Popup Camper for late season??

[Dieseldog]

SO I am possibly looking at a popup tent camper with the atv deck on it. I need something to haul my atvs and to sleep in all in one unit. How well can a guy heat a popup type camper in November type weather? Or does a guy need to add another furnace unit to one to keep it comfortable to be in at night? Also do you think it would help if a guy set it up and then tarped over it to help insulate a little. Kinda like what a guy does with a canvas tent.

Or my other option is to buy an enclosed car trailer and haul the atvs and then setup camp in it. Have done this before and it works ok. To make it a good option, I think I would need to pull all the paneling and spray foam walls ceiling and under the floor. THen install a fish house type propane furnace would work pretty decent I think.

What do you guys say? Also any pics of rigs you have now would be appreciated. thanks

 

[belly-deep]

I've used an old one for a long time. I just ventilate, and heat with the stove when I need to. At night I turn it off and snuggle down into the blankets deep.

The biggest drawback of a popup, IMO, is the wind. The mountains tend to get windy in the fall and popups don't handle it well. There are places I simply won't take it.

 

[jcneng]

You will be able to stay warm, the noise of the wind and damage the wind can do is a bigger issue, as mentioned by belly deep. We used an old Strarcraft Super 8 for many years. Condensation is greatly reduced if you wrap a big blue or gray cheap tarp over the entire camper.

 

[JMG]

I agree with what has been stated above.

You can use rachet straps to anchor the posts (that raise the roof) on the pop-up, just be careful you don't trip over them in the dark. Just pound a "tent stake" in the ground as your anchor point. This steadies the pop-up fairly well.

Condensation can be an issue on cold mornings when you get the heat in the pop-up gets up and running. The frost will turn to water and then drip onto your items (bedding, etc.). Wrapping with a tarp is probably not a bad idea. I have taken a generator, if I'm away from other campers/hunters, and run an electric heater all night . . . . that has worked pretty good.

 

[roknHS]

I sold my pop-up because it was such a hassle. Takes time to set up, wobbles around in the wind, they don't like snow, you have to worry about mold and mildew if you fold em up wet, wind blows through them like a sieve. Zipper and snaps always fail..........not to mention velcro. I would never own another one. I've got a nice used hard sided double axle for less money.

 

[Dieseldog]

So if it gets to 20degrees at night. How warm can a guy expect the furnace to keep it inside one of these campers? 55degrees?

 

[Speeddmn]

Personally I think a slide in the bed style camper would be better suited in the late hunts vs pop up style. Add a small trailer to haul the quads and you are better off.

 

[Baerman]

I have one, Starcraft RT11, and really like it for taking the family (wife and two kids). I don't run the heater at night simply because they don't hold heat well and it would run most of the night burning power and gas. We all just crawl deep into our sleeping bags when cold. My only real complaint is when you cook inside or there is a lot of humidity, the canvas condensates. One year, my wife and I hunted for 9 days in the snow. we had to put a tarp over us so our bags didn't get wet. when cooking and warming up the camper the ice on the canvas would melt and drip onto our bags. we would wake up to ice on the tarp in the morning.

 

[Dieseldog]

What about buying like a 20ft hardside camper and cutting the hitch off and build a 12 ft flat deck up front for atv? To much weight to the front? Or could a guy add on to the back of a short fifth wheel?

 

[Summitthunting]

Look for toy haulers or campers with platforms.

 

[Dieseldog]

Trying to do this as cheap as possible. Can buy a used camper cheap and I have alot of welder friends.

 

[buckykm1]

I built a Cargo Trailer into what I wanted, it has worked out great.
drive the ATV in, strap it down, take it out and set up the cots and table.



Kevin

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Ah, the old Pop Us Camper on the Mountain. If you have wind expect every bit of heat to be sucked out of the wing beds. If you try to run the little furnace, expect the battery to run out.....about an hour after you really get to sleep good. If you buy used, immediately change out the tires! Other than that I am sure you will have a blast. John

 

[wytex]

This what we did for a few years. The tarp keeps everything dry and the canvas room add-on was made by a local tent co. We used a wood stove in the room and kept the windows in the popup open at night. Most snow we had on top of camper was 14 inches and i had to shovel it off to keep safe. The room has an aluminum frame inside. Works great but wall tent is easier now.

 

[mplane72]

Full disclosure. I've had a pop up. I've camped in it in cold weather. I've never camped in one in cold weather in the mountains with high wind and not sure I would want to.

If your off the grid you'll probably want an auxiliary heater. The blower on the furnace will suck your battery down in a day or too. Or bring a generator.

Google cold weather pop up camping. You'll see a lot of suggestions for cutting reflectix for windows and such. You'll also see suggestions for "pop up gizmos" . I will say they don't look the best but they work as advertised for heating and cooling.

We know have a hard sided camper. In your shoes I'd surely try to bump up to a toy hauler if you have the truck to pull it and it has the ground clearance to get where you need it to go.

 

[Jim/Wa]

I've used all of these at one time or another. If you have a p/u, I'd be looking at a slide in truck camper. That's what I use now. Only a tent is more versatile but they are a PITA if you are going somewhere for only 1-2 nights which I do all the time. I rarely use our travel trailer anymore and sold the popup long ago. FWIW, I have 2 x 100W solar panels on my truck camper and spent 3 weeks in CO in September w/o a generator or any other heat source than a propane furnace. Nighttime lows were upper teens-low twenties.