Crawl through escape history

[biggoolies]

Anybody hear of anyone actually use a crawl through to escape a dangerous situation? That is the main reason why someone would have one. Just wondering if one has been actually used for that.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I would think that it would be nice to have during bad weather. Why get out of your and get soaked if you don't have too?

 

[Pilat]

I would think that it would be nice to have during bad weather. Why get out of your and get soaked if you don't have too?

Also good in case of a fire near the camper entrance.

 

[Photomike]

One was reason that I went to a van from a truck camper was to have the ability to go from the front to the back. We were camped one time with the TCer and a group of young redneck kids showed up. We had to leave the camper and get into the truck. Fortunately no problem as we bailed before they got organized but if we would have been asleep could have been an issue. Now with the van it is easy. Would not go back to having to go outside to move from front to back.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

We have a crawl through. Never used it in anger in 15 years, but would never delete it.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[SkiFreak]

Having a passthru/crawlthru is potentially useful, but as mentioned by some, not often (if ever) used for safety reasons.
I have one in my design, but it's not for safety reasons. We have a dog and there is not sufficient room in the cab for her to sit/lay safely, so she will need to travel in the camper.

If I did not have the dog I doubt I would have a passthru, as it has more disadvantages than advantages, in my opinion.

• less secure
• can reduce the structural strength of the cab and/or camper
• can affect insulation
• potential for water leaks
• you lose a wall, which can seriously affect usable space and/or internal layout

 

[Howard70]

We have a crawl through and like it a lot. Our desire to have one in our vehicle had absolutely nothing to do with "...escaping a dangerous situation...". We wanted the cab to be part of the living space, allow our dog to move between the house and cab when travelling, and allow moving between the house and cab in bad weather. After 5 years in two expedition trucks, each with a crawl through, we'd never consider going without for those reasons.

Howard

 

[westyss]

I had a pass through on my design too but opted out for several reasons, mentioned by SkiFreak, the biggest two are complexity of a rising roof and most important to us was environmental, I went to great effort to have the camper insulated from the elements, 2" of wall insulation and double paned windows, having a big gaping hole would surely screw that up, especially right next to where my wife sleeps. We live in Canada and have been out in -20'C snow and we live in the camper 6 months of the year in Mexico in +30'C heat, the cab is pretty much outside temp in those conditions.

Mine also started with the idea because of a dog. I have never in 10 years of use found I wanted a pass through or felt I needed one but man at the start I was going to have one No Matter What! funny how idea change......