put your thinking tougues on

[Darren Henry]

So I'm driving the old lady home to Winnipeg yesterday when the one brain cell says to what's left of the other one ; "Why couldn't one replace the canvas on a pop up camper with hard sides?"  I think it would fill a real niche market: not everyone who is tired of the problems with and/or needs new canvas (gotta dry it ,don't touch it if it's raining,----) has the tow vehicle or budget to move up to a hard sided camper. I'd use Dibond , a thin PVC substrate with an aluminum skin on both sides, and have the panels slide into tracks in the "lid" for storeage and drop into a track around the hull on deployment. Wind-lace of some sort and --turnbuckles/velcro ?? would seal the joints. My conundrum is the windows/screens etc...I don't want the weight and thickness of conventional RV windows, but I would find it hard to market window plastic duct taped to the skin with no screens.

I'm all ears you clever buggars. :-* :-* :-*

[kodydog]

Hay Darren, what is that your drinking in that little photo to the left ;D
I know your looking for solutions but I see one little problem with the storage. On my pop-up I added two inch memory foam to the beds and now the top fights me every time I put it down. This tells me there is not much space between the bed and the ceiling. I'm a life long pop-up camper. Just spent 6 weeks in S. Fl in one, came home for 2 weeks and then went to St Augustine for a week. I'm sure you've seen the A frame campers, very light weight but not as much room as a pop-up. They use glass in those. I'll give your idea more thought.

[Darren Henry]

Hey Kody; Being this side of the 49th --- that would be a beer,eh!

I have already factored the thickness thing into my concept (even tough I'm gaining the thickness of that wad of canvas). I anticipate having to make the lid the thicker. I will have to modify the sides of it anyway ,so that they open to pull the panels out ,and then close back up to seal . Good thought ,though. Thanks.

[Peppy]

How thick is this 'substrate'. Is it sturdy like plywood or like cardboard? Could you sew it? Pop rivet it? Is it bigger than a bread box?

[scottymc]

http://www.avan.com.au/products_cruiser.html        http://www.avanadelaide.com.au/node/5

[Darren Henry]

How thick is this 'substrate'. Is it sturdy like plywood or like cardboard? Could you sew it? Pop rivet it? Is it bigger than a bread box?

It's available in 3,4.5, or 6 mm in 4X8 or 4X10 sheets. It is stronger than plywood,but a little more flexible. I might add ribs or folds if required. Pop rivets etc would work ,but I was hoping to avoid the "garage fix" look.

[Darren Henry]

I'm sure you've seen the A frame campers, very light weight but not as much room as a pop-up. They use glass in those

Actually I haven't yet here in the Canadian boondocks.Thank you Scottymc for the pics. I thought Kody was talking about back when the air was clean sex was dirty ; the beds still pulled out for and aft but the canvas was an A frame in between (i.e no hard lid).  Those are like a fibreglass "pup tent"  :-\

[byhammerandhand]

Back when I had a pop up camper or two  (1980s), there was one brand of pop up with solid panels.  There are some old models to browse at this site http://www.apacheowners.com/    Note that they made both hard- and soft-sided.

[Darren Henry]

Thanks Keith. Haven't had a chance to look too deep into the site yet,but it seems to have alot of good info.

[Peppy]

. Pop rivets etc would work ,but I was hoping to avoid the "garage fix" look.

Hey man! You say 'garage fix' likes it's a bad thing! Pop rivets are space age!

I think you gotta go with something off the shelf from the RV or boat world. No sense reinventing the wheel. You could sew a window and screen with awning rail at the top and snaps or something. A hybrid- tent windows, stiff trailer.