Hondo Garage's New Thing

They've been talking about the V2 for months, have they not?

Point being, if someone was on the fence about making a decision, why would they choose that option given the info we know? Even if it was a ballpark figure for key factors like price and weight, it could keep potential customers interested instead of looking elsewhere.

Meanwhile, I made my refundable deposit for the GFC after V2 was discussed, and I'll have it installed on my truck and be camping before we even know the final details on theirs.


IMO, bad business decision.

 

Idk. People don't want to move into the modern age of social media. Its a job in itself and can pay off huge for companies if done right. GFC is a good example. I find if funny that iggy kept is secret because with their timing its looks like they copied GFC Idk what they were hoping to keep under wraps so much either, not like what they were making was THAT special.

Yeah but still won't be as accessible as the GFC where the entire side panel lifts open is my point. Or is removable all together.

 

I assume that you‘re joking about copying designs. I don‘t think that anyone is copying someones design, regardless of these two manufactureres. That design or concept has been around for a very long time, at least here in Europe. It always surprised me that no American manufacturer has picked up on that design/concept earlier.

 

I'm not necessarily a fan of their marketing or path to release but they both a proven track record and experience with almost every camper on the market. I've seen a V1 in person and liked the execution of the concept much better on that than the GFC photos I have seen.

You can knock their marketing all you want but at least we've actually seen a completed V2 camper - I don't think GFC has actually posted a photo of a finished model yet have they?

I guess it depends on how you define accessible. The GFC has the aluminum tubing down the sides of it which means you can't fit anything bulky and be able to access it from the sides. For me, at least, that's a total non-starter as I have hard cases that I need to be able to access and remove on the sides but I realize that's my problem - not necessarily anyone elses but I think it hardly makes it more accessible.

 

yes i was joking. Thats why there was a laughing face after it..

You can get a hell of a lot more stuff out of the sides of the GFC then you can out of a dinky windoor..

 

My thoughts are more to do with disturbing the bedding vs the second person sleeping there. I'm 6ft tall, so I need about 80" of bed to be comfortable. Add to that the wedge shape at the far end, meaning probably 7-8" of room that my head can't fit into, and I'll need the full 90" bed length. So in order to get out, I'd have to move my comforter, then remove a cushion and set it aside somewhere to slip down through the opening. I would rather not have to do that.

Further, with GFC's cushions, I'd have to use their own mattress covers (very thankful that will be an option!), but with a bed that doesn't have to be disturbed, I'd have a hundred times more options to tailor the mattress, sheets, covers, etc. to my own wants and needs.

 

Yeah, I don't quite understand the reluctance to share info either. I would have been more interested if there were more details available. DoorDing made an effort in Iggy's thread to elicit some broad strokes - but was not well received.

I genuinely hope there is enough of a market for both the be successful. Based on the very early looks of both of them, I could see the Iggy camper being a better fit for people who are looking for a full time camper, with built out interiors, on board water, etc. while the GFC may be better suited to a jack of all trades like myself who might spend a week camping and climbing in the high desert, and then need to drive my truck to work on Monday. I then might need to haul sheets of drywall the next weekend for a house project, throw my mountain bike in the bed to meet a buddy for a ride on Sunday, or even do something as boring as go to Costco.

Strongly agree with Blackdawg - the side openings on the GFC look plenty big to me. Trying to load anything much bigger up and over the bedside is asking to throw my back out or scratch the shit out of my paint anyways. I enjoy going woodcutting each summer:


and think I should be able to load the front of the bed just fine through the GFC side opening.

 

I guess - as long as it's perfectly centered on the side of the bed and wasn't very tall or long.

Here is one of the V1 campers "dinky windoors" - that looks far more accessible to me. Now, of course, I don't know if this will be an option on the V2 but I think it's a safe assumption that it will be.

I don't want to take too much away from this thread - I think the GFC camper looks great but just wanted to give a different viewpoint.

 

It's all good because everyone will use it differently.

Myself, I'd skip on any fitted bedding and just sleep on top of the cushions either in a sleeping bag or old comforters bottom and top. That's just me.

I'm 6ft also, but my Wife is 5ft 6in. I'd have her sleep on the open side, if possible. I also like the full length coverage and configurable cushions for many personal reasons.

In the end, competition is good.

 

Absolutely. Options are good for everyone!

 

again id still bet the openign is bigger on the GFC then on of those. If i recall correctly, there is a beam right in the middle of the bed that is at the seam of the doors.

An we shall see what they use! If its fully opening sides like that then probably not a huge difference. if they do the habitat doors..its dumb imo haha

 

My guess is they have been working on the product and tweaking designs (hence why they are on V2). They also may have a smaller team. Either way I don't hold that against them. They will not have trouble selling their product, so the few customers they may have lost thus far are not going to determine their success in the long run

Several people have asked for more interior photos. GFC is still lacking on this in my opinion. They did a good job marketing and hired a professional photographer to make everything pretty. They are winning the marketing battle for sure.

With that said, both are similar designs, but they were made for various different reasons. Personally, I like the design of Iggy's better due to a few reasons. I can see people liking GFC better for a few reasons.

 

hard to compare either to each other when one literally officially launched last night.

 

There should be a comparison, pro/con, thread. It will be interesting to see. Please post a link when/where it is created. I'm on the sideline just watching since I have a camper but I do appreciate competition in the marketplace. U.S. jobs aren't a bad thing either so wishing both companies lots of luck.

 

+1.

Thorough comparisons, and civil discussion of pros/cons will help potential buyers make the right choice for their needs, which will lead to happier customers of both products, and be better for the manufacturers in the long run.

 

I think the coolest thing will be seeing the internal storage/living solutions people come up with now that there are now two similar and affordable campers out there.

 

Me too! I kick things around in my head as to what I'd do. It'll probably be at least this time next year before I pull the trigger on getting one, so hopefully there will be some cool build threads in the meantime!

I also saw an interesting video you YouTube about building cabinets for a camper van using 1" foam board (search youtube for
Improvements on Building Foam Cabinets for Camper Van) which may be a viable way to build some of the things I'd want to build, and keep it really lightweight.

 

Does the GFC have provision for easily pulling the rear window down from inside, without touching the outside? When I camped in DV a few weeks ago ... inside my short bed with a hard shell, which I rarely do and hadn’t done in the cold for a long time ... I realized that there’s nothing to grip on the inside of the window. For some reason the inside safety release knob is very smooth, and the interior trim across the bottom is not grip-friendly by shape, material, or strength, so the only easy way to close the window is to grab it underneath with fingers on the outside edge. And after driving on snow/mud/dirt for 500 miles that wasn’t very pleasant. I’ll add some strap to mine somewhere, but just wondering if this is another area where the GFC gurus have already thought of something brilliant.