Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[Wobbly Wheels]

Great to hear it wasn't worse Glen. Now comes the cleanup...

Back onto bear-proofing trailers ?
I bet the steel roofing would be turkey-proof as well (turkey-resistant ?)

[GPW]

It would make a Sturdy trailer roof for those worried about limbs and such ... Only for those who like to park under trees .. Or a great rock guard up front ... Turkeys too ...

[GPW]

Yet another Thrifty idea ... We’ve seen all those beautiful trailers with the elaborate cabinet work . Nice !! But from my own experiences , sometimes all that may be Unnecessary ... My own objective is to use as little wood as possible , for the usual reasons we’ve already discussed at length... Wood weighs 57lb/ cu. ft. , Foam weighs 2lb./cu. ft.
Point is , I think small shelves are practical , cabinetry is heavy , takes up usable space , and rots eventually ... Thing I’ve been using for storage is those stackable crates, and cargo nets ... crates hold most everything , are movable for trim balance, and cleaning ,easy to load and unload, and you can even get different color ones for different gear , food, etc. Just trying to stay Practical and Thrifty ... It’s just a camper , not a $500K Motorcoach

[Wobbly Wheels]

Cabinetry is a great way to stiffen corners when space is at a premium.

Agreed though, sometimes simplicity itself can be eloquent: I was building a line of 43' sailboats when I first started boatbuilding. They had a keel stub that the external lead shoe was bolted to, so there was a foil-shaped 'well' under the floor in the main cabin. In most of them, we would put cleats along the sides so that you could rest milk crates on them. Milk crates are standardized worldwide, cheap, readily available, self draining and don't rot. You could pull them out easily to check the bilge and keel bolts...and it was a SIMPLE solution.

It's available in Canada, so I want to try gluing wood veneer (prob cherry) to styrofoam with the 3M 30NF contact cement that Steve and KC are using.
It will still give me the warmth of wood without the weight of a plywood or MDF(ugh!) cabinet carcass. It will be well sealed, so I'm not too worried about rot.

+1 on cargo nets - I'm putting in hardpoints to attach a couple of gear hammocks above the foot of the bed. In the boat I just finished, I added gear bags to some of the bulkheads. They're like those pocketed shoe holders that go on the back of a door, except that the pockets are various sizes. I've never heard anyone complain about having too much storage space in a boat: I'll be these little trailers are the same !

[TJinPgh]

I think the reason why cabinets tend to be an issue is that perhaps people tend to over-build them.

I have a 68 camper... built back during a time when they had a tendency to over-build everything, and even in that the cabinets are little more than luan stapled at the corners to strips of wood. They've held up just fine over the course of their 44 years.

You don't need 1/2" or heavier ply for cabinets. Luan will do just fine for the face. 1/4" at best for the base if it's a wall cabinet.

If it stretches from one side to the other, you only need a face and a bottom for a wall cabinet. The ceiling and walls of the camper will provide the rest.

Galley cabinets are a bit different because you may have to have a back on them as well. Still, you don't need heavy ply for that.

[eaglesdare]

this weekend the "he who must obey" is taking the a/c's out of the car, and the heaters are going in. i have 2 back to back weekends of camping coming up. end of sep and first weekend of oct. then at least one more about 2 weeks later in oct. not sure about november, but we may be doing a weekend then also. total for this year should be 7 or 8 (depending on novembers schedule) trips. last year i think it was 8?

working on my floor getting it waterproofed. hopefully, the floor will go down this weekend also. this is for the foamie II. can't wait for the floor to go on, so i can start rebuilding the actual shell. i have decided to do the build "on" frame, instead of off. i am going to work the sides, then work the inside, then put the roof on. now if the cooler temps will stay and the rain will go, i should have some good weekends coming up (or maybe not with the camping coming up).

well that's all i got for now.

[GPW]

That’s a Lot !!!

[Ned B]

taking the AC out? huh?

[Wolffarmer]

taking the AC out? huh?

And putting the heaters in?

Been many decades since a car was built without a heater

[eaglesdare]

ok, i had to go back and read what i wrote. those are camping a/c and heaters! not the one installed in my car. i have 2 window a/c units in my car, which i do not think i will be needing anymore this season. but the heaters must now be put in to take along for camping. you guys are silly.

[Wolffarmer]

WE just thought you had been inhaling to much foamie fumes

Randy

[TJinPgh]

7 or 8 camping trips is great.

I managed 4 this year. Was hoping for more but I also ended up traveling to both Florida and New York for weddings so vacation time was more scarce than I would have liked.

Might end up grabbing a cabin at the state park some time either this fall or in the winter. Not sure that qualifies as camping, though.

[eaglesdare]

4 is better than 0.
hubby and i were just saying we did not go anywhere this year. i said, well i've gone camping 4 times so far. he said that does not count. so i am really going to start planning for next year another florida trip. of course disney will be included but would love to try for at least 2 days at universal. then he can't complain we did not go anywhere. but i am still going to tell him i am going west. maybe if i say it enough it will happen.


now....where is the foamie airstream thread? i want to check it out again. does it have its own thread, or is it mixed in with another thread?

[wagondude]

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=45027

Only about 3 pages in.

[eaglesdare]

thanks wagon dude!