Kingdom Camping Trailers

[DFNDER]

Yes, I was looking for that in-between size. Basically bigger than a squaredrop, with a little room to stand up, bath, and well insulated with heated tanks. Small enough to take on the beach without getting stuck, and fit down the occasional trail that gets a bit gnarly if only to avoid ever staying in a campground. Able to handle western switchbacks. Don’t want any luxury or fakey RV finishes or fancy inside kitchen as I’m used to backpacking tents and just want a little more comfort without feeling like I’ve joined the RV set. Frankly, would be happy if the inside looked more troop carrier and less RV. We cook outside almost always anyway. Was hoping Kingdom might go that way, but they’re going bigger and fancier so I went back and will get the EOS12 as planned. Can’t really see anything else on the market that checks all the boxes for us as much as the EOS.

 

[Romer]

When I read that Kimberly owners are advised to drive down the road with their heating systems on because they might hit 30 degree temperatures along the way, I immediately rule those trailers out (unless you exclusively camp and travel when it's well above freezing).

I have been a Kimberley owner for 12 years, first with a Kamper and the last 7 with a Karavan. That advice has never been uttered by the factory, Dealers, USA rep or even any Kimberley owner I know. Not sure where you heard that from

My Karavan is insulated for winter with all external piping wrapped and the tanks have heaters. I have camped down into the 20's and never had an issue. I live in Colorado and spend a lot of times in the Mountains and Utah. I have used mine from March to November each year. December-February is too cold for me to camp even though I can maintain the inside of the Karavan at 70 deg.

Although one of the Forum members does camp out in the snow and cold year round

I have driven though Vail pass at 10 deg F without the heaters on with no issues

As far as the door being on the drivers side, I prefer it. Easier to get in and access the fridge when down. Never had an issue at a campground, many have mirror slots. Sometimes the picnic table is behind me, but I set up my table under the awning, so not an issue for me. Everyone has different preferences though

Just setting the record straight



The other thing is it fits in my Garage and wheels like a champ

 

[rehammer81]

I have been a Kimberley owner for 12 years, first with a Kamper and the last 7 with a Karavan. That advice has never been uttered by the factory, Dealers, USA rep or even any Kimberley owner I know. Not sure where you heard that from

My Karavan is insulated for winter with all external piping wrapped and the tanks have heaters. I have camped down into the 20's and never had an issue. I live in Colorado and spend a lot of times in the Mountains and Utah. I have used mine from March to November each year. December-February is too cold for me to camp even though I can maintain the inside of the Karavan at 70 deg.

Although one of the Forum members does camp out in the snow and cold year round

I have driven though Vail pass at 10 deg F without the heaters on with no issues

As far as the door being on the drivers side, I prefer it. Easier to get in and access the fridge when down. Never had an issue at a campground, many have mirror slots. Sometimes the picnic table is behind me, but I set up my table under the awning, so not an issue for me. Everyone has different preferences though

Just setting the record straight

View attachment 744118View attachment 744119View attachment 744121

The other thing is it fits in my Garage and wheels like a champ
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Romer, you and Brad are my two prime examples for why the Karavan is a great design. The driver side door is only a minor nitpick for me. Not deal killer by any means. I wouldn't buy a Karavan to focus on campgrounds.
I do recall on here or Facebook someone who had purchased I think a Kruiser from David Bates and was heading to Texas into that freeze they were having. I recall him saying David recommended he winterize for that portion of his travels.
How well/efficiently can you maintain a comfortable temp in the Karavan in the warmest and coldest temps you have camped in? I honestly have never seen a good explanation of the wall construction in the Karavan and Kruisers. I know they are molded fiberglass.

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[Romer]

Mine came with a Hot water Heater that sucked. Diesel was an option, but was told Hot Water would be fine. I installed an Espar Dl2 heater myself. Two weeks ago I was in the middle of the state and it got down to 30 deg F. My heater kept the inside nice and warm at 68 degrees. The weather made me concerned I did not have enough Diesel. I started with a half a tank and ended with 1/3 of a tank thee Heater is fairly quiet and sips fuel. This was at 9000 feet.

I don't want to distract from this thread as the Kingdom Campers look great. I only posted here to provide some factual data

David may have advised a new Kruiser owner to turn on their tank heater. That is a bigger unit and I am not sure who well it is insulated. Plus it is easy to walk in and out of to flip switches. Probably the conservative thing to do as it is low power membrane heater on the tank

 

[Treefarmer]

I'm not disparaging the Kimberleys at all. When I was researching them it was David Bates who told us in a zoom call that they should be considered a 3 1/2 season trailer at best. Any trailer can be retrofitted to stand freezing weather better. We're just in the market for trailers that without hesitation proclaim (and prove) they are true four season and full timer capable, and back it up with their warranty. I don't think any trailer made in the Southern Hemisphere is built with those two criteria in mind. They do, however, excel in other areas.

 

[Alloy]

Good point. If there is a continuous sheet of insulation on the outside of the studs and then again on the inside of the studs, that should be about as effective as you can get. Filling the studs with additional insulation shouldn't give you any real bump up in thermal bridging.

The most effective is not using any aluminum. Its coming but NA builders don't like to change. The next step after that is to stop using aluminum framed windows and entry/compartment doors.

To reduce (not eliminate) condensation 20% of the overall (required for a temperature) R value needs to be on the outside of the aluminum framing.

To eliminate condensation (on & inside the walls/ceiling) RV manufactures need to have temperature ratings and use the proper amount (with 20% outside the framing) of insulation.

 

[STREGA]

Sure, here are some basic items:

We've been living and traveling full time for more than 10 years, and researching our next trailer for the last three years, so we have a pretty good idea of what we want/need out of a trailer. We have three pages of specs (and growing) into Jamin at Kingdom, and he is easily handling them all. We are building differently than most people so our requests will seem odd at times. The important thing to note, is that the size of trailer will accommodate all kinds of sleeping and living arrangements.

We are two adults and two big dogs, so we're building without a dinette of any other built-in furniture in the main area. This will give us a larger space to have dog beds and provide our own "portable" chairs and tables as needed. It will also give us room to have a privacy partition between the north/south queen bed, which isn't usually seen in off road travel trailers of this side.

A wet bathroom is a must for us (we hate wet baths). After living with an 80 gallon black tank for all these years, and after a lot of research, we're skipping the black tank and going with a dry flush toilet (Separett Tiny).

Another big issue for us is true four season capability. All of the aluminum studs in the box will have insulation INSIDE the studs as well as insulation and vapor barriers to prevent thermal transfer through the studs as much as possible. The underbelly will be enclosed and insulated with heat ducted to the any areas where there is any plumbing. The fresh and gray tanks will also have 12v heating pads. We will use a Truma Combi for on demand hot water and ducted heat.

We'll be running everything on electric (except the Truma Combi) and will never be plugged in to shore power, so we have a big solar system planned. The only thing on the roof will a 12v AC unit and solar panels. The panels will be mounted on a racking system rather than glued, screwed, and Dicored into the roof. We may be able to fit 1,800 watts up there. There will be a 50 amp service, 3,000W inverter and possibly a 48v system rather than the usual RV 12v system.

To support all this, we'll have a steel frame that hot dipped galvanized (inside and outside), followed by a primer coat and a black coat finish (no shiny metal anywhere).

That's a pretty good start! Since we're still in design stage, if you have any other ideas, let us know. Thanks!

Will be following your build on this trailer when you post up info on it. Being the first build of this model is both exciting and a bit scary at the same time. Hope you get exactly what you want and need in a quality trailer.

 

[rehammer81]

Their release of the first images of the design are awesome! Very interested in the details as they flow out.

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[Treefarmer]

Their release of the first images of the design are awesome! Very interested in the details as they flow out.

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We just started a new thread on this. We'll look to talk about how the sausage is made as we go through this build between now and early April!