Ski RV's, who's sleeping in parking lots?

[donutlynx]

$45k for a '17 Sprinter 144WB high roof w/ 100k mi. 3.0L diesel. 2wd. Well-done build w/ bed, storage cabinets, countertops, solar, lithium batts, maxxair fan, great slide-out bike and other gear storage in garage, insulated, finished ceiling w/ lights, walls, floor. CRL windows (2 rear, 1 sliding door). Mechanically sound w/ good service records. Pre-sale shop inspection yielded nothing of concern.

How crazy am I to entertain this as an option?

[fastfred]

Sounds like a good deal. What's the value on the van without the build? The added value of a build isn't what most people think it is.

Are you OK w RWD?

The rv and van market should be flooded this summer. Too many people underwater w something they barely use.

[jackattack]

Yeah, it’s absurd that people think the depreciation on a 100k mile vehicle is only 35%.

[Foggy_Goggles]

You may want to narrow that down?

[Trackhead]

Mounted our big truck camper…feels huge. Flatbed with gear boxes for skis/golf clubs/dirty laundry. 30 yrs old. Been from Mexico to Prudhoe Bay and back. No depreciation.

[byates1]

Beauty. My beautiful ultra quiet spots are overrun w ppl solar gazing. Bring on the clouds go away influencers

[Trackhead]

We’re up by your beloved Teton Pass…really pretty up here.

[byates1]

sick. prob a bit too far for the 23 yr olds driving 90k range rovers here.

[jhyatt]

The rv and van market should be flooded this summer. Too many people underwater w something they barely use.

I feel like we have been saying this since 2022.

[JohnF]

https://youtu.be/DV0FMMjA9sQ?si=8jzxFzTKTiY_7p7s

[fastfred]

I feel like we have been saying this since 2022.

yeah yeah yeah I know
but I do actually think it's for real and starting to happen

driving around the front range you see storage lots filled with unused rv's and travel trailers

the problem is they aren't worth anything most of them have 20 year loans so it's easier to keep it in the lot and use it three times a year

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Same with people over valuing their RE IMO. They don't NEEEEED to sell so they would rather keep their Revel Sprinter and never use it then sell it at a loss.

[climberevan]

Same with people over valuing their RE IMO. They don't NEEEEED to sell so they would rather keep their Revel Sprinter and never use it then sell it at a loss.

Except that the real estate is likely to appreciate at least a little while they hold onto it. Vehicles only lose value (true collector cars excepted).

I climbed with a 19yo guy last week. It was interesting to hear his perspective on a lot of things, but he also said that he knows a lot of younger dirtbag types who have abandoned vans in favor of older trucks bc the vans are too expensive and high maintenance. Maybe the pendulum is starting to return....

[Trackhead]

^^interesting you brought up exactly what I was thinking about a few weeks ago. When I was 18-25 or so, a dirtbag with a shitty rig was cool, now it’s not. Living in a shitty rusted out Toyota truck all summer in Yosemite was cool, now it’s 200k with orange roof ladders and 50 million lumens of LEDs.

Dirtbagging has long since gone out of fashion. Maybe it’ll come back like bell bottoms and mustaches (wait…)

[jackattack]

^^interesting you brought up exactly what I was thinking about a few weeks ago. When I was 18-25 or so, a dirtbag with a shitty rig was cool, now it’s not. Living in a shitty rusted out Toyota truck all summer in Yosemite was cool, now it’s 200k with orange roof ladders and 50 million lumens of LEDs.

Dirtbagging has long since gone out of fashion. Maybe it’ll come back like bell bottoms and mustaches (wait…)

Those are influencers, not dirtbags.

[byates1]

^^interesting you brought up exactly what I was thinking about a few weeks ago. When I was 18-25 or so, a dirtbag with a shitty rig was cool, now it’s not. Living in a shitty rusted out Toyota truck all summer in Yosemite was cool, now it’s 200k with orange roof ladders and 50 million lumens of LEDs.

Dirtbagging has long since gone out of fashion. Maybe it’ll come back like bell bottoms and mustaches (wait…)

This dude Mark has a storage unit at my spot, he skis hyalite all winter, lives out of a tiny cap on an old Tacoma w no windows. House sits sometimes in winter. Mid 60s. Dude is chill. Avoids work at all costs. Keeping it real.

[Trackhead]

Mid-60s demographic understood dirt bagging differently than todays $200k Sprinter demographic with $10k carbon mountain bikes. It’s all about whatcha got, toys, all the most expensive shit, top if the line everything.

[Name Redacted]

I feel like I dirt bagged it for many years before we finally bit the bullet on a legit rig. Now I have a sweet slide in camper and truck that still cost 1/3 of a pimped out sprinter.

Last weekend we definitely made it into and out of some camp spots in the desert that would have been tough on even the most lifted Sprinter. So that was nice. That's kind of our goal, to go where the sprinters can't. Haha. Car wash was definitely required afterward.

At the end of the day, I think that it is cool to see all of the advancements making it easier and more comfortable to go enjoy the outdoors. We just have to start heading to newer places that people haven't found yet. The camping in the popular spots keeps getting more and more difficult but I've already been to a lot of those places many times I guess.

[fastfred]

blah blah blah

my sprinter can go anywhere even though I got it on blocks in the driveway right now

dirt bagging is fun and it was fun in my 20s
stayed at this literally shack in the woods for a few nights while on vacation
realized how much of a pussy I've become I was much more comfortable at the hotel one than I was in the dump that reminded me of my childhood

but yeah lived in tent for some summers a cabin for some time drove a beat to hell car all over colorado and actually camped
nah sprinter van and nice hotels and nice houses all the way these days

[Trackhead]

Agreed, dirtbagging should/can end when you're old as fuck like I am. But it seems the "influencers" these days who are youngsters are all about the rigs only us old farts should be able to afford.

You earned yours, FF.

I'm to the point that if I sprinter can't get there, I don't want to drive that shit road anyway. We did White Rim last fall, and it was cool to see my DIY camper pull it off, but it thrashed my truck and my alignment was WAY off after. I prefer gravel roads or modest two track at this point. "OVRLANDING" is painfully slow and boring as shit. I'd rather ride my bike in that terrain.

[fastfred]

headed to SE utah and west west western colorado over memorial day weekend/week after
will be doing lots of "off roading" mostly dirt roads if anyone is out that way let me know
just don't want to give up the secret stashes online like a dip shit would although we are hitting the cathedral loop at capital reef to warm up from there it's going to get deeper and funner

oh wait I'll be instagraming live the whole time so you can dm me about how awesome I am

[heckacali]

Make sure you put your online IDs and hashtags painted on your vehicle so we can look at pictures of you on our screens instead of just looking at you out our window

[climberevan]

Agreed, dirtbagging should/can end when you're old as fuck like I am. But it seems the "influencers" these days who are youngsters are all about the rigs only us old farts should be able to afford.
...
"OVRLANDING" is painfully slow and boring as shit. I'd rather ride my bike in that terrain.

Based on my recent return to part-time dirtbagging (out of a 20yo Honda Element) with climbers, there's still a contingent of youngsters that is doing it for real. Yes, there are plenty of fancy vans and "rigs" out there, but you can pick out the true dirtbag spirit pretty easily. I met a guy last week in Pine Creek who's been living out of a mid-90s F150 with a topper and he really reminded me of myself 25 years ago (except I had a VW bus).

The $200k Sprinter crowd is kind of 2 types, IMO: older folks who have made $$$ and are not interested in being dirty/cheap/uncomfortable anymore; and "influencers" who borrowed money or work remotely to buy the van. These groups are not dirtbags!

And, yeah, "OVRLND" travel in even a pimped-out Taco is crazy slow! I pass those fucks on my moto going a comfortable speed and it's like they are walking. How do they get anywhere, and how much of that shit that they have strapped on is intact by the time they get there? Of course if their extra ketchup falls off, they have an opportunity to upgrade their erector-set racks, so that's a win, I guess.

[Dromond]

Agreed, dirtbagging should/can end when you're old as fuck like I am. But it seems the "influencers" these days who are youngsters are all about the rigs only us old farts should be able to afford.

You earned yours, FF.

I'm to the point that if I sprinter can't get there, I don't want to drive that shit road anyway. We did White Rim last fall, and it was cool to see my DIY camper pull it off, but it thrashed my truck and my alignment was WAY off after. I prefer gravel roads or modest two track at this point. "OVRLANDING" is painfully slow and boring as shit. I'd rather ride my bike in that terrain.

Did you fully replace your DIY camper?

I’ve also been trying to understand the appeal of driving bad roads for hours for the sole purpose of doing it. Having a decent amount of clearance has real utility for going a short distance on a bad road to a camp site, or through deep snow, but that doesn’t mean I’m seeking out washboard. I just don’t understand. If you don’t hike our mountain bike then maybe there is more appeal.

[Dromond]

^^interesting you brought up exactly what I was thinking about a few weeks ago. When I was 18-25 or so, a dirtbag with a shitty rig was cool, now it’s not. Living in a shitty rusted out Toyota truck all summer in Yosemite was cool, now it’s 200k with orange roof ladders and 50 million lumens of LEDs.

Dirtbagging has long since gone out of fashion. Maybe it’ll come back like bell bottoms and mustaches (wait…)

I think we are headed for a correction on this, in part due to how bad the numbers look for a lot of young people right now. People who can’t afford the best of everything want to have fun and be cool too.