty tires. Seems that would be the cheaper option.

Thanks all. I have looked at all the major manufacturers to include Travel Trailers, Hybrid, TRUCK CAMPERS, so it was not so much of a model or make as much I wanted opinions on those who have or are using one. I think I am going to pick up the Banshee 2 this weekend new. I may eat a bit but my stinky arse is the only one that has been in there. A 12V solar panel and I am set! Good hunt'n!

Here's my popup camper, mounted on my Dodge Ram 2500 diesel. It is a Hallmark Ute LX model, and has served me well for going on 15 years. Been on many a big game, turkey, and bird hunt over the years with my wife, sons, and grandson. Lots of game has been hauled in the back of this camper.

The beauty of this setup is that it can easily go off-road, and the truck can still tow a boat, ATV, or whatever you might need.

Bighorn:

How much does that camper weigh? Any issues with the pop-up roof?

Some day if I ever break down and buy a diesel I too would go the truck option for ease and portability. Good set up, but even the light ones are 900-lbs plus dry. I would be over loaded pretty quick in my half ton even with over loads.

slammer,
The camper weighs around 1000 lb. There have been absolutely no issues whatsover with the roof- it's been thru a couple of real frog-strangler rainstorms this summer, with the top popped up, and nary a drop inside.

How do these units do with dust after one has traveled about 50 miles of dry unpaved roads?

Very well- unit seals up tite when popped down. It's been over way more than 50 miles of unpaved roads at a time.

No dust issues here either. I did hit a few small holes around plumbing and wires coming up from underneath with some silicone caulk to help out. But in all honesty they were in cabinet areas anyway.

No dust issues with ours either, and it's 25 years old.

All this camper talk kinda brings back memories-
My truck and camper have been on:
Moose hunt
Elk hunts
Mule deer and whitetail hunts
Bighorn sheep hunts
Duck and goose hunts
Turkey hunts
Dove hunts
Fishing trips
Boating trips

Getting it ready for Sept. 1, for our annual dove hunt at the farm. Me, the boys, and the grandson like to stay the night before, cook out, and get ready for first light. Think I'll take along a .223, as turkey season also opens Sept. 1!

Forgot ATV and UTV camping outings, as well.

Man! If you were in Texas I'd take you up on it. That's exactly what I'm looking for the my base of my project. Planting on a spring over conversion with some tweaking to get a set of 31"s under it, plus the basket in front and kayak racks on top for costal fishing trips. Everything around here is around $2k or more. To risk the project I need to jump in cheap.....

The problem with a used popup is most of them have rotted canvas 'cause folks stored 'em outside. Buy one and replace that canvas and you may as well have bought new.

The Cadillac of Pop-up Truckcampers!

Two ways to go on this one .

A). Get a off road pop up camper with a platform on the front for a quad runner / coolers.

B). If you can drive a regular cargo trailer through that area you camp at buy a tall v- nose trailer and put a furnace in it.

I did the later option, and it's nice because I can put all my gear in it and don't have to worry about rain, or theft when I'm driving out. Plus I get to use the trailer for around the house and work stuff like picking up furniture, hauling lawn mowers, and such - cant do that with a pop up.

Option A will cost 7-9k used, 11k new. Option B will cost you 7-8k new.

I don't know much about off-road campers but this looks like the cream of the crop by a large margin

I'm surprised that no one mentioned Alaskan Campers the original fold down truck campers.I've never had one but they look interesting
Tim

I did the latter last year, picked up a used 6x12 tandem axle enclosed trailer for around 1500 bucks - can't remember off the top of my head. Built a fold up bed along the side wall, installed a couple windows from a teardrop camper and a skylight. Only complaint is mine has a 6' ceiling and I'm 6'1", no big deal. A 7x14 would be ideal, the 12' one is pretty tight all things considered. A couple folks from here helped me to pimp mine out, their advice and experience were priceless.