Winter camping in Sportsmobile

[4x4kayaker]

I'm looking at buying a Sportsmobile or similar rig for family of 4. We do a ton of skiing. How warm is it in there if I had the top up sleeping 4 parked at my favorite ski resort parking lot?
Im notworried about summer camping but need an all year camping rig for 4
And a 4x4 rig for snow and sandy beaches for kayaking
Any winter campers out there who can offer advice before I buy?

 

[Saline]

We have camped in the winter quite a bit. A furnace is a must. It makes the van very comfortable and livable. There are several threads over on the sportsmobileforum.com as well as some pop-up discussion on this expo site in the pop up camper section. Here is a link to a recent trip for us: http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6057

 

[dzzz]

I've done a lot of research over the past year. The Webasto Air Top are the best hot air units for high altitude. The new units increase combustion fan speed at higher altitudes.
Personally I would only place the gasoline version of these units under, not in, the van. Although logically the gasoline versions may not't be much more dangerous than propane heat.
A sprinter-based camper may be ideal, except for the lack of 4wd. Take a look at truck campers for your needs.

A econoline sportsmobile is too small for a family of four skiing

 

[dhally]

We had a regualar length Ford camper van with 24" hard top. It was easy to keep warm with a 12,000 BTU/hr Suburban furnace untill the temperature got below 20F with wind. Don't have experience with the soft tops but I'm thinking you would be trying to put bubble wrap inside the canvas...

 

[EMrider]

I'm looking at buying a Sportsmobile or similar rig for family of 4. We do a ton of skiing. How warm is it in there if I had the top up sleeping 4 parked at my favorite ski resort parking lot?
Im notworried about summer camping but need an all year camping rig for 4
And a 4x4 rig for snow and sandy beaches for kayaking
Any winter campers out there who can offer advice before I buy?

I've winter camped several times with 4 of us inside and outside temps down to zero and pretty heavy snow. The suburban heater does a great job of keeping the inside comfortable. We have the regular SMB soft side penthouse top.

With 4 sleeping inside space is tight, but doable for a few days.

For winter camping it is very helpful to have either access to shore power or a portable generator IMHO. We carry a honda eu2000. When outside temps are below freezing, I've found we need to run the suburban heater all night. The house batteries can handle that load, but I don't like to run then down and like to re-charge them in the morning with the generator.

Good luck.
R

 

[jcbrandon]

A couple of weeks ago I drove nearly across the country in a pop top Sportsmobile. Overnight temperatures were down into the teens several nights and rarely above freezing. Sometimes I raised the roof, others I kept it lowered. The truck I drove has a diesel-fired auxiliary heater. Most nights I woke up and unzipped my sleeping bag as I had not yet learned to fine tune the thermostat.

 

[4x4kayaker]

Thanks for all the advice. My oldest son only has a few years left with us and we only need to camp for 3 day weekends. I also need a vehicle as a daily driver for 3 miles when not cycling Don't have room for truck camper. I'm still thinking a SMB is the ideal rig?

 

[1leglance]

some of the things that make a van great for winter/foul weather camping are:
you don't have to exit the vehicle
with a pop top, someone can sleep above while someone else moves around below
you can really do a great job with insulation of the walls & top
getting up and moving around it is easy
stealth mode when you don't raise the top
Sportsmobile builds a killer van

If you can do without 4x4, especially if you don't plan on running trails in the thing then I would get the Sportsmobile Sprinter van as you will have a ton more room.
If you do plan to offroad then get the Ford but with 4 captains chairs so everyone has space and a place to relax.

 

[davidv]

I was also set on Sportsmobile for the exact purpose. We rented a VW camper for a weekend that there just wasn’t enough room for us (Me, Wife, 5 yr old, 3 yr old) if you get caught in a storm and really need to hunker down. I still lust after SMBs and if were the 2 of us we’d have one but with the family we are toasty warm in the snow with this.

 

[chp-sk8]

hey there!

Our SB has a Propane furnace with a typical thermostat and it works great! We have many many trips threw the N-west, to enclude washington, Oregon, norcal, and nothern BC. I assure it gets pretty cold up there. If it is just us 2 I find that setting the thermostat at 60'ish will kick it on about every 15 minutes if it is sub 20's. If you pull over and set up camp, the van will seam alot warmer when you park it as all of the engine and driveline heat will initially warm it up...that is usually good for about 2-3 hrs...then the heat will start kicking on. SB are sweet rigs but can get abit tight with 4 people in there. If everyone gets along well it will be nothing but good times:smiley_drive: It dosen't have heat in it but I have a SB trailer that I am going to post forsale that can sleep 2 if that helps.

 

[snorkel54]

I was also set on Sportsmobile for the exact purpose. We rented a VW camper for a weekend that there just wasn’t enough room for us (Me, Wife, 5 yr old, 3 yr old) if you get caught in a storm and really need to hunker down. I still lust after SMBs and if were the 2 of us we’d have one but with the family we are toasty warm in the snow with this.

Very nice. What camper is "this"? Hallmark K2?

 

[billwilson]

Smb

I have had 5 rigs
vw panel
sleeper slide in
cab over slide in
westy pop top
Current SMB with Cruiser hard top

lived in a ski area at 8,000 feet for 10 years
lived in mexico for 10 years, traveled coast to coast (car not camping)

Just spent two weeks in Southern Utah in my hard top SMB
over christmas, lots of rain and snow

Pop top - loose heat / will not retain heat / can insulate, but not effective
but hey, get a mummy bag ...
- putting up with a snow load, possible problimatic
- putting down with snow/ice on canvas...not ideal

Hard top - we have the stock suburban furnace
warm and toasty at all times for my wife who needs it hot

IMHO - hard top is the way to go

Roadblock- daily driver
HOWEVER, 3 miles daily driver with less mpg vs Family Comfort?

I am pretty sure if wife and kids are warm, dry and happy, you will get them into the rig more often........

 

[alaskaboy]

Just asking, but how are you gonna get all the prerequisite ski gear in there. 4 pairs of skis, ski boots, regular boots, all-weather gear etc.. I would think four people would be tight in temperate, let alone, winter climate. On the other hand, very cool rigs and I guess you could rent a locker as soon as you get there.

 

[Saline]

Just asking, but how are you gonna get all the prerequisite ski gear in there. 4 pairs of skis, ski boots, regular boots, all-weather gear etc.. I would think four people would be tight in temperate, let alone, winter climate. On the other hand, very cool rigs and I guess you could rent a locker as soon as you get there.

We store a large amount of stuff in our rooftop cargo carrier, including a fire pit.:sombrero:

 

[davidv]

Very nice. What camper is "this"? Hallmark K2?

Yes, a '09Hallmark K2 on a '08 F250. In -9 degrees we held 70 degrees inside just fine, but would need a back up bottle of propane to do it for multiple nights. With a snow load I'll lift 4 to 6 inches of the fluffy stuff, but any more 5 minutes with a push broom will fix.