Two tents or too tense?

Maybe this is the wrong section, but it is bush related...

I stumbled upon these courtosy of my daughter.
ShiftPod2

Two of them can hook together, and there are air inlet/outlets for a heated air system.

I am leaning in this direction pretty heavily.

Maybe wrong url because that points to a useless promo that gives almost zero information

Tony Lee wrote: Maybe wrong url because that points to a useless promo that gives almost zero information

@TonyLee
Well here is another:
http://www.festivalsquad.com/2016/05/pros-cons-shiftpods/

A friend has two, and on one end is a dual boot are for power or air inlet/outlet.

Was leaning towards a camper built as you have done, but thinking this is pretty fast to get out and onto the camping...
But I am open to opinions.

Yes, that link is better. More action shots

US$1200 so I guess more like AU$2000+ here.


Good campground-cred too

Lots of other alternatives available such as those Australian tents that they were using on the trip outyonda did with the quad bike tour - which are also not cheap and not so fancy looking

The reason a lot of us have Oka's is to be able to live when travelling for extended periods in some sort of comfort, we've started off with swags, tents, camper trailers and now just want to pull up, put our chairs out and relax with minimal setup time. Hence the many different camper/motorhome setups fitted and installed in Oka's. It is very different to be travelling for months rather than weeks and experiencing inclement weather on a regular basis and having the ability to go inside and shut the door when it is bad is priceless.
If you have never camped away from the coast then outback Oz is hard as in getting pegs into the ground in many places can be nigh on impossible so off the ground and with minimal setup time is the go.
We found the best solution tentwise was the old safari/bus style tent, four heavy pegs and lump hammer and one centre pole, flyscreened windows and doors for ventilation. quick and easy to setup, well made and we still have ours in perfect condition 40 years on. The kids tried the nylon domes as they wanted independance and quickly found that they got their own private sauna! The Oztent style don't stand up to wind particularly well and are a mongrel to carry as they are so long. I reckon those pods might be fine for cooler climates with the occasional hot day but a veritable sauna in warm still weather.

Peter and Sandra OKA 374 wrote: The reason a lot of us have Oka's is to be able to live when travelling for extended periods in some sort of comfort.

Agreed. And safety. There's something very reassuring about the relative impenetrability of an Oka (especially bus/hard body versions).

On the couple of times we've been "harassed" by drunken youths, the strength of the Oka has been very welcome.

Peter and Sandra OKA 374 wrote: The reason a lot of us have Oka's is to be able to live when travelling for extended periods in some sort of comfort, we've started off with swags, tents, camper trailers and now just want to pull up, put our chairs out and relax with minimal setup time. Hence the many different camper/motorhome setups fitted and installed in Oka's. It is very different to be travelling for months rather than weeks and experiencing inclement weather on a regular basis and having the ability to go inside and shut the door when it is bad is priceless.
If you have never camped away from the coast then outback Oz is hard as in getting pegs into the ground in many places can be nigh on impossible so off the ground and with minimal setup time is the go.
We found the best solution tentwise was the old safari/bus style tent, four heavy pegs and lump hammer and one centre pole, flyscreened windows and doors for ventilation. quick and easy to setup, well made and we still have ours in perfect condition 40 years on. The kids tried the nylon domes as they wanted independance and quickly found that they got their own private sauna! The Oztent style don't stand up to wind particularly well and are a mongrel to carry as they are so long. I reckon those pods might be fine for cooler climates with the occasional hot day but a veritable sauna in warm still weather.

Yes... we mostly have camped in winter, as summer is better for aircon and Netflix.
Then it can be a bit cold once away from the fire.
While shiftpod is insulated a bit, and does have air inlet vents, one would need a swampy or some air chiller to de-Saunai'fy the tent.

My buddy Giles from QLD did a trip up to the Yukon in a very small sports car maybe 7 years ago.
Then ~5 years he got a troupie and shipped that to Washington state and did alaska to the tip of South America before shipping it to Europe and doing a big set of trips in Scandinavia and elsewhere. First doing a shakedown trip through Alice.
So Giles rolled through "the Alice" again about 5 months ago and we started talking OKAs and world trips.
His #1 recommendation was, " make it easy and fast, because you want to be in the bed fast when the weather is crap".
And has he seems seasoned, I value his judgement.

The shift pod is not too fast (~2 minutes if the wind is not howling), but faster than Thor's hammer onto pegs, and moving around canvas.
And I will initially choose times to go when it is not looking dire from the outset.
Hence I have been thinking of the shiftpod(s) and then air mattress and air lounge, as well as potentially pumping in heat for the sun zero camps.

Basically I am thinking I am getting a bit old for the cold swag, and using those shiftpods before I figure out whether/what to have for some internal set up... aka: a camper/motor-home.

dandjcr wrote:

Peter and Sandra OKA 374 wrote: The reason a lot of us have Oka's is to be able to live when travelling for extended periods in some sort of comfort.

Agreed. And safety. There's something very reassuring about the relative impenetrability of an Oka (especially bus/hard body versions).

On the couple of times we've been "harassed" by drunken youths, the strength of the Oka has been very welcome.

A trip I still kick myself on missing was in 2005.
A work mate and his wife took his troupie to Kamchatka along another fellow who packed his BMW 1100 in the shipping container. They drove/rode from Kamchatka to st Petersburg and where amongst the first few through.
There were tales of drunken Russians wanting "in".

I am somewhat build like the ~actor segal (if you can even call it acting), but do not have his Kung fu skillz.
I can picture Au and NZ, and Scandinavia, but not Eastern Europe nor North Africa... the fellow on the BMW rode in a lorry to Iran just before the hostage deal in the late 70's. They are a bit more adventurous than I, but I at least have role models who like to live life to the fullest... so what can I say...?

Your mate Giles' vehicle is the #12 photo in the album at get.google.com/albumarchive/114611728110...DXkNCupo_Z7Hadk_t1H0

Came across him in Cusco, Peru

I was going to suggest you stay away from certain places in the world when erecting the pods, but thinking back, there are plenty of places right here where you would struggle. Lots of places on the west and north coasts of Tasmania and one in particular in the SW of WA where we couldn't open the bus door because of the wind. I'd say every time you went to pop those panels out, they would pop straight back in again. Still, no different to trying to get any tent up in high winds.

I can picture Au and NZ, and Scandinavia, but not Eastern Europe nor North Africa...

If Betty and I can do it at 70yo, and Betty using sticks and a walker to get around, anyone can do it.

Holmz wrote: I can picture Au and NZ, and Scandinavia, but not Eastern Europe nor North Africa... the fellow on the BMW rode in a lorry to Iran just before the hostage deal in the late 70's.

In the mid 70's we drove from the UK to Aust in a Land Rover station wagon/converted motor home.

Even though it was relatively peaceful in the mid-east back then, we did have a quite few run-ins with locals so there were many occasions we were glad of the ring of aluminium around us. Not just physical safety and comfort but for environmental protection too. Iran, and particularly Afghanistan in winter were beautiful but bitterly cold places.

But we were young and never gave a thought to the risks we were taking and it was all worthwhile. See our Afghan travels here .

By contrast when we arrived in Perth and drove to Adelaide, we could hardly believe how safe, clean, empty and secure it felt. Not quite the same 40 years on but then neither are we, hence our relatively risk free Oka travels.

Still doing it at pension age plus a bit.

Hi Holmz,
I have had tents (and still have), caravan and camper-van and yes the pod may take 2 mins to erect but the OKA is the best yet and it is ready immediately.
Air beds you can shove them, I am fed up with wasting money on something that fails to stay pumped up when you most need it.
Martyn

Tony Lee wrote: Your mate Giles' vehicle is the #12 photo in the album at get.google.com/albumarchive/114611728110...DXkNCupo_Z7Hadk_t1H0

Came across him in Cusco, Peru

Well I am sort of not too surprised, but a bit surprised.
Small world?

mort wrote: Hi Holmz,
I have had tents (and still have), caravan and camper-van and yes the pod may take 2 mins to erect but the OKA is the best yet and it is ready immediately.
Air beds you can shove them, I am fed up with wasting money on something that fails to stay pumped up when you most need it.
Martyn

Yeah if I had a bus body, thenI would just get stuck into kitting it out.

But I am looking at the shiftpods as a near term solution... so I am reading that you think maybe I should get stuck into a camper back or similar box on the back?

Holmz wrote: Yeah if I had a bus body, thenI would just get stuck into kitting it out.
But I am looking at the shiftpods as a near term solution... so I am reading that you think maybe I should get stuck into a camper back or similar box on the back?

#196 started life as a bus.
I chose to go back to the cab chassis for our conversion. Bed-over-cab, a tad wider and a tad higher, windows and doors the right type and where we wanted them rather than where they were, have made an enormous difference to "livability", from our perspectives.

Cheers,
Peter

We stuck with the bus body in 2003 due to inexperience with Okas and the need to get travelling ASAP, but If I was starting again I would build a custom rear compartment for all the reasons Peter mentioned, but it's not essential, our bus conversion works fine for us.

But either way it's a fun but non-trvial undertaking with most folks taking 1-2 years to get on the road (less if you really push things), and then continuous mods, fixes and improvements. It's not cheap either, although it probably compares favourably with buying a new caravan or average motorhome and you end up with a very durable, capable, tough vehicle with endless possibilities for upgrades.

But the results are really worthwhile, we've done 170,000km around the country in our Oka, had some great trips and experiences with plenty more still to see. Others have done a lot more kms.

We've a had a forced layoff for the past 2 years but after a long time, I've finally got my turbo upgrade with new air filter and intercooler all installed and working today, whoo-hoo. Just a lot of tidying up to do now before I can do some test runs, and then plan the next trip.

Needn't take all that long to build a custom back. Design it on a free CAD program, send the file to the panel manufacture and it comes as a flat pack. 6 months to put it all together with a heap of adhesive (no metal frame needed) and you are on the road

Hi Holmz,
You Have a duel cab with tray and the tray has framework that did have canvas top and sides but removed long ago.
It would be just as easy to get a new canvas canopy made or metal roof with canvas sides as a temporary measure while deciding exactly what you want to do.
Martyn

The tent arrived a few weeks back.
Tested it out at King's canyon and Ayre's Rock.

One should not use it if they are meek and do not like attention... We had a constant stream of Q&A immediately.

Took ~1 minute to erect.
The LED lights and red mat at the doorway and throw the swag in set up the chairs etc was all done in ~5 minutes.
Set up a chair first for the Haus-Boss management, erect tent, swag into tent, LEDs inside, etc.

Reverse takes an extra minute evacuating air and getting it into the bag.

i want to see photos