Camping/Fishing Rigs and Routines

Greg Armstrong said:
This is a fun topic!

When I retired, I told myself I was going to get myself some new toys. So I did.

This one (1985 VW Adventurewagen) is shared with our grownup kids when they want to take it out. It has a furnace, sink, fridge, gray water holding tank, upper and lower beds, shower enclosure, and a ton of storage (compared to most VW campers… I've had four of them). We installed a brand new Passat engine and all new systems and running gear for reliability, which these vans were not originally known for. It runs and drives great, and can navigate some surprisingly difficult roads.

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This one’s for extended fishing/camping/hunting trips. It’s perfect for me and my wife and gets into and through some tight spots.


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Sweet truck camper and nice how you managed to park your bikes off the front of your truck, very convenient and out of the way but you do keep they covered when traveling down the road to keep the bugs off. I'm thinking that VW Adventurewagen must've set you back quite a bundle considering how much work you had done to restore it. Either way, you've got a sweet ride without having to worry about it breaking down somewhere..
 
Cdnred said:
Sweet how the roof pops up and then collapses to give you a lower profile for going down the road. Nice canopy coming off the back to give you some shelter..
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It takes no time to pop up. I don't put that canopy on often. Can't drive with it on and it's online thing that adds time to set up. Yes the lower drag is nice. Plus the weight I hardly know it's there. I leave it on most of the time.
 
Cdnred said:
Sweet truck camper and nice how you managed to park your bikes off the front of your truck, very convenient and out of the way but you do keep they covered when traveling down the road to keep the bugs off. I'm thinking that VW Adventurewagen must've set you back quite a bundle considering how much work you had done to restore it. Either way, you've got a sweet ride without having to worry about it breaking down somewhere..
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Thanks!
I try to remember to keep some wax on the bikes… easier to get the bugs off that way! I’ve driven tens of thousands of miles with them on the front hitch and its worked fine.

Yep that van project cost a bit, but it’s a blast to drive and has been very dependable.
 
I used this for six years and just sold it last fall to upgrade to an R-POD. The wife retired and want a rig with a toilet since she thinks she be along on some of my trips. Amazingly enough, I get better gas mileage pulling the R-POD!
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_WW_ said:
I used this for six years and just sold it last fall to upgrade to an R-POD. The wife retired and want a rig with a toilet since she thinks she be along on some of my trips. Amazingly enough, I get better gas mileage pulling the R-POD!
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No complaints with the A-Frame, was it built by ForestRiver..? I see that you had the one propane tank setup. On ours we had a the dual tank so that we were always sure of not running out when on the road..
 
Cdnred said:
No complaints with the A-Frame, was it built by ForestRiver..? I see that you had the one propane tank setup. On ours we had a the dual tank so that we were always sure of not running out when on the road..
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I always carried a spare tank in the truck. They tuck in nice and tight to those milk crates and don't roll around.
The main one was a 2006 Chalet Alpine, made in Oregon. I tried a couple of others but stuck with this one. The Chalet models of this era are made more robustly than an A-Liner. I kept trying to upgrade to different aframe models I liked better but really couldn't find much improvement. I did however make some money on them as I went through them.

Pro Tip: Buy them in the middle of Idaho or someplace else away from the I-5 corridor and sell them for a profit around here. Made a couple grand on each one that I tried out.
 
_WW_ said:
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We had a 2013 Flagstaff built by ForestRiver that we bought new in 2015 from a dealer. On the A-Frame that we had, they had the option of adding the screen room on the side. There were tracks along the roof line for attaching the canopy. Was yours factory or just a modified with a tarp on the side..? We didn't bother getting the screen tent option as it looked like it might be a struggle each time to setup. We loved ours, took it on a 3 month road trip to Alaska, then down to Arizona and back to Ontario. Had a small furnace (that we never used) and was easy to pull behind our car. We ended up selling it due to fact that we wanted something that allowed us to pull into a rest area, open the door and go inside for either a snack or coffee. With the A-Frame we wouldn't have been able to do that without having to pop the top..

I like how you're making use of solar panels for power. Currently I'm looking to add the hitch wheel like you did for moving my trailer around at home to tuck away without having to hook it up to the car..
 
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The swing up wheel was on it when I got it. I liked it because it allowed me to drop the tailgate on my truck when it was hooked up. I'll probably be putting on on the R-POD for the same reason. That cover was just a heavy duty tarp. At the peak I bent a large washer in half and riveted it to the side of the roof. You had to tie it on before you lifted the roof, or back the truck tailgate up real close to reach it. That tarp bit the dust after 36 hours of sustained winds in Idaho. That Chalet made three trips to the Skeena, two to Oregon and three to Idaho.

We upgraded for about the same reasons as you. The pod has an outdoor room that can be attached. Not sure if we'll ever use it.
 
_WW_ said:
The swing up wheel was on it when I got it. I liked it because it allowed me to drop the tailgate on my truck when it was hooked up. I'll probably be putting on on the R-POD for the same reason. That cover was just a heavy duty tarp. At the peak I bent a large washer in half and riveted it to the side of the roof. You had to tie it on before you lifted the roof, or back the truck tailgate up real close to reach it. That tarp bit the dust after 36 hours of sustained winds in Idaho. That Chalet made three trips to the Skeena, two to Oregon and three to Idaho.

We upgraded for about the same reasons as you. The pod has an outdoor room that can be attached. Not sure if we'll ever use it.
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They have this other style of wheel that you can install by replacing the hitch post pad with this wheel rather then bolting it on the side. I was planning to put one of these on mine once our weather improves..

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