Host Campers: Truck Campers A'la Carte

There's a little truck camper firm out of Bend, Oregon that has an interesting approach to truck campers: Instead of offering customers a few minor choices ("What's your color trim package? Would you like to upgrade to a generator?") the Host line includes some major thinking: Will that be a single, double, or triple slide?

Triple slide? We recall the "old days" where a few truck campers had a "pop out" section at the rear, somewhat lined out like a fold down bed in a "pop up camper." Once we even drove two and half hours to contemplate buying one--only to find that the pop out had leaked so bad the poor rig was ready for the bone yard.

Later we ran into a "wow!" concept: A truck camper with a slide-out dinette--manufactured by a Canadian firm. We wondered how long it would take American manufacturers to follow suit--and of course, they eventually did. So when we found the Host line, it was a revelation. Available slides on both curb and street side, and a "for real" slide out on the rear. Choose your base model, add on slides and other options--and even better: Host doesn't just tell you how many more dollars you'll add-on, but how many pounds you'll add on.

I could go on and gum about this for several more graphs, but I'll let you off the hook. Go visit the Host Camper website and check out what they have to offer. You'll even find links to reviews under their "press/editorial" section, including interesting observations by a "real" RVer who doesn't hide the "pimples and warts," of his own experience.

Photos: HostCamper.com

Weighing In--Is That Camper the Right Fit for Your Truck?

It's an area that truck camper newbies sometimes get caught up in: Not every camper is a suitable fit for your truck. Every truck has a weight capacity that it's "happy" to carry--go over that capacity and things can get ugly.

How do you properly marry your truck to a camper? First, you need to know how much weight your truck can handle. The figures are fairly straight forward. On the inside driver side doorpost you'll find a sticker showing the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) for your truck. This figure is the total amount your truck can weigh, including fuel, passengers, and "cargo" which a truck camper becomes. In the photo, the GVWR of this venerable Ford is 8,800 pounds.

It's easy enough to subtract the "curb weight" of the truck from that figure--if you have access to it. The curb weight may show up on your title or registration. It's better to take your truck down to a commercial scale and weigh it in, preferably with a full fuel tank. After all, equipment added on after manufacture will add on real weight. Now, add in estimated weights for passengers (Careful fellas! Hide the scratch paper from your better-half!). Now subtract that actual weight for the truck from the GVWR figure for your truck, and you know how much truck camper you can carry. Or do you?

The weight of your camper is stamped on an ID tag, usually found somewhere on the back of the camper. This weight, however, lists the camper with "standard" options. If the camper manufacturer considers a refrigerator, or stove, or furnace an "option" then you've got to guestimate these items in, and add them on. Jacks might be considered an option, as would be an air conditioning unit. How do you figure out whether these are standards or options? Ask the manufacturer.

The "certified" camper weight from the tag should include full water and propane tanks. But you'll be adding your own "stuff" to this weight. Food, clothing, books, gear, dog, the list goes on. Add 'em all up and tack them on to the camper weight. Now, are you "in the ballpark" for your truck's load capacity? Overloading your truck can lead to trouble, so it's best to keep it in the rating area.

Bigfoot Campers Go Xtreme

This July, Bigfoot Industries, a Canadian RV manufacturer, says it's truck camper line will go Xtreme. Some might think with a Sasquatch for a logo, you couldn't go much more extreme, but company sales folks tell us there's more than that. In the words of company sales manager, Wolf Ernst, "The Xtreme Trailer is designed to appeal to the adventurous customer whose lifestyle includes outdoor extreme activities such as ATVing, motocross, mountain biking or 4 x 4ing." If it's outdoors extremes, you gotta take it from the Wolf.


Externally speaking, diamond plate metal will trim out the bumper, and LED tail lights ensure those behind your in the nighttime wilderness will find you hard to miss. The company is including a solar panel to the package--a nice touch for boondockers. If Xtreme indicates contemporary music sources, then users will find the I-pod to stereo connection helpful, as well as powered subwoofers. We may have pity for the guy down the creek, should they like to fish in silence.
Sad to say, the company is short on photographs of this new rig; the first Xtreme is set to roll off the production line in July, and there aren't any available mock ups of the new rig. However, they were kind enough to send us floor plans; we're including one with the full wall slide out. Check out more on Bigfoot on the company website.

Truck Camper Full Circle

We got into the "RV World" almost accidentally. Decades ago when we were younger (?) and had a place in the country, we needed a truck to lug goat food and firewood. Responding to a classified ad for an ancient Datsun pickup, I, the male side of the family, drove out to the seller's place. Alas, a little brown pickup was just pulling out of the yard. "He's just test driving it," said the owner. "Why don't you look at the camper that goes with it?" she offered. Camper? Nothing in the advertisement about a camper, but after five minutes of looking, I was hooked--but certain that "test drive" would turn into a sale. As it turned out, the six-foot-three-inches of test driver couldn't comfortably fit in the Datsun, and soon we were the ecstatic owners of a truck and Western Wilderness camper.

The old Wilderness wasn't long on features: Ice box, port-a-pot, and no "house battery." We soon learned you didn't run the furnace overnight if you wanted to start the truck next morning. But we went places hither and yon that we never would've dared in a tent. And when we sold the old Wilderness to "upgrade" there wasn't a dry eye between us. We "moved up" to an 11 1/2 footer, an orphan Conestoga full of fun, and hidden dry rot. We learned more about RV repair on that Conestoga but logged a lot of miles, writing for the RV industry and getting acquainted with places we surely put on our "go back to list."

The Conestoga took us to Quartzsite--again and again. But after a slow recovery from pneumonia, the wife said, "Please, I need something bigger." You can't get much bigger in a camper than those nearly 12 feet, so we bought a 28' fifth wheel and settled down to living in a larger space that needed much larger spaces to go.

Years passed. We now fulltime in that fifth wheel. We still write for the industry. And we miss going places we "usedta coulda" get into with a truck camper but the fiver prevents it. And then, a few months ago we found another camper. Our new "project piece" is another 11 footer, an Elkhorn by Fleetwood. Like that old Conestoga the Elkhorn has gotta a few tricks up its sleeves as we learned in our initial shakedown cruise. But maybe we can work them out--and even if we can't, we're sure will have a camper in our RV fleet no matter. There's just nothing like having your home on your back.