We picked up our Quicksilver 10 today (pic in introduction forum) - currently set up and awaiting the rains that just triggered a flash flood warning from NOAA for us. Hopefully no leaks... I was told by the dealer that the stitching may weep a little until it gets wet once and swells and there is one tiny spot that doesn't look like a hole, but looks "thinner" than the rest of the canopy. If that makes sense.
Towing was an absolute dream (granted my 5.7l pickup is overkill) and I managed to get it backed into my driveway and along side my house - through a 9ft curb cut and an 8ft space between house and retaining wall. Took me a few times pulling forward to straighten out in both cases, but only took me 5 or so minutes in total...more practice needed.
Set up was easy with the wife helping. Took a bit of time to level (go BAL Leveler!), unfold, snap, arrange straps and center bar, etc... but I think our time will improve with experience.
Incidentally, the 10ft trailer is light enough that I can easily lift it and move it around as needed. (note to self: leave enough room between house and trailer to get support poles out)
AC was running fine off 15A house current and it works well to cool trailer off. (not super hot today, but took the humidity out of the air real fast)
Looking forward to getting out for a weekend.
Day 2 - 3:
Camper got rained on pretty good the night we brought it home. Went out the next morning and only found a few leaks - one at each bunk end and 1 on each side - near door and over dinette. All of them looked to be seam leaks. And they were all in places where the water got pooled up from loose canvas. So...let her dry out and soaked her down again with the hose. Will dry again and seal seams next time we put her up.
Another thing I noticed as we were cleaning up water was that there are were a LOT of aluminum shavings all over the camper. Not a big deal - I cleaned them up as we went along, but seems like someone could've run through the thing with a shopvac or something for the price of admission.
Decided to give the 7yr old some practice sleeping outside with a lot of strange noises. So, 90 degree day, figured I'd get to work out the AC :)
We headed to the camper about 8pm and listened to fireworks from a neighboring town for a while. Mom didn't want to join us so, just me and him, we chatted for a bit about camping...noises he was hearing...things I did camping when I was his age... He was asleep soon after and I dozed off a bit after him. Woke up around 3am to the sub 60 degree night and grabbed the sweatshirt I had brought with me just in case. Checked on mini me to make sure he was tucked in his sleeping bag and crawled back into the bunk.
At that point I started realizing that the bunk was *cold* - the cold was coming up through the cushion from the aluminum. Definitely need to put something under the mattress or switch out for something with more insulation from the metal.
Crows started their complaining at sun up - which got my son up... As we packed everything up to take back in the house I told him he did good. He was excited for our next outing - even if it was just in the yard.
Keep the updates coming. We're buying an 8.1 soon and would love to hear about what you encounter...both the good and the bad.
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Funny you should post, as I have been busy with work and sitting on a the next entry in this thread... :)
This past weekend we did another Yard camping outing, this time taking into account what I learned in the first run.
Weather was similar to last time so I had bought a 4ft x 10ft roll of reflectix and cut it in half - put one 4x5 piece under each bed to help with the chill. Also Bought a 2 inch thermarest egg carton kind of pad to put over the mattress. (only got 1 to see how it worked)
This time it was me, wife, son and 1 of the 5 dogs. Why only one? Well, we took the one we thought would do "best" with a lot of environment noise without barking their head off.
Observations:
- Mattress + thermarest pad worked well without being bulky. We debated about air mattresses, but I think the little bit of extra padding from the thermarest was pretty comfy.
- Reflectix made a difference - you could feel the temp difference through the mattress pad between where the relfectix was and wasn't
- Dog needs more time to acclimate. She didn't bark, but she was also pacing a good chunk of the night because of noises and new smells of the camper. Even though we thought she was mellow enough that she'd be fine, the new smells, sounds and environment all at once made her a little anxious.
- Wife and I started out in separate bunks and ended up in same bunk to see how comfortable it was. We normally share a king size bed with 3 of the dogs, so two of us and one dog on the queen felt spacious.
- Son slept like a rock. Being used to the noises around him from last time - he went out quick and slept well past sunrise, unlike last time.
- As expected, space is limited in the camper. We brought out a bunch of stuff we figured we'd take with us and determined that clothes were best left in the TV. Reserve the limited storage in the camper for stuff you might need in the rain or middle of the night.
- Clip on 12v fans work well to circulate the air in the camper - but are pretty loud. On a positive note, the white noise helped mask some of the external noises for the dog.
- LUBE THAT ZIPPER! Seriously, the door zipper was up and down more times than I can count in just the night we were out there that I was worried it was going to jam. Lube it up with some zipper lube or even chapstick...
- The lock on the door is pointless. My 7yr old took all of 10 seconds to figure out that he could reach over and unlock it.
- Buy a BAL Leveler...it's worth it.
- We're still trying to figure out the best way to take the camper down without pinching the tent between the bimini bars.
- The cover over the box - when it is closed up - seems to rub pretty good on the attachment points for the bunk support poles. Thinking that I might put something around those brackets to reduce the rubbing on the cover.
Overall we are very happy with it so far in terms of space and ease of setup/takedown. If somehow I can get work to slow down some we're looking forward to camping *away* from home some time very soon :)
As far as the brackets for the bed to keep them from rubbing take a pool noodle and cut two 10 inch sections off then split the sections down one side. You can then place them with the split over the outside of the bracket and foam filling the space in the middle of the bracket to hold it in place. I've done this on my QS 8.1 for the last two and a half years and have had no problems with the brackets rubbing my tonneau cover.
vmcmn, can you post a pic of what you mean? Since we don't have ours yet, I'm having a hard time visualizing what you mean. Thanks!
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The tonneau cover and the bed support brackets seem to be a obvious issue, yet I haven't heard much noise about any real problems. I can clearly see them when everything is closed up, and I assume they have the potential to wear through. Being that mine is only a 2012 with little use before it came to me, I'm really surprised I dont hear more about them.
I like the pool noddle idea. Maybe because I was toying with that same concept and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one :)
-Sean
Here's a couple pics with the pieces of pool noodle in place.
[a href="http://s429.photobucket.com/user/HHRnole/media/DSCF1859_zps3cf5872b.jpg.html"]
(http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq11/HHRnole/DSCF1859_zps3cf5872b.jpg)
(http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq11/HHRnole/DSCF1860_zps662c8c9a.jpg)As you can see it covers one side of the bracket and it's high enough to keep the other side from rubbing also.Cheap and easy solution to keep the cover off the brackets.
Thanks! That's super helpful.
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I'm interested in trying the ideas to help keep the camper warm. We would like to camp in September and even October if we can but it may be to chilly here in PA. We bought our QS10 a month ago and have taken it out three times, never needed the AC due to cooler summer temps. We find the camper chilly in the morning, the aluminum on our feet is cold, so floor liner and bed liners are a must! Also, the mattress isn't very comfortable for me (the kids and hubby don't care) but I need to grab and egg crate. Thanks for the ideas.
We can relate to the "bringing baby home" stories. We have a short STEEP driveway and my husband backed it up and turned it into a small spot that required backing and turning. He's done it three times now and every time amazes me! All with our 2007 Honda CRV.
Zipper lube- GREAT idea.
Looking forward to a weekend in the camper coming up in a few days.
One suggestion about beds--get the kids the egg crate. For the adults, splurge on a memory foam mattress topper (Walmart or Target). HUGE improvement.
Work finally gave me a breather and got out to do some actual camping - instead of sitting on the side of the house. Headed about 90 minutes away to a great site right on a creek and spent the weekend.
Had some friends on an adjacent site with a tent that started set up at same time we did - but we had the QS10 up before they started driving stakes. Once the stakes hit the dirt - they were even more jealous of the QS10 as the hard, rocky soil managed to mangle several of their 10 inch nail stakes.
No real additional observations - the 3 nights sleeping out on the side of the house had helped us sort out any issues of comfort and we over packed to make sure we had all we needed.
Everyone involved is itching to go again soon - and my tent camping friends are considering a QS6 :)
(http://nonproductive.net/img/Aug2014-QS10.jpg)
One of the best camp site pictures I have ever seen.
To stop the cold air and bugs from coming in between the bunk and where the end fold is I used self sticking weather stripping every place there was an opining. It works great and stays on.