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Thread: General Outfitting and Questions about Pop-ups vs. Just building something

  1. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by 4x4mike View Post
    You're only moving a couple streets!?!

    I thought you had mentioned Kentucy or somewhere much farther.

    My wife and I had the easiest time camping with the kids when they were babies, the first year. They were Spring babies so that meant they were only a few months old. That was sweet because they didn't wonder, Mom always had their food ready and they liked to sleep. We had a 4 person, 3 season REI tent that was perfect as you could fit a pack-n-play and a pillow top Aero bed in it. For the most part baby slept with Mom on the bed and would get moved as necessary. With a baby and a little older kid the space was gone in that tent so we got a Kingdom 6 REI tent. We're totally past the pack-n-play stage so the extra space gets used for our stuff and the kids rough housing.

    A trailer would be nice, don't get me wrong, but it would take more money, time and tinkering. We have everything down to a science so I am able to spend most of my time enjoying being out. If I had a trailer I'd also want to use it for more than 'camping'. A lot of out trips are offroading and an offroad style trailer wouldn't be as useful for things like car camping, soccer tournaments/that style outting (I grew up spending a lot of time in RV's at events), etc. I already have a utility trailer for trailer stuff and am making due so far. Things, places and people are too flux to make a camping decision.
    The Kentucky move is a maybe...maybe?

    The only thing that I have found constant in the military is change. I have been here in the desert for 4 years and the way it looks (God willing) I will be here for another 2 which will be the longest I have ever been in one state my whole life.

    I definitely have given tents a look and right now I am looking at a couple Wenzel and a couple of Kelty's. I love the space of the Wenzel tent but I know the reputation of Kelty much better and it's more in line with what we want weight wise. My wife and I are no strangers to hiking and I would rather be able to hike with it than park and drag it to where I would set it up. Although I am no expert with tents either....I usually don't have one. Here's are the links to the ones I am looking at. Any advice is appreciated. I have slept in tents or out in the stars in just about everything imaginable so weatherproof is something I am interested in.

    Wenzel Klondike
    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PB2HPS/...I30S8T4DAZNL3F

    Kelty Trail
    http://www.amazon.com/Kelty-Trail-Ri...&keywords=tent

    Kelty Arcadia
    http://www.amazon.com/Kelty-40815012...&keywords=tent

    and just for kicks I ran into these too:
    http://www.amazon.com/Kelty-40818813...&keywords=tent

    http://www.amazon.com/Kelty-Car-Tarp...&keywords=tent
    98 3rz 4x4 5spd- Monstalined, 99 Talls, 4.30 E-locker, Extra Lights
    In Progress:
    Tundra/Rear Disc Brakes w/parking brake
    Roof Rack/Rear Ladder
    Sliders
    1st Gen Rollbar Shelf

  2. #12
    Sorry late into this tread but here's my thoughts on this topic. Great topic btw.

    From the minimalistic point of view, less is more and will probably be easier when camping. The downside to this is that you and your family will need to be okay with the minimalistic style of camping. Nothing wrong with that but obviously with limited space in your 4runner it really makes you really plan/prep for minimalistic camping. (note that this in itself is fun too!)

    Adding a trailer (be it a military trailer, rv style pop up or whatever light weight trailer) will mean you'll end up carrying more and like what Mike has said, be stuck on the trucker lane trolling at roller coaster speed to and from your destination.

    For me, I've gone from 4runner truck camping to m416 trailer camping to rv camping more recently. The old person in me says the hell I'll go back to roughing it on the ground tent camping after years of RV camping. I guess you can say I've been rather spoiled by the luxury of rv camping so it's really hard for me to really look back and say yeah let's tent this sucker up and sleep on the ground. The only nice thing about truck camping is the ability to really go away from pavement and enjoy nature and be literally in the middle of nowhere. Now depending on how you build your military trailer you'll probably be able to get that sucker anywhere but that does make it challenging on difficult trails so you'll have to factor that in.

    With a growing family in mind, you'll probably want to figure out what you guys think will work for you and your family and then go from there. You can't go wrong with truck camping like many of us have done and currently still enjoy. Some of us have grown to enjoy more "crap" so we love to haul more "crap!" lol. Others like myself love the luxury of the pooper/shower so it's hard for me to look back at anything otherwise.

    The beautiful thing about collecting a nice array of camping gear is that you'll always be able to use em for a long time. I have a ton of camping gear that now sits inside my m416 trailer. (a ton is an understatement so don't feel like you need to skimp out. it's always worth it in the end).

    Here's my m416 build up: http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthre...litary-trailer

    Looking at this it's missing a lot of pix. I"ll have to fix those links.

    At the moment I'm looking at a travel trailer to tow behind my land cruiser (and hopefully my 4runner when back up and running) so that's my next long term purchase plan. No details on what kind of but it's open for discussion at Pismo. My m416 trailer will continue to serve me for remote camping destinations since the trailer is pretty rock solid with the new frame. The travel trailer will be more for pavement pounding rv accommodating travel sites when I don't want to camp in the sticks.
    Lance
    TLCA Member

    2003 4Runner SR5 4x4 Chaos Edition
    2000 Toyota Landcruiser
    19xx M416 Trailer

    Chaos Edition Profile
    Operation Rebuilding Chaos Edition
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  3. #13
    Ok here's the skinny on off roading with a pop up. It's ok. The problem with them is they're pretty wide. Mine is the smallest popup for normal (not hardcore off road) trailers and it's about as wide or wider than my 4th gen so they don't work well for even the mildest of rock crawling trails. After lifting mine, I have about 2 feet of clearance under the frame and it's just about perfect, but I'm still limited to rougher than average forest service roads. I can still take it down trails that the average non-off roader would never dream of taking their grocery getter SUV down, but I'm always scared of needing to turn around. But, I'd have that fear when towing any trailer. I don't know how people do it on narrow, rock crawling trails.

    The only reason I have it is because the wife wanted a bathroom, but I have to say it is very nice to have. I don't have to care about whether the camp site is flat and smooth because I'll won't be laying on the ground. I can pick a hill or a rough rocky area and will be comfortable. It's cooler in the sun than a tent, but it can still get hot. The outdoor LED lighting that I added sure is convenient when I want to cook or clean up etc.

    Storage is a little problem because most of the storage is under the seats so I have to pop it up just to access the area. One of my next mods is to somehow cut an access door. Mine weighs less than 2000 lbs and the 4.0L barely notices it. Most of the time I maintain 70 mph even up in the mountains, although there are a few spots where I'll get bogged down to 60 mph. The popup forums will tell you not to add weight to the rear of the camper because it'll produce death sway, so you'll need to add it up front.

    A word of advice on those forums...they're a bunch of pansies. They think camping is a full hookup campsite where you sit around watching TV all day. They have no concept of modifying a trailer beyond what the manufacturer has given you, other than little stuff like changing the lights to LEDs. Basically what I'm trying to say, is take what they say with a grain of salt. When it comes to the mechanicals and towing, I'd respect the opinions on Pirate4x4 before them.

    So, in a nutshell, a popup is great for family camping but not so great for real off roading. If it were just me and the guys going camping, I'd just go back to the way I used to do it. Sleep in the back of the truck and setup the tent for my stuff.
    -------------------------
    Steve
    1993 4runner, SAS, 3.0L, Auto Tranny
    2007 4runner, stock. For now.

  4. #14
    I'm really starting to like the idea of truck camping more and more honestly. The 3rd gen has a considerable space to it once you include top racks and rear basket plus the bonus of not being stuck at 55. Cali is the only state that does that though lol.

    I think I've come up with the premise of how to pack and organize everything or at least a good starting point.

    Everyone has a pack for their own stuff (clothing, entertainment, etc) and those can get stowed up in the rocket box for now. Camp hardware like tents, tables, big toys (when needed), go on the basket as they are inflexible and take space generally. Food, first aid, blankets, tarps, plates and other misc items are what go inside the cab plus coolers (best kept out of the sun).

    I highly suspect we won't need the top rack for a while simply because we are starting small lol. Even with my personal stuff I still need to get stuff for the family like sleeping bags.
    98 3rz 4x4 5spd- Monstalined, 99 Talls, 4.30 E-locker, Extra Lights
    In Progress:
    Tundra/Rear Disc Brakes w/parking brake
    Roof Rack/Rear Ladder
    Sliders
    1st Gen Rollbar Shelf

  5. #15
    Sounds like you have the right idea. For the most part my rear cargo area is the same for most trips. I have three of the same ice chests. They are medium size and if we need more cold storage we pack two and use the second one for the later part of the trip. I use a 24 gallon size Action Packer as our kitchen box. I use the ice chest and AP to pin stuff against the rear seat. Stuff is always four camp chairs. At time it's it's also fishing poles, kids PFD's and sun shelter(s). Most of the remaining floor space is two Rubbermade bins we use for food. We can get 4-5 days of dry good food in them and they stack. On top of the wheel wells I stuff our sleeping bags, blankets, beach towels, LED lantern, battery box, tools and sometimes a water can.

    From there I build up. I put padded moving blankets on top of the surface I created with the ice chests, food and kitchen box. On top of that I place our folding table, bags, large wheel bag with sleeping pads and pillows, tent, toys, gun cases, fly rod cases, softer crushable food and random stuff that could easily be grabbed out of the back window.

    I've had my basket for years but only recently have I been needing it more. On this trip I was packing my float tube so I needed the extra space. On the way home the wood was gone and one of those AP's were empty. From a normal angle the license plate is a touch more visible but even when it's hidden I've never been pulled over.



    Tent that with the vestiuble has a footprint close to that of the 4Runner.


    This is a get'r done close to home trip. There is no way this would hold together offroad. There is also a pack-n-play and stroller in there which takes up a bunch of room. So glad to be over those.


    Another good load out. This was for a trip 45 miles from home but for some reason we still had to pack everything. The stuff on the roof hurt the mileage a lot. The wood was burned and there was enough room inside to put the rest inside for the return trip.




    Putting stuff on the roof is still necessary but it's for a longer trip as I'm able to get quite a bit inside.
    Last edited by 4x4mike; 09-03-2014 at 08:58 AM.

  6. #16
    Wow you have got a lot of stuff crammed in there!!! I think I will do the airbags now that I've see how much stuff you go camping with.

    I think I would do a custom trailer if ever get around to doing a trailer. One trailer I always see neglected is the m353. Here's a pic of it. This would be my choice hands down. The m101 is more of a trail trailer but this could be turned into a comfy camp trailer that is hardy enough to do forest roads.

    Attachment 205

    I think the main reason is weight. It is designed to carry 60Kw generators so the leaf pack, rims, and tires weigh a ton but I believe the frame is only 200lbs or so. The way the axle is situated it would be perfect for a pop up type design to sit on top of the fenders and that would leave room for your generator, water, propane, gear, or whatever underneath. Plus you do NOT have to worry about it falling apart on washboard and you don't have to have any leveling jacks. They're built in the front. Unless I have gone crazy it's 16ft long and 8ft wide so there's plenty of room to build with as well.
    98 3rz 4x4 5spd- Monstalined, 99 Talls, 4.30 E-locker, Extra Lights
    In Progress:
    Tundra/Rear Disc Brakes w/parking brake
    Roof Rack/Rear Ladder
    Sliders
    1st Gen Rollbar Shelf

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