My first teardrop - the Kampster, Final Posting

[2bits]

AAAURRRGGGHHHH! My schedule just got changed and now I have EVEN LESS time to work on a door. I'm beginning to doubt...

Brad

Nah nah nah... I am not even going to be there and I want you to go! They used to call me 2am Thomas. (or maybe that was just me) but you can persevere! Prioritize every little detail to what it needs to be campable, push for that, and if you don't make it, then you have still succeeded by trying AND you got alot of stuff done anyway in the meantime! That's the way I look at it, it is a goal and if I can't make it well all that stuff needed to be done anyway and it helped you get closer to your REAL goal which ultimately has no timeline.

[bbarry]

Hurray...made it to ITG3 and even met some of you there! We had a great time and the little trailer pulled great for 600+ miles.

Becky wants to go to Table Rock Lake in July for our anniversary and gave me a laundry list of things to have done by then:

Second door - it seems she doesn't like crawling all over each other
Interior cabinets roughed in - a spot to put clothes
Electrical and battery - she wants lights and a fan? This is camping!
A countertop in the trunk...err, galley

Back to the saltmines...

Brad

[teardrop_focus]

bbarry

Hurray...made it to ITG3 and even met some of you there! We had a great time and the little trailer pulled great for 600+ miles.

Very glad to hear you made it! Congratz!


If I may... I'd like to comment on your new laundry list of things to do to your tear before the next trip because these are things that I consider to be "must haves" and I am somewhat designing my teardrop around these very features. I hope I don't come off like an arse for illustrating the benefits of these features... but these elements are foremost in my mind at all times. I need help...



Second door - it seems she doesn't like crawling all over each other

- Not to mention the awesome ventilation (fan or no fan) that two open doors provides! Then there's also the provision for relaxing and enjoying the view in either direction. Indeed, two doors is a "must have"!


Interior cabinets roughed in - a spot to put clothes

- Even two horizontal shelves (divided vertically... or not), will be a huge convenience. Since my tear's build is planned to be as lightweight as possible (considering the materials I'd like to use), I was thinking of along the lines of something from the sleeping quarters of a racing sailboat: Simply a shelf and netting... or just netting made of shock cord... and perhaps one small interior cabinet door for toiletries, personal items and first aid if these things aren't stored somewhere in the galley or tow vehicle.


Electrical and battery - she wants lights and a fan? This is camping!

- Without a doubt, a 12V system is a must for my teardrop camping "off the grid". At the very least I'd be constantly using a pair of lower-wattage galley lights and a pair of reading lights in the sleeping cabin that can greatly save on the consumption of my lantern's liquid fuel.

If fact, I'm designing my tear around the placement of the 100 Ah AGM deep cycle battery I've my eye on. The battery is 65 lbs. and there'll be some add'l electrical equipment (inverter, converter and charger) and I want it all as close to and behind the trailer axle as possible, securely mounted and vented with computer fans within it's own enclosure.


A countertop in the trunk...err, galley

- Yes! and although not all tears may need fresh and greywater tanks and a sink, we do need a place to make coffee and sammiches when safely stopped along the road! Another "must have"!


Again, Brad, thanks for indulging me (as if you had a choice, lol)... for letting me download in your thread with a few afterthoughts for you. Forgive me if I come off as a wannabe "know-it-all", but, it's just that since I've been unable to officially begin my teardrop build, these things are leaking out of my head! I am unable to control myself!

[Miriam C.]

Glad you made it to ITG3. What a place huh! Now don't forget to come to Crawford lake (Kansas) in September and enjoy both doors.......

[2bits]

I am glad you pushed through and made it! Feels good eh! Nothing like a mostly done teardrop to motivate the little lady to ENCOURAGE you to work on it!

I was thinking... you might save the electrical for last, since for the short term you can use battery powered lights and fans. There's no substitute for the woodworking stuff! I'd say door first, then whatever next, and electrical last, but hey my name's 2bits right!

[05liberty]

Hey ! bbarry the second door is a must I put one in this spring and we went camping for the first time this past weekend ... WHAT A DIFFERENCE ... Jac didnt have to climb over me in the middle of the night!! Im positive that Becky will be as happy as Jac to have her own door ...

[2bits]

hmm I am just wundrin why the little ladies don't sleep on the door side? No climbing over needed then! I guess because it is just as uncomfortable with the man climbing over them? I just never hear that, it's always the women crawling over the men (don't we wish right! HAHA)

[05liberty]

Well Thomas, In my case, I always sleep on the left side of the bed which puts me on the curb side of the tear when Im laying down and most tears with one door the door is on the curb side thus Jac had to climb over me. Also its easer to make the bedwith 2 doors

[bbarry]

The second door is cut out and ready to go...just wasn't gonna get done in time for ITG3 so I left the aluminum skin intact over the door hole in the side. We definitely both need a door!

As to Crawford Lake in September, I don't know if we'll make it to that. I'm planning a backpacking trip to Rocky Mountain National Park with my brother early in September.

[CJflyer]

Hello Brad, I just read through your build thread. Excellent job! Congrats on the progress. I am up in McPherson, about an hour drive North of Wichita. I am on furlough for a couple more weeks so I plan to get as much done on my camper as I can. Maybe we will cross camping paths sometime.

[bbarry]

Hello Brad, I just read through your build thread. Excellent job! Congrats on the progress. I am up in McPherson, about an hour drive North of Wichita. I am on furlough for a couple more weeks so I plan to get as much done on my camper as I can. Maybe we will cross camping paths sometime.

CJflyer - do you work at Cessna and commute all that way? I know they're on furlough right now...

I forgot to post a couple of pics from ITG3, so here they are. Getting ready to start out:



Lunch!


The batteries in the camera died before I got more pictures of our progress today. We have the air conditioner in, the countertop measured and cut, and some of the interior cabinentry roughed in. Also, we got a lot of the electrical done today. It was exciting to plug in and see the 12v power supply turn on and all the 12v items working! This is the only pic I got. As you can see, 110v comes in the load center on the left, through a circuit breaker and out to a junction box where it splits. One set goes to the 12v power supply which can convert up to 10amps of good clean 12v for the lights and vent fan. The other set goes to power 110v outlets including the a/c.


The other door is complete and ready to be installed as well, so we're making progress and should be ready for our trip to Table Rock in a few weeks.

Brad

[CJflyer]

Yep, I've been a demo pilot for them for about 3 years and hopefully beyond. I don't drive it everyday so the commute is not so bad. I go back to flying around the 20th. Is your 12v power supply the type I see on Ebay from China? I am curious what you think about it and where you got it. Nice pics and I hope to at least get mine enclosed before the season is over.

[bbarry]

Is your 12v power supply the type I see on Ebay from China? I am curious what you think about it and where you got it.

I did get it off eBay, but I got it used from an individual for about $15 if I remember correctly. It came with zero instructions (not too difficult to figure out), but I'm sure it's from China. Friday was the first time I fired it up and it seemed to work fine...so far, so good. If you get one like this, the only caution I'll give you is to make certain your input voltage is set correctly before plugging it in. It can accomodate 110/220v and there is a small switch inside the unit under the cover (not accessible from outside) to switch back and forth between the two. Supposedly, damage can occur if it's set incorrectly.

Brad

[bbarry]

Finished up most of the rest of the electrical, except for one 110v outlet left to do. I did something a little unique with my shore power cable. Since the RV load center I got from Doug Stukey had a good cable on it, I decided to use it rather than cut a hole in the side of the trailer for a $50 RV plug. Instead, I just ran the cable out the bottom of the floor. That's the black cable (and ground) running out of the bottom of the load box.



From there, it travels over to the side of the trailer and through a grommet into a .50 caliber ammunition box. I chose this because it seals up tight and latches closed well. The rest of the 20+ feet of cable coils nicely inside the box. When we get to the campground, I just have to open the box and pull out the cable.





I painted it black to match the frame and (eventual) fenders. It's visible for sure, but doesn't detract from the overall appearance of the trailer.



I also got one side of the cabinet frame in for the inside and wired the 110v for the a/c. The box in the upper right of the cabinet is the 12v junction box. The wires in the upper left will supply the 110v outlet for the galley, which is not in yet.



I'm still pluggin' away. I hope to have the gas springs installed and other inside cabinet frame in by the time we leave for the Show Me State.

Brad

[aggie79]

Nice progress Brad! Keep things moving forward!

I lost momentum just before the heat it, and I've had a hard time starting back up. LCG IV in October is looming, so I've kicked it back in gear (despite the heat.)

Tom