Review: Quicksilver Camper

This is adapted from a blog entry at dot unplanned

The Livin' Lite Quicksilver 8.0 is a tent trailer, not a pop-top, so when it folds out it's sort of like having an old-school canvas tent with a bimini frame sitting up off the ground on a big aluminum box.

Not being a pop-top, and being made of aluminum, it only weighs about 850 pounds, which is well under our Toyota Matrix's 1,500-pound towing capacity. It's very quiet, and the main thing you notice about it in a smaller car is how it affects braking: You definitely need to give yourself more time to slow down.

Setup

Setting it up is very easy: It has a vinyl cover you unsnap and roll up, a set of four aluminum struts that hold up the bed ends when it's unfolded, and a bunch of snaps, velcro and bungie loops to hold the tent top in place. Ideally, you'll want to deploy it with two people, but I've managed to put it up and take it down on my own. With two people, it takes well under 10 minutes to get from "completely closed up" to "fully deployed."

Setup on the inside, once the tent is up, is pretty easy, too. The galley top (with a sink and a cabinet) can be lifted into place by one person. It has a folding table and removable seat cushions that stand up in a minute or two. There are also little light/fan combination units that clip onto the bars next to each bed end and plug in to 12-volt power sockets.

What's Inside

As RVs go, it's a pretty simple affair.

Each end of the tent has a double mattress. It's also possible to collapse the dining table and lay it between the two dinette seats, then put their cushions down to sleep two more people. The mattresses on the beds are a little thin: If you have a Thermarest, bring it.

It has an electrical system with three standard household outlets and a 12v adapter. You can run it off its own 12v deep-cycle battery, or you can connect it to shore power. It also has a small sink with a faucet that can either work with city water connected from the outside, or pump water from a plastic, 7-gallon tank in the galley base. It was pretty nice being able to wake up and start the water for the French press with an electric kettle. There's no built-in stove, but there's enough counter space to use the two-burner camp stove our dealer threw in. Alternately, there's a small aluminum table you can mount outside the trailer to use for cooking.

It's got pretty decent storage. The galley offers three small cabinets with plenty of space to stow cables, hoses, the camp stove, and first aid kit. There's another cabinet by the door that can hold a few things you might want to grab out even before the trailer is fully deployed. The dinette seats also offer storage compartments. For travel, you can slide a few things under the dining table when it's folded and placed over the edges of the dinette seats. Unless you bring a lot of stuff along, you can fit everything you need for a week's trip in the trailer itself.

What's It Like?

All in all, though, it's mainly a big tent on wheels, with plenty of space to sit around if the weather turns (or if you just feel like hanging out in there). It definitely changes your outlook about the weather when you know you're sleeping four feet off the ground under a waterproof vinyl top. Because it's a little more weatherproof than a tent, and because it's easy to heat if need be, it extends our camping season quite a bit. Because it's a little more comfortable to sleep in than a tent, it also extends your range.

Multimedia

This video is 14 minutes of camper setup competency that I find a little hypnotic. It helps that the Livin' Lite company is located in Northern Indiana, and so I'm hearing the voice of my people (more or less: I'm about two years more "from Oregon" than I am "from Indiana," at this point).