"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/03/2019 at 19:39 • Filed to: stuff and things
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"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/03/2019 at 19:39 • Filed to: stuff and things | 1
| 15 |
I celebrated my first weekday of summer, by sleeping all the way until 8 am ... it was glorious . Then after breakfast, I got to work. I cleaned my gutters, cleaned some of my neighbor’s gutters, weed whacked, sprayed the perime ter of the house for insects, cleaned the garage and the shed out some, unclogged my bathtub drain, and fixed a leaky toilet flapper valve.
I also managed to fit 15 miles of scooter riding in there, and do some writing. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
Tomorrow I’m going to my buddy’s house to pick up The Death Camper. We’ve decided to sell it. First we need to clean it out and take pictures of the inside not full of all of our stuff. We’ve been storing it at his house, but the camper is in my name, and I’m much better at actually selling things, so it’s coming back to my house until it’s sold (much to my wife’s chagrin).
Anybody want a cool looking, but crappy pop-up?
Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> shop-teacher
06/03/2019 at 20:03 |
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I've never understood the purpose of the pop up soft sided campers. Is there a reason to use these instead of a large tent? I grasp the point of hard sided campers with kitchens and bathrooms and real beds and the ability to run AC and or heat. Those are clearly an upgrade over a tent and offer more seasons of use. But this setup seems like overkill to tow a whole vehicle around for what is just a large tent that could fit in the trunk of any car.
Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
> shop-teacher
06/03/2019 at 20:04 |
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Back in the early ‘70s my family had a Nimrod trailer, but I thought the entrance was on the side; I could be wrong - my memories of 50 years ago have faded a little. I guess it was made before today’s common use of the word ‘Nimrod’ came into play. I’m still not really into camping, but I do want a Vanagon Westfalia. I don’t plan on camping in it - I just want one.
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shop-teacher
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/03/2019 at 20:11 |
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They get you up off the ground, and onto a bed. They're also a hell of a lot easier to tow than a hard sided camper. Nicer ones have AC and a toilet too.
Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/03/2019 at 20:42 |
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As someone who is tenting for a week at the end of this month, a camper has a ceiling that doesn’t leak, a real bed, a floor and a kitchen area I can cook in out of the weather if need be. My parents had a pop up for many years, and I wish I could have taken it when offered. But I didn’t have a place to store it or a car to tow it with.
ranwhenparked
> shop-teacher
06/03/2019 at 22:29 |
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About how heavy is it?
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shop-teacher
> ranwhenparked
06/03/2019 at 22:41 |
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I don't know, to be honest. My truck has a rather low for a truck tow rating of 5700 pounds, and you can barely tell it's there when I'm pulling it.
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ranwhenparked
> shop-teacher
06/03/2019 at 23:18 |
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I’m sort of looking for something around 1,000, I know some pop ups can hit that, and a lot of teardrops are less.
Eh, no sense putting the cart before the horse, I haven’t got a hitch installed yet.
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shop-teacher
> ranwhenparked
06/03/2019 at 23:24 |
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At that price, you need to be really careful about which one you’re buying. Don’t touch anything that needs canvas repairs.
We should have been more careful with our purchase. This one mostly works, but we’ll be happy to get $500 for it, with it’s problems.
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ranwhenparked
> shop-teacher
06/03/2019 at 23:26 |
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Oh, I’m talking weight -ar ound 1,000 lbs. Price is more flexible.
Just want something I can tow to concerts and sleep in for one or two nights at a time, instead of either staying in a crappy motel too far away or pitching a tent.
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shop-teacher
> ranwhenparked
06/04/2019 at 08:35 |
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Gotcha. That makes more sense. I would guess m ine weighs around that, but the big problem with mine is the lift system failed, and thus requires two strong adults to lift the top up onto wood posts.
Tear drops are certainly lighter and easier to tow, and require less setup . The pop ups are nice because they’re a lot roomier inside. You can actually stand up and cook in them. It might be a good idea to rent a pop up for a weekend, and see how your car does towing it.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
06/04/2019 at 13:19 |
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But a good tent most certainly does not leak. While sure my tent that barely fits one person sounds pricey at the around $12 0 or so that I spent on it, but it has never leaked one drop of water nor had any issues in any amount of wind going on around me. Plus it weighs basically nothing and easily fits in any bag. I have had too many $50 “walmart special” tents before this though that certainly left something to be desired!
I already see showing up with my car as “glamping” even if I am using a tent. But I am still young and spry so my opinion may change with that whole age and wisdom thing lol. Right now I am trying to simplify and lighten my setup more so that I can backpack more regularly. Couldnt imagine going the opposite route with more complexity!
Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> shop-teacher
06/06/2019 at 23:17 |
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Why is it called the death camper and what issues does it have?
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shop-teacher
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
06/07/2019 at 07:34 |
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Its called T he Death Camper because it’s janky and we thought it was funny.
The biggest issue is the l ift system. Apache campers used an overly complicated pair of gear boxes and plastic chains with steel cable linking them. The gearbox housings wer e both cracked, and it wouldn’t go up properly. You can buy a replacement set of gear boxes and chains for $500 (I think) , but we elected to remove the whole system. Now we manually lift the roof up onto wooden support poles. We cut a series of progressively longer poles to lift it onto bit by bit. It isn’t all that hard, but it requires two strong adults.
The other problem is one of the side panels was “fixed” by the previous owner. The zipper she used was not only the wrong style of zipper, but she installed it upside down and now it’s broken. Compounding that, she sewed a new piece on the bottom of that panel, but used the wrong material and now it has shrunk a bit. We always have ended up sealing that side with duct tape. I had some ideas to make it better, but we’re too lazy to actually deploy them.
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Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> shop-teacher
06/07/2019 at 09:35 |
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Sounds like a good camper for party-camping weekends.
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shop-teacher
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
06/07/2019 at 11:07 |
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That’s exactly what we bought it for. We’ve used it to camp at the Indy 500 for the last three years.