Pass-through really necessary?

[jeno]

Why would you accuse us of being "trigger happy", traveling around for the purpose of finding new people to shoot?

I recognize the immeasurable value assigned to human life, and I chose to make it my career to go into harm's way to protect it.

If someone breaks into our home, that's not a problem of US not valuing the criminal's life, it's a problem of the criminal not valuing their own life.

The whole point of my post, was that locking our home is a significant step towards PREVENTING a shooting.

You may not have been to America yet, but we have traveled Europe extensively, and what is not "normal", is your rudeness...

I can see why you find my post rude, and for that I apologize. I was just trying to make a point, and my english is a little bit simple. When I see several post about guns, shoot outs, and protecting other people from you (criminal or not), it feels disturbing. You may not be "trigger happy", but it easy to get that impression, at least from my perspective. Of course you are not trying to find people to shoot, and I am sorry for my bad choice of words.

I am planning to take my family on a 6-8 weeks trip across the USA in a couple of years, probably in a rented vehicle. Looking forward to that!

 

[AbleGuy]

I think a lot of it depends on the vehicle and the occupants.
-I am a big fat clumsy oaf (6'4" 290lbs). It would take a pretty huge pass through for me to get through without a heap of effort. A friend has a nice GXV Turtle on a F550, and has the pass through. I couldnt possibly fit through that if i tried, even in an emergency. I'd get stuck and end up having to use my inReach to SOS fire team to cut me out.

???

I’ve never regretted the convenience of having a pass through in my campers...but kinda like Ram5500 notes above, as I got older and “heavier”, I eventually realized I needed to get a different and better set up for that use when I started finding I was losing buttons off of my shirts as they snagged on the edge of my crawl thru while I struggled to barely squeeze through the boot between my truck’s cab and my camper.

That’s one reason why I looked for and bought our unibody Tiger 4x4 F350 camper...its easy walk thru is one of the options my wife and I most appreciate. If you don’t understand why that is, I guess I’d have to say you need to try having that benefit to really understand (especially if you’re an ROF with BHP?!). And another bonus is that it also allows us to store gear up front when we’ve pulled over for the night, to help declutter the back of our small rig.

 

[gregmchugh]

I like the Herman Miller chair. If you are going to do any real work for extended periods of time, that would be worth the effort.

You can see the drop down desk along the side. Made it with enough depth to have a laptop or a keyboard/monitor on the desk.

 

[Fadeagray]

I wasn't sure where to post this, so it's fine if the moderators want to move it.

Anyway, how important is a pass-through from the camper to the cab? I've heard people say they like it for safety reasons because it lets them drive away quickly without getting out of the vehicle. However, when would a situation like that actually happen? It seems to me that if you're camped in a dodgy area and someone appears outside your vehicle with a gun, you aren't going anywhere until you give them what they want, pass-through or not. I suppose a bear or other apex predator could theoretically be waiting outside your teardrop, slide-in camper, etc., waiting to pounce on you in the 30 seconds it takes to walk to the cab. However, having a pass-through limits the types of vehicles you can use, and many of them are more expensive than other options. Has anyone ever had an experience where their pass-though saved them from certain death or something?

Your question was thought provoking. I’ve always considered a pass-through to be a “nice to have” for all the reasons stated in earlier posts, safety & convenience. But, when applied to my current situation in a 12 ton behemoth, I’m not sure how often I would use it.

If a safety issue required a quick departure, I would need to build air pressure before the truck would move had I been setting for more than a few days. I would also need to turn on my chassis batteries (outside) before the truck would start. More than likely, I would address the safety situation, or send an SOS on my InReach and wait it out inside the habitat.

As far as weather related convenience, leveling the vehicle, guidance while backing into a camp spot, checking tires and mechanics are part of my outdoor routine when setting up camp. Both my wife and I will get wet, muddy, snowy or cold based on the current weather.

For me, the benefit would be pass through to the habitat while traveling, or when making short stops. That said, would I include a pass through in a new build? Yes, but I do not consider it absolutely necessary.

 

[Ramdough]

If you don’t do a pass through, I suggest a very easy way to get in that does not require deploying a large ladder or platform for road side pit stops.


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[MTVR]

If you don’t do a pass through, I suggest a very easy way to get in that does not require deploying a large ladder or platform for road side pit stops.


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In our case, we can use the three steps on each side of the cab to get up and down. It's only when we set camp, that our folding stairs will be deployed.

 

[MTVR]

If a safety issue required a quick departure, I would need to build air pressure before the truck would move had I been setting for more than a few days. I would also need to turn on my chassis batteries (outside) before the truck would start. More than likely, I would address the safety situation...

As far as weather related convenience, leveling the vehicle, guidance while backing into a camp spot, checking tires and mechanics are part of my outdoor routine when setting up camp. Both my wife and I will get wet, muddy, snowy or cold based on the current weather.

Yup...

 

[nathane]

It may be because I am just a fragile european, but I think this trigger happiness is really disturbing. For me travelling is about meeting people, seeing new places. Not about shooting people. But I have not been to America yet. Maybe it is normal there.

Hey Jeno, I agree that talk of having to be armed for protection and shootouts in pass throughs makes the US sound closer to a third world country and pretty unattractive for tourists. I have visited a few times, it has some beautiful spots and in my experience most people seem fairly normal and not quite as nutty as some rhetoric might suggest!

 

[sourdoughben]

I boondock 95% of the time and have for a dozen years or more. Many times I've found myself feeling the desire to move without exposusing myself. A crawl/pass threw is 100% justified IMO.

 

[gregmchugh]

I agree about staying on topic, suggest moving the firearms discussion to the appropriate forum which is here...

Sportsman Forum: Firearms, Fishing, Hunting, etc

For all hunting, general fishing and gun carry topics.

expeditionportal.com

 

[mobydick 11]

The type of weather you plan on traveling in should be a big factor . I think the most appreciated time for my crawl through was in well below freezing Temps and a big snow storm . Ran out of propane in the middle of the night ,and woke up freezing . My truck is a manual Diesel so you have to be sitting in the seat to start it . And I needed to start it to get some heat going .Another thing as appreciated as the pass through is a heater in the camper that works off hot coolant from the motor . O and did i mention my wife going pee every hour ha ha

 

[jk6661]

I agree about staying on topic, suggest moving the firearms discussion to the appropriate forum which is here...

Sportsman Forum: Firearms, Fishing, Hunting, etc

For all hunting, general fishing and gun carry topics.

expeditionportal.com

Thank you. I appreciate the robust discussion, but this thread really isn't about firearms. I'm also extremely uninterested in non-Americans calling all of us trigger-happy idiots, or in back-handed compliments like Nathane's, who condescended to admit that most of us seem "fairly normal." How gracious.

Please stay on topic.

 

[gregmchugh]

Thank you. I appreciate the robust discussion, but this thread really isn't about firearms. I'm also extremely uninterested in non-Americans calling all of us trigger-happy idiots, or in back-handed compliments like Nathane's, who condescended to admit that most of us seem "fairly normal." How gracious.

Please stay on topic.

And yet, you just continued the off topic discussion...

 

[MTVR]

Thank you. I appreciate the robust discussion, but this thread really isn't about firearms. I'm also extremely uninterested in non-Americans calling all of us trigger-happy idiots, or in back-handed compliments like Nathane's, who condescended to admit that most of us seem "fairly normal." How gracious.

Please stay on topic.

Amen. I made a post that didn't even contain the words "gun" or "firearm", and the hoplophobes just couldn't control their knee-jerk impulse to drag this thread off topic with their hand-wringing emotional histrionics...

 

[gregmchugh]

Amen. I made a post that didn't even contain the words "gun" or "firearm", and the hoplophobes just couldn't control their knee-jerk impulse to drag this thread off topic with their hand-wringing emotional histrionics...

LOL, seems it may not be possible to keep this thread on topic...