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practical stuff ... build-your-own links ... self-builders' blogs
Self-builders' blogs and websites
Brazilian Homemade Truck Camper - not a blog really but a posting by 'biugueits', on the Old Sparkey forum, about the camper built by himself and his wife. Sadly there is very little hard information but the photos, in spectacular South American locations, may offer ideas or inspiration to those contemplating a similar project.
BuildYourOwnCamper.html - Bob Wells' Build Your Own Camper page on the Cheap RV Living website. As you might expect from the website's name, Bob's camper was built to a very tight budget. Although it is not clear whether, or not, the camper is actually demountable, it is built on a pickup truck and so some of the design and construction ideas within it could be useful.
Collapsible Truck Camper - more than just demountable, this camper is fully collapsible! Compact and basic, Unicyclerider64's camper can be put together in just 13 minutes as his YouTube video demonstrates. It appears, from the comments thread, that he is also happy to provide plans to those that require them.
cragalaska.com - definitely not a demountable and certainly not to everyone's taste aesthetically, nonetheless the 'AK Camper' featured on this page of tips and pics may help would-be self-builders avoid some pitfalls and mistakes.
customtruckcamper.blogspot.com - subtitled "One Guy's Slide-in Truck Camper Project" Chris's blog gives a really comprehensive account of the 15-month build process from initial thoughts right through to near completion of his composite-panel camper. Very informative.
davestruckcamper.blogspot.com - Dave Howes' blog following his progress building a 'Budget Camper' from plans he bought from Robert Q. Riley (see 'self-build plans').
dicky-debuilder.blogspot.com - Dicky De'Builder blog described as being about "Demountable Camper Building - the construction of a budget camper for a Hilux pickup".
difflock.com
- an excellent and very informative series of postings by Handmade Matt, on the difflock.com forum, describing and illustrating the construction of a camper for his Mitsubishi L200. Inspired by the 'Vardo' (see Tumbleweed Tiny House Company on the self-build plans page), the result is certainly not your usual, run-of-the-mill demountable. Other postings in the thread, some critical, some merely concerned, are also well worth reading. The full story of the completed project is at www.HandmadeMatt.com.
DKG's truck camper - part blog, part forum discussion, this and subsequent pages on the Team-BHP website follow DKG's construction of an all-aluminium demountable for his Tata flatbed pickup. It's an interesting construction and his decision to use pneumatic jacks is certainly unusual and worth looking at.
hackneys.com - Douglas and Stephanie Hackney's "Basecamp Expedition Vehicle (BEV) Project" involved fixing a Bigfoot (see Canadian manufacturers) demountable camper on a Mitsubishi flatbed truck. They describe the process in some detail but in language which is bizarrely business-oriented (lots of talk of concepts, missions, goals, parameters, and so on) and euphemistic ("integrated self-recovery/extraction capability" means it's got a winch!).
Heifer Boy - not actually a blog but a very long thread on the Expedition Portal forum in which the delightfully-named Heifer Boy describes building his camper box, an Australian-style demountable camper unit. Unlike many of the blogs on this page, it stands out because Heifer Boy's posts are so extensive and technically detailed and include his mistakes, experiments, musings and ultimately his successes. Highly recommended reading for anybody contemplating building any kind of camper.
homebuilt-trkcamper.blogspot.com - Dan Rogers' detailed blog follows the process of building his Acapulco camper from plans purchased from Glen-L (see 'self-build plans').
Homemade-Truck-Camper-Club
- the Homemade Truck Camper Club is a Facebook community, established around the end of 2013 I think, describing itself as "a world-wide club for those who want to build their own truck campers" and illustrated by photos from some who have done so.
hookedupfilms.com - fly fishermen and amateur filmakers Eric and Mitch recount in 12 episodes and some detail the building of their innovative carbon-fibre, rising-roof camper known variously as the 'HUF Adventure Vehicle', 'HUF Camper' and 'Titan Expedition Vehicle'. Very nice!
ig-synchro16.de - a forum thread rather than a blog but, if you're thinking of building a demountable with an elevating roof, there's a mass of ideas and inspiration in the photographs of Volkmar's camper and, if your German is good enough, there's probably a load of information in the text as well. A very nice job - it certainly shows the advantages of starting with a professionally-built shell if you can afford it.
landroverdemountablecamper.blogspot.com - Marty Kennedy's blog consists, at the moment, of only one post but it's a lengthy one in which he describes and illustrates the construction of his timber and ply demountable camper for his Land Rover 110. It includes some useful detail and he makes it sound so simple!
lightweightcamper.blogspot.com - Will Jansen's blog is now a long way out of date - it was all written in 2005/6 and hasn't been updated since then - but his photos illustrate an unusual approach to the design and construction of a demountable camper. Sadly the blog lacks any useful, technical details, although it does promote Will's book in which they are apparently available.
mobilerik.com - there's a lot of interesting stuff on Mobile Rik's blog/website which may have relevance and value to self-builders. In particular, although his camper is not actually a demountable, his thoughts and ideas on his own home-built project could well be useful. His eventual intention is obviously to sell the plans in book form but, for a limited time, you can download them (as a .pdf file) for free.
Mon Camping Car - a French site from someone who has built their own demountable from scratch. Includes a lot of details, diagrams, etc. and a free download of a 23-page .pdf file (tιlιcharger le dossier) on construction of motorcaravan (and demountable) bodies.
notesfromavagabond.com - I couldn't find the name of the vagabond in question though his partner, Carla (aka Honey-babe!), does get a mention. Anyway, Carla's bloke apparently built the aluminium-framed, pop-top demountable in which they are currently travelling and this page of his blog is about the process. As is often the case, there is a shortage of hard and detailed facts but he does engage in some interesting, reflective questions and answers.
Pods8 - another long thread (35 pages so far!), on the excellent Expedition Portal forum, following in detail the construction of Pods8's foam core pop-top camper. It's an impressive piece of work and Pods8's posts contains loads of really useful information on materials and process. There is a separate thread (another 14 pages!) on the camper's design here.
poptopcamper.freehostia.com - an interesting but anonymous two-page (so far) website describing the construction and upgrading of a solid-sided, pop-top demountable camper. There's an album of additional, detailed pictures here on Photobucket.
puppycuts.ca/little-camper - 'Our Little Camper', an old web page (2003) with pictures and some details about an even older (early 1980s) camper home-built by Larry and Pam Messaros.
rolloffcamper.com - one of Dennis Sattler's somewhat confusing collection of websites (he seems to collect www domains). This one is about his 'roll-off camper'. It's demountable by virtue of his own 'Synchro-Link' system (see odds, sods and blogs) which looks considerably more sophisticated than the rest of the camper. Each to their own.
scraggs999's photostream - sadly there is no written information to accompany them but Scraggs999 has posted a sequence of excellent photographs on Flickr describing the construction of a ply-clad, pop-top demountable for his Ford Ranger. Unfortunately the pictures end before the project is completed.
slidecamper.com - Richard Ziewiec is not only building what looks like a beautifully made and detailed camper, but is also producing a stylish and informative blog on the process. Although based on a set of plans from Glen-L (see self-build plans), Richard has made a number of significant changes to the design. The result is a unique, bespoke camper. The blog is unusual in that, unlike many on this page, it is current and on-going. It's one to follow.
thesupercamper.blogspot.com - The Super Camper blog describes itself as being about "the trials and tribulations of building a camper from scratch". Although it's not specifically a demountable it contains some interesting material. Having said that, it also devotes quite a lot of space to the builder, his partner (who writes the blog) and their travels.
tinyhousetalk.com - link to a page on Alex Pino's Tiny House Talk website on which he features the 'NapCamper', a "custom built truck bed micro camper that fits Toyota Tacoma". Although the page lacks detail, the camper itself, which was originally built by a boat-builder more than twenty years ago, may offer ideas to prospective self-builders. The clerestory windows are a particularly neat way to gain both standing room and daylight.
Turbothrush's foam and fibreglass camper - a thread on the ecomodder.com website, begun by someone calling themselves Turbothrush, in which he describes his plans to build a lightweight and streamlined foam and fibreglass camper. His primary comcern, like everyone else on EcoModder, is to maximise the camper's aerodynamics and minimise its fuel consumption. Interesting stuff but a frustratingly incomplete story.
washburnemarine.com - there is very little information or detail on this 'Shelters' page of Randel Washburne's website but, if you scroll down to "The Tacoma Camper" at the bottom of the page, you'll find pictures and a short desciption of Randels's really interesting approach to building a rising roof camper - in two versions. They're obviously good enough for use in sub-zero temperatures.
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