A Happier Camper

We should just get this out of the way; a pop-up truck camper is not for everyone. It is still a free country and people choose their own, personal camping style. Fortunately, from two person tents to “condos” on four wheels, there is something for everyone. Unfortunately, figuring out what makes sense could take years off your camping life. 

This is where we want to help. As part of a happier camper community, we feel it is our civic duty to assist with your search for camping perfection. And, reducing your research time to an ultra short read is in keeping with our “keep it simple” motto. Less time and stress sorting all of this out means you have more time for camping.  So, ignoring the risk of us appearing unabashedly biased, we present to you, one take on camping. 

The Tent 

For some, whether on the frozen tundra or rocky terrain, tent camping is the way to do it. The art of finding the golden spot and pitching a tent at 10:00PM is appealing. Somewhere, out there, one can discover good ground for lying, delivering that good old nature in the bones feeling. Rainstorms just roll off tents, and backs. Warmth comes from a great sleeping bag. Light from a headlamp.  Insects and animals…no problem.  Weather or not…meals are more fun outside.  We get it. We’ve been there. Heck, a time and place for everything.  

The Trailer 

Ah, the allure of a trailer. Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, you can’t beat the size of a trailer. 

It is easily understandable why a zillion trailers are sold (and resold, and resold) annually. However, as they say, “nothing is perfect.” These trailer vignettes (very true, very short stories) put an exclamation point on this notion.   

Petaluma, CA: On the first day pulling their first trailer on a camping trip, a family undauntedly pulled through a Jack-In-The-Box. Well, the family caravan promptly “removed” Jack from his traditional spot, prompting the entire family to hunker down in the truck, becoming invisible. Luckily, the distraught dining establishment manager took pity, and told the family to immediately remove themselves from Jack’s place and head on down the highway. This incident, and other driving and parking “inconveniences”, resulted in the trailer being exorcized from the family after that summer.  

Los Angeles, CA: Someone receives a Christmas day text that resembles an SOS. The texter and her husband are pulling a trailer on I5 through LA (you probably already know how this is going to turn out). She proceeds to send multiple video clips of the couple desperately, and unsuccessfully, trying to navigate lanes and keep to their intended course. The three hour struggle kinda detoured a happy holiday. Maybe it was their 48’ total length? Maybe it was a case of wrong place – wrong time? Either way, doubtful even Rudolph could have saved them. Anyway, they had an epic meltdown and swore @#$% to reevaluate that type of mobile living.  

Sonoma, CA:  A lady sitting outside a café saw a car pulling a trailer cruise by, dog hanging out of the window. Give or take, about 30 minutes later the dog trots up to the lady. The lady mentions (to the owners, not the dog) that she had noticed them drive by earlier.  Exasperated, they blurted about it taking them fifteen minutes to find a parking spot a half-mile away. They hoped parking in a random neighborhood would be OK.  The happy ending is the dog got a lot of walking that day.  

The people in the above situations notwithstanding, it is understandable, why many are hooked, and latch on to the trailer as the ideal way to go. One option catching on is a Truck + Four Wheel Camper pulling a trailer.  The trailer is used as a home base for longer stays and for the folks in the party preferring not to travel as far or as adventurously. The truck camper is for the explorers to go on shorter trips, back roads, and in search of remote streams.  

Bottom line, trailers offer big interior space, in which to hole up in beautiful or foul weather.  

RV Class A, B, C 

Figure we might as well lump them all together…remember we like to keep it simple.  In short order we found they have endless niches, spaces, and value propositions. So much so that we ran out of emotional fuel doing the research.  Yep, we became bored wading through it all and went camping instead. Our sincere apologies, but this leaves you on your own for a more in depth analysis…or any analysis. But, before you spend too much of your own time, answer this, will any of them plop nicely onto your truck?  

The “Hard-Sided” Camper 

Hard-sided campers are closer to our “neck of the woods”. Once again, keeping it simple, we offer you the below two sentence, 20-second comparison of hard-sided truck campers and Four Wheel Campers.   

1) Hard-sided truck campers are bigger, more automated (what could go wrong?), and typically wood framed    (think moisture, joints, and staples), and heavier (think gas mileage and truck strain).   

2) Four Wheel Campers are typically smaller, less automated, welded aluminum framed, and lighter.  

Got another minute or two?  We encourage you to learn more about what makes us different… 

• The Four Wheel Camper community is made of wonderful people and Kumbaya moments 
• The custom fit to your truck looks great and enhances your driving experience 
• Lower weight reduces the impact on fuel consumption, driver, and truck 
• Lower profile (lower while driving) improves the impact on fuel consumption, driver, and truck 
• Lower profile enables you to easily navigate grocery store parking lots and the Grand Tetons 

• Lower profile keeps your neighbors from talking about the “item” in the driveway 
• Lower profile, lighter weight, and aluminum frame design deliver durability in severe off-road conditions 
• Simple, manual, pop-up system raises the roof in about two minutes 
• Once the roof is raised, there is surprising roominess, with minimum 6’ 4” ceiling  
• The roof, sides, cabinetry, and flooring typically require zero servicing for decades 

• Off-roading is more likely to knock out your teeth than compromise the aluminum frame 
• Finally, fast-forwarding a few years down the line, you might be interested in a new Four Wheel Campers model.  When the time comes you will find the retained value to be very, very high. We like to think of this as the time you share your love of outdoors adventure with someone else!  

So, while camping, Four Wheel Pop-Up Campers provide a cozy shelter from the cold and rain and a comfy night’s sleep.  

About sums it up.  

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