Camper instead of Hotel room for distant tournaments

JAlan said:
Class B RV's are very nice to have too as many of them can fit into regular parking spaces.

Here are a few styles: Class B RV's


If the vehicle is going to be exclusively used for this I think a Class B is a bit better option than a truck with a slide in camper. However, if you have uses for a truck as well then a nice 3/4 pickup with a slide in camper may be the way to go. One truck with two different jobs :)
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I think as much as one can get caught up in the idea of traveling to pool tournaments. They have to really get everything down on paper. How much will they really be using the RV. If it is going to sit in the driveway 90% of the time with ongoing costs like insurance and maintenance and depreciation, they have to decide if it is worth it. An RV can be a really bad investment. I see them for sale in peoples yards for years and they don't get better with age.
 
macguy said:
I think as much as one can get caught up in the idea of traveling to pool tournaments. They have to really get everything down on paper. How much will they really be using the RV. If it is going to sit in the driveway 90% of the time with ongoing costs like insurance and maintenance and depreciation, they have to decide if it is worth it. An RV can be a really bad investment. I see them for sale in peoples yards for years and they don't get better with age.
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You're exactly right, they have got to be used to justify their costs in the long run unless you just have money to burn. A lot of people buy them thinking they will use them all the time and then find they are only using them a few times a year, which makes it very hard to justify as opposed to getting a hotel room (unless of course you're using them for camping or places with no rooms, etc).

I personally also would never buy a new one as they depreciate way too fast in my opinion. There are plenty of good used ones out there for a fraction of the new price.
 
book collector said:
Older Ford Ranger 4 cylinder {good gas maileage } put some 2x4s in the bed and make a little doghouse out of free plastic bags, duct taped together.
Get a sterno campstove and heat your meals up and then finish the rest off as a nightcap for the best rest you ever had for nothin!
As Chris Farley used to say I'm livin in a van , down by the riiiiver'
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I remember pool players back in the 1960's and 70's when a lot of guys were on the road playing that lived about like that. Of course back then if you remember, a Motel 6 was actually $6.00 a night. That is where the name came from so the motel was not such a big overhead.

Especially if you just stayed in one maybe every third night just to clean up. Most of the time all you really wanted was a little sleep and you didn't need all the amenities of a motel. I didn't care if they had a pool I just want to sleep for a few hours. Car sleeping was the norm for most pool players even if you had a bankroll.
 
I like staying at campgrounds. they are cheap, have showers and are usually nearby. Sometimes stay in a tent, my car or a small cabin if available. But if you have a bad back you might spring for a room.
 
Camper

All things considered, you will never come out ahead financially with a camper.

Just think about how many nights you can stay at a decent motel as compared with

the initial cost, upkeep and other unforseen problems of buying a camper.
 
JAlan said:
You're exactly right, they have got to be used to justify their costs in the long run unless you just have money to burn. A lot of people buy them thinking they will use them all the time and then find they are only using them a few times a year, which makes it very hard to justify as opposed to getting a hotel room (unless of course you're using them for camping or places with no rooms, etc).

I personally also would never buy a new one as they depreciate way too fast in my opinion. There are plenty of good used ones out there for a fraction of the new price.
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I had several different ones but the longest one I had was a bus conversion. I bought it off a guy who had started it and never finished. I finished it the way I wanted it and had it for about 15 years. That thing went everywhere from Key West up into Canada. We loved it.

It had a Dodge 318 gas engine. A little underpowered but still got around 12 to 14 mpg average. If had originally been built for a company as an airport bus. It was really cool, it looked like a shrunk down Greyhound bus.
 
eightandout said:
I like staying at campgrounds. they are cheap, have showers and are usually nearby. Sometimes stay in a tent, my car or a small cabin if available. But if you have a bad back you might spring for a room.
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One of the objectives when traveling to tournaments in an RV though is the proximity to the tournament. It is great to just go out to the parking lot between matches and just relax, make something to eat and not have to listen to all the racket going on at the tournament. Sometimes you are not going to play for hours. Hanging around in the pool room can awful.
 
macguy said:
I had several different ones but the longest one I had was a bus conversion. I bought it off a guy who had started it and never finished. I finished it the way I wanted it and had it for about 15 years. That thing went everywhere from Key West up into Canada. We loved it.

It had a Dodge 318 gas engine. A little underpowered but still got around 12 to 14 mpg average. If had originally been built for a company as an airport bus. It was really cool, it looked like a shrunk down Greyhound bus.
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Some of those home built conversions are the slickest rigs I have seen :) If you ever get bored, check out this guys blog: http://www.tosimplify.net/ He basically gave up apartments and housing and moved into a Class B, then even went smaller with a Vanagon I believe doing most of the conversions himself. I'm no where near that die hard but some good ideas there for sure.

My favorite RV that I've had in the past was my little 17' Casita. Loved that thing! Wife and I would go camping in it frequently and called it our little fiberglass egg :) Towed easily with a half ton truck too.
 
Evan, I'm not sure if you're still married or not, but have you considered living in a camper full time? It's not nearly as primitive as some would think. Your BAH would easily cover your lot rent and your monthly payments on a nice unit. And then after a few years you would actually OWN the camper! When you PCS moving is simple, you just bring your house with you! It sure beats finding a new place to live every few years and paying rent that you see no return on.

PM me if you want to know more, I've been doing this for a while.
 
JAlan said:
Some of those home built conversions are the slickest rigs I have seen :) If you ever get bored, check out this guys blog: http://www.tosimplify.net/ He basically gave up apartments and housing and moved into a Class B, then even went smaller with a Vanagon I believe doing most of the conversions himself. I'm no where near that die hard but some good ideas there for sure.

My favorite RV that I've had in the past was my little 17' Casita. Loved that thing! Wife and I would go camping in it frequently and called it our little fiberglass egg :) Towed easily with a half ton truck too.
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I had one of those VW buses once a 1971 I think. I really liked it but it never really ran right. I got stuck so many times in that thing. But when it ran right it was really fun. I would like to have one now just for the fun of it.
 
Thanks for all the replies! I haven't gone through the whole thread yet, but I realize I need to provide some more info. So I have a chevy Silverado 5.3l v8 and a Toyota yaris. The yaris is great on gas mileage. The camper in the bed of the truck might be a no go since its a lot of weight to drive to work and back every day. The truck is mine and the yaris is the wife's. A camper shell with a mattress and a cooler for food would work well for two or three day tournament. I could even have a propane stove in there if I wanted. No shower would kinda suck for 2-3 days, but maybe I will sink so bad my opponent can't focus :)

Basically I just want to stop dealing with hotels if I can. The extra 200$ I save could help alot.
 
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macguy said:
I remember pool players back in the 1960's and 70's when a lot of guys were on the road playing that lived about like that. Of course back then if you remember, a Motel 6 was actually $6.00 a night. That is where the name came from so the motel was not such a big overhead.

Especially if you just stayed in one maybe every third night just to clean up. Most of the time all you really wanted was a little sleep and you didn't need all the amenities of a motel. I didn't care if they had a pool I just want to sleep for a few hours. Car sleeping was the norm for most pool players even if you had a bankroll.
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Actually I had a 1989 Toyota cab over camper I loved (the grandkids really loved it also} , it got about 18mpg and was fine for campouts within 100 miles or so ,
I would never have went on a long trip in it , just too uncomfortable to drive and sleep in.
 
center pocket said:
Thanks for all the replies! I haven't gone through the whole thread yet, but I realize I need to provide some more info. So I have a chevy Silverado 5.3l v8 and a Toyota yaris. The yaris is great on gas mileage. The camper in the bed of the truck might be a no go since its a lot of weight to drive to work and back every day. The truck is mine and the yaris is the wife's. A camper shell with a mattress and a cooler for food would work well for two or three day tournament. I could even have a propane stove in there if I wanted. No shower would kinda suck for 2-3 days, but maybe I will sink so bad my opponent can't focus :)

Basically I just want to stop dealing with hotels if I can. The extra 200$ I save could help alot.
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A shower is not essential to stay clean. You can do very well with a sponge bath. When I used to travel in Europe many hotels didn't have showers. Just a tub with a wand that a trickle of water came out of. A shell can really work well. It is just a room with what you need in it. very light weight as well. You can even get them with cab overs for sleeping.
 
takeitdown said:
Chevy hotel has saved me a couple thousand. Nobody sleeps at the big events anyway.
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Thats true, you check in at noon and head over to the pool room and don't get to bed till 5 am. Or you roll into a town and check it out. By the end of the night you don't really want to stay. All you need is a few hours of sleep so you can move on. The last thing you want is to throw away $80.00 for a motel to sleep 5 hours.
 
center pocket said:
Thanks for all the replies! I haven't gone through the whole thread yet, but I realize I need to provide some more info. So I have a chevy Silverado 5.3l v8 and a Toyota yaris. The yaris is great on gas mileage. The camper in the bed of the truck might be a no go since its a lot of weight to drive to work and back every day. The truck is mine and the yaris is the wife's. A camper shell with a mattress and a cooler for food would work well for two or three day tournament. I could even have a propane stove in there if I wanted. No shower would kinda suck for 2-3 days, but maybe I will sink so bad my opponent can't focus :)

Basically I just want to stop dealing with hotels if I can. The extra 200$ I save could help alot.
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You would not have to leave the slide in in your bed. This is one of the big advantages.

By yourself, in several minutes, you can lower the camper jacks and drive right out from under it.

Just as fast to back under it and set it down in you bed again and drive away to the next tournament.

You can buy a very nice unit used for under 5K -- well under 5K perhaps, and most likely will be able to sell for close to the same figure in the future when you get the 45 foot Prevost. :wink:
 
Just a shell you say?

If you are a hard core dude this could work, but now you are roughing it...

No insulation and noisy .. by the time you get a cooler and some weenie beanie's in there the mattress might be a tight squeeze - and what about heat and AC?

I ran some searches last night for slide ins, and there are some deals out there for sure.

Saw one, asking $2500.00, about 7 years old, looked brand new, and had all the goodies for comfortable sleeping and eating, even had a crapper with a 23 gallon holding tank - this is big .. I think you need a crapper to make it all work. No crapper no fun ..LOL

I haven't owned an RV in years, but man are they ever a lot of fun ... lots of great memories!
 
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Agent 99 said:
I might have to get one of these myself .. why? I'm not really sure .. LOL

Best 3/4 ton camper ever. Built like a boat - two fiberglass molds to form upper and lower half of unit.

http://www.northern-lite.com/

Outstanding 1/2 ton unit.. extremely light weight, high tech non-wood construction.

http://www.livinlite.com/truck-campers.php

:D
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Hey thanks for adding these links. The fact that I can put it on the truck only for pool tournaments and camping makes it very practical for my case. We do camp and go shooting/hunting often.
 
center pocket said:
Hey thanks for adding these links. The fact that I can put it on the truck only for pool tournaments and camping makes it very practical for my case. We do camp and go shooting/hunting often.
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My pleasure .. here is a video of the 6.8, 1/2 ton unit by Camp Lite .. With a 20 pound LP tank you will be able to cook, run the freezer/fridge and heat the unit for weeks with out the need to plug in. Only reason to plug in would be to run the AC.

The head in this unit is a wonder for a short bed camper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahhNsBQHx2w
 
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