want to buy Bigfoot Researcher Looking for an Oliver!

[Connie W]

Hi,

I'm looking for safety, off- Grid capabilities in dispersed camping areas and a true 4-season trailer while researching the big hairy guys and gals in The Rockies! Is the Oliver the one for me? 

First things first: Yes, they are real, highly advanced and they are everywhere! I hear the Olivers are too! 😉

I host a live internet show that takes you on live investigations of Bigfoot, Strange Lights and Hauntings. This particular show, Project Creepy Hotspots, takes me into areas where I need safety, off-grid capabilities in dispersed camping areas and a true 4-season trailer. My show is BLUE ROCK TALK with Connie Willis, and you can hear me on the biggest night time syndicated talk show on the planet COAST TO COAST AM at least twice a month too!

Not sure I'll get everything I want but if you don't have a dream, how can you have a dream come true?

I'm also looking at Lance, Black Series and Kimberly.  Do you have any advice, questions or a vehicle for purchase with all the fixin's to help me on my journey to Creepy Hotspots?

I'm Listening,  Thanks!

~ Connie

 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Connie W

[John E Davies]

An LE1 might be fine, if it is big enough. The LE 2 is in NO way an offroad trailer. But perhaps it would be best if you tell us what that term actually means to you. If you are talking about going high up in the San Juans, for example, you need an offroad truck camper or Sportsmobile 4x4 or similar….non-trailer.

If this is not spam, Welcome to the forums.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[SeaDawg]

You may want to search and read posts by Raspy, who has owned both an Oliver, and a Black Series, and has moved on to yet another another Aussie designed trailer. He's a boulder crawler/serious off roader. And, a winter camper.

Off grid and off road are two different, though not mutually exclusive, terms. 

If I  were chasing Bigfoot in the Rockies, (which is not my cup of tea) on goat paths at altitude, I'd probably look for a smaller, more nimble single vehicle, personally. Maybe a popup truck camper, (like xp) ,  maybe a smaller 4 x 4 and a tent, with a heater and electric fence.

The Aussies have it all figured out, except for how to stay warm, much of the time. Folding tents and campers, rugged trailers with amazing suspension systems and hitches, etc.

I have no desire to drag my smaller Elite over boulders, though we've done it, a few times, over relatively short distances, with the inept assistance of Google maps in the early days.

 

[Mike and Carol]

We give honest opinions here!  If I was looking for true off-road capability I would look at the smaller Australian trailers.  Black Series and Kimberly fall in that category.  We’ve looked at Black Series and they are very capable.  There is a dealer in Salt Lake City (Shane at RVs of America) who sells them and Xplore, which is what former Oliver owner Raspy is going to - we spent a very informative day there with him.  He’s got a bunch of YouTube videos where they really put these trailers through some challenging off-road situations.  

We had another Oliver owner (Don Thompson) who also sold his Oliver for an Australian off-road trailer (Conquerer).  You could PM either of them for details on their experiences.  

Mike

[SeaDawg]

Thanks for that reminder, Mike. I'd forgotten about Don Thompson. 

Yes, we try to keep it honest and fair.

The reason you won't see a lot of serious  off road experience here, is twofold. Most of us don't go there. And, the Oliver is not built for boulder crawling, and river fording, imo.

It's a wonderful trailer, purpose built for off grid, but not serious off road. 

Ask me again, after another 14 seasons. It's a great little trailer. But, like I said before, I don't think it's designed for Bigfoot hunting.

[Connie W]

1 hour ago, John E Davies said:

An LE1 might be fine, if it is big enough. The LE 2 is in NO way an offroad trailer. But perhaps it would be best if you tell us what that term actually means to you. If you are talking about going high up in the San Juans, for example, you need an offroad truck camper or Sportsmobile 4x4 or similar….non-trailer.

If this is not spam, Welcome to the forums.

John Davies

Spokane WA

HI

not spam....  like to be off grid in dispersed camping.

[Connie W]

1 hour ago, SeaDawg said:

You may want to search and read posts by Raspy, who has owned both an Oliver, and a Black Series, and has moved on to yet another another Aussie designed trailer. He's a boulder crawler/serious off roader. And, a winter camper.

Off grid and off road are two different, though not mutually exclusive, terms. 

If I  were chasing Bigfoot in the Rockies, (which is not my cup of tea) on goat paths at altitude, I'd probably look for a smaller, more nimble single vehicle, personally. Maybe a popup truck camper, (like xp) ,  maybe a smaller 4 x 4 and a tent, with a heater and electric fence.

The Aussies have it all figured out, except for how to stay warm, much of the time. Folding tents and campers, rugged trailers with amazing suspension systems and hitches, etc.

I have no desire to drag my smaller Elite over boulders, though we've done it, a few times, over relatively short distances, with the inept assistance of Google maps in the early days.

 

HI

When you know they are real, and you want to be near them... you won't want to sleep in a tent.

NOt going over boulders. More-so off road...

 

Thanks for your help

[Connie W]

18 minutes ago, Mike and Carol said:

We give honest opinions here!  If I was looking for true off-road capability I would look at the smaller Australian trailers.  Black Series and Kimberly fall in that category.  We’ve looked at Black Series and they are very capable.  There is a dealer in Salt Lake City (Shane at RVs of America) who sells them and Xplore, which is what former Oliver owner Raspy is going to - we spent a very informative day there with him.  He’s got a bunch of YouTube videos where they really put these trailers through some challenging off-road situations.  

We had another Oliver owner (Don Thompson) who also sold his Oliver for an Australian off-road trailer (Conquerer).  You could PM either of them for details on their experiences.  

Mike

Thank you...

[Overland]

You guys are nuts - you can't track a Bigfoot with a trailer in tow, no matter how rugged it is.  You've got to go for a basecamp / chase vehicle combo.  So just concentrate on softroad capability for the trailer, and then kit out your tow vehicle for when you're on the hunt.  I'd recommend the Elite I and Mr. Davies' favorite Landcruiser.  

[Connie W]

12 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

Thanks for that reminder, Mike. I'd forgotten about Don Thompson. 

Yes, we try to keep it honest and fair.

The reason you won't see a lot of serious  off road experience here, is twofold. Most of us don't go there. And, the Oliver is not built for boulder crawling, and river fording, imo.

It's a wonderful trailer, purpose built for off grid, but not serious off road. 

Ask me again, after another 14 seasons. It's a great little trailer. But, like I said before, I don't think it's designed for Bigfoot hunting.

Have learned to now say OFF-GRID instead of OFF ROAD. Thanks!  🙂

[Connie W]

3 minutes ago, Overland said:

You guys are nuts - you can't track a Bigfoot with a trailer in tow, no matter how rugged it is.  You've got to go for a basecamp / chase vehicle combo.  So just concentrate on softroad capability for the trailer, and then kit out your tow vehicle for when you're on the hunt.  I'd recommend the Elite I and Mr. Davies' favorite Landcruiser.  

Don't have to hunt what comes to you.  🙂

[Mike and Carol]

8 minutes ago, Connie W said:

Have learned to now say OFF-GRID instead of OFF ROAD. Thanks!  🙂

Off-grid? Oliver is a great choice!  

We’ve been down gravel roads, dirt roads and just plain desert (think Quartzsite, AZ).  Oliver does fine in those situations.  Boulder crawling, not so much!   Mike

[Overland]

1 minute ago, Connie W said:

Don't have to hunt what comes to you.  🙂

Well then I'd definitely opt for a hard shell camper.  I'd guess that as far as the shell goes, Ollies are the toughest of the brands you've mentioned.  

[ChrisMI]

I would think a Bigfoot truck camper or travel trailer would be the appropriate shelter for this type of work…

[ScubaRx]

2 hours ago, Connie W said:

Don't have to hunt what comes to you.  🙂

I want to go on one of your treks...

 

[Connie W]

On 9/17/2021 at 4:08 PM, Mike and Carol said:

Off-grid? Oliver is a great choice!  

We’ve been down gravel roads, dirt roads and just plain desert (think Quartzsite, AZ).  Oliver does fine in those situations.  Boulder crawling, not so much!   Mike

Thank you Mike, I appreciate this info! 🙂

[Connie W]

On 9/17/2021 at 6:22 PM, ScubaRx said:

I want to go on one of your treks...

 

Its amazing. It will change your life....

[Connie W]

On 9/17/2021 at 4:08 PM, Mike and Carol said:

Off-grid? Oliver is a great choice!  

We’ve been down gravel roads, dirt roads and just plain desert (think Quartzsite, AZ).  Oliver does fine in those situations.  Boulder crawling, not so much!   Mike

These sure are hard to find!

[Connie W]

17 hours ago, Connie W said:

Thank you Mike, I appreciate this info! 🙂

I am looking at all your options, did you get the 4 season package or is that standard?    Do you have the wifi/cell options?

[Mike and Carol]

Olivers are 4 season without any special package.  Double hull, pipes and wiring between the hulls, heating duct between the hulls.

We got the cell booster but not the wifi booster.  Most campgrounds have saturated wifi so no sense boosting something that’s usually not useable anyway.  Our cell booster gives us an extra bar.  Since we don’t stay often at formal campgrounds with wifi we use our phones as hot spots and don’t have a high data requirement so our AT&T plan works well for us.  Mike

[Connie W]

5 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

Olivers are 4 season without any special package.  Double hull, pipes and wiring between the hulls, heating duct between the hulls.

We got the cell booster but not the wifi booster.  Most campgrounds have saturated wifi so no sense boosting something that’s usually not useable anyway.  Our cell booster gives us an extra bar.  Since we don’t stay often at formal campgrounds with wifi we use our phones as hot spots and don’t have a high data requirement so our AT&T plan works well for us.  Mike

Can the wifi booster be easily added?  What do you NOT have on your Oliver..?

[Zodd]

 

20 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

Since we don’t stay often at formal campgrounds with wifi we use our phones as hot spots

Can I jump in here and ask for a point of clarification? When this topic comes up it seems everyone talks about cell booster and wifi booster and I think the wifi booster gets only one aspect of it covered. The aspect everyone talks about is the ability to "boost" an existing wifi signal (aka the campgrounds wifi). However, my understanding is that the "wifi booster" is actually the Cradlepoint Wireless WAN which is much more then just connecting to the campgrounds wifi. True, it can connect to the campground wifi boosting it and then using the connected router to seamlessly provide an internet connection to all your devices. However, for me the real power comes in the ability to use the same cradle point WAN endpoint to pull connections from wireless networks (AT&T, Verizon, etc). It is unclear in the Ollies add-on package what type of Cradlepoint router comes with the install. I think this is where most people's comments of "using our phones as a hot spot" comes in. True, they play the same role assuming your phone can get a strong connection inside your Ollie. If it cannot people have mentioned this is where they just connect a MiMo antenna attached to the window to something like their Jetpack. Our Technomadia friends have a great run down on all this. This works as well.

However, my understanding of where the Cradlepoint Wireless WAN can be really powerful is 1) The omni-directional antenna mounted on the outside of the Ollie allowing for strong cell reception (less interference and stronger antenna then your cell phone alone). 2) The ability to have dual sims with cradlepoint so it can stream your connection through whatever provider has the strongest connection and doing all this without requiring you to change the Wifi endpoint your device(s) are connected to. 

Am I over stating what that add-on provides? Like I said their specs are not clear on what the actual hardware is that comes with that add-on so not clear if it is the version that allows dual SIMs. Even with a single SIM though the idea of an externally mounted strong omni-directional antenna for a cell single connection is a win over just using your cell phone. Good thread here. I think there are fair arguments about the cost versus waiting for something like Starlink to be viable or the complexity of this for the avg. person or the subscription cost. All fair topics. But I think talking about the "wifi booster" as just a way to "boost" the campground wifi is really understating what it is. 

[mossemi]

Zodd,

I would guess that the confusion might come from the fact that Oliver changes their options from time to time.  And since I am not shopping for a new Oliver, I had no idea that a Cradlepoint IBR900 was an option until you mentioned it.  I doubt many people on this forum were aware of it either.

There may be 3 or 4 owners that do have Cradlepoint's, but they did their own installations.  So if Oliver is now offering it as an option, there must be a demand for it.  But I haven’t heard anyone on this forum clamoring for an enterprise class wireless router as an option.

Mossey

[ScubaRx]

I've a Cradlepoint system for five years. As Mike stated, I did my own install. However, I chose to mount it on our tow vehicle rather than the trailer. When we're in the truck we don't always have the trailer, but when we have the trailer the truck is always with us. This way you can use the system when you're not towing. We have a single SIM, IBR600 router and a multi-antenna dome mounted on the roof of the truck topper.

The system they are installing consists of a Cradlepoint IBR900-120B router and is paired with a roof mounted omni-directional Taoglas MA1506.AK.001 Antenna. In talking to the plant manager the other day, the Cradle Point system will be offered on the 2022 models.

[Zodd]

@ScubaRxgreat thought about having it on the rig. I will have to think about that. May have to message you or resurrect that other thread to get your thoughts and more details on it. 

@mossemiI just figured everyone was talking about the Cradlepoint setup. I did not realize it was a relatively new change. So, I just wanted to make sure I was not misunderstanding something.