Wedge Life

Has anyone replaced the struts on a Vagabond Drifter? Vagabond is impossible to get a hold of for information.

TIA

 

I'd check McMaster Carr.

 

Check over on Expedition Portal under Pop-Up Campers. There is a thread there on the VO Drifter. I bet someone has the answer already.

 

Check this post for the roof struts. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-drifter-specs-and-faq.540826/page-246#post-24784441

Are you looking for the rear window struts?

 

Bought a Hest. Love the Hest. Hest is now having a 25% off sale for July 4th.

My timing is terrible. I'm considering returning it so I can buy a new one at 25% off

 

How are the Hest mattresses in cold weather?

 

My two reviews:
Feb 18, 2022:
Hest mattress review.
the short of it: if you camp in the cold and don’t have a heater or electric blanket, you may be a hit bummed out about the mattress.

I wake up several times a night with chilled spots on my back, legs and feet that are against the mattress. I’ve been camping in the low 20s (F) and been experiencing this. I bet above 40 or 50 degrees the mattress would be perfect.

I run warm and have a very high quality down bag rated to 20*F comfort (not like most bags that are rated to 20*F as the “survival” or “extreme” rating).

Next time I head out in the cold, I’ll bringing a cotton blanket or moving blanket to add a layer of quilted insulation between the mattress, sheets and my down mummy bag to see if that solves the cold spot issue without ruining the comfort of the Hest.
If you don’t camp in the cold or have a heater, you probably won’t have the issue I’m experiencing.


july 24, 2022:
Warmer weather Hest Mattress #2:
I went out to save some friends riding mountain bikes on the Colorado Trail Friday night/Saturday and slept in ~40 degrees.

I slept diagonal since I was solo in the drifter and definitely noticed the seam down the middle, contrary to what Badassbrunette (Cristin) claimed in her early video review.

Also, in the morning as the sun was out and things were heating up (probably 60-70 degrees inside the drifter), I was laying on my side and it the foam was feeling a bit soft like I was fully compressing it against the bed platform. Time will tell as I get out again soon if the Hest isn't good for a ~150lb side sleeper that gets hip aching without proper support.

I may swap between the Hest in the wintertime for the support in cold (but need to solve the chill issue) and the Exped Megamat LW+ in the hotter weather (and be bummed about the difficulty of folding the mattress up to open up the full truck bed area).

 

I can't imagine it's worse insulation wise than the stock VO one. I picked up a portable diesel heater for cold weather camping too so TBD.

We've only slept one night on the Hest in our living room to see if we liked it. I'm generally a back sleeper but need to sleep on my side more because of some ongoing back problems so I'm hoping the softer mattress will encourage it. My wife is a side sleeper with almost all of her thoracic spine fused, so finding the right mattress is super important. Anyway, so far it seems promising and at least a huge improvement over the stock VO mattress. Neither of us noticed the seam down the middle at all. I did get the fitted sheet for it so maybe that helps hold it together better?

This is the 4th mattress we've had, 2 other memory foams and one sea to summit self inflating mattress. They've all had issues but I'm hoping this one works out for us. They've got a 100 day money-back guarantee so if we hate it we'll figure something else out I suppose.

 

Isn't the Hest a memory foam? If so I'd be concerned about low temps and the mattress being too firm.

 

It’s supposed to be half memory foam in some proprietary mix to be good in the cold.

 

The stock VO is also memory foam. I had a memory foam in my previous setup too and didn't hate it in the cold, but I don't typically spend a ton of time cold weather camping. We'll see! I might be tempted to try to attach my hammock under quilt under the platform to provide some additional insulation in the cold.

 

Good to know. I was looking at those after seeing them on here. Kind of a bummer they all have a seem down the middle. They say you don't feel it, but there's no way

 

It’s not terrible, but I’m not going to sugar coat it like some of the influencers.

 

Doing some more reading on them this morning, I think I might splurge for an Exped Megamat. Seems to be a real popular choice here on TW

 

I've had an Exped Megamat LW+ for a long time now. Probably close to 800 nights of sleep on one (camping and household use).

I like it. It's comfortable and adjustable and warm.

On really cold nights (20 and below) make sure to pump some extra air into it, or you will wake up in the early morning and it will be much softer than when you went to sleep.

My only two concerns with mine are that I may damage the inlet and outlet valves, based on their location, and how I climb up into my Canopy Camper. And if it loses the ability to hold air (damaged valves, small hole, etc.) I am in trouble.

I'm ~60 days away from living in my Tacoma full time, traveling far and wide, so having an air mattress that won't hold air is a larger concern for me than it may be for others.

My only negative experience had to do with the outer layer coming unglued from the internal foam core. This meant that any air I pumped into it would just get pumped into the bubble, causing it to get larger and larger. The location of the bubble coincided with where I slept the majority of those 800 nights, and it occurred after years and years of constant use.

REI warranted the mattress (thankfully I was under the 5 year warranty) and shipped me a new one for free, so that was a huge plus. It was an easy process.

I am always on the fence about making the switch to a Hest, a friend has one and it is certainly comfortable. I don't have to worry about it not holding air or damaging the valves or inflating it every night. But feeling a crack down the middle would be annoying. And I really love how easy it is to close my camper with the Exped deflated.

Decisions, decisions.

 

Yeah thats a good point about getting a hole. I suppose you could carry some sort of patch kit for a temporary fix.

How is it to deflate every morning and re-inflate every evening? Do you carry a small electric pump to top it off? Thats my only 'concern'. I definitely wont be using it full time, but planning a ~3 week trip to CO later this year. The factory foam mattress in my wedge isn't going to cut it for that long.

 

I don’t deflate my Exped when it’s in the Drifter… takes the same space as the Hest.

What bedding do you leave up there that would make it hard to close?

 

I have a repair kit, and have used it in the past with success. Plus I try not to keep sharp things up in my bed for this exact reason.

Deflation is a piece of cake. Pop the valve in 2 seconds and you're done. Inflating also isn't bad. Depending on temperature and how long the tent has been open, I may only need 20 pumps with the Exped hand pump they give you. The max is maybe 60 pumps, and you can probably do 2 pumps per second? So not too bad at all.

This will definitely last you a long time if you aren't using it all the time. It's a solid product.

 

I always deflate mine.

I don't have a lot of bedding. 3 pillows, two sheets, one fleece blanket, and a high quality down comforter is about as thick as we go. The fireplace gets lit if the temps outside are low enough to warrant additional bedding.

I mainly don't want to overstress the closing hinges, as vehicle/system preservation is one of my top level concerns. I aided a guy who was traveling the US who would close his Gen 3 AluCab RTT with a good bit of stuff inside. He said it was never a struggle, but the hinges were definitely loaded tightly. One of the pins sheared so he had to keep his tent closed with a ratchet strap until he could order and then find someone to help him.

I have (2) backup hinges from AluCab tucked away in my camper, but I still want to avoid unnecessary stress if I can.

But good to hear about you leaving yours inflated. I'll probably jump on the 25% off sale Hest is having, because they have that 100 day guarantee IIRC. If it doesn't work I can always return it.

 

That's what we figured as well. Minus the 25% of thing, annoyingly. We will have 6 nights on it in July, and then we will be doing ~3 weeks on it in August. I'll report back what our review is on it as well. At >$500, I hope it's very positive but if not, we'll return it and figure something else out.