We recently bought an Aliner Scout, a hard-sided popup camper. We´ve been looking for ways to find tranquil moments, and this turned out to be our solution. Simplicity and convenience are really important to us, and our tow vehicle is a near-vintage Honda Element with a low tow weight limit, so camper weight was also a critical consideration.
Photo of an Aliner Scout triangular pop-up camper in woods
showing a blue rug outside the door, hiking sticks to the left of
theair conditioner, a love seat to the left of the camper, and a
picnic table further left. There´s a fire ring in front of the
picnic table.
In the previous post about our new Scout, I wrote about our first overnight in the camper, and our long trip home from the dealer.
This post discusses why we chose the camper we did, and how we keep the weight down for towing.
We bought an Aliner for several reasons: Firstly, we wanted a smaller camper, but we did not want canvas walls and the attendant mess and deterioration that comes with dealing with fabric on a vehicle.
Secondly, we wanted hard walls because we know that many campsites no longer allow fabric walls, due to concerns about bears and other critters having gotten wise to the food — of all kinds — found within.
Thirdly, we did not want to give up our beloved almost-vintage tow vehicle so we needed a very lightweight trailer. The Aliner fit the bill, and turned out to be exactly the camper we never knew we wamted. An Aliner can be towed by most modern cars — and more than a few older vehicles, like ours. Giant truck not required.
Also, and I cannot stress what a joy this is: the Aliner sets up in two minutes, tops. (Here´s a video posted by Hasspitality showing just how fast and easy it is.)
As a side note, the 8 foot apex means that standing up is easy; the bubble windows at each end make sitting comfortable, too, along with providing a great view.
Our Aliner is extremely light weight, but because our tow vehicle has that very low tow rating, it´s been important to keep the weight of both our baby SUV and our camper trailer low.
We did several things immediately to keep these weights down. I should note that, combined, we are oursleves well under the average weight of US residents, which matters when considering overall weight (vehicle and trailer) while towing.
Our Scout came with an air conditioner (which we may one day remove), but no other appliances. We deliberately chose to have no propane, no heater, no water storage, no stove, no fridge — and therefore no weight associated with any of these things.
We do have a battery which operates basic lights inside (and the built-in ceiling fan). The Aliner does come with water and electric hookups if we want to camp where those amenities are provided. (There are standard outlets in the camper for use when we access external electricity and water. And I should note that the Aliner is wired for Zamp solar, if we ever wanted to install it or carry portable panels. More weight, so that´s not a choice we´re making now.)
Our model did come with a sink — a very attractive sink, which everyone notes is far too small to be useful. It´s not worth the bother to remove it and it´s not metal, so it´s light enough that removing it wouldn´t appreciably lighten the trailer. We´ve left it in place so far. But I did remove the faucet, and, which incidentally, punched a hole in the curtain above it when we folded the roof, so beware if you have an Aliner with faucet!
Our Scout´s layout has a double bed at one end, and a sofa/dinette at the other. The sofa/dinette can be made into a second, single, bed, but we don´t ever intend to do that, so we removed the boards which make the transition possible. More weight (though not much) gone!
We travel with only the weight of linens (sheets, two duvets) and a few light items in the trailer itself. We carry our gear in our tow vehicle, packed in a half-dozen or so lightweight plastic bins, not heavy camping totes.
Most people would be able to leave much of the everyday camping gear in their Aliner when towing; we knew we would need to be a bit more extreme about weight due to our choice of tow vehicle.
Because there are just two of us, we took the back seats out of our little truck, which simultaneously reduced the weight, and gave us a big beautiful, unencumbered box for our gear.
The next post looks at tips for the Aliner specifically, and for the way we camp in our Scout.
Related:
Camping 1: We Buy an Aliner Scout
Camping 3: Aliner Scout Tips