Wedge Life

The Wedge Life is alive and well

@Sixthelement @PcBuilder14

_MG_3810 by Brent Prater, on Flickr

 

Congratulations on the new camper and appreciate the update, good to see where they are.

 

any photos from the inside?

 

The core construction is still the same.

• Hinges moved to the outside edge (vs my earlier one is about 3" in from the sides).
• Tent is slightly changed to have velcro at the top inside to attach the insulation kit
• Interior lights are slightly different and have dimmers (this has been the case for a few years now)
• Those that opt for a roof load get an interior L-shape bracket inside the lid at the front that connects to the outer hinges
• The inside corner electrical covers changed from an angled back brace to a more rectangular and parallel to the outside of the camper

Not much else. Phil and Iggy figured out the core Drifter from the beginning, so not much has changed, which is why I haven't swapped out/upgraded from mine to either #158 or #185, though I had even bought the #158 reservation and sold to the current owner and connected the now owner to the #185 reservation transfer.

It's in the family, but not mine. From the Expedition Portal forum thread and talking to Phil, there were I think 4 other installs last week. When we were there on Friday, there were about a half dozen more campers in the shop in various states of being complete, so more coming soon.

 

looks amazing! no wedge for me but would be down for some island adventures with you!

i started an island thread cause it can sure be hard to find an active group https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/victoria-van-isle-bs-thread.768507/

 

Joining the wedge life tomorrow if things get delivered on time!

https://shop.capit.com/products/capit-wedge-style-roof-top-tent?variant=40522852499623

 

Are you also a target or is it just us? We are in Sunset Hill in Ballard, Seattle, WA. We were broken into last November and had our Dometic fridge and about $3k worth of gear stolen. We were just broken into AGAIN last week, again stealing our Dometic fridge though not much else. Many explicatives followed this [pick your choice here].

To address last year's break in, we put up blackout shades so noone could look in, put in an auto-lock on the tailgate door, took out unlocked side cabinets and replaced with lockable Goosegear, got a stronger cable/bike lock combo to secure the fridge. We debated an alarm system and putting a bar across the window (we have a traditional Vagabond Drifter with a tailgate), but decided we thought what we did would be deterrent enough (naive? we feel like it now). We also reduced our deductible to $1k from $5k. I didn't think someone could fit a Dometic (45L) out of the window of the Drifter - they clearly can. And clearly we should have but in an alarm system or a bar across the glass. The several thousand dollar Goosegear installation is damaged. They had hardcore bolt cutters to get the fridge and a crowbar they used to open the Goosegear locked cabinets. F**kers. Our insurance (Pemco) says we'll lose our 'discount' if we file a claim. Not sure how much it's going to cost - depends on cost to fix GooseGear. And some of this is homeowners (Dometic fridge because it's not fixed to the truck) and some by car insurance (Goosegear was fixed to truck), so may involve multiple deductibles = not worth is and several more thousand out of pocket to fix. On the Vagabond Drifter the handles on the back glass is clearly a weak point from a security standpoint, unfortunately. I think our plans to leave Seattle may just have accelerated.

Anyway just know you are a target with your wedge camper, particularly in Seattle, even if your specific neighborhood is known not to be a higher crime area of the city. Unfortunately, we don't have a garage other than a tiny one in our old house that won't fit the truck so taking it off the street isn't an option.We are not going to put a f**king thing in the camper unless we are camping. So depressing, kind of defeats the purpose of having a wedge camper. Okay, enough of a rant. Hope you all are luckier than we are and thought we'd let you know about this.

 

Damn! Sorry to hear it! Thanks for the warning! Planning to do a Washington trip next summer will be more prepared because of your post. I hope insurance companies cover you and you don’t run into this again. Crazy time to be alive.

p.s. would a camera system or motion alarm like on a motorcycle have helped you deter them or with your insurance claim? I have motion sensitive spot lights pointed at my parking spot, still people come on windy nights and do everything short of triggering an alarm.

 

My sympathy goes out to you for this unfortunate situation. I try to look for the good in people, but sometimes you have to accept that there are a few folks who are just garbage...

Having a wedge camper like yourselves I've also had to resort to parking outside. Unfortunately, the design makes them vulnerable/visible. There are a few things I do to help minimize my risks for being a victim of theft. First, and perhaps most important, I try to keep the true nature of what I have to a bare minimum.

I started by keeping my build as basic as I could. Nothing to scream 'overlander'- just a plain shell with no extras. I'm sure I'm not fooling anyone who reads this forum, but most people just ask if it's some kind of work truck. To which I reply 'yep'

Also, I NEVER open it up near where I work or live. I take it to quiet parks to air out after my trips. I don't even load the cooler at home! Everything is thrown into the cab and loaded in/out off-site.

Finally, I park where I can see it from my bedroom window. At work it's in the back of the lot near all the street traffic. Paranoid?- yes, but I sleep better knowing I've done all I can to protect my valuables inside.

I'm not claiming you don't take these precautions(and more) yourselves and, obviously, you can't go back in time. Also, I don't live in Seattle and from what you're saying- this type of thing is normal there. Just stating what has worked for me thus far and maybe it can help others

 

Sorry to hear about theft! I had my dual sport moto stolen while I was up in WA in September. Thieves suck.


Something else that can help if the option exists, is to back the truck right up against a fence or building. No getting the tailgate down or opening the rear hatch that way, and even accessing the back window or pulling stuff out of it will be much more difficult if there is minimal space back there.


Unfortunately it could be you that is a target if both thefts occurred where you park at home. It isn't unusual for thieves to come back to the same location at a later time, anticipating that whatever they stole the first time will have been replaced with insurance money. At this point the best thing like you say is to not keep anything of value in the truck/camper while parked. Much of a pain that is, you may be able to redesign your system to make it modular and easy to pack in/out so that storing your stuff in the house is not a big deal.

 

Thanks for posting your thoughts - lots of good suggestions for protecting you camper. Here are some thoughts:

• We had a video camera during both thefts, cops don't do anything with it and so, well, it's not especially helpful here
• The only parking available is in front of our house, which is 12 stairs down which means that we can't readily see the vehicle from our house, agree that a well-lit spot with lights, camera would help
• Agree that a basic exterior would probably help. We have maxtrax and a roof box which probably screams 'overland vehicle with toys inside'
• Agree we are likely on some a**holes rotation now for crime now that they've had success. Last time, it was sloppier - the guy left a knife, tried to work the lock before figuring out how to remove the cable; this time, there was a crow bar and heavy duty cable cutters - could be the same jerk who got more prepared, who knows.
• Agree that backing the truck up to a wall/garage so you cannot get inside it is smart. We did that and go a ticket for blocking the sidewalk (yep, we get a ticket for this lame offense when there's no bandwidth put into catching thieves; one is a revenue stream....)
• Agree we are likely to be hit again so nothing goes in the truck unless we are taking it out. Blech

It all makes me depressed. I'm a WA native and lived in Seattle since 1988 and have, for the most part, enjoyed being here. It's terribly sad to see how the city has evolved, especially over the last few years. I hope it gets better. It makes me hanker for my small town roots. Perhaps I'm aging out.

 

@huruta as someone who recently moved to Seattle and someone who recently placed a deposit on a VD, this is incredibly upsetting to hear about. My sincere sympathies; the frustration is through the roof! Wishing you the best as you guys move on from this. I mean shoot, at this point, I might as well plan to park mine eventually with the gull doors open. Gutted for you guys. Have a nice holiday.

 

I built my wedge camper in one day using my Tyger rollup tonneau and some scrap plywood in my garage. Other than lacking a back door, and taking about 15 minutes to set up (which I could improve with some minor cleanup) it worked OK. Makes more sense for a 6’ bed though.

 

I remember doing something like that with my tonneau when my truck was brand new...cold nights in the desert.

 

Thanks Rannon! Lots of good suggestions for keeping your camper safe here, hopefully some will work for you!

 

Happy New Year Wedgies! Thought I would revive the wedge life.
Made some progress over the holidays for storage, it’s still a work in progress but it’s gettin there.

 

Hi! does this awesome little rain gutter trick work well for you? Thank you!

 

I have the same gutters on my Drifter and have lived in my camper fulltime in Seattle (with lots of rain) for months at a time. It’s important to close the gap between the front and side gutters because a lot of water runs down that corner.

Also, the steeper you can make the gutters the better, because the incline on which you might park offroad can dramatically lessen their angle. I have an access cab and have to run my gutters all the way to the back of the cab. But if I had a double cab I’d be tempted to try to dump the water between the front and rear doors, to keep my gutter angle sufficient.

 

A picture of what it looks like with the gutters overlapping at the corner. This still doesn’t catch all the runoff from the large roof area but it’s 1000% better than it was.