wwpage66
New member
After getting our FWC Hawk just over 2 moths ago it has spent most of the time on the farm as weekend lunch room and hang out for the kids as we have been working on cleaning up the family farm. I got a 2nd battery mounted in the engine bay of truck to run off of and it performed flawlessly, going from charged to good on the basic stock display, just running lights, fans and charging various electronics.
First actual outing to include 3 overnights and testing out in the rainy wet weekend over Memorial Day. Loaded up with gear and trash we thought we needed.
One thing that did not get checked out was the water system as my pump quit after filling up the tank from the city pressurized line, not sure if it was the pressure or something from PO failing to winterize, pump was turning on earlier. Ended up using the drain for water to wash dishes with.
I was working on an anchor point on the jack stand bracket for the awning but failed to compete it before departure so finished it up at the campsite. I has seen several others doing something like this and the PO had mentioned it as an option.
A simple piece of aluminum angle bolted to the jack brackets with their hardware seemed to do the trick
Only did the rear as the front one on our 8' awning did not line up well with the front bracket
If doing this be aware of the low clearance when going around the camper, I nearly knocked myself out twice on it until the pain of repetition forced a habit to duck. I still think it is a very useful application, as I had left the awning up one night when a strong storm came through, I was trying to figure out how to bring it in myself with assistance from the kids at 2am when after watching it with light out window I decided that it would hold. When putting it up, the anchors for the leg in the wet ground pulled up fairly well so I am sure it would have been destroyed without the anchor point to the bracket. Another issue with clearance brings me to the door, I am still trying to get my neck back to normal from a hard hit I had climbing in when the couch was made out, again nearly knocked out. I have been purposely watching the low clearance on the door working on the Hawk, but this one caught me by surprise negotiating a step on to the couch/bed. I also decided that a better hitch step will be required, I have one but I think I will make a new one that matches the bumper step.
Cooked breakfast and some additional items for lunch & supper on the stove and it all seemed to work pretty well especially if you want the burners full on. It seemed that when you would want a low flame the fire would just go out, so cook quickly or burn, camper is starting to smell like bacon, this leads me to think that an outside burner/stove plumbed into the propane would be a good idea. In addition to that cooking the kids had fun with the fire and smores.
I am not sure if it was all the rain or just time for them to come out, but the 17yr locust made an exodus from the ground and covered our neighbors tent after the storm during the night.
In all a good weekend the kids enjoyed sleeping in the camper and hanging out at the lake, it was a little to wet to go down some of the hiking trails that I waned to do so a fair bit of time was spent fishing each day, 7 catches. My wife spent two night and thought everything was pretty good even with it being tight with all of us in for the evening, and the careful arrangements that have to be made with the couch made into a bed.
I also have a list of somethings to fix, remove some items not needed from storage and simplify the food we bring for the next outing in 3 weeks.
Prep, Plan, Execute.
First actual outing to include 3 overnights and testing out in the rainy wet weekend over Memorial Day. Loaded up with gear and trash we thought we needed.
One thing that did not get checked out was the water system as my pump quit after filling up the tank from the city pressurized line, not sure if it was the pressure or something from PO failing to winterize, pump was turning on earlier. Ended up using the drain for water to wash dishes with.
I was working on an anchor point on the jack stand bracket for the awning but failed to compete it before departure so finished it up at the campsite. I has seen several others doing something like this and the PO had mentioned it as an option.
A simple piece of aluminum angle bolted to the jack brackets with their hardware seemed to do the trick
Only did the rear as the front one on our 8' awning did not line up well with the front bracket
If doing this be aware of the low clearance when going around the camper, I nearly knocked myself out twice on it until the pain of repetition forced a habit to duck. I still think it is a very useful application, as I had left the awning up one night when a strong storm came through, I was trying to figure out how to bring it in myself with assistance from the kids at 2am when after watching it with light out window I decided that it would hold. When putting it up, the anchors for the leg in the wet ground pulled up fairly well so I am sure it would have been destroyed without the anchor point to the bracket. Another issue with clearance brings me to the door, I am still trying to get my neck back to normal from a hard hit I had climbing in when the couch was made out, again nearly knocked out. I have been purposely watching the low clearance on the door working on the Hawk, but this one caught me by surprise negotiating a step on to the couch/bed. I also decided that a better hitch step will be required, I have one but I think I will make a new one that matches the bumper step.
Cooked breakfast and some additional items for lunch & supper on the stove and it all seemed to work pretty well especially if you want the burners full on. It seemed that when you would want a low flame the fire would just go out, so cook quickly or burn, camper is starting to smell like bacon, this leads me to think that an outside burner/stove plumbed into the propane would be a good idea. In addition to that cooking the kids had fun with the fire and smores.
I am not sure if it was all the rain or just time for them to come out, but the 17yr locust made an exodus from the ground and covered our neighbors tent after the storm during the night.
In all a good weekend the kids enjoyed sleeping in the camper and hanging out at the lake, it was a little to wet to go down some of the hiking trails that I waned to do so a fair bit of time was spent fishing each day, 7 catches. My wife spent two night and thought everything was pretty good even with it being tight with all of us in for the evening, and the careful arrangements that have to be made with the couch made into a bed.
I also have a list of somethings to fix, remove some items not needed from storage and simplify the food we bring for the next outing in 3 weeks.
Prep, Plan, Execute.