Scout Olympic vs Kenai

[Porkchopexpress]

Curious when you ordered? We're in for an Olympic which has a 'Q2' timeline. If it slips to Q3, we'll need to come up with an alternative.

Is that the 3rd quarter of 2021? As in July-Sep?

 

[svinyard]

Fwiw the FWC dealers told me theirs are over 12mo out to get one.

 

[PNWExpo]

Just a quick FYI on getting solid mounting points in my truck bed for the Scout Camper. I have the bolt on stock bed tie downs in my 2005 F250. No one, including Ford, was able to comment on their weight capacity and plenty of people I spoke with were skeptical of using them for the camper tie down. Scout/Apache didn't entirely have a pre-defined solution for this either. When I Googled some stuff, I immediately found FWC solution that they use for this and they have an extensive dealer network that has does this stuff for 30+ years. I spoke with Mule Expedition Outfitters in PDX and they said just come get their setup for 75$ and that its a super easy install. Its a proven system that works for 4x4'ing and will give me more peace of mind. They just install under the bed and use the backer plate to distribute the load. They aren't mounted to the frame anywhere or the cross beams so you get a lot of flexibility on where they are installed. You'll want them as close to the corners (within reason) as possible I'm told. Make sure they are in the low spot of your bed channels.


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Scout punting and trying to defer to the dealer to make this determination is 100% ****************. Gonna have people losing their campers and damaging their trucks versus using what’s been proven. It’s not even a stance of reinventing the wheel, just lazy...

Glad to see you setting this up right...

 

[svinyard]

I got an email update from Scout. They said they were struggling to get product from a couple 3rd Parties (Covid). So the colored fabric uppers are now only that same grey as the others. They also switched from the Roost tent to the Roofnest Falcon XL. I like the change a lot. I'm sure its not perfect but at least it has an anti-condensation pad, a mattress cover, waterproof side material and lightly insulated roof. I wasn't looking forward to DIY'ing those onto the Roost. Plus its all metal and a bit lighter. Downside is that it doesn't have much room for bedding when closing it down.

 

[Porkchopexpress]

I was able to view a Scout Yoho last Monday at D&H Truck Camper Emporium in Jacksonville. I was mostly looking at the build quality and took a lot of close up photos that I will attempt to post.

 

[Porkchopexpress]

Close up exterior

 

[Porkchopexpress]

Inside cabinets

 

[Porkchopexpress]

Under sink

 

[Porkchopexpress]

Under cushions

 

[Porkchopexpress]

Under dinette

 

[Porkchopexpress]

I think the quality was what I expected. The composite panels felt sturdy and there was no spongy feeling when pressing against the surface. The seams all looked to be well sealed. The plywood looked to be marine quality as advertised and I did not see any voids on the edges. One disappointment was there was no finish work done to the edges so it was very rough to the touch. If I buy a Kenai, I will definitely sand all the edges smooth and apply wipe on polyurethane. The grey veneer will show dents and scratches easily so I would have preferred a more natural surface but both of those issues would add to the production cost. The inside the cabinets are exposed obviously and also have an unfinished look to me but overall what I would expect.
I think the structure would hold up well to abuse and they will hold their value well because there is so little to go wrong with the minimalist design.

Overall I think this is a great product for a lot of people. For me, it comes close meeting all my needs but I'm concerned with the east west bed, small dinette and the water capacity.

 

[GeorgeHayduke]

Thanks for the detailed pictures @Porkchopexpress! They definitely need an edgebander after seeing all those exposed plywood edges. It looks like maybe the veneer is already delaminating above the port-a-potti?

I'm actually excited about the east-west bed. We're short enough that it's a comfortable size and after having a north-south bed on a previous camper I don't want the bed cantilevered so far out when bouncing around offroad. Water capacity definitely comes up short, but an extra 7 gallon blue jug isn't the end of the world.

@svinyard interesting to hear about the change in rooftop tent. Do you know if the Falcon XL will still have the internal hatch access point? That's a key advantage in our mind.

 

[svinyard]

Yeah I confirmed there is still the internal hatch with the Roofnest.

 

[YF_Ryan]

Under sink

The Yoho I looked at had a 12V plug in the hole circled in Red below. My guess was that it ran off the 12v power from the trailer wires, as they connect right behind that panel. There was a 12v goal zero power adapter laying on the floor, i figured you could plug it into the Yeti and into this port while driving to get some charge. *Shrugs* All the other pics I've seen online don't have it. And I'm sure the dealer didn't install it, since it arrived the morning they let me look at it (it was being picked up the next day).

 

[MontyMontero]

Anyone have an opinion on the ability for cooled ventilation? I thought the Scout Kenai was ideal for my family of five... Then I realized there is no AC. We live in the Palm Springs area, where it gets HOT. Thanks!