Here in the Upper Midwest, camping season can seem incredibly brief. Freezing temperatures during May and September are not typical but also not rare.
There are some fiberglass trailers, like Oliver and Bigfoot, that keep all of the water and waste tanks within the potentially heated portions of the trailer. Scamp is not one of those trailers, as the waste tanks are beneath the sub-floor. In my Scamp, the water tank is located on an outside wall under the rear bed. The plumbing system would not do well during sustained freezing temperatures.
When we camped at Bryce National Park, the temperature dipped into the mid 20's. Because daytime temperatures rose up into the 50's, we did not end up with frozen pipes.
Even during Wisconsin's winter with temperatures sometimes well below zero, however, it is perfectly possible to camp in the Scamp when it is treated as a luxury hard-sided tent. That means to keep the plumbing system empty and/or full of rv anti-freeze.
On our recent camping trip to Iowa, we kept five-gallon plastic water containers inside the heated portion of the trailer, and used those for drinking and cooking. We visited the pit toilet in the campground and collected kitchen wastewater in a tub before tossing it outside appropriately. Nothing down the drain.
We had electric hook-ups, so we were able to stay comfortable with a small electric ceramic heater. Comfortable mattress? Yep. Comfortable dinette for eating? Yep. Several reading lights? Yep. The Scamp is a really nice tent even without usable indoor plumbing.
Would I use the Scamp in the middle of winter? Given Wisconsin's liberal use of salt on the roadways, I would be reluctant to take it anywhere and potentially allow road salt to damage the metal frame. Even during my brief stays on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Scamp incurred some light surface rust on the frame from the sea mist/air.
2 comments:
Four season camping is possible with a large enough propane bottle and endless supply. That is if the battery can last the night running the furnace or if connected to power. Our truck camper is suppose to be four season. I'd say it is three season at best. Remember the good old days tent camping in the winter and ice fishing? Sure weeded out the wimps.
I'm not a fan of the propane furnace in my older Scamp. It's noisy and alternatively gets too hot and too cold. And as you mention, the furnace fan is a battery drainer. My small electric heater on constant low provides some white noise and just enough heat to be comfortable for 20's and lower 30's. Anything above freezing, and we are comfortable under warm blankets.
I remember sitting on a five gallon plastic bucket, alongside my father-in-law, and catching perch on Devil's Lake in North Dakota. All day long, we caught fish, and the cold didn't bother me at all. I also remember other days on that same plastic bucket, not catching a single fish. Either way, my father-in-law had a big smile on his face, just being happy to be out there on his plastic bucket. I was a cold wimp when no fish were biting!
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