Lightweight Camper made in Quebec

[NW-Bound]

Pop up campers are not allowed at some National Park campgrounds.

Reason: grizzlies.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkser ..........My close second was a casita 17' which is a good fiberglass Trailer on its own right, but due to its front bath location, is heavier on your Tow Vehicle's hitch & that makes the need for a larger SUV with a 5000 lb Towing Capacity, decreasing the mileage & hence a few more dollars at the gas pump for its regular daily, non towing duties. ....

Lots of people use a weight distributing hitch with the Casita 17, as it is tongue heavy but below 3500# total loaded.

[rodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Pop up campers are not allowed at some National Park campgrounds. Reason: grizzlies.

Interesting. They allow tent camping, but not pop up campers? Or is it that pop up campers must go in the camper/trailer campgrounds, vs tents go in the tent campgrounds that have bear boxes for the food.

DH was just in Yosemite (home to lots of bears) and saw a lot of pop up campers... came home talking about buying a used one.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Pop up campers are not allowed at some National Park campgrounds. Reason: grizzlies.

It takes a grizzly 0.5 seconds to go through a pop up camper wall, 1.0 seconds to go though a conventional camper wall, window or door.

So I guess they are twice as safe.

[samclem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodi DH was just in Yosemite (home to lots of bears) and saw a lot of pop up campers... came home talking about buying a used one.

He should go back to Yosemite, find a pop up that he likes, write down the tag info. Then wait until dark and shake the thing like mad and make his best bear noises. Smear some "bear slobber" on it, overturn everything outside. I'm guessing he could call the owner in a week and get a pretty good price.

[bjorn2bwild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover It takes a grizzly 0.5 seconds to go through a pop up camper wall, 1.0 seconds to go though a conventional camper wall, window or door. So I guess they are twice as safe.

Variety is the spice of life, that is why we have hard and soft tacos.

[CRLLS]

I was in Yellowstone last June and some sites, where the bears were active (I guess?), prohibited soft sided campers. Even in the RV areas. We were in a slide out unit so it was not an issue for us.

[rodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem He should go back to Yosemite, find a pop up that he likes, write down the tag info. Then wait until dark and shake the thing like mad and make his best bear noises. Smear some "bear slobber" on it, overturn everything outside. I'm guessing he could call the owner in a week and get a pretty good price.

Good plan! LOL

[pb4uski]

That made me remember an experience with DW (then DGF) in Yosemite in 1980. We were camping in a pup tent but had taken precautions as instructed to make sure all food was put away.

I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a big shadow against the side of the tent. At first I thought it might be a bear but then I realized that it was just the front of our car that was parked between the tent and a far away security light. I woke up DGF, pointed to the shadow and announced in a whispered voice that there was a bear outside the tent. She was scared and I finally had to explain to her that it was only the car. She smacked me and my penance was having to get up and walk her to and from the bathroom.

[Tandemlovers]

Friends of ours bought a unique pop-up camper. the Sylvan Sport Go. I had never seen one like it before. It will haul stuff on top, inside as well as be a lightweight camper. You can even remove the tent module and use it as a utility trailer.

[URL="http://www.sylvansport.com/go/photo-gallery/"]Photos | the GO camping travel trailer | Mobile | SylvanSport#

What a unique camper, and very versatile! If we were younger and not so in need of some comfort for our old bones, we would definitely consider it. Very reasonable price, too.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski She smacked me and my penance was having to get up and walk her to and from the bathroom.

Serves ya right!

But it's still funny.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tandemlovers .......... Very reasonable price, too.

I didn't see a price listed.

[Tandemlovers]

If I recall correctly, the price was around 9k for the basic model without options.
I found it on a page that listed how to order one.

[Tandemlovers]

Sorry, here's the price list for one of their campers, the basic trailer models cost ~3k:

http://store.sylvansport.com/feature...e-package.html

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Pop up campers are not allowed at some National Park campgrounds. Reason: grizzlies.

Not quite correct. My pop up is welcome at all National Park Campgrounds, including Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone's hard-sided only campground. Been there, done that.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski That made me remember an experience with DW (then DGF) in Yosemite in 1980. We were camping in a pup tent but had taken precautions as instructed to make sure all food was put away. I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a big shadow against the side of the tent. At first I thought it might be a bear but then I realized that it was just the front of our car that was parked between the tent and a far away security light. I woke up DGF, pointed to the shadow and announced in a whispered voice that there was a bear outside the tent. She was scared and I finally had to explain to her that it was only the car. She smacked me and my penance was having to get up and walk her to and from the bathroom.

DW and I were canoe camping in the BWCAW and Quetico in the early 80's and actually did have an issue with a bear in camp. That was the last time I tent camped in bear country alone or with only one other person until 2006. At that time I went on a fly-in Quetico trip with a buddy (canoe strapped to the floats of a pontoon plane) and that time never saw a bear on the entire trip.......

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet Not quite correct. My pop up is welcome at all National Park Campgrounds, including Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone's hard-sided only campground. Been there, done that.

Instead of writing "popup", I should have said "canvas sided" trailers. I was responding to the post immediately above with a photo of a soft-sided trailer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRLLS I was in Yellowstone last June and some sites, where the bears were active (I guess?), prohibited soft sided campers. Even in the RV areas. We were in a slide out unit so it was not an issue for us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodi Interesting. They allow tent camping, but not pop up campers? Or is it that pop up campers must go in the camper/trailer campgrounds, vs tents go in the tent campgrounds that have bear boxes for the food. DH was just in Yosemite (home to lots of bears) and saw a lot of pop up campers... came home talking about buying a used one.

True. There are some campgrounds that allow only hard-sided motorhomes or trailers. And then, there are indeed campgrounds for tent campers.

But, but, but, about 3 or 4 years ago, there was a terrible story of a couple of tent campers being attacked. This woman was pulled from her tent by a mother grizzly in the middle of the night, and nearby campers heard her scream but in the dark nobody could (or dared?) do anything until the morning to go look for her remains. I remember reading that the rangers thought that the mother grizzly was teaching her cubs to hunt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover It takes a grizzly 0.5 seconds to go through a pop up camper wall, 1.0 seconds to go though a conventional camper wall, window or door. So I guess they are twice as safe.

Hey, that extra 1/2 second may give you enough time to wake up from a deep sleep after that long day of hiking, so that you have time to scream "HELP" on top of your lungs, or to get to your bear spray.

Particularly bad is when a bear pokes its nose under the tent sniffing around for your feet or legs, while you are dreaming of geysers and waterfalls.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tandemlovers We recently ordered a teardrop camper from this small company in Quebec: Alto Travel trailers by Safari Condo With options, our trailer will have a dry weight of 2000lbs, and can be pulled by many 6 cylinder cars and suv's. Due to demand, they are now taking orders for delivery into 2017 : / Are any of our Canadian readers familiar with this camper?

Their site says you can order this "Sold in USA directly from the factory"

Their site does not really explain or show the way this teardrop trailer opens up or retracts its roof. Otherwise seems interesting, but expensive?

[Tandemlovers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset Their site says you can order this "Sold in USA directly from the factory" Their site does not really explain or show the way this teardrop trailer opens up or retracts its roof. Otherwise seems interesting, but expensive?

Sunset, I ordered ours directly from the factory in Quebec by calling their sales rep, Denis. I had downloaded and copied a sheet of their options and spent about an hour going over them with him. He drew up a contract and emailed it to me with a delivery date in 2017. I understand that CanAm RV in London, Ontario is also a dealer for Alto.

There are several videos on YouTube demonstrating how the roof retracts. Type in Alto Safari Condo in the search engine. Some of the videos are in French. Their website states that the roof is retracted with electric linear actuators, a tube shaped motor. I'm sure someone on ER knows what an actuator is and how it operates : )

There is a large Facebook group of enthusiasts and owners, "Altoists," that was organized by an American owner of one. It is a closed group, but it is easy to join, and the moderator has done a good job of organizing info in their files section. Alto also sells a fixed roof camper model and converts MB Sprinter vans.

Ours with options came out to 45k CDN, so with the present exchange rate costs around 32k USD. I plan to watch the exchange rate over the coming year and try to take advantage of it when it fluctuates in our favor.

[zinger1457]

Stayed in a tent at one of Yellowstone's campgrounds years ago but never again. It's for your own good but you're constantly bombarded with warnings for bears everywhere you go, it was very difficult to feel comfortable or safe at night so got very little sleep.