Packing up the camper

Hopefully, you've had a great time on your camping journey (and documented it in the camper journal), and now it's time to get back to civilization.

Typically, I don't have a "must return by X p.m." time. Just let me know via text message (you can do it via the Outdoorsy site) when you're leaving your camping area so I can plan when to be at the hangar to welcome you home and get you on your way.

Breaking down the site is pretty much a reverse of what it took to get set up but to make it easier, let's just document it in order:

1) Open the power converter door (inside forward, left side near the floor, and shut off the first two circuit breakers. You can keep the powder blue circuit breaker in the "on" position.

2) Disconnect the battery by removing the white (ground/negative) wire first and then the black (positive) wire and wrap the wires so they don't drag. Put the battery in the milk crate.

If you used an electrical connection, disconnect and stow the power cable.

3) Go inside and flip the sink up. This will disconnect the lights and prevent a fire.

If you used the water tank, remove the cushions from the area over the power converter, open the top and turn the spigot to the "open" position so it drains to the ground. Leave this open, close  the lid.

4) Return the table to the position you found it in, serving as the extra bed. Spread cushions out over it.

5) From outside, pull the forward bed as far forward as you can and lift. When you do, the two bracing bars will fall. Pick them up and put them under the forward mattress pad or on top of it. Repeat on the rear bed.

6) If you used the refrigerator with propane, shut the propane off at the tank. Also, remove the propane tank and place in your vehicle for safe transport.  At the bottom vent cabinet on the outside left of the camper, shut the gas switch (right side) to "off" and turn the thermostat (black knob by the red button)  to "gas" if it's not already there.

7) If you used the stove, disconnect it from the gas line outside, clean and store in the forward, right storage area. Stow the gas line.

8) Disconnect both the front and pack bed roof "shepherd hooks" from the ceiling and pull, then disconnect the plastic connection  and put the hook under each mattress.

9) After pulling the the velcroed sections around the door frame inside and outside, unclamp the top of the door from the bottom of the door, lift it,  and swing the top up to the ceiling and hook it in place.

10) Under each pull out bed area outside, unhook all of the bungee cord attachments and lift the vinyl fabric up and push it in toward the center of the camper on both the front and back.

11 Remove the two safety bars from the lifter posts at the front right and rear left and put them  on top of the mattress pad .

12) Remove the two supporting bed posts, then push the back bed in, taking care to push the vinyl and fabric out of the way so it doesn't get pinched. Place the support bars on the matresspad.

13) Push the forward bed in until it hits the rear bed. You'll have to reach inside the camper where the two "tracks" meet near the door. On the side closest to the door, push the track of the forward bed so that it fits to the inside of the rear bed's track. Now you should be able to push the forward bed enough to clear the roof as it's lowered. You'll probably have to give the aft bed a shove because when you pushed the front bed in, you probably pushed the rear bed out a bit.

15) Remove the "T" bars from their slots, fold, and place  on top of the mattress pad.

16) Start cranking the roof down, as you do, stop every once in awhile and go around the camper pushing the vinyl/fabric sides inboard so they don't get pinched.   Push the green indicator cord on the front right post out of the way.

17)   Before the roof is all the way down, close the door.  Then crank the roof the rest of the way down, so there's slack in the cable.  You may have to adjust the forward and rear beds so that they both fit inside the closing roof. You may have to do this a couple of times.

18)  Put a little weight on each corner until it seats completely so you can latch each corner. You may have to raise the roof slightly again to adjust the bed positions. There's very little room to spare and you have to negotiate between the two to get the roof to fully close.

19) Remove the crank and store it in the milk crate.

20)  Use the front jack to lower the front of the camper so that you can lift up each rear stabilizing jack by pushing the spring loaded level and raising the bottom of the jack, then swinging each (pull down first) to its traveling (horizontal) position.  Again, you have to crank the front of the camper lower to have enough room to pull down the jack before being able to swing it to its horizontal position.

21)  Use the racheting wrench to lower the BAL lifter jack you put under the "low wheel". Stow the jack in your vehicle.  Put a set of chocks under the wheel.

22) Raise the front of the camper with the crank jack, remove the bolt/pin from the hitch clamp and flip the clamp up, move your vehicle into position and lower the  tongue onto the hitch ball.  Flip the clamp down and insert the bolt and nut to prevent it from disconnecting while you're driving. NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE WITHOUT THE CLAMP IN A LOCKED POSITION AND THE BOLT  IN PLACE.

23) Attach the safety chains. The chain on the right goes under the tongue and attaches to the left side of your hitch.  The chain on the left goes under the tongue and attaches to the right side of your hitch. This creates a "hammock" in the event the hitch disengages.

Be sure you leave enough slack in the chain and your electrical connection to allow your vehicle to turn.

24) Attach your vehicle power cable to the camper's cable. Check your brake lights and turn signals.

Double check that you've properly stored the hand crank, that all vent housing is locked, and that the door is properly secured under the roof.

BEFORE YOU DRIVE AWAY

Walk around the camper and be sure everything is OK. These are the most often neglected items:

1. Have you removed the crank from the winch and stowed it in your vehicle?
2. Have the  rear stabilizing jacks been raised?
3. Is the step  lifted and stowed under the door?
4. Have you raised the front hitch crank and secured it horizotally?
5. Is the leveling jack stowed in your vehicle?
6. Have you removed and stowed all wheel chalks?
7. Are the safety chains in place, the locking lever down and bolted, and electrical wires hooked up?

Failure to do any of these things will ruin your day and potentially cost you your $500 deposit.

When you're leaving your campground, send me a text message so that I can plan to be at the hangar upon your return, get you unhooked, and get you back on your way home.

Setting Up the Camper

First this disclaimer. Setting up in a campground is where a lot of good relationships fail. It's going to be OK. We'll get through this together. Deep breath. This is going to happen and you're going to have fun. Let's get started.

 1) Now that you've pulled into your site. CHOCK BOTH WHEELS!!  Then,  disconnect from your hitch using the crank jack,  and move your vehicle out of the way).

(Update) Before you can level the camper, you need to swing the rear stabilizing jacks down. You'll have to use the front jack to lower the front of the camper first to be able to swing them down (by pulling on them). Don't push the jack extension down quite yet. You just want to get them the jacks in the down position.

 Now, level the camper. There are two bubble levels, one on the right side of the camper forward of the door (for leveling forward and back, best achieved by the crank up front) and one on the left rear for side-to side

After you level it front-to-back, replace the wheel chocks on the "low side" with the leveling jack, then, using the racheting wrench, raise it until the bubble gauge on the back left side of the camper shows it's level. (Video here)  Stow the wrench. You might doublecheck the bubble level on the side now. Sometimes it needs adjusting after levelling side-to-side.

 The better you level the camper, the easier the door will open and close. So take the time to get it right. You'll thank yourself later.

2)  Unlatch all four sides of the camper top and grab the crank bar from the milk crate. Note: Do NOT lose the crank.

 Insert crank into the winch housing (right side as you face forward) and crank enough to raise the top about a foot. This allows you to open the door to retrieve some parts..

 3) There are four marked bars -- two for the front and two for the back -- and a pair of "T" bars, which go in the front. (These are usually found on top of the forward mattress pad or underneath it). Take them all out.

 4) Now, start cranking. You'll notice the green indicator wire on the forward left post. This gives you guidance on where you are in the process. Leave flexibility in the fabric walls.  Note, the wire isn't taught when the roof is fully raised. It has a little slack in it. Like this.
 


4)  Grab the two brass-colored stabilizer bars  (these are usually placed on top of the forward bed). Place one in the front right and one in the rear left (as you look forward) posts. The angled flange is the top. Push it into place. Do NOT go inside the camper without these bars in place.

TIP:  If the bars slide on to the lifter posts and there's a gap between the roof and the slider bar, lower the roof slightly. This will make it easier to get the top half of the door to fit in the bottom half later in the instructions.

5) Place the T-shaped bars in the front. The pin goes in the holes on the top edge. The flat edge on the bottom slips into the open brackets on the camper frame. Make sure the pin end is pushed down all the way or you won't be able to slide the fold-out out.

6) Pull out the front bed. It should fit over the T-bars. You'll want to pull it out all the way to the stop. It will probably bind up. Stop pulling and check the vinyl sides to be sure it's not jammed up against a lifter post. Then pull some more. Repeat as necessary.


7) Attach two bars to the appropriate location. The color coding of blue tells you which slots on the camper tongue the bars go into. One end goes on the bracket under the bed, one goes on the frame of the camper. Once you put one end on the camper frame, use your back (or your friend) to lift the bed slightly to get the top end to slip into this bracket.

8) Go inside and flip the sink over.   The sink loads a safety button which will allow connectivity to your DC electrical devices (it's a safety switch so that you don't accidentally leave lights on when you fold up the camper, causing a fire from the heat).

9) Repeat the same process, pulling out the back bed, using two supporting bars.

10) Under each mattress, there are two "cane" hooks.  Snap the end with the plastic fitting onto the center of the bed roof's aluminum frame, push it out (thus raising the roof) and snap the open end into the bracket near the ceiling.  Repeat on the other bed.

11)  Back outside, pull the vinyl sides down as need be (be sure the extra flap of vinyl covers the corners of the bed, to keep the sharp corner from cutting the vinyl)  and snap the bungee cord to the nearby posts (8 in the front, 6 in the back). Seal up the fabric around each support post using the velcro. The better you are at sealing everything up, the fewer mosquitoes you'll be dealing with. And it also will keep out the rain. Think like a mosquito here.

12) The top of the door is clamped to the ceiling. Take note of how it's clamped; it'll come in handy when you put it back up.

Swing the door down, unfasten the velcroed door side pieces of the camper,  fit the two black plastic extensions on the door frame, into the recesses of the bottom door, then latch the top to the bottom door. Then velcro the sides of the door. Be careful when doing this. There isn't a lot of support for the door when it's swinging up or down.

An important word about the door The door assembly is the weakest link in the camper and takes a somewhat delicate and nuanced approach. The black plastic extrusion may not want to fit on the left side (as you face out).  The horizontal metal plate at the bottom of the door component that swings down has to be to the inside of the bottom door frame. Once you have the bottom frame positioned, open the bottom door just slightly, and the plastic extrusion should drop into place.

If you have difficulty getting the plastic tabs to fit in the slots, you might lower the roof slightly. Also be sure that all fabric is away from the door frame.

Once in place carefully secure the camper skin to the velcro on the door frame, being careful not to let it overlap and pinch the door, thus making it difficult to close.

At this point, your camper is ready. Set up and connect the propane tank.

 There is a 12 volt battery in the milk crate. Place it in the area near the propane tank. Connect the black (+) first, then the white (-) wire.

Once you flip up all the circuit breakers of the power converter (wait to do this if you're hooking up to campground power) , you should now have ceiling lights. The rear light has a dimmer. The front light as the option to turn one or both halves on or off.

If you have an AC hookup, pull out the long cable on the left side of the camper and plug in.  Inside the camper, near the floor on the forward right side, flip down the converter door and turn on all four circuit breakers.This will allow the AC (I'm not referring to air conditioning)  to operate your DC circuits (lights) and recharge the battery. The powder blue circuit breaker should also be in the "on" position.

This will also allow the AC to recharge the battery.

If you have an AC hookup, the AC  outlets will work. If you do not have an AC hookup, the AC outlets in the camper will not be powered, even if the battery is attached.

If you're operating only on battery, conserve energy as much as possible to prolong the life of the battery charge.

STOVE
I recommend all cooking be done outside; it's just safer and neater for everyone. The stove hooks to the side of the camper to the left of the door (the tab on the back of the stove hooks onto the lower tab on the side of the camper), with a support post underneath.  Pull the gas line out, push the fitting from the stove into the connect switch (push it in hard) and turn the stem to lock it into place.

REFRIGERATOR

The refrigerator controls are on the left side bottom vent door. There are three ways to power it: AC, battery, and propane. If you have an electrical hookup, that's the easiest way. Just flip the selector switch to AC and adjust your thermostat.

The second-preferred method is via propane.  Turn on the gas at the propane tank. Turn the selector switch in the vent housing area to "gas", open the gas line (to the right), and turn the black knob to the left while holding it down. Wait a second and hit the red button to spark the propane at the burner. Then open the little viewing door and confirm that there is a blue flame in there. Adjust settings.

The battery is the least-preferred method but only because I haven't yet established how long that battery will last powering both lights and refrigerator.

You'll notice the burned area. The gas fitting broke there and a small flame ensued. The fitting has been replaced and all gas lines have been subsequently checked. Don't worry.

WATER
There is a filler hole on the left side of the camper. The tank is underneath the forward, left stow area (behind the power converter). Be sure the spigot is turned to the closed position (likewise, before you pack up, be sure it's turned to the open position. It drains to the ground.

(New for 2020): I've installed a water pump and replaced the faucet. If you have electrical power, and once the tank is filled), push the faucet down to activate the pump. Alternately, you may simply pump the faucet up and down to get water.

If you have campground water, you can hook it up to keep a constant pressure. At this point, however, I have not yet tested the connection to be sure there isn't a leak when using campground (aka: "city") water, so be careful. There's no pressure regulator installed, so don't open the campground water full blast.

If you prefer to schlep your own water, I have two camp water tanks you can borrow. Just ask.

All water tanks and lines are sanitized between rentals.

HEATER
The heater operates via the propane tank but requires an electrical connection to "spark" the burner. The thermostat is on the side of the cabinet with the sink. On the bottom of the thermostat, slide the on/off switch to the right, and move the thermostat on the top to the desired temperature. The furnace blower will start in a moment.   Once started, it will blow air for a minute before the heat comes up.

Do not EVER leave the camper with the heater on, even if only for a minute.

A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES

1) Pack sheets. You must put down linens on all surfaces with peds.  Sheets are provided for the beds and must be used even even if you are using sleeping bags. But if you have pets that will sleep elsewhere, put something down.

2) There are no cooking or eating utensils or dishes provided with the camper.

3) The post for the second table is in the storage area in the rear, interior of the camper.

4) The table with the folding legs also serves as the third bed. If you don't need it, set it up outside or stow it under the camper. Just don't forget it when packing up.

5) The proper tire pressure for the camper is 80 psi. This is checked minutes before you arrive, but if you're driving a long way, please check when you stop for gas. There is no jack provided for changing tires HOWEVER I do have a floor jack which I will give you during your rental on request. Be sure to ask. Or not. Your choice.

If you paid for insurance, you may have roadside assistance. Check your Outdoorsy rental agreement to confirm this.

6) The camper weighs almost 2,000 pounds. Please be sure your vehicle is tow rated to tow that sort of weight. Be sure your electrical connection to your vehicle is in working order. The camper will not be released unless brake lights, turn signals, and lights are all working on the camper.

7) Somewhere in the camper, you'll find a travel diary. Please feel free to add your stories and experiences of your trip and any messages for other campers.

If none of this made sense, try this: