Campers

[Doewhacker]

Ha I'm the first one in the new section!

I have a 2010 Jayco Jay Feather 28R, we love it although part of me wishes we went for the 29L with the out side kitchen. It wasn't on the lot when we went so we ended up with what we have.

What do you guys have?

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Batsardo! Beat me to it! politic forum aside, much respect to all my fellow outdoorsman.

We have a Starcraft Antiqua hybrid. My next one, if a hybrid will have the cables that hold the bed panels, not the metal rods. Much faster setup time.

[Doewhacker]

Thats another thing I like about ours, its way quicker and easier than the old pop-up we had, just park it, plug it in and push a few buttons and presto! How's the sound from outside with those hybrids, that was one of our concerns.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

No different than a tent, which is a blessing and a curse if ya know what I mean! This section will help keep traffic during the slower seasons on the forum.

[Fantail]

Well it's about time !!

I was just thinking alot of CoD gamers might find this thread. 

I live to go camping, well you all know what I mean. Base camp, hunting camp, home away from home - it's all good. I would like to read about how you guys deal with bugs, mainly black & deer flies. Hoping this section pans out, should be good!

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Yeah, I can think of at least 20 thread questions off the top...

[Doewhacker]

No different than a tent, which is a blessing and a curse if ya know what I mean! This section will help keep traffic during the slower seasons on the forum.

Yes I do know what you mean, we went on our own one time with the pop up and we looked at each other and knew it would be the last trip with it..lol

[Fantail]

I am partialy restoring a 17` `68 Woodsman Travel Trailer.

The good; roof is in good shape, no leaks. All windows & vents & the door are sound, no broken glass, even have a spare pane. Even has clean curtains. Propane stove/oven is in fair shape, heater is iffy, because of the dc blower, but got a spare from another camper & a sport cat. Toilet works. Bedding is good. Floor is solid, some rust on the frame.

The bad; the propane fridge - missing the burning element and I'm not convinced it's safe anyhow. Decided to remove the unit. Frackin birds got in behind it and made a mess. No lie I filled 1 & 1/2 30 gal. trash bags of nesting jazz. Water holding unit, - this puppy is getting yanked to. For one I won't be 'traveling' with it and I always bring fresh water plus have access to a well. Wiring - speaking of birds nests, going to bypass it all and use lcd/dc lights with rechargable 'aa's & propaine. I will need to re-run lines for the stove, maybe use a capped T somewhere in case I decide to use the phony furnace down the road. There is a little water damage to a rear corner, but I think I can sister brace that with some pt. The rear panel is kinda shot but hinged so I was thinking just replace it with a small sheet of pt plywood. The drawers under the sink are in rough shape but I am looking to reroute the sink drain and then go with a small rev-a-shelf pull out base organizer or waste container instead. I am also accustom to plastic closed storage to keep out mice. Then, remodel the area where the fridge was with a set of tiered pull out baskets or shelves to hold 2 coolers. In short there may be some redneck engineering involved - but she'll make a good camper.

Not positive if I'll have all repairs done before Spring Turkey but I have no problem tenting it again untill then.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Very cool Fantail. Good luck.

[WNYBuckHunter]

We have a 89 Starcraft Nova popup. Had it for 4 years. I went through and gave it a complete facelift outside last year. When you look at it now, you have no clue how old it is. I designed and painted the graphics myself. I still need to touch them up a little, but they turned out pretty good. We love our little camper, but will be selling her and moving to a hybrid or travel trailer this year, nothing too big, 24 or 26 feet tops, and I dont want any slide outs.

Here are some before and after pics...

What I started with the day I brought her home...

Here she is after the face lift...

Im gonna miss this little camper when its gone.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Elmer, what year and model Antigua do you have? Thats what we would really like to buy, the 23 foot 3 bunk model.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

That's reassuring to see how good you can fix them. Nice job.

It's an '07 215SB? No slides, 3 beds. I just bought it last spring. It seems that the dealers have better deals on used than private sellers. I still see people asking for more on craigslist, than what I paid at Camper's Barn. Supposedly it has something to do with the promotions of years past, many owe more than they are worth??? I fought to get a pop up first until the wife proved we would use it enough, I ended up spending more than I wanted to, but I'm pretty sure I can sell out of mine if I had to. My friend bought a new Jayco hybrid with 2 beds and a slide. It's a breeze to set up with the cable supported beds, and the slide makes it so big inside.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Nice Elmer. Thats the one we are looking for too. We have found a couple, but people want too much, or maybe Im just too cheap lol. Im waiting to see what happens here soon with gas nearing $4 a gallon. Might be a good time to get ahold of a great deal.

Thanks, I put alot of work into that camper last year. I have done all kinds of modifications to it too, its a whole different camper than when we bought it.

[FULLDRAWXX75]

I will have to get/post some pics of my mobile palace ............................LMAO

I have a 1962 Layton, She is solid and in excellent shape for her age, here history that I know is the original owners sold it to a friend of mine back in 1992, we used it as a hunting camp for three yrs and he upgraded to a new camper and I bought the ole girl from him in 1995 for $500.

The interior is all birch vaneer (walls, ceiling, cabinets) it sleeps 6 very comfortably, has a sink, 3 burner stove, refrig., furnace & gas/elec. lights. One drawback is it does not have a bathroom. (never bothered me much, one less thing to have to clean and winterize)

Over the years I have set aside funds to do minor restoration/repairs to keep her in top shape. I did a new countertop with SS sink a few yrs back, last yr. was total frame scrape/sandblast and epoxy coat paint w/new rear bumper.

This yr. will be a small panel replacement in the frt. (damaged by some low life while parked at our hunting location last yr., they shot the front up with a .22 cal)  When I am done with the panel replacement she is getting a complete new paint job back to her original colors of white & mint green (old school) LOL

FDXX75

[Doewhacker]

I realized we don't have any real good pictures of our camper and set up, I will have to work on that this summer..lol

Here it is any way....

[Doewhacker]

Man WNY you did a job fixing that thing up, it doesnt even look like the same one!  Our hand me down Jayco pop up looked alot like your camper before you fixed it up.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thanks Doe, I put a ton of hours into it last spring, and then just kept on going with the add ons. The next owner is gonna be happy with it.

Nice Jayco, btw. I cant wait to get something bigger this year.

[Doewhacker]

Its nice to have room to move around, AC and a shower. It took a little getting used to towing that long of a camper but now its no biggie. Our total length is about 50 foot counting the truck which is by no means the longest but it does require us to make sure and let the campground know how big we are so we will have room to back her in. Pull thru's are the best thing ever as far as I'm concerned..lol

When you do upgrade don't be afraid to spend a little extra on the anti-sway bars, they told me it was overkill when I wanted to beef it up but let me tell you it was the best thing I spent money on concerning towing.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yeah towing big stuff is a trick at first. I think the biggest rig I towed was a 35 foot cabin cruiser on a triple axle trailer behind a big diesel U-Haul box truck. That was fun lol. Im going to set it all up with a weight distribution hitch with anti sway.

Its funny you mention the backing up thing, I was just moving a boat in my dad's driveway this weekend and he was shocked how quick I got it done. I just looked at him and said "What do you think, Im new?"  ;D

[Doewhacker]

I think its actually alot easier to back up with the longer camper, with the shorter pop ups one blink and you are off in the broccoli.

[WNYBuckHunter]

For sure

[Fantail]

Ya on the smaller tows. The small utility trailer is about the size of a pop-up, when I'm backing it up at camp for example I have to open the rear hatch or I realy can't see the damn thing.

[camper4lyfe]

I've got an old ('96) 23' Prowler that my parents gave my wife and I as a wedding present.  We took it up to the Thousand Islands last year as OUR place to stay, rather than bunking with her parents.  It was really nice, but at the end of last year, we found out that the heath department cited the new owners for allowing it. 

Now we have to sell it.  Anyone interested, or know someone that is?

[WNYBuckHunter]

I might be interested in it camper, Shoot me a PM with the specifics (model, weight, bed layout, etc)

[Doc]

Lol ..... so does anyone still use tents for camping? I have never actually had a camper for all the years of our camping. Always a tent except for a couple of years when we operated out of the the back of our capped pick-up. By the way, that did work out pretty darn good for just sleeping arrangements. We set up two folding camp-cots, side by side with a (queen-sized??) mattress over the top. It was pretty darn comfy except for the ungodly racket roaring on the aluminum cap roof everytime it rained. Also, air circulation in some of the 90 degree weather was a bit lacking. However, it was very handy with all the gear stowed under the cots, and absolutely nothing to trail around or some oversized bus looking thing to try to maneuver around in.

Today were back to the tent or campground cabins ..... lol. No more pick-up trucks for us.

Doc