Foster Huntington
Adventurer
I'm looking to buy a Kimbo or Scout Olympic camper. The only option I really want is the marine heater. Anyone selling?
WTB Kimbo or Scout Olympic Camper
- Thread starter Foster Huntington
- Start date
GeorgeHayduke
Active member
Our Scout Kenai is for sale if you're interested: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/2021-scout-kenai-for-sale.230048/
jonathanpope
New member
I have one for sale here: https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...lympic-slide-in-truck-camper-6-5-foot.230624/
Before you buy one check out the Scout Camper thread on here and definitely check Scout Campers owners facebook page. Lots of people with leaking issues and condensation due to thermal transfer. Many have had to take their campers back to have all the seams re-sealed. Also the marine heater seems to be in-adequate for heating up the camper. You're likely going to have to add a diesel heater to heat up the floor area and prevent condensation on the door. The campers are nice in idea but make sure you're aware of some of the QC issues before plopping down the money for a scout camper.
Fen CO
New member
I own a Scout Kenai and I have had NO leak issues. Picked it up new at Apache RV in Portland. Yes there have been some leak issues with some campers but Scout has really stood behind their product. As far as thermal transfer issues, they are all normal and no greater than any other camper. In fact look up Northern Lite campers (the ultimate in 4 season campers IMHO) and they have an entire page dedicated to condensation on the interior of their campers. As for the FB group there have been a few people that have posted over and over about their leak issues. Also recently the admins have kicked off some trolls that keep posting negative comments and they don't own a Scout camper. I suggest you google just about any other camper brand and and the work "leaks" and you'll get plenty of hits. The Scout isn't perfect but it is unique in design and so light weight that my truck handles better with it on, both on and off road, than with it off. I'd do buy one again in a minute.
Go_rogue_explore
New member
I have this for sale.
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You're normalizing issues to justify your purchase. Every product will have it's pros and cons but some of the cons in the Scout camper are quite glaring. I'm bringing up issues so that the end users is aware of them. At the end of the day everybody is responsible for their own choices and you hopefully make your decisions with the most knowledge as possible. Full disclosure, I do not own a Scout camper. I was in the market for the camper and decided to go with a different brand. I researched heavily into Scout and Kimbo. Check out every thread on here, other forums, Facebook groups, IG, etc etc. I joined the Scout camper owner FB group and thankfully there were some honest and objective people there that gave their opinion on the campers and gave light to some issues with the camper that you don't see on their glamorized IG page.
Again, multiple users have reported leaks in their camper from the seams. Many found out the hard way on a cross country drive back home with their brand new camper. I could only imagine how furious I'd be if my brand new $25k+ camper had a leak within the first week of owning it. You'd have to be lucky enough to live near Scout or close to enough to a dealer that could fix the issue. Then you'd have to deal with a 1-2 month wait while their rip it all apart to glue it all back together. In this case the OP is looking for a used Scout camper, I think it's quite pertinent to know about the leak issue since Scout might not warranty second hand purchases. Yes every camper has the potential to leak over time but the amount of leak complaints on brand new campers on a line that is only 1-2 years old is appalling. By contrast when I did research on Kimbo I didn't see any issue or complaints with leaks. I didn't go with Kimbo because it just wasn't going to be big enough for us otherwise it would have been a strong contender. Can't say I've seen any leaking complaints with OEV campers either and one would think those would have a higher potential of leaking given the soft sided fabric.
As far as condensation goes it's a battle, especially in cold northern climates. The only way to minimize and mitigate it is to have enough ventilation and enough heat. The issue here is that Scout chose to go with a propane fire place furnace that is meant for sail boats. The thing puts out a measly 4,500 BTU and is meant to operate at 0 feet above sea level. It's woefully inadequate considering other heaters put out 15-20k BTU. They chose to mount it up higher so that the sitting area and cabover are heated but the foot zone and the rear door don't get any heat. Things mounted lower like the supplied Goal Zero lithium battery don't get heated up properly and the rear door frosts over bringing in condensation. A few FB users have added diesel heaters down lower and voila the condensation issue was greatly reduced. It shouldn't be up to the end user to figure this out and add a diesel heater to fix this issue. But hey, the Dickinson heater looks cool on the gram.
IMO the Scout camper is a great idea and it has a lot of potential. It looks great, cheap(ish), and has all the important features without the complicated systems. However if you don't get the fundaments right like a leak free camper then that doesn't mean anything. The execution is poor if anything and I would have expected a bit more since Adventure Manufacturing (the parent company) has been making campers and RV's for 50 years. Honestly if they can fix the leak issue then they have a good camper on their hands. It might take V2 for them to nail down the production issues but I'd skip this gen.
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Skiestasnolas
New member
My Scout Olympic was leaking when I picked it up new at Apache in OR. They resealed some of the roof (same day) in a few hours and I haven’t had an issue since. I’m down in Southern CA so we don’t get much rain. Fingers crossed!
There has been a bunch of chatter about the heater in the Scout. I have gone up to the Sierras a bunch this winter and haven’t had any issues. I usually keep the heater on low with the fan on low. The last trip up to Mammoth was around 10F through the night and I was fine. Jan was dry up there but cold! The floor area of the Olympic was chilly but the dinette and bed was toasty. I wonder if people are using sheets instead of a halfway decent mummy bag?
I have condensation on the thin metal around the perimeter every morning when I’m in the mountains. I crack the windows through the night and it’s still pretty wet around the edges. I keep a small towel to dry it off…takes a minute or two.
My .02!
There has been a bunch of chatter about the heater in the Scout. I have gone up to the Sierras a bunch this winter and haven’t had any issues. I usually keep the heater on low with the fan on low. The last trip up to Mammoth was around 10F through the night and I was fine. Jan was dry up there but cold! The floor area of the Olympic was chilly but the dinette and bed was toasty. I wonder if people are using sheets instead of a halfway decent mummy bag?
I have condensation on the thin metal around the perimeter every morning when I’m in the mountains. I crack the windows through the night and it’s still pretty wet around the edges. I keep a small towel to dry it off…takes a minute or two.
My .02!
If you ever want to sell, let me know!!
Skiestasnolas
New member
We are ready to sell the camper and the truck. If you are interested hit me up. It’s been a fun adventure with the fam!
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