After ending a very brisk 7 months of sales with our Class A motor home accessory product line and having launched the new Camping Mattresses, it is finally time to turn my attention back to my off Road Trailers. Early in 2014 I had set up both a Tracker and a Base Camp on the grounds of my shop to expose them to the elements, long term. Of course the publicity from being on a very busy street in Cucamonga didn’t hurt at all.
Anyhow, it was time to do a real test on the trailers and tents in the variable weather conditions that comes with Southern California. If I wasn’t using one out of town on weekends they were being weather tested here. In short, the structures themselves are pretty much bullet proof being constructed with steel tubing and honey comb aluminum that are fused together with urethane adhesive-sealants. No sticks. No staples. No plywood and cardboard.
People frequently questioned the wisdom of placing these trailers open to the public with the galleys fully extended. My thought was that if the street people use them after dark, well, good for them, and what a great way to see how they hold up to random abuse.
Finally, the Santa Ana Winds hit. Military spec for wind and rain for tents require 2 inches of rain per hour and 55 mph wind load. My goal for wind load is 55 mph with the vestibule deployed and then, with the vestibule annex room in place for it to be livable in the most rugged wind and rain conditions SoCal can bring on.
The Base Camp held up remarkably well and I don’t doubt that it could withstand 90 mph wind which is what this city calls out for wind loads on buildings. While the Base Camp did do well, the vestibule collapsed at around 45-50 mph based on readings from Wunderground.com. We watched it, repositioned the poles and ballasts as we could and observed the behavior of the fabric in the destructive winds. All the while running back to Wunderground.com to observe readings from the Cajon Pass down to KONT.
The Tracker didn’t do so well, and I was chastised by a couple employees for having made a hasty design change with the bimini frame just before a recent outing. “I told you so” can sting a bit. But a tree without bark isn’t a tree and duck that can’t handle the water is, well, something else. In short, the fabric on the Tracker was a complete disaster.
The attached photos are of the new and improved Tracker bimini frames. We will completely build out an enclosure for the annex room this time. Set up time will be under 18 minutes, which is how long it took to set up the Tracker with the old frame work.
Anyhow, it was time to do a real test on the trailers and tents in the variable weather conditions that comes with Southern California. If I wasn’t using one out of town on weekends they were being weather tested here. In short, the structures themselves are pretty much bullet proof being constructed with steel tubing and honey comb aluminum that are fused together with urethane adhesive-sealants. No sticks. No staples. No plywood and cardboard.
People frequently questioned the wisdom of placing these trailers open to the public with the galleys fully extended. My thought was that if the street people use them after dark, well, good for them, and what a great way to see how they hold up to random abuse.
Finally, the Santa Ana Winds hit. Military spec for wind and rain for tents require 2 inches of rain per hour and 55 mph wind load. My goal for wind load is 55 mph with the vestibule deployed and then, with the vestibule annex room in place for it to be livable in the most rugged wind and rain conditions SoCal can bring on.
The Base Camp held up remarkably well and I don’t doubt that it could withstand 90 mph wind which is what this city calls out for wind loads on buildings. While the Base Camp did do well, the vestibule collapsed at around 45-50 mph based on readings from Wunderground.com. We watched it, repositioned the poles and ballasts as we could and observed the behavior of the fabric in the destructive winds. All the while running back to Wunderground.com to observe readings from the Cajon Pass down to KONT.
The Tracker didn’t do so well, and I was chastised by a couple employees for having made a hasty design change with the bimini frame just before a recent outing. “I told you so” can sting a bit. But a tree without bark isn’t a tree and duck that can’t handle the water is, well, something else. In short, the fabric on the Tracker was a complete disaster.
The attached photos are of the new and improved Tracker bimini frames. We will completely build out an enclosure for the annex room this time. Set up time will be under 18 minutes, which is how long it took to set up the Tracker with the old frame work.
