stever1000
New member
I’m looking for my first (used) truck camper (hard side, no pop up, no slide) and am stuck between the decision of something compact like a Northstar (no basement, 7’ high and narrow 7’ width) that would be nimble in the city, on narrow streets, as well as offroad on overgrown roads or off camber situations, versus something bigger like the Adventurer 86fb that I absolutely love the layout (rear kitchen and booth dinette) but its wider at 8’ and taller due to the basement. I understand the difference between storage tank and storage cabinet capacities so that is also a factor, but I could use external tanks for water, and I have an extended cab (no kids or dog) I could use for overflow storage.
I plan to use it for weekend trips on forest roads, as well as longer trips while working remotely for a few days in between. The eventual goal would be to spend a month down south or in Mexico. I live in Vancouver BC, so the forest service roads aren't always maintained or well traveled, or if they are deactivated they have cross ditches to go through. For Mexico I would plan to boondock as long as possible, so I appreciate the option for larger storage tanks and living space, but not sure if this is the largest driving factor. I will also winter camp in the PNW and possibly as cold as the Canadian Rockies, so the heated basement is attractive.
The options I am looking at are all within the payload with the wet weight (3800lbs) of my SRW F350, and at first glance the basement models look so big compared to the non-basement… I understand it is a tradeoff for cabover bedroom space as well as storage and tanks.
How did you decide on your camper?
I plan to use it for weekend trips on forest roads, as well as longer trips while working remotely for a few days in between. The eventual goal would be to spend a month down south or in Mexico. I live in Vancouver BC, so the forest service roads aren't always maintained or well traveled, or if they are deactivated they have cross ditches to go through. For Mexico I would plan to boondock as long as possible, so I appreciate the option for larger storage tanks and living space, but not sure if this is the largest driving factor. I will also winter camp in the PNW and possibly as cold as the Canadian Rockies, so the heated basement is attractive.
The options I am looking at are all within the payload with the wet weight (3800lbs) of my SRW F350, and at first glance the basement models look so big compared to the non-basement… I understand it is a tradeoff for cabover bedroom space as well as storage and tanks.
How did you decide on your camper?