Four wheel campers in heat and humidity?

[xterratime]

Hi folks,

My wife and I finally had an opportunity to see some FWC's in person and we liked what we saw for the most part. We've been looking at Flatbeds but the cost for the extra money on the camper plus the bed seems prohibitive so we're reconsidering the slide in Grandby for my 2017 F-250.

I've got lots of thoughts and questions...but today I'm curious to here from folks with experience how they do in the Summer heat and humidity in places like the Mid Atlantic and southeast?

We live in MD and get down to FL/NC most summers, spend a bunch of time in VA and PA, etc. Seems so many of the folks I see buying the FWC's live out in the Rockies and/or Southwest where it's dryer/cooler.

We spent 2 weeks in FL/AL in 2019 and our tent and it was almost unbearable - 85 degrees and humid at 10:00 pm trying to sleep.

Of course heading north to New England is an option or traveling in the shoulder season. But my wife is a teacher and we have two kids in school so a lot of our travel time is July/August.

Thanks -

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I'd run an A/C unit...but that's just me.

Also... Here in FL we out A/C in tents so we can camp in the summer. ;-)

 

[quachau]

I'm in OH it can get warm inside the camper. Just got back from Manistee NF in MI, Fri & Sat was in 90s , we have two powered fans they do make a difference but its no AC. With all the windows open and running both fans generates a nice breeze inside, but still fairly warm/muggy, just depends on your tolerance. By 11pm it was around 78 & humid, sleeping with the fan blowing on you helps to cool off. While cooking it felt a bit warmer. We also travel to NC to MTB , we have camped in the bed of the truck , ground & rooftop tents there over the years. Haven't taken the FWC there yet (got it this summer), I would expect similar experience in NC with FWC as I had over the past weekend, however the powered fans & having living space make a difference as compared to our previous sets up without them, but its no AC & so FL in the summer probably would be very warm

 

[ramblinChet]

I might have some useful information for you since I recently purchase a FWC Grandby, live in Virginia, have spent much time camping in my home state of Pennsylvania and slept for 3.5 years straight in a James Baroud rooftop tent.

My suggestion is to modify your sleeping hours.

After three plus years sleeping outside in a tent every night no matter what the conditions I was pleasantly surprised to find that even on the hottest and most humid days I was still waking up in the middle of the night to pull a light sheet over myself. It worked out that going to bed around midnight it would still be on the warm side but comfortable enough to relax and fall asleep. And again, every single night I would experience a bit of a chill no matter what it was like during the day.

One more fact - we were designed to endure these conditions and you will be surprised how quickly your body adapts to the surroundings. Just get out there and enjoy living life.

 

[Regcabguy]

Any camper's miserable in heat and humidity with a/c.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Regcabguy. . Thank you for stating the obvious.
What the hell happened to common sense ?

 

[kerry]

We have AC in our Northstar TS1000. We don’t use it often or much but it’s nice to have in certain conditions. 104 or so in Nebraska recently. Run the AC in late afternoon or evening to cool camper down then shut off and open windows after dark. I’d probably run it all night in FL in summer.

 

[workerdrone]

Any camper's miserable in heat and humidity with a/c.

This is true in my experience - it might make it comfortable but then you're sealed off in a little box full of endless white noise.

Except for the big trailers with the ducted A/C like the new Airstreams? Might be nice

/s

 

[xterratime]

I'd run an A/C unit...but that's just me.

Also... Here in FL we out A/C in tents so we can camp in the summer. ;-)

Yeah I looked at the ones FWC offers but they look awfully bulky/strange hanging out the back like that so I'm torn.

Ha, yeah I've seen that in FL a bunch actually. Especially at Fort Wilderness at Disney.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Yeah I looked at the ones FWC offers but they look awfully bulky/strange hanging out the back like that so I'm torn.

Ha, yeah I've seen that in FL a bunch actually. Especially at Fort Wilderness at Disney.

Dude.. it's a necessity...haha. I can put up with something that looks strange on a camper if it means having a 75° place to hang out vs. 100°. Out heat index was 107° today with insane humidity and no wind. It would be miserable camping with out A/C.

Also..Ft.Wilderness is awesome.. especially the fried chicken!!!

 

[CGCruiserDude]

We live in Southern Maryland and just picked up our new Hawk back at the end of June with both heat and A/C, also double fans and thermal pack. We've already spent 15 nights in it using the fans most nights since we were in Vermont and out to Colorado and back but this past Saturday night we spent out at Killen State Park in Delaware and the humidity was horrible from Henri so we used the A/C for the first time and I am so grateful we got it. It really kept us comfortable. We sat in the camper for a few hours Sunday morning in the pouring rain drinking coffee and watching videos on YouTube in the A/C and my wife commented how glad she was that I got it. If you consider the propane heater, we did use it two nights in Colorado to take the chill off before going to bed and it worked as expected. Glad we did both.

Living where we do you know the heat and humidity can make camping miserable. It was a summer camping trip to St Augustine a few years back that stuck in my mind when I ordered the Hawk with the A/C. Definitely glad we did.

 

[xterratime]

Alright...you all might have me convinced. Anyone now how/if/where they mount the AC if you get the Flatbed version?

Also not sure if you can get the cassette toilet and ac in the slide in Grandby, seems like they would occupy the same space.

@GGCruiserdude - Congrats on the new camper! And hello form another Marylander.

We would def be getting the heater; one of our reasons for truck camper vs trailer is for day trip use for skiing (lunches, getting dressed, etc.)

 

[xterratime]

I might have some useful information for you since I recently purchase a FWC Grandby, live in Virginia, have spent much time camping in my home state of Pennsylvania and slept for 3.5 years straight in a James Baroud rooftop tent.

My suggestion is to modify your sleeping hours.

After three plus years sleeping outside in a tent every night no matter what the conditions I was pleasantly surprised to find that even on the hottest and most humid days I was still waking up in the middle of the night to pull a light sheet over myself. It worked out that going to bed around midnight it would still be on the warm side but comfortable enough to relax and fall asleep. And again, every single night I would experience a bit of a chill no matter what it was like during the day.

One more fact - we were designed to endure these conditions and you will be surprised how quickly your body adapts to the surroundings. Just get out there and enjoy living life.

Nice, congrats on the Grandby! I sleep in a tent now, ground tent for a long time, rooftop tent last two years.

Just depends on your days activities. My preference is to get up early at like 5-6 and and get a mountain bike ride or hike or whatever in early before it gets hot. And I'm a pretty big fan of 8-9 hours sleep. Granted for a weekend or a few days a little less sleep is fine. but the reason we are considering upgrading to a camper is to do longer trips.

Meh, I endure the conditions daily as a construction worker. 105 heat index last week a couple days. I'll also do 20+ mile bike rides in the dead of Summer and all that. But when it's time to sleep/relax it's tough when your still sweating at 10 pm.

We could always try and gear more of our trips towards getting north a bit; but DW and my girls love the beach, my Sister in law lives in NC and we typically visit her once per Summer.

At the cost of these campers the AC is relatively insignificant; it's getting over the look of it hanging off I guess.

 

[xterratime]

Dude.. it's a necessity...haha. I can put up with something that looks strange on a camper if it means having a 75° place to hang out vs. 100°. Out heat index was 107° today with insane humidity and no wind. It would be miserable camping with out A/C.

Also..Ft.Wilderness is awesome.. especially the fried chicken!!!

Yeah...I may just have to put up with it looking strange :/ I don't want to have to avoid have the country for certain months of the year if I'm hoping to keep the camper 15+ years. Plus it was over 100 in Oregon back in June so you just never know!!

Yeah grew up going there every Spring with my family in a big old caravan of 3-4 RV's, 20-30 relatives.

 

[calicamper]

Easily driven to cooler climates ? otherwise sweaty comes to mind.