Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Heads up - If anyone is needs or wants a 5lb propane tank for their build, Amazon currently has the 5# Flame King ones for $38.50 which is by far the lowest price I have ever seen for one. Get while the getting is good.

 

Those ones are chunky. I use the Worthington 6# bottle + the Bruteforce mount to keep it skinny.

It is a hell of a lot more expensive though, so the 5# bottles for $38 is a steal

 

how long ya talking? My wife and I have “lived” out of ours for a few weeks at a time. Ol Brian ( @danneskjold ) was full timing it in his until he went full size.
His interior set up and ours are pretty similar, and similar to a lot of other that have done full builds. Probably the biggest difference in space between ours and others are we chose to not have a “full” bench on the drivers side to give more space to move around. Apparently I don’t have a recent photo of how it’s set up normally. Below is a not great photo of what I refer to as “Hunker down mode.” The box that is on the side with a drawer and hiking our toilet and a front runner box, normally rides between the benches up where the Alu box is currently. The alu box is our step normally and holds our dry food and cook stuff. For winter I move the box to on top of the right bench and that allows us to slide the skybox to the front. The floor section gets moved up and placed on the rails to maintain a front bench seat. All that allows us to pop the top and do everything inside the camper if needed. Hope that all makes sense typing on my phone lol

that’s a steal!



Edit* now that I see this on my computer, that's a shitty photo lol ill get a better one

 

Nicee I dig your set up
I see what you mean where it’s one large bench on one side, I feel like that’d be the least claustrophobic set up

I’m thinking of months at a time

Do you think a DCSB would be too tight even if it’s just my dog and I?

 

What do you use for heat in winter camping? I didn't see anything in photo.

 

Take a look at Blake's set up in the quote above. He did basically the same layout as I did except in a short bed and it worked well for him. The build that Brian had in his short bed when he was full timing it was a little closer in layout to the Vagabond interior offering from Goose Gear. It has a little skinnier Isle way. I don't think either set up would be too tight for you and your pup. If you decide you want a standing height portion on one bench you could move it to the front/LH corner, that way your doggo could hop up on the bed when its collapsed. That's one benefit of the Short bed drifter is you have a little more space in the overhang area when the bed is collapsed than you do in a long bed.

Ultimately you just have to figure out what you're going to be using it for and build your set up to suit your needs. A lot of people are only running one bench and keep 2/3's of the bed open.

Depends on where we are. Most of the time we use a little Mr Heater buddy hooked up to a 5# tank. it doesn't seem to have as much problems with freezing in super cold temps as the little green bottles do.

That photo is camped out at our local ski resort. They have put a stop to camping in the parking lot unless you are in the "RV" lot which has electrical hook ups, so when we are staying there to shred we take advantage of the power and have a kick ass little electric heater that runs full time on a thermostat. Keeps it toasty in there.

To date, regardless of heat source I seem to wake up hot when we are snow camping

 

Like @Eazy.E said, this setup worked great for the roommate and myself.
We didn’t live in it, but it was very comfortable on trips. having the extra space in the middle to move around was great.

 

Thanks. Ordered one and got it today.

 

Vancafe has Propex HS2211 heaters back in stock and I just ordered one today. Can anyone speak to how much propane they use in a Drifter overnight at freezing temps? I am trying to decide what lb tank to get. I like the 6 lb mentioned above but dang it's expensive!! I also found a taller, thinner 11 lb tank as well. I would most likely never be out for more than 5 or 6 nights but would use the propane for cooking as well as heating the Nomad up to at least 60 for my wife at night and even warmer for morning coffee in colder weather.

 

It depends. If you don't recirculate like a dumbass, and you'll get about 14-18hrs of burn time depending on how soon the tank freezes up. The heater is 6,500 BTU which consumes about 150g/hr. or .33lbs (do the math for an 11lbs tank). also your tank is never exactly at full capacity. +/- 5-10%.

If you recirculate, then you'll probably get 5-6 nights worth + cooking on the 6lbs tank.

 

Do any of you have l-track on the side of your drifter above or below a front runner window? Can you show us your pic? Looking for flexibility in tie-ing out the dogs at camp and hanging a garbage can. Makes us nervous to think of drilling into the side, but considering it for function.

 

I have brackets made for the Frontrunner doors themselves. I’ll be selling them soon on my website. I’ll get some pics to you soon if your interested. They can mount traction boards, axes, shovels, etc...

 

Expedition essentials makes a great mount that supports a 5# or 10# tank.

don’t be scared, their just holes

 

recirculating with a propex? Why do I feel like I haven’t heard that discussed before?

 

Pics would be great! Thanks for putting your creative energy into this.

Fortunately, it's not the pee-your-pants kind of scared.

 

jokes make things.. lighter

 

I finally decided on all the additions.

-Drive side windoor
-Fan
-Pre-wire for solar
-L-track up top

Now just another 9 months of waiting

 

Better rethink your choices...It will help you pass the time haha I think I have reconfigured my build every which way possible. 95% positive on my choice right now and I still have 6 months.

 

if you don’t go through another change of heart on a shell or try to sell your truck, again

but congrats! Jealous!

 

Haha I will always be flipping shells, it's just too fun and easy. And there's someone actually coming down to look at the truck! If it sells, I'll be getting another truck the Vagabond fits on too. Just want to start a new build.