Alternatives???

[laj]

thanks guys. not wanting a slide. the best price on the NL 10.2 SE i have gotten is just above 40k. thats pretty well everything except gen. BF is about the same but about 300lbs more and has a larger furnace. both nice units, hard to choose. Host builds a spacious unit, but way more weight then i would want to carry. just some things about AF that rubs me wrong. thanks for your views. laj

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by laj

i have found this type of shoddy workmanship in this and another popular brand. that is why i am only interested in NL and BF.

I love my Bigfoot.

[laj]

what yr. and model BF do you have?

[laj]

Originally Posted by garbonz

I love my Bigfoot.

any suggestions as far as do's or don'ts in buying one?

[dix39]

I remember encouraging a friend to buy a Bigfoot back in the late '80s or early '90s, which he did. I was going to get one too until I discovered they had pretty small fresh water and holding capacities. For someone who does a lot of boondocking as I do that, IMHO, is important. I'm curious if they've improved that?

Steve

[laj]

exactly what i plan on doing with it.
the 10.4 has close to 50, the 9.4 has 38.

[dix39]

His must have been a 9.4 and was considerably smaller. The 11.4 Caribou I bought instead had 40, which as pretty big for the time ('93). The selling point for me was that Bigfoot appeared to be the most leak proof of anything else on the market, again, at that time.

Steve

[laj]

made a little finger slip. the 9.4 and 10.4 are 38. the 9.6 and 10.6 are 50.
NL has 40. I think 38 would work fine for me. i like the rear table layout better.

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by laj

what yr. and model BF do you have?

A 2005 1500C8.2. Smallest BF made. Just right for us.

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by laj

any suggestions as far as do's or don'ts in buying one?

The structures are pretty much indestructible, so it is more about the systems and layout for your preference. There is a BF owners group that is a good resource. My tanks are pretty minuscule as are all the 1500 models but we work with it.

[laj]

i am thinking about either the 2500 9.4 BF , or the 9.6 NL. i like things about both. BF has thicker insulation and double sink. i think both are well built units.

[dix39]

We bought our first camper in '78, a 11.6' Security. We used that until '93 when we bought the '92 11.4 Caribou. Both campers accumulated 6-8k miles and 1.5 months of use nearly every year.

After having the Security 15 years and considering retirement in the very near future we started to think about where we would like to live and the RV we would like to have in retirement. We decided to stay where we were, keep the house, and get another TC. We then considered what the Security didn't have that we would like in a "new" camper. AC and a generator to make it run anywhere we happened to be (it's hot in the South) were the top priorities, along with the largest fresh/holding capacities. We almost exclusively boondock/dry camp.

After looking for a while we found the Caribou which met all our top priorities. It was one year old. The list price was in excess of $17,000.00, the original purchasers paid $14,000.00, and we got it for $10,500.00. The camper had been used for a month or so and was still like new. At that time we also bought a W 250 srw 4wd Dodge Cummins 5 speed manual. We used that combination for more than 200k miles, including a 1.5 month trip to AK. We towed all sorts of things including a 23' cabin boat, large trailers, and a Samurai/Tracker for the last 15 years.

Last year after returning to OR from the East Coast my wife decided that if we were going to continue to take long trips we needed something that had a better ride,a bed you didn't have to climb up into, and a bath/fridge (potty) that you could get to without stopping. We've always had a boot in the camper, but I guess at 70 she was tired of climbing through there. Now we have a 26' 454 powered Flair that gets about 7.5 mpg as compared to the Cummins 14 mpg while towing the Tracker. If it were up to me I'd still have the TC.

Both our campers were SC and had a shower, toilet, lavatory, double sink, fridge, plus AC and generator in the Caribou. If I were to get another it would be the same.

Hope this is of some value.

Best of luck with your purchase.

Steve

[laj]

thanks Steve, yes it does. this will be in addition to my mh. i also plan on towing my boat, 22ft sled with a tongue weight of 750lbs. total weight 6200 also a 14 wrangler for hunting. always glad for any advice from people who have real experience. they aren't giving these things away.
laj

[dix39]

Now all you need is a float plane. :-)) Sounds like you have a great plan going.

Best of luck.

Steve