Spring time. Time for some pics of campers coming out of hibernation...
2020 Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) CAMP-X pop-up slide-in pickup camper (renamed "Back Country" as of 2023)
- Thread starter Chadx
- Start date
Spring time. Time for some pics of campers coming out of hibernation...
hey overlanders, so I’m thinking of putting in an order in a month or so and we can’t decide, one vent or two? What’s the consensus folks?
Love the look of a Molle rack on the drivers side at least but seems like a lot of money for what it serves as we are unlikely to hang much on it, but sure looks damn good empty!
cheers
Love the look of a Molle rack on the drivers side at least but seems like a lot of money for what it serves as we are unlikely to hang much on it, but sure looks damn good empty!
cheers
I only have one vent/fan over the kitchen and so far it's been fine. But I haven't used my Camp-X in the summer yet, so we'll see. I would get both factory installed if you have the option.
As far as the Molle rack, I would get both sides on the back too. Very versatile for maxtraxx, extra fuel and water, plus hang a trasharoo for trash, wood, hoses, whatever.
Down the road I might try to mount two bike's vertically.
As far as the Molle rack, I would get both sides on the back too. Very versatile for maxtraxx, extra fuel and water, plus hang a trasharoo for trash, wood, hoses, whatever.
Down the road I might try to mount two bike's vertically.
PK,
For our use, the extra vent and fan was a must. I don't know if they offer a vent-only. The vent/fan combo may be the only option but that is what we wanted in the second spot anyway. We use the cabover vent every night and the fan almost as often. Most RVers and Campers tend to keep a window and/or roof vent cracked for ventilation at night. Having the extra vent over the cab lets you easily adjust it during the night, if needed, rather than get out of bed to adjust the vent in the main living space. But even more importantly, I find that there are a lot of nights where I turn on the fan, blowing in, to cool off when I first go to bed and my wife is getting ready. I'm always warmer than her so a nice 10 minutes of laying there with cool outside air blowing is great while she gets ready for bed.
I've seen slightly different placements of the extra cabover vent/fan. I think OEV typically place it in the front center, nowadays, which then offsets the LED light to one side. When we ordered our CAMP-X, we requested the cab-over light be centered and the fan offset to the drivers side, which they did. This puts the vent more over our heads/torso as we sleep east/west with heads on the drivers side. Offsetting the vent to the side gives more direct exhalation venting at night and more direct fan breeze or suction when using the fan. Not sure if the offset location is still an option or they only center them nowadays.
Lots of varying opinions on awnings and racks so take the following input for what it is; An opinion. And an opinion based on what works for us specifically. Everyone has different needs and likes different looks. I'll mix in a few more fact/consideration as well.
We are not fans of awnings. They add cost but more importantly, they add a fair bit of weight. For those using fullsize pickups rather than Heavy Duty pickups, they may already be at or over max payload with the camper, water tank full, batteries, propane, gear, passenger and pets, hitch mounted rack and cargo or trailer tongue weight all added up.. Awnings often shade the wrong area depending how you park plus, awnings that fit our sized campers are fairly narrow and so throughout the day the sun moves and the shadow cast by the awning moves often making the shade unusable. You can't use them in the wind or if you park too close to trees or poles.
We typically find our sitting shade under a tree or in our small 6' x 6' Clam hub-sided screen house. I carry a white tarp and occasionally put that up to block intense sun on the camper and equipment. Tarp weighs 1 pound rather than 50+ pounds of an awning. Since the primary reason I ever deploy the shade tarp is to shade the camper itself, it can run at a steep angle and shade the camper much better than an awning could. Might set a bicycle or other gear under their, too, to keep sun and eyes off that if we are camping remote but are close enough to be seen from trails. Another point to consider is that camper awnings are attached to the main body of the camper and not the rooftop and so will not shade the softsides when popped up. And again, the sun may be shining from a different angle than the awning covers unless you intentionally park the rig with the awning side of the camper facing south which may directly work against where you want the window or door to face or the slant of the terrain. The white tarp allows me to clip to the L-Track at the very top of the camper so it shades the softside. And I can set up the tarp on either side of the camper, or fold it in half and set up on the rear of the camper, or move it throughout the day rather than having to park the entire rig so the fixed awning is in the right spot to block the sun. Even this tarp shading we don't bother with very often so for us, it makes sense to have a $10, 1 pound tarp along for those occasional instances rather than a 50+ pound and $$$ awning.
The various racks are useful if your using them. We wouldn't so no reason for us to have them. On gravel roads and wet or slushy highways, the vortex pulls all that road grime or dust that is kicked up by the wheels and coats the rear of the camper so a rack and anything affixed to it would get equally grimy. I don't know how far the molle rack sits off the camper, but could be tricky getting a wash mitt or sponge under there to clean. Basically, one must consider that anything hung on there will be very exposed to dust, road spray, salt in some areas in winter, prying eyes and sticky fingers (theft). Several of these are not things I worry about, but mentioning as they may be considerations for some users.
Moving on to aesthetics...I'm hesitant to give my opinion for a couple reasons. Looks are really in the eye of the beholder and because other peoples opinions on looks shouldn't influence yours. Get what resonates with you!
I'm very much a form-follows-function personality and for that reason alone, the looks of the molle racks and empty awning brackets, that are now standard, do not resonate with me. That is 100% only because we'd use neither.
The built-in awning brackets stick out and if we never use them, why have them? Even if very minor impact, they may catch more wind at highway speeds and may catch more tree limbs and brush on tight trails. Though there are many features, that have been introduced on newer campers, that we like, the lack of awning brackets is one thing I very much appreciate on ours. Would be nice if that was a free option (choose with or without brackets) but I get that it is much more convenient for OEV to build them all the same. Not not a big deal in the big picture.
If the molle rack were white to match the extruded aluminum camper frame rather than black, to my eye that would blend in more, but then, they are there to be used so if one has equipment and storage solutions covering most of the rack, that would break up, and make less conspicuous, the black large area. Keep in mind the rear door's swing-direction has been changed and so is now hinged on, and swings towards, the drivers side (you may want to confirm that). If so and one is getting a molle rack on only one side, this may impact which side you choose. The drivers side rack is smaller, but if you are hanging items that stick out, it may interfere with the door being held open or, if the hung items are hard and sharp edged, mark up the back of the door.
It tried to mainly put factual considerations out there but some opinions are mixed throughout. Sift as you see fit! Ha.
For our use, the extra vent and fan was a must. I don't know if they offer a vent-only. The vent/fan combo may be the only option but that is what we wanted in the second spot anyway. We use the cabover vent every night and the fan almost as often. Most RVers and Campers tend to keep a window and/or roof vent cracked for ventilation at night. Having the extra vent over the cab lets you easily adjust it during the night, if needed, rather than get out of bed to adjust the vent in the main living space. But even more importantly, I find that there are a lot of nights where I turn on the fan, blowing in, to cool off when I first go to bed and my wife is getting ready. I'm always warmer than her so a nice 10 minutes of laying there with cool outside air blowing is great while she gets ready for bed.
I've seen slightly different placements of the extra cabover vent/fan. I think OEV typically place it in the front center, nowadays, which then offsets the LED light to one side. When we ordered our CAMP-X, we requested the cab-over light be centered and the fan offset to the drivers side, which they did. This puts the vent more over our heads/torso as we sleep east/west with heads on the drivers side. Offsetting the vent to the side gives more direct exhalation venting at night and more direct fan breeze or suction when using the fan. Not sure if the offset location is still an option or they only center them nowadays.
Lots of varying opinions on awnings and racks so take the following input for what it is; An opinion. And an opinion based on what works for us specifically. Everyone has different needs and likes different looks. I'll mix in a few more fact/consideration as well.
We are not fans of awnings. They add cost but more importantly, they add a fair bit of weight. For those using fullsize pickups rather than Heavy Duty pickups, they may already be at or over max payload with the camper, water tank full, batteries, propane, gear, passenger and pets, hitch mounted rack and cargo or trailer tongue weight all added up.. Awnings often shade the wrong area depending how you park plus, awnings that fit our sized campers are fairly narrow and so throughout the day the sun moves and the shadow cast by the awning moves often making the shade unusable. You can't use them in the wind or if you park too close to trees or poles.
We typically find our sitting shade under a tree or in our small 6' x 6' Clam hub-sided screen house. I carry a white tarp and occasionally put that up to block intense sun on the camper and equipment. Tarp weighs 1 pound rather than 50+ pounds of an awning. Since the primary reason I ever deploy the shade tarp is to shade the camper itself, it can run at a steep angle and shade the camper much better than an awning could. Might set a bicycle or other gear under their, too, to keep sun and eyes off that if we are camping remote but are close enough to be seen from trails. Another point to consider is that camper awnings are attached to the main body of the camper and not the rooftop and so will not shade the softsides when popped up. And again, the sun may be shining from a different angle than the awning covers unless you intentionally park the rig with the awning side of the camper facing south which may directly work against where you want the window or door to face or the slant of the terrain. The white tarp allows me to clip to the L-Track at the very top of the camper so it shades the softside. And I can set up the tarp on either side of the camper, or fold it in half and set up on the rear of the camper, or move it throughout the day rather than having to park the entire rig so the fixed awning is in the right spot to block the sun. Even this tarp shading we don't bother with very often so for us, it makes sense to have a $10, 1 pound tarp along for those occasional instances rather than a 50+ pound and $$$ awning.
The various racks are useful if your using them. We wouldn't so no reason for us to have them. On gravel roads and wet or slushy highways, the vortex pulls all that road grime or dust that is kicked up by the wheels and coats the rear of the camper so a rack and anything affixed to it would get equally grimy. I don't know how far the molle rack sits off the camper, but could be tricky getting a wash mitt or sponge under there to clean. Basically, one must consider that anything hung on there will be very exposed to dust, road spray, salt in some areas in winter, prying eyes and sticky fingers (theft). Several of these are not things I worry about, but mentioning as they may be considerations for some users.
Moving on to aesthetics...I'm hesitant to give my opinion for a couple reasons. Looks are really in the eye of the beholder and because other peoples opinions on looks shouldn't influence yours. Get what resonates with you!
I'm very much a form-follows-function personality and for that reason alone, the looks of the molle racks and empty awning brackets, that are now standard, do not resonate with me. That is 100% only because we'd use neither.
The built-in awning brackets stick out and if we never use them, why have them? Even if very minor impact, they may catch more wind at highway speeds and may catch more tree limbs and brush on tight trails. Though there are many features, that have been introduced on newer campers, that we like, the lack of awning brackets is one thing I very much appreciate on ours. Would be nice if that was a free option (choose with or without brackets) but I get that it is much more convenient for OEV to build them all the same. Not not a big deal in the big picture.
If the molle rack were white to match the extruded aluminum camper frame rather than black, to my eye that would blend in more, but then, they are there to be used so if one has equipment and storage solutions covering most of the rack, that would break up, and make less conspicuous, the black large area. Keep in mind the rear door's swing-direction has been changed and so is now hinged on, and swings towards, the drivers side (you may want to confirm that). If so and one is getting a molle rack on only one side, this may impact which side you choose. The drivers side rack is smaller, but if you are hanging items that stick out, it may interfere with the door being held open or, if the hung items are hard and sharp edged, mark up the back of the door.
It tried to mainly put factual considerations out there but some opinions are mixed throughout. Sift as you see fit! Ha.
Last edited:
Quick mod for the spring. The stock USB plug has an internal backlight that is on 24/7. The REDARC only calculates down to the tenths rather than hundredths (0.1 rather than 0.01). This USB backlight likely doesn't draw a full 0.1 amp (I've not tested) but I assume it is at least above 0.05 amp. The REDARC shunt rounds to 0.1 Amp and so the REDARC calculates the SOC is dropping 2.4% (on my 100Ah battery) every day just from this backlight. The CO2 monitor does the same (registers draw of about 0.1Amp on it's own). I've experimented with pulling the fuse for each, one at a time, to see how it impacts the REDARC. When both fuses are in place as usual and the REDARC backlight is not on, the display changes between 0.2 amps and 0.1amps being drawn so must be very close to 0.15 amp combined and flip flops back an forth. When one or the other fuse is pulled, it would primarily stay at 0.1amp draw with occasional drops down to 0.0 amps. Both pulled would sit mostly at 0.0amps draw with occasional flicker up to 0.1amps (presumably for the REDARD display and Truma display (when not backlit; with one or both backlights on, it draws more as expected).
Wanting to get rid of the parasitic draw of at least the USB light, I replaced it with another unit. Took longer to browse and order one off amazon that install it. Ha. Install utilizes the factory wiring so takes about 30 seconds. Unplug wires, unscrew backer nut, replace USB socket, new backer nut, plug in. One could replace with a USB outlet with no backlight, but I chose one with a power button so it would have no backlight when off and backlight when on. The power button is a "touch" button rather than one you physically push in (which seem to wear out over time). Also chose one with QC3.0 for faster charging when paired with certain devices.
When I power on the new USB outlet and it's backlight is on (and fuse is pulled for the CO2 monitor), the REDARC reads that it is pulling the same 0.1A as the stock one, but when I turn it off, REDARC drops to 0.0A. No more pulling the fuse for the USB outlet circuit. Now I just need to figure out best way to eliminate draw of CO2 monitor when not using the camper. This must be in a way that I won't forget to turn it back on so putting an inline switch to only the monitor is not an option. Would really like an master 12v disconnect, like our previous camper had. But would like to do it in a way that doesn't require clock reset of REDARC or Truma display so don't want to trip the master battery breaker every time (plus tripping them wears on them...at least with some types of breakers it does). Short of putting in a master disconnect to disconnect all circuits except the REDARC and Truma, not sure what else can be done.
Any ideas out there?
In any case, much happier that this one small mod avoids the REDARC reporting SOC dropping by 2.4% per day.
Both USB plugs side by side.
Hole is 3cm and USB outlet body is standard 1.13 inch / 2.87cm.
Power on so backlight on.
Power off so backlight off so now no parasitic, 24/7 backlight.
Wanting to get rid of the parasitic draw of at least the USB light, I replaced it with another unit. Took longer to browse and order one off amazon that install it. Ha. Install utilizes the factory wiring so takes about 30 seconds. Unplug wires, unscrew backer nut, replace USB socket, new backer nut, plug in. One could replace with a USB outlet with no backlight, but I chose one with a power button so it would have no backlight when off and backlight when on. The power button is a "touch" button rather than one you physically push in (which seem to wear out over time). Also chose one with QC3.0 for faster charging when paired with certain devices.
When I power on the new USB outlet and it's backlight is on (and fuse is pulled for the CO2 monitor), the REDARC reads that it is pulling the same 0.1A as the stock one, but when I turn it off, REDARC drops to 0.0A. No more pulling the fuse for the USB outlet circuit. Now I just need to figure out best way to eliminate draw of CO2 monitor when not using the camper. This must be in a way that I won't forget to turn it back on so putting an inline switch to only the monitor is not an option. Would really like an master 12v disconnect, like our previous camper had. But would like to do it in a way that doesn't require clock reset of REDARC or Truma display so don't want to trip the master battery breaker every time (plus tripping them wears on them...at least with some types of breakers it does). Short of putting in a master disconnect to disconnect all circuits except the REDARC and Truma, not sure what else can be done.
Any ideas out there?
In any case, much happier that this one small mod avoids the REDARC reporting SOC dropping by 2.4% per day.
Both USB plugs side by side.
Hole is 3cm and USB outlet body is standard 1.13 inch / 2.87cm.
Power on so backlight on.
Power off so backlight off so now no parasitic, 24/7 backlight.
Last edited:
Sure. I got this particular one: Quick Charge 3.0 Dual USB Charger Socket
But also found these [ USB Socket ] that look to be the same but are available in Blue, Green or Red and in 1A, 2.1A, 2.4A and QC3.0 (not sure the Amp on that), so if anyone goes with these, watch not only the color but the rating to make sure you get what you think you are ordering.
There were also some version that displayed the 12v supply-side voltage, but figured I have REDARC for that.
But also found these [ USB Socket ] that look to be the same but are available in Blue, Green or Red and in 1A, 2.1A, 2.4A and QC3.0 (not sure the Amp on that), so if anyone goes with these, watch not only the color but the rating to make sure you get what you think you are ordering.
There were also some version that displayed the 12v supply-side voltage, but figured I have REDARC for that.
Last edited:
Tacovic,
The main countertop, with sink and stovetop, has a surface height of 39.25".
The over-fridge counter and associated section by the bed is 45.25".
victorc
Active member
This past winter, in our experience, when camping in ~20/30F weather for several days in a row, our propane bottle lasted on average a week. I have a second propane tank (smaller than the one that came with the my 2020 camp-x) so I don't have to worry too much.
that’s great to hear as I would like to do some backcountry ski trips for extended times and we also plan to live in it full time for awhile. So being a 2020, that is the 10lb propane tanks vs the 20lbs they have now?
victorc
Active member
Yes, correct. The extra one is 5lbs.
Yes, I was thinking about him when I saw your question. I feel like he was camping in the cold all the time this past winter.