Allochris's ultimate buildup thread!!!

Hey Chris n Cat,

Thanks for all the cool pics! Just wondering if the WAVE heater is sufficiently keeping you two warm during your winter travels? I'm living in my camper here in Vail, CO area and know my WAVE could be warmer on those really cold nights.

Have you modified your camper since your first season?. Do you have any pics?. Just trying to get ideas for my next build. Keep feeding us those awesome pics!
 

allochris

Adventurer
Hey Chris n Cat,

Just wondering if the WAVE heater is sufficiently keeping you two warm during your winter travels? I'm living in my camper here in Vail, CO area and know my WAVE could be warmer on those really cold nights.

We usually use the heater after skiing to dry our gloves, socks, liners, and skins etc. Then we would leave it on just until we hit the bed, so we actually sleep with it off with us tucked into our down bags. That way we just sleep better without worries of burning the camper down or carbon monoxide (Yes, we always crack the window & have C0 alarm but those AA batteries die too fast in freezing temp. They wouldn't last any longer than 4-7 days.) I remember we left the heater on overnight only once with the camper popped up cause it was really cold out...around -20F below! But if we sleep w/ the camper down (not popped-up), we never leave the heater on while sleeping because the footbox of my sleeping bag is too close to the heater and could melt! Therefore, I've only refill the propane tank (20lbs) once so far!!!

What I really like, is that I can turn it on in the morning and feel the radiant heat pourring out of it w/in 60secs. It's just like sitting in front of a burning wood stove!!!

Another usefulness I've found is when I need to pullover to sleep right away after a long drive in freezing temp, the camper in the back is usually cold like a deep-freeze (actually much colder). I would just run in the back, turn on the heater, get back in the front cab for a few minutes to get ready for bed, then crawl back in the pre-heated bed!!! It's amazing how small space (w/ the top down of course) warms up so quickly!!!

One other observation is that the loft is usually 5-10c warmer than the bottom while the heater is on & when the top is popped-up. So now I wonder how big your camper is, where you sleep in it, and how insulated the roof is?
 
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Our camper is your average hard sided slide in camper with a slide out. The bed area is over the cab. The walls are 2 inches thick and the windows are thermopaned. We installed the Wave heater to cut down on our camper furnace use. The furnace cycles on and off in really cold temps.

We've been living full time in our camper the last couple years here in the mountains.

I'm hoping to build a smaller expedition style camper in the future. I was thinking a Wave heater would be sufficient for a small camper.

Thanks for all the information and documenting your build and travels for us!
 
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dbthomson

New member
Wow, i am impressed...no fancy high dollar build just bloody did it!..awesome,,great you found a partner to do it with too,,big bonus!,,,i hope to do a similar build and start living this stage of my life.. just a thought...maybe you can do a high photo content(for us visual types) action/adventure graphic novel type(except with pics) of your adventures starting with the initial build etc...you have way more adventures, so far, than most 'overlanders' with real world experience in extreme conditions....might make you a little dough on the road!!!!!happy trails,dbthomson
 

joeyabisa

Adventurer
Thanks for the thread!

Oh Man!! Thanks for the thread! Wonderful read, great pics, awesome video!!! True adventurous spirits. It warms my heart. All of it!
 

allochris

Adventurer
Just a mini-update from our daily life...

Not much camper action lately... but we've been busy last few weekends getting fire wood!!!

I'm really curious how many lbs we loaded it up with!!! :)




 

ober27

Adventurer
A true multi purpose truck, you've done well putting her together to fit your needs.
Hope to see more of those fantastic winter mountain photos again soon.
 

Marcelo

New member
I love this thread!
I'm planning on a big trip in the future (U.S. - Canada - Alaska).
Life changes though, we'll see how it turns out.
Upload some pictures of your new painted interior as I didn't see any. =)
 

catmandu

Observer
New Years Reminder

I have a chinook concourse which is perfect for my needs but for some reason I am drawn to the high end expedition campers. I always come back to this thread to remind myself that it is not the camper that makes the adventure! Still in my top 5 camper builds on the forum.
 

h4rdflip

Observer
Great job Chris, im looking fwd to have my rig ready and hopefully Ill get clear to hit the slope again this year after my second shoulder surgery. What part are you exploring this year, Im in Edmonton now but I still have a pad on Vancouver Island, the house is rented but I kept a 3rd of the acre with the oversize shed for my own use.
 

allochris

Adventurer
hello there! it’s been like what, almost 10 years since i last posted! time flies by...since then my partner and I settled down just a bit. We bought land, built an offgrid house from scratch, had a kid, but somethings havent changed a bit. we still use our same old yota truck, hauling water, towing our winter snowmobile around to ski tour, and still winter campering around Ningunsaw Pass for our annual week long ski touring getaway. I am a bit amazed my DIY camper roof circa 2009 still havent leak a drop inside...even though a corner on the front extended portion of the camper is sipping moisture into the rotting interior plywood. But it’s ok, we use tents in summer and only go campering in freezing temp anyway... I haven’t put a cent into upgrading the camper, let alone fixing the truck (other than replacing 1 leaky airbag under warranty from Airlift like 10+ yrs later...). I may need a new heater core and a starter soon as it is using up too much current to get it turned sometime, but that‘s about it for a 500k+ truck. Yes, it’s not longer a DD, but i’m greatful our 01’ Echo (summers) and 01’ Outback (winters) are there for that! I am now starting another new project, which is to transform a 05’ Suzuki Carry into a over-the-snow tracked xc grooming vehicle or for playing in the the snowed-in forestry road. 25F69988-3241-49EF-A443-7678E42D65D3.jpegSearch for my name or wait for the tread link to become active in near future. Winter is here again, it’s -20c out, and that’s when I get busy again working on projects in the cold weather...again...
77223137-B0DF-416E-A134-ED02DAA0F9CD.jpegF36B2423-5695-4727-B66C-127046E3D26E.jpegCD75578C-3A65-4BB8-9B91-DD8EA464A992.jpeg
 

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