Birchcampers.com teardrop build

[dabend]

The Birch camper survived it's maiden voyage. It rained for two out of the 3 days we were traveling and the porthole windows did better than I thought they would, but one of the door seals needs some work. This is the first time I've done a float trip this late in the year and it was a nice experience. We had the river to ourselves (normally in mid-summer it's bank to bank with canoes), and the early morning mist made it look pretty cool. It kept raining and sprinkling the 1st and 2nd day all the way until we finished the float trip and turned in the canoes (about 2pm), and then the sun came out.

Lessons learned
1. Make a list. It's been a few years since I've been on a float trip and I was in a hurry and forgot about as much as I remembered to bring. Coffee was the one thing I forgot that really made me sad. Fortunately a buddy brought some.
2. Don't use self adhesive vinyl flooring planks. They look OK and I figured it would be a tough easy to clean floor, but they don't stick and stay down well at all. Those will be replaced next year.
3. This is a fairly light camper and I used an Aluminum trailer, but my little Jeep Renegade struggled some when it was rainy and windy. Other than that it did OK but I think I'll be upgrading the vehicle.

Here are a few pics.

 

[kscmpr54-TNT]

A beautiful build, thanks for sharing the journey. I learned a lot from your discussion. Can't think of a better place for the maiden voyage than the Ozarks. Best wishes with your teardrop and the future modifications (as many say, they are never really done). Keep us posted on those modifications too.

Karl

Sent from my SM-T733 using Tapatalk

 

[dabend]

Thanks Karl, I will definitely post some changes next spring. Two issues that I forgot to mention from the trip are:

1. The upper shelving storage organizers don't stay put. Everything launched off the shelf over the bungee pretty quick. The lower storage organizers didn't have a problem because they fit tighter on the shelf.
2. I want a 12v fan to move some air around the camper. The vent works OK, and is quiet but doesn't seem to move much air. I bought an automotive clip on fan from Amazon that turned out to be a piece of junk, so it was sent back.

I could move the bungee up, but what I'm thinking now is to kill two birds with one stone and make a removable fan frame. I want to make the frame so that it that can be clipped on, or slide into some brackets so that it can easily be moved out of the way. I think this should help the bungee keep the organizers in place during travel. The fan will be a high quality 8" computer fan with a speed controller to move the air. The wood frame should help hold the the center storage organizers in place and shorten the length of bungee so it can't stretch as much. I have a basic idea but will spend the Winter mulling around how to design the frame and get it to clip in front of the organizers.

Here's a quick sketch

I plan to use an 200mm Noctua fan. These are known for good quality and the Noctua colors will match the wood camper (not a fan of glow in the dark bright colors).