Lightweight Camper made in Quebec

[bjorn2bwild]

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]

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.

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]

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]

.......... 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/featured/sylvansport-go-adventure-package.html

 

[youbet]

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]

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]

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.

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.

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.

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]

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]

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.

 

[youbet]

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.

Years ago, I would have poo-poo'd your concerns. But lately, due mainly to the high usage bear populated area campgrounds, such as Smoky Mountain Nat Park, receive, I've gotten a bit nervous myself. When campsites in bear areas receive heavy use, there are bound to be some campers who aren't tidy with food and garbage and have other bad bear-attracting behaviors. And the bears become habituated to having people around and become bold. It's a bad combination.

I actually feel safer (in terms of bears anyway) tent camping in a very remote area such as Quetico or Caribou Provincial Park than in a heavily used area such as Smoky Mountain Nat Park or even Yellowstone.

Then, of course, you have to factor in whether you'd rather deal with black bears or grizzlies.

Now in our late 60's, we threw in the towel and bought a hard sided pop-up and tossed the well worn tent.

 

[NW-Bound]

... you have to factor in whether you'd rather deal with black bears or grizzlies...

There's a big difference between black bears and grizzlies. Search for "grizzly attack" on the Web and see for yourself.

Here's a story of a couple who hiked in Yellowstone, and survived an attack because they carried bear sprays.

It was approaching noon, so the two stopped to eat lunch. They went near an island of trees that offered shade, and Kevin bent to duck beneath a tree branch.
That’s when they heard the distinct crack of timber.
Kevin stood up in time to turn and see a sow grizzly bear coming for him at full speed.
“It was crazy how fast she was running,” Kevin remembered later. “She came over those logs like they weren’t even there.”
He also remembered the look on the bear’s face, one of “just pure bad intentions,” he said. “She meant business.”
​

Many people who survived grizzly attack described how they were stunned at the speed these bears moved. These hikers were saved because they stayed alert, and had the bear spray with them.

He was in the park to go fishing a few days before the hike when the grizzly charged him, and he realized he’d forgotten to bring the cans of bear spray he keeps at home. So, he paid $54 for another can.

Two days later, it saved his life.​

Read more at: In wake of fatal Yellowstone grizzly attacks, Bozeman couple shares survival story | News | bozemandailychronicle.com.

 

[rodi]

Amusing bear story. My brother, after getting his undergrad, decided to ignore the conventional wisdom of getting a job, and instead loaded up his 72 Ford Pinto with all of his camping and rock climbing gear. He spent the summer (illegally) camping at an unmarked campsight in Tuolome Meadows (it was some dead space between to sites.) I say illegally because there is a 2 week limit and he was there the full season. He was tent camping and had his own "bear box" which he suspended from a two trees every night for safe measure. But there must have been food smell in his car. This car was modified to protect his climbing gear - the back seat had been removed and replaced with a plywood locking box for climbing gear. A bear and her cub broke the windows on the Pinto and tore up his seats looking for food. The next night they were back - and climbed in his car again. He started sleeping with a pot and ladle and banged on it to chase the bear away, every night, for the rest of the summer. He was too broke to fix the window and the seats were fixed with duct tape.

I visited him in his campsite home that summer - and witnessed the nightly bear parade. Fortunately, they weren't aggressive. FWIW - my brother was very careful with using the metal box as a bear box, suspended from the trees.

 

[Walt34]

Okay, a little bit more thread drift - this is a story out of Alaska. A guy hires a light airplane to fly him to a remote area for fishing. He unwisely leaves bait in the airplane and a bear rips the fabric off the fuselage. Are they going to have to abandon it?

No way. He calls in another pilot who brings with him a few cases of duct tape and they wrap up the airplane and fly it back for proper repair.

I believe the story. I learned to fly in a Piper J-3 Cub and they are of similar construction and don't fly very fast but they'll land in a very short space.

Bear Attacks Plane, Pilot Fixes Plane With Duct Tape, Pilot Flies Duct-Taped Plane Home

 

[NW-Bound]

I found an article describing the night bear attack at Soda Butte, Yellowstone, in 2010, that I talked about earlier. My memory was wrong about the woman being dragged off her tent being killed. She was not, but another male victim in the same campground was.

A sow bear attacked three different tents in one night, with the victim in the last tent killed and partially consumed by the bear and its cubs. This predatory grizzly was unusually scrawny for its age at 220 lbs. Rangers said all tent campers were doing the right thing with food keeping. The woman victim did not even cook food over the firepit, nor wore lotions. The victim of the fatal attack also did everything right.

This detailed report describes how the surviving female victim had a can of bear spray by her side, but could not reach it (hard to do while you are getting chomped on). Her husband in a nearby tent slept through the attack. In fact, many in the whole campground slept through the bear rampage until the rangers arrived to wake everyone up and asked them to leave. That was when the rangers found the remains of the last victim.

See: Terror at Soda Butte

 

[Bamaman]

I thought we were talking about an oversized teardrop camper from Quebec.

They're very nice units, and would be great to do long distance traveling in--i.e. Alaska via the Yukon and NW Territory.

Our camping is limited to the East Tennessee and North Georgia Mountains, as we don't travel all over. We're in a fifth wheel trailer for just a little more money--with 3 big screen televisions, a 12' leather sofa and a bunkhouse with a second leather sofa and 3 beds.

And we're close enough to nature to have 2 black bear families come through our campground nightly. They got into my electric cooler last year.

 

[yakers]

Not made in Quebec but a small, home made trailer that is listed as functional:

Full-size, functional caravan made of LEGOs sets Guinness record | Fox News

 

[homestead]

Okay, a little bit more thread drift - this is a story out of Alaska. A guy hires a light airplane to fly him to a remote area for fishing. He unwisely leaves bait in the airplane and a bear rips the fabric off the fuselage. Are they going to have to abandon it?

No way. He calls in another pilot who brings with him a few cases of duct tape and they wrap up the airplane and fly it back for proper repair.

I believe the story. I learned to fly in a Piper J-3 Cub and they are of similar construction and don't fly very fast but they'll land in a very short space.

Bear Attacks Plane, Pilot Fixes Plane With Duct Tape, Pilot Flies Duct-Taped Plane Home

Why did the fuselage need to be repaired for the plane to fly?

 

[samclem]

Why did the fuselage need to be repaired for the plane to fly?

With the hole, it might have been too draggy to fly. Removing all the covering on the rear fuselage might have reduced drag some, but maybe not. Plus, all that rear fuselage covering contributes to the "tail volume", reducing it moves the center of pressure forward, possibly making the plane unstable, even unflyable. Also, highly turbulent air burbling over the tail surfaces could cause mischief. If things can be kept within CG limits, it is probably safest to use the tape to make the aerodynamics match what has been flown before rather than to be a test pilot.

 

[CherylGrrl]

My husband and I have two hard-sided popup trailers, a Chalet and a Trailmanor. We traveled around the Canadian Rockies in the Chalet this past summer and found several campgrounds that were segregated into RV only. In Jasper, a truck with camper parked next to us in the RV section. It had a roof that could be raised about one foot , resulting in a section of canvas-like material between the metal sections. They were immediately ejected from the campground once they raised the roof because they were supposed to be in the Tent campground, which was surrounded by an electric fence to keep the Grizzlies out at night. Since this was in July, not sure if they were able to get a last minute space due to the popularity of the area. They might have had to move on. Just one reason we went for the hard-sided option.


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