Camper main entrance doors

[HowardH]

Saw pictures of the all terrain warriors aircraft style doors. Seems pretty clever. Self supporting, secure closure and doesn't take up floor space.

However after just watching a video they seem very slow and unpractical. It appears they are designed to be opened and left open. How do you keep the weather; hot or cold etc out?

Are they perhaps a poor choice for cold weather camping or am I missing something?

 

[SkiFreak]

I believe that this style of door has been replaced with a standard type door in their new camper, which is due for release very soon.

 

[IdaSHO]

Yeah those tilt down doors would be terrible in any kind of foul weather...

Great way to introduce a ton of snow/moisture into the interior. :snorkel:

 

[whatcharterboat]

Saw pictures of the all terrain warriors aircraft style doors. Seems pretty clever. Self supporting, secure closure and doesn't take up floor space.

However after just watching a video they seem very slow and unpractical. It appears they are designed to be opened and left open. How do you keep the weather; hot or cold etc out?

Are they perhaps a poor choice for cold weather camping or am I missing something?

Hi Howard,

Yeah. You are missing something....there is a second security door ....but all the ones we built were only fitted with a fly screen / security mesh style door....if they were planning super cold camping the addition of clip on weather cover on the security door would be a worthwhile and easy fix.

In my opinion, the points you mentioned both for and against aren't an issue . The biggest pro is that it is very easy access and if you were camped for awhile on the beach or wherever and going in and the door all day, then you'd get pretty sick climbing a ladder step arrangement. Note the angle of them.....is the correct term for that on stairs " the going" or " the way"? .....and the biggest negative by far is that you may not always have room next to the vehicle to open the door (eg. If you pull up in a car park)...the speed can be an issue if you are in a hurry.


We always knew going with an aircraft-style door was going to be a bold step ( and we've taken plenty over the years) but it ended up being far more involved and costly than we anticipated too. I just saw a very clever aircraft style door that Hans Amesz had done on his own camper which was a manual lift with the aid of a tensioned spring and very simple ....... Simple was always the original plan but didn't work out for us.....some of the customers really like it especially those that do a lot of beach and desert camping and some have asked us to change them back to the original door with ladder steps and interestingly both those guys plan overseas travel.


Our new camper has a conventional door that can be built either on the left or right hand side, with a step well that doubles as the shower....it is two steps down below floor level and there will be a retractable step externally below the step well. Faux granite or sandstone treads hide the shower drain so there is no hint that you walking through a shower upon entry.

 

[alan]

For some reason I really like that door. Perhaps the aircraft styling ?
View attachment 134860

That 'aircraft' style door does allow you to position the door at any position, even over the wheels, something that can be a problem with 'normal' doors unless you use parallel steps.
View attachment 134861

I've never noticed the step before:Wow1:

 

[blackduck]

I've never noticed the step before:Wow1:

you do realise thats johns missus :victory:

 

[IdaSHO]

if they were planning super cold camping the addition of clip on weather cover on the security door would be a worthwhile and easy fix.

Unless Im missing something, that would not address my concern.

Keep the door open for 2 minutes in a snow storm and you have snow accumulation on the steps. Close the door, and all of a sudden all that moisture is in the living space.

 

[HowardH]

I don't understand what you mean by a second security door. Do you happen to have any pics of it?

 

[whatcharterboat]

you do realise thats johns missus :victory:

No but it's my bosses missus and I paid for it the last time that pic was posted so no doubt will pay again...thanks Stu. mate!!

 

[whatcharterboat]

I don't understand what you mean by a second security door. Do you happen to have any pics of it?

Sorry Howard, I did look for one before but look closely in these couple of pics.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Unless Im missing something, that would not address my concern.

Keep the door open for 2 minutes in a snow storm and you have snow accumulation on the steps. Close the door, and all of a sudden all that moisture is in the living space.

No...all of that moisture would be caught between the internal door and the aircraft style door......surely if someone wanted to build their own door like this and camping in snow was a worry, you would want to make sure that area between the doors was drained which would of course be easy to do.

Hey, like I said we are going for something different in future....and the main benefit was that the access to the camper was so easy and comfortable when you were set up camping for a while....but they were a hassle to build.

 

[Amesz00]

We always knew going with an aircraft-style door was going to be a bold step ( and we've taken plenty over the years) but it ended up being far more involved and costly than we anticipated too. I just saw a very clever aircraft style door that Hans Amesz had done on his own camper which was a manual lift with the aid of a tensioned spring and very simple ......

ohhh cheers John..
managed to find a decent pic of the door/step here. ours is a little different because it has a small uplifting (on gas struts) top door with window, that will keep out a minor amount of rain. obviously the whole thing must still be closed if it starts pouring.
the style of step is also handy in cases where large fuel tnks are desired to be under the main door, or the door is over a wheel arch and therefore a drop-down step cannot be incorporated into the body.

and the main benefit was that the access to the camper was so easy and comfortable when you were set up camping for a while....but they were a hassle to build.

yep hear ya there. at the time this blue truck was built, we were strongly considering doing this style setup for all our campers (like ATW has done on their scouts), but its just to much of a pain to build.

Andrew

 

[HowardH]

Thanks John. From the pictures the internal door appears to be a fabric mesh material. Either way its no biggie as it appears you have tried the aircraft style door and found it not worth the trouble. That pretty much answers my question.

 

[dlh62c]

....but they were a hassle to build.

As the steps lower, those immortal words pop into my mind: "Take Me To Your Leader" .

I'm sure you had to incorporate some sort of safety mechanism into the drive system to sense if something interfered with the closing and opening of the door.

daryl