Good news from Southern CA. I just learned Barber RV in Ventura is now carrying Adventurer Campers. I have always like them so. I looked at their inventory and noticed they had 3, one was the 910FBS, which is the long-bed version of the one has had my eye for a while, the 86SBS.
Naturally I had to drag my wife down to look at them, knowing they are not in my future as I am concerned about the weight (another thread for another time). When I arrive what do I discover, you guessed it, they had just gotten the 86SBS, but had not put it online yet. Needless to say I was impressed with the camper, but the wife was not. Her main concern is the loss of the cabinets over the dinette and the loss of the pantry. We currently have both in our Lance 820. I have to agree with her, but I think the added floor space makes up for it, it still raises a question:
What do you guys with short-bed slide-out campers do with your storage of items like food and other essentials?
Camper: 03 Lance 820
Truck: 08 Dodge 2500 quad cab 4x4 diesel
-Airbags, supersprings, hellwig sway bar, rancho 9000xl, toyo open country tires, torklift Superhitch and torklift tie downs
The 86SBS was our second choice behind the Arctic Fox 811S we chose. Both seemed to have enough room for everything in the kitchen, but ours was ordered with a convection/microwave to give us another storage cabinet and we have a full wardrobe on one side of our bed. These short bed TC's with slides are heavy once you option them with AC and genset - Expect 3500 lbs dry or more...
We downsized from a toy hauler so have had pair down from what we used to carry. Going to a SB slide gives us enough room and storage to make the transition even if I cannot haul 150 gallons of fresh water and run 50A service.
A taller bath and larger capacity tanks swayed us to the AF over the Adventurer.
We have an 810WS (which has been great) I have been thinking it would be nice to move up to a slide for some added space as our Son is not getting any smaller!
I really liked the 86SBS and a local dealer has had one on his lot for a while (2010) so we stopped in one day...the Wife was less than impressed and pointed out how our 810WS has much more storage. After thinking it over for a bit I see She is right.You gained some floor space but the trade-off for us was not worth it.
One big problem was the length of the dinnette bed...it is smaller than our 810WS. I did more research on other SB slides and found this was typical. No way woulkd this work for our Son.
Well...here come the Lance 855S with a longer dinnette bed, dual sink (for 2013) which I really like, bigger bath than our 810WS, and (for 2013) they have put the wardrobe cabinets back up top. I have yet to see one in person but it LOOKS like this is a SB slide that may have everything we need. I hope to see one this Fall or perhaps at the shows this winter...but this one is definitley in my sights.
Good luck,
Bill
2006 Chevy D/A CC
Adventurer 810WS
25'Airstream Excella
"Good People Drink Good Beer"-Hunter S Thompson
Some 8.5' models may have an extra cabinet here or there from another but you can only fir so much into essentially the smallest unit on the market. On a trip any longer than a couple days I usually bring a small, easiy to erect tent for stuff like ice chests and back stock items.
Truck: 2006 Dodge 3500 Dually
Camper: 2007 Eagle Cap 850
Boat: 2003 Jetcraft 2125 - Yamaha 150 HP & 8 HP Kicker
Here are a few of the problems I am still dealing with with my 2012 Adventurer 86 SBS.
My slide is also leaking heavily every time it rains. Others have Adventurers and love them, but I think they are a piece of junk and their warranty is worthless.
I wish I had gone with the equivalent in Arctic Fox. The weights are about the same.
We only take what we can store. It's kind of like Fergeson's Law. "What ever size glove box, trunk, briefcase, suitcase, truck camper you have, you will fill it up." This is very difficult to do if you are down sizing from a spacious 'other' rig.
The key is to be creative....and think like a backpacker. We keep cans and heavier goods down as low as possible. 4 or 5 gallons of fresh water for cooking is kept in jugs under and inside the rear door of the dinette. This works well for winter camping too when you only have the black tank in use (flushed with 100% RV antifreeze) Pots and pans store under the dinette on a 1/2" pad of foam insulation. Only lightweight things are stored up high; like clothes, jackets, and corn chips above the dinette.
Every trip is a little different. I'll use my aluminum rear rack (plugs into the hitch hole) if I need firewood, or my roll-up table, orange lift blocks, or extra diesel fuel but don't need the better departure angle needed for off-road. Note side chains with turnbuckles. I stole this idea from Rick 4X4X4.
The steps are bolted to the "V" rail so are always available.
It's simply a period of adjustment to make it all fit. I would make some 'dry-run' packing rehearsals to see what you really want to take and what you can leave at home.
We keep refining the packing and loading process and in the process take less 'stuff' along which is kind of 'freeing' anyway.
In October we will be taking the "Volcano" tour of the west coast, camping and walking the cones in the Ring of Fire (while we still can). It will be much cooler than Aug. and we'll be packing accordingly with my fire barrel/firewood and more layers of clothes (to pack)
One last thing is: pack the camper like it is a big suitcase and don't take any other bags or suitcases along. Being and old tent camper, I wanted to have duffel bags and stuff sacks for everything. Not needed. It took a while to expunge that concept.
regards, as always, jefe
* This post was
edited 08/21/12 11:29am by jefe 4x4 *
Basically it is move to a small motorhome or sell the truck, get a long bed (prolly DRW) and get a larger floor plan slide, then no issues. Maybe the Eagle Cap triple slide if only I could afford a Medium Duty pick-up!!!
I am on board with "mooring" we also have the lance 881 and the floor plan looks very similar...
The storage issue is all in what you make of it. we have added many storage features to our camper. A shelf here or a wall mounted box there.. We have 2 small kids 9 and 3 and we just spent 11 days traveling in it with no issues. That was alot of clothes and food.
2004 F350 V-10 GAS CREW CAB SHORT BED BLACK THE LANCE MAX 881 TORK-LIFT FAST GUNS AND SUPER HITCH
COOLER RACK OFF THE FRONT ALWAYS FULL OF BEER A.M.S.A. MEMBERS HIM 1025/HER 1026/JUNIOR 93
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if only I could afford a Medium Duty pick-up!!!
