Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Recommend a camper trailer

Based on my observations here in South central Alaska, I agree Arctic Fox with a slide out. I've had Holiday Rambler and don't recommend it for even cool weather. I have a Bigfoot slide in with a slide out and it is okay but Arctic Fox is the way I'd go next time..

Tent and sleeping bags are sounding better by the post!

I will add my two cents worth, I didn't read to see if it's been mentioned, but...

please beware of rot and mold in the inner walls, between the ceiling panels and the roof, or the paneling and the exterior siding! I mention it because all it takes is one screw hole or tiny rip in the siding or roofing and you have a serious problem with mold, mildew and rot!

I found this out the hard way. It happens behind the bed, or in a corner where you cant see it, if there is ANY sign of water stains on the ceiling or paneling, inner walls, flooring, by all means INVESTIGATE! I picked up a camper as a younger guy and got up north and was camping, and in the middle of the night had a huge asthmatic attack. It was mold and mildew in the camper that I hadn't seen or found, and with a damaged sense of smell, didn't smell it. It was there, after tearing into the corner wall and ceiling panel, it was all over in the insulation.

If you don't have asthma, COPD, lung issues or dont care, it's not a big deal. To someone like me with bad lungs, it was a huge deal. Be warned.

You guys missed the point of light weight. Lots of recommendations here don't fit the bill.

Thought I waste more computer space and your time with this.

Though not what you're looking for as it is big and heavy. This is our home away from home and we don't get too excited about cold unless it goes below a -30 F. It sure is nice to come home from hunting to a nice hot shower every few days and maybe on Sunday afternoon, fire up a Nascar Race. It being a 2004 model and 9 years old when we bought it, it was pretty affordable. memtb

not so sure guys missed the point as glossed over it, cause lt. wt. and durable don't often go hand in hand.


something built to last over bumping over trails is going to have to be pretty solid.

it's akin to finding the "perfect" raingear imo, I want light weight, extremely durable, absolutely waterproof and breathable. That creature is harder to find than Bigfoot (not the camper, the critter)


lt wt. and tough, maybe a fly weight boxer, but they don't have him compete against the heavy weights for a reason. YMMV

No we didn't.

So, please define "light weight". Most 18-24' campers are easily towed by any full-size modern pickup. If you want to tow it with your Camry, gonna be hard to find what you want.

PS, you want a refrigerator. Trust me. Come to think of it, you will look a long time to find a camper without one.

I have a little 23' 5th wheel. We love it. The shower is small but very nice at least during the warmer months.

I have a champion generator that will run everything including the AC. The microwave is nice to have off the generator and sometimes the little tv and DVD player are too.

If you ever use it during the hot months you'll want the AC, they turn into ovens real quick.

And with a generator and decent batteries you can easily run the furnace through the night even without the generator going the whole time. Just fire up the generator for a time while having dinner or breakfast to charge up the batteries. And you might not turn the thermostat to 70 but even 40-50 is a lot better than what night time temps could easily be during hunting seasons in the mtns.

Plus a small one heats up pretty quick, so you could crawl into a warm sleeping bag and then just turn on the furnace while getting ready or going to bed.

I like it, other than the claim idea that one can get a decent Airstream or the very similar Silver Streak for $3500!

Seriously, I have been looking for several weeks and I am finding that almost all camper and cargo trailers for reasonable prices on Craigslist and Facebook are scams.

Norm

Outdoors RV

Found mine on craigslist. But I shopped around for awhile and was well prepared and ready to buy when this one showed up, so I jumped on it.

My previous trailer was a 1958 18' single axle Airstream which I'd towed to many places from Baja to British Columbia. A great trailer, but too small for the OP's purpose. There are even cheaper ways to go, but this type represents quality and great value that a smart buyer can easily get his money back out of when he decides to sell or trade.

KC's post is very good advice in the overall sense. Thanks.

Not so easy to get quality and light weight together. For long-term leak avoidance, don't buy one with roof/corner seams that can open/leak - tough to keep up with the inspection/caulking. The Silver Streak pictured above is the type outside roof/corner seams to have for long-term tightness.

Older shorter trailers are usually the better buy with regard to quality basics and price/value. But, they usually weigh more.

If you want a decent sized bathroom and other more flexible space inside once you get into camp, maybe give some thought to a toy hauler.

Some good advise here especially about winterizing. A couple of things I ran into and tips for you I hope will help you out. .

The gas heaters are ok but I prefer running an electric radiator as it is less scary,more constant and predictable and doesn't spike - and leaves gas for cooking. Gas scares me. Sometimes I will run the stovetop a few minutes to take the edge off while the radiator catches up. If you have a piezo starter on your stovetop replace it with a battery operated one. I just bought one for a gas grill and altered it to light the burners on my stove in the trailer. So much less annoying and I smile whenever I use it now. When you want to use your stove you need to open the valve for several seconds to bleed the air out before it will light, That is normal.

One thing they may not tell you is that water heaters are often both gas and electric. I didn't know that and always turned on gas and worried it would freeze. It is super nice having it electric as it is hot right now ( although don't expect long hot showers) and you don't have to worry about it freezing up on you or draining it etc...

One of the first things to break from freeze tends to be the toilet valve, To avoid that flush again after turning off the pump if not connected to city water. I bought some heat wrap pipe tape. You plug it in and when temps go below 40 degrees it warms up enough to keep things from freezing.

Next is the water pump itself so make sure to turn the pump off and drain all valves as much as possible. The p-traps will split crack if you don't add the pink antifreeze so be liberal with it. By the way, most stuff on a trailer is for whatever reason reverse of what you can get at home depot.

Next- as much as humanly possible mouse proof your trailer. little bastards will freak you out at night and destroy things. In a trailer- NOTHING is easy to get to. My suggestion is to take screening and put around the power cord where it enters your trailer . There is a little door for it and just attack that for a start.

Where your power comes through the floor to your converter. Seal that with varmint proof expanding foam as much as possible, then take steel wool and stuff it all through there. Use glue traps under your sink and other areas. One trick I figured out was to put a trash can against one of the dinner table seats. I put paper in the bottom and a little bait. Rats or mice would fall in and be unable to climb out. The paper kept it from being a nasty mess and I would dump the dead critters on the camp fire. Gross maybe beut telling you what you might be in for buddy.


One other thing I recommend is spending the $30 or so for the things that go over your roof vents. They allow you to keep the roof vents open in the rain and while traveling. The vent lids disintegrate in a few years and will leak so having the larger covers over them really add a welcome layer of protection.

I recommend the square insulated reflective things you can shove into the vent opening from the inside. It seals them really well and will keep heat in as well as keep it darker.
and quieter in the room.

Cover your wheels from sunshine. Park tires on wood or stone, not the ground. Have the wife make blackout shades. I built a 4x8 deck out side of the door and love it.

Hope you enjoy your new to you trailer. I hope some of this will make it all the more so.

Craigs List Nash Trailer

If I thought I could sell my Casita I would buy this one.

Or this one.

Another Craigs List Trailer

KC

If you cant find an Arctic Fox, look at a Nash. Well built trailers.

I just bought a 1970 28-ft Silver Steak! LOVE IT! I paid $3,800 for it. I need to update the kitchen and I'll be installing an on-demand tankless hot water heater. Only 4,400 lbs dry weight.

I found my Silver Steak on Craigslist. He was asking $4,500 and I bought it for $3,800. It happened to be in the same town in Iowa that my son was going to college in. I took him to college and then towed it back. He had it set up for all plug-in camping, so I'm in the process of finding propane and three-way appliances to swap out, but by next summer, this will be a KEEPER. You can get silver streaks for 1/4 the price of an Airsteam and they are twice the trailer. All anodized aluminum skin, 2-inches insulation, aluminum ribs.

There are pictures of my Silver Streak in this Gallery thread.

www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/12334739#Post12334739

My Brother-in-law and I shared a 1000 acre deer lease with 3 other guys for 5-years, in Zapata County, TX.
About a month before deer season opened, we'd go shop for an RV. Being as the Rio Grande Valley is a winter tourist destination, used RV's were abundant and prices were dirt cheap.
We'd set the RV up at deer camp and once the season was over, sell it. We never failed to make money on each turn-over. Set up was simple and we'd connect the sewage drain to a 55-gallon barrel we'd shot full of holes and buried in the sandy loam. We'd set off a bug bomb inside the trailer after set up and we wouldn't have bugs the rest of the season.
We'd haul water & propane as needed but that was about it. One thing we did come to learn was to leave the door unlocked, with a few cans of beans on the counter for the Wetbacks journeying north. This saved the door from being pried or jimmied.
Made for a very luxurious deer camp.
I can't remember the brands of RV's we bought but all were comfortable and all were maintenance free, so I know I'm not helping with the OP's request. But where to buy and RV and get the best bang for your buck is definitely winter tourist stomping grounds. The further north we'd go to sell ours, the more money we'd make. We doubled our money on one we took to Enid, OK.

DMc