Ray and Susan Huff

We've had good results, as well as bad, with 3-way absorption RV fridges. Our first experience was with an older (2013) two door 7-cu ft Dometic in a 30 ft 5th-wheel. It did not have electronic controls; temp selector was a slide on the side of the cooling fins. We had no problems with it, whatsoever and it kept proper temp well. Experience #2: a 6 cu ft two door Dometic 3-way in a 25 ft. Leisure Travel Van. It struggled to maintain safe temps and most always had to be set on the coldest setting. It's possible the poor efficiency was the result of the installation; also, the fridge had plastic slotted shelves that didn't allow air to circulate well, which made it struggle to keep cool. At any rate, I hated that fridge 😠 Along comes Norcold: The Norcold in our 2021 Elite II has been great, thus far. We run mostly on propane, especially when traveling in warmer climates. Though smaller than the previous 6 cu ft fridge, it seems to have more capacity because of the shelving configuration. Also, the integrated freezer holds much more than the separate door freezer compartment in the LTV fridge. We are very happy with the Norcold.

I just checked . . . . I had the year wrong. It is a 2005 I don't know about back in 2005, but now they are built in Canada. https://mortonsonthemove.com/bigfoot-camper/

Our cousin just purchased a 2008 Barefoot - the small model. While it is a fiberglass hull, the interior has many wood components, including the floor. The dealer they purchased theirs from had to replace the floor in the rear which had rotted as the result of water damage from a leaking rear window; owners apparently didn't maintain it well. $8,000 repair. Yes, the bathroom is a good size for such a small trailer, as is the large, two door fridge. No AC (probably an option) but it has a skylight. Windows are not dual pane (maybe another option?). What disappointed me was the quality of the interior. The drawers seem like they do no have slides; they just pull out of a hole. Perhaps there has been some interior improvement in newer versions.

We use split foam pipe insulation for a lot of things. I have a couple of short chunks in the upper drawer under the stove. First, it acts as a wedge to keep the utensil trays from sliding around, since they don't perfectly fill the width/length of the drawer. Second, I place the foam with the slit facing up and use it as a knife holder. I also use a small piece of the foam insulation to prop the freezer door open when the fridge is first turned off for storage.

I see that @Mike and Carolinstalled the magnet vertically. Wondering if anyone has theirs mounted horizontally on the bottom frame of the door. Which is best?

How did that get in there?

I didn't see that . . . . . but we rarely use AC, so have no reason to condemn Dometic for that 😇 Edit: I just checked the Cortes Camper specs on their webpage and it lists the AC as a Furrion.

OK . . . . are you going to let us in on this?

I find the blue exterior a bit garish . . . . my opinon. I like that they don't use Dometic appliances 😇, but not sure I'd like a 12v only fridge.

Would it be better to anchor the strap to the trailer tongue, not the jack? Just thinking out loud 😊

New thoughts on rugs after 6 months in our Elite II Twin: I tried the aforementioned 4 throw rugs from our previous RV, which was a class B+ van. Because of the layout of the floor, 4 separate small rugs (19.5x 35") were necessary. Theoretically, these should work in our Elite II. However, with the single run of floor from front to back, they are not ideal. I found I was always tripping on them. I liked the pattern/color, and luckily found the same in a 24" x 8ft runner, which covers from the outside of the shower to the end of the galley. We still used the two of the matching smaller rugs between the beds. However, the 2ft width does not cover the edge of the flooring where it laps over the fiberglass hull. Consequently we were dealing with trying to keep the little "gutter" along the flooring edges where dirt collects and is difficult to sweep out, a problem posted by others elsewhere. My solution has been to swap the 24" x 8ft runner for a 26" x 10ft runner we have in our hallway. The length reaches into the bed area, but that's ok since I knit a nice wool rug from Pendleton selvedges that perfectly fits between the beds. I laid it over the two feet of runner than extends into the bedroom, which also helps prevent the wool rug from sliding. We haven't camped with this setup yet, but I really like the way the "new" runner looks. It coordinates well with the Bohemian stripe pillows and matches the color of the flooring, hard to remove dirt is hidden by the rug, and the Ollie's "old" rug looks great in our hallway 😀 😀

Totally off subject, but my grandma's kitchen smelled of boiled coffee and burnt toast, along with the sounds of her scraping her toast into the sink, the clinking of the spoon in her cup, and the sound as she sipped the steaming hot coffee from the spoon. I loved Grandma's house ❤️

Pretty much our story . . . . . I too was discouraged to read stories of quality control issues - cupboards detaching from the walls, appliances falling out of the cabinet, loose rivets - all the result of negligence on Air Stream's part; totally unacceptable in a $100K+ trailer. Since becoming part of the Thor family, Air Stream seems to have become just another mass produced RV; beautiful to behold, but certainly no longer the icon of quality and luxury it was in the past. We are extremely happy with our Oliver. Though the Oliver interior does not have the AS feel, it does attract attention for its uniqueness, functionality and easy care. More importantly it fits our style of camping where an Air Stream does not; we are by no means what you would call "Glampers" and spending time on a high maintenance trailer would take a big chunk out of our quality outdoor time. Regardless, I still admire those beautiful Air Streams when we meet one on the road.

I still notice the fiberglass smell when I first step into our Elite II (purchased December 2020) after it has been closed up a while, but it goes away with ventilation. I don't find the smell offensive like the smell in a new stick built RV; that smell I attribute to the off-gassing of various interior materials such as carpet, upholstery, paneling, adhesive, etc. I call the fiberglass odor the "New Oliver" smell. We keep the trailer ventilated when possible (windows and door open). I expect the smell to diminish at which time I will be looking for a "New Oliver" air freshener. The fiberglass smell actually takes me back to my childhood and Dad's workshop where he was either refinishing a wooden boat, or building a new one. Funny how certain smells can bring back memories 😍

Our service center of choice, though a 2 1/2 hr drive away, has always served us well and promptly in our 7 months of Oliver ownership, even though they are also a dealer. That being said, they have since been bought by Camping World, but we still receive the same respect. They always comment on how great Oliver Trailers are.

Hook side is what I meant by "loop" side. . . . . probably not the correct terminology. You definitely don't want to sew adhesive backed Velcro; at least not with your favorite sewing machine. The adhesive will gum up the workings under the throat plate. We have a little hand sewer called The Speedy Stitcher that works well for small projects, especially heavy fabrics and leather. I didn't know they still make these. Ours belonged to my dad; he bought it to make a sail for a small sailboat he built as well as to repair canvas covers and accessories on our houseboat and ski boat. It's not appropriately named; there's nothing speedy about it 😀, but it does the job. My husband used it to sew new zippers in his motorcycle saddle bags. A handy little tool.

I agree with not wanting to spend vacation time doing maintenance. For this reason we like to keep things as simple as possible. I think solar panels contribute more to camping enjoyment than they detract with necessary maintenance.

Isn't that plagiarism? 😁

I'm not sure there is much maintenance involved, other than cleaning the panels. Regarding the flexible panels: we had these on our 2017 Leisure Travel Van. We only had 2-100w units, and they struggled to keep the one flooded 12v battery topped off while parked for extended periods of time. Ours were Go Power; perhaps there are better brands available and/or the technology has improved since 2016. I just don't think the flexible panels are as efficient as the hard version. They are also more susceptible to UV damage. There is a reason they are less expensive than the Zamp rigid panels.

I agree . . . . you can always upgrade them later. Solar panels, like most technology, will come down in price as the market becomes more competitive. I think, just the fact that the solar panels will charge the batteries while you are on the road is worth a lot, since the house batteries don't get much charge from the TV. You should also ask Oliver, but whether or not you choose the solar option, I think they all come prewired for later solar installation, including the exterior solar connection. I don't believe this includes a controller for the rooftop prewire, but everything should be there for a future installation.

Hmmmm . . . . I've tried some of this we have on hand. But it was repurposed from our old RV. Maybe I need to give it a good washing with soap and water to restore the adhesive property. Can't hurt to try.

Do you know what the foam is called? Oops . . . . I just read your next post 😀

These are the things I wanted to hear, before trying the Velcro. We have a Canvas Back liner in the cargo area of our BMW X5, The Velcro on the liner itself is sewn on, but the other side (soft side) is stick on. Canvas Back intended for the Velcro loops on the liner to stick to the cargo area carpeting, but the loop material does not adhere to BMW or Mercedes carpet; this was also the case in our MB Sprinter based RV. Consequently, Canvas back has resolved this incompatibility by shipping the liners with the soft Velcro strips that are automotive grade, so they stick to the carpeting. I have not noticed the sticky side of the strips melting in the heat, and the interior of an SUV can get quite warm, with all the windows. Perhaps automotive self-stick Velcro has a more heat resistant adhesive. I suppose it would be easy to remove the cover from the dinette cushions and at least sew on the loop side of the Velcro. Might need to experiment and see how the adhesive holds up to the heat generated in the Oliver cabin.

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't think about applying the Velcro to the sides rather than the bottom of the cushions.

Thanks . . . . This is similar to what came with our 2021 Elite II (provided by Oliver) but I found the cushions still moved around quite a bit. I then tried the exact same matting as you mention and it is still not satisfactory. Do you have fabric upholstery or did you upgrade to Ultrafabric? I can see where this matting might secure the standard fabric cushions, as they are heavily textured. But with the slick Ultrafabric, we find the non-skid matting is not an ideal solution. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?