Best Vehicle & Camper for photo field work?

[Jack Brady]

I'd like to hear what others have found to be the best solution to doing 3-6 week photography field trips in the USA.

Mission is to be able to camp as close to the topics of photo interest without having to back pack and deal with tents. At 59 year I'm no longer in the mood to sleep on the ground.

Pondering the logic of a SUV pulling a pop-top camper verse a VW Camper.
I've had two of the VW's in the past - enjoyed them but that in the late 70's and early 80s' - before the age of the SUV's and pop-top campers.

With the volitile cost of fuel, and I expect it only to get worse in the future, the MPG needs to be very reasonable. From what I've found, the 2001-2003 VW Eurovan Full Campers get a reported 18-21MPG on regular gas- anyone know if that's true?

Nissan Xterra, Toyota Highlander, etc. pulling a pop-top camper might work.

On the issue of campers, I want as light as possible but still giving decent protection from the elements. Thought the Aliner S-Type looked interesting at only 900 pounds. Suggestions are welcome.

Looking forward to learning what has worked well for others!

[Bill_1856]

"Best Western" is everywhere.

[darter]

The Honda Element gets good mileage and has seats that fold flat to make a bed. I noticed recently that Dodge is selling a european-style delivery commercial panel van (possibly a rebadged Mercedes truck) it looked like an excellent LF roaming car.

[Kuzano]

The Honda Element gets good mileage and has seats that fold flat to make a bed. I noticed recently that Dodge is selling a european-style delivery commercial panel van (possibly a rebadged Mercedes truck) it looked like an excellent LF roaming car.

There is a Mercedes deisel equipped van based on the Dodge (Sprinter??) These are the new tall vans you see being used by UPS and other commercial. They are also being outfitted as small RV's. I have a friend who is looking seriously after hearing some bad stories on the Eurovans, again ???. But, the base on just the SWB van is $30,000. The RV equipped are $50 to 80K.

[Jack Flesher]

I'm with Bill.. I've owned campers, pop-up trailers and large trailers. Bottom line is it costs nearly as much now to "camp" in a park with hook-ups as it does to stay in a Best Western. Add in the loss of gas mileage with any of your solutions over a mid-sized SUV and IMO you will be ahead of the game with the SUV and Best Western.

[George Stewart]

A used diesel pickup with an "Alaskan Camper," might be the ticket. the MPG should be over 20 with this setup, and the 4WD will get you places that a van won't.

[John Sarsgard]

A small, fuel efficient pickup with a shell over the back gives huge carrying capacity and better gas mileage than most SUVs.

[Harley Goldman]

Jack,

I have a Ford F-150 4x4 with a Northstar pop-up camper on the back. It is a camper, not a tent trailer. It has a full queen bed, refridgerator, two-burn stove, lights, dinette that converts to another bed, hot water heater, sink, 30 gal water tanks and heater. No bathroom, but it does have an outdoor shower. It is very comfortable.

The advantage of the camper over the trailer is that you always have everything with you when you leave an area. If you leave a trailer, you need to go back and get it if you find somewhere better. Also, the camper allows you to camp on a much smaller footprint and more stealthily if you are say camping at a trailhead or parking lot where there is officially no camping. Not that I would ever do anything like that.

The camper allows me to sleep where I want to shoot. Sometimes the nearest motel is an hour or two away from where I want to be. With the camper, I can shoot late light, have a nice meal, read in the evening, sleep in a comfortable bed and then roll out of bed at first light already there. The camper sets up in about 60 seconds (literally) and is warm and comfortable, so it beats the hell out of tent camping. Since I have gotten my camper, I have far more motivated to get out of town.

[Mark Fisher]

I use a pop up for family camping and I'd discourage you from going that direction. The advantages of a pop up are cost/sq ft and towing weight. We have a small one and originally towed it with a Honda Accord (not in the mountains!) and did not have much money to spend so it way good for our growing family. The disadvantage is that they take a fairly long time to set up and take down....especially in the rain. That is not too big a deal if you are staying a week at a location, but would get pretty old if you were moving every couple of days. They are also not incredibly durable. We have a Coleman/Fleetwood and they were the best built we could find at the time and it still is low-grade mobile home quality.
One other direction worth considering is a small fiberglass hard shell trailer. Scamper and Casita are the two I've seen. They are a bit heavier than a pop up, but you don't need to pop it up. For one or two people, it looks like a good alternative.
One thing other thing to consider with the self contained (Eurovan) or a tow behind: the trailer can stay on the site while you go out in the morning or evening to photograph. Bad security-wise, good because you don't need to put everything away and also good if you are traveling with any non-photographers.

[robert amsden]

I use a pop up for family camping and I'd discourage you from going that direction. The advantages of a pop up are cost/sq ft and towing weight. We have a small one and originally towed it with a Honda Accord (not in the mountains!) and did not have much money to spend so it way good for our growing family. The disadvantage is that they take a fairly long time to set up and take down....especially in the rain. That is not too big a deal if you are staying a week at a location, but would get pretty old if you were moving every couple of days. They are also not incredibly durable. We have a Coleman/Fleetwood and they were the best built we could find at the time and it still is low-grade mobile home quality.
One other direction worth considering is a small fiberglass hard shell trailer. Scamper and Casita are the two I've seen. They are a bit heavier than a pop up, but you don't need to pop it up. For one or two people, it looks like a good alternative.
One thing other thing to consider with the self contained (Eurovan) or a tow behind: the trailer can stay on the site while you go out in the morning or evening to photograph. Bad security-wise, good because you don't need to put everything away and also good if you are traveling with any non-photographers.