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Thread: Working "up north" and living in RV. Doable?

  1. #1
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    Default Working "up north" and living in RV. Doable?

    Quick question for those of you who work in the field:

    I am going to be working out of the GP area for a year and a bit doing shift work before I head to Calgary and I was thinking about just buying a travel trailer or 5th wheel instead of renting a place. I know I wouldn't have an issue in the summer/fall months but how much difficulty am I looking at in the winter? Does anyone have any experience with winter "camping"?

    I figure if I make sure I have the water tanks heat taped and insulated, the belly insulated and double pane windows I should be fine. Thoughts?
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    Arctic Fox trailers are outfitted to withstand the elements. In fact, I know of a number of oilpatch workers who live in these bumper pull/5th wheel trailers during the winter months, that's what they're designed for.

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    I stayed in mine last year until around 0.. And it was friggin cold in the mornings! Mines not a winter version though.. But they dont hold heat at all. So the furnace kicks in steady.

    So I would assume it would take a ton of gas/power to keep one from freezing in the winter.. Septic/on board water needs to be kept thawed, heat the unit, and water lines.. etc..

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    Arrow

    The ones in Mcmurray by the airport are wrapped in insulation. It looks doable but you need to be well prepared.

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    Other issue is finding a place to park it. You'll need electricity at the bare minimum, since those tank heaters on the winter-ready units draw a lot of power.

    It's 100% do-able, but it's not as easy as some people think.
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    This might help:

    http://www.johnsankey.ca/rvwinter.html

    http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...g/24714766.cfm

    It is all doable, as above, you need to have your ducks in a row.
    Last edited by CanmoreOrLess; 01-14-2012 at 12:16 PM.

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    Pfft heat is easily obtainable.

    Fine nice looking lady. cuddle. end of story.

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    Originally posted by pea_soup
    Pfft heat is easily obtainable.

    Fine nice looking lady. cuddle. end of story.
    They are talking about up north here.. Pretty girls don't live in shitholes up there...most of them look like grizzly bears with the hair to match. I guess that would be good for keeping warm though

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    Originally posted by Type_S1


    They are talking about up north here.. Pretty girls don't live in shitholes up there...most of them look like grizzly bears with the hair to match. I guess that would be good for keeping warm though
    There's TONS of hot chicks! You just have to judge them on the "northern scale" hahaha
    ...

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    Originally posted by Maxx Mazda
    There's TONS of hot chicks! You just have to judge them on the "northern scale" hahaha
    ... the ones that used to be dudes are probably better looking

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    Definitely doable. as mentioned above youll need insulation, etc....

    Something to consider: i just heard second hand a while back that a driller for PD died in a camper fire. something about the heater, then the whole camper went up in a matter of minutes while he was sleeping.
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    OP youll still need to insulate the supply water hoses with heated covers.

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    No no you export one to the north with you.

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    Originally posted by broken_legs
    Definitely doable. as mentioned above youll need insulation, etc....
    Haha, I was gonna say, no need for a heater at all with some of those "chicks"! Most of em can cook a mean bannock though!

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    Originally posted by ExtraSlow
    Other issue is finding a place to park it. You'll need electricity at the bare minimum, since those tank heaters on the winter-ready units draw a lot of power.

    It's 100% do-able, but it's not as easy as some people think.
    I've been wanting to try a "winter camp". The furnace IS the biggest draw. I did an October trip and it was quite cold and wet. I was able to "dry camp", with the furnace pretty much going all day and night. My batteries (two 6 volt's in series) would last about 3 or 4 days.
    I'd then hook up the vehicle, run it for a couple of hours and good to go all over again.

    But of course, that wasn't -20 or -30 temps.

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    Aren't there trailers specifically designed for sub -20 temperatures? Everything is insulated already and the heaters are overkill
    ...

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    Using the vehcile to charge the batteries isn't a good long term solution. it's really inefficient. You'd want a generator if you were going to camp without a hookup. Could get a propane powered genset, which saves you the hassle of having two fuel supplies to keep track of. Some winter-ready units come with this feature.
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    Yeah, I'd like to get a good gen. But you're looking at a couple of grand for a good Honda or Yamaha. Definitely the way to go. They're so nice and quiet.

    When using the vehicle for charging, rather than just plugging in to the trailer, I turn the vehicle around, hook up a couple of heavy duty jumper cables directly to my RV batteries. Now I'm getting a full 14+ volts charging, instead of the 2 or 3 I get through the plug and built-in RV inverter.

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    I like all the comments thus far, they have definitely added some insight into my plan of action.

    I would be parking it at an RV park so I'm sure electricity wouldn't be an issue and I think that renting a big propane pig would be my best option.

    However everything I have read thus far seems to be just dealing with temperatures to -15 or so. But like Maxx Mazada said are there specific brands of trailers for -30ish temperatures? What brands do the snowmobilers here recommend?

    I was looking at housing the other day in GP and for the amount I'm actually going to be there its not looking very attractive.
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    Grab a cheap hotel room when you need to? If you are looking at working 15/6 or something like that and only expect to be in GP 2-3 days a shift or so, you might spend $600-800 on rooms a month. Probably still end up cheaper than the trailer scenario as a lot of RV places charge a premium price in oil and gas country.

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