Second try ... lightweight!

The first step is to perform some calculations to figure out how much it will weigh. Having used the old camper for four years, I knew that it was bigger than I needed. So, I settled on a footprint of about 6'6" wide by 8' long, with about 6'2" headroom, with no cabover.

I also decided on a basic technique of laminating foam between plywood to make panels (with solid spruce perimeter).

Here are some weights for calculation:

spruce weighs 27 lbs. per cubic foot
2" foam (high density) weighs about .33 per square foot
4mm (2.52 sixteenths) plywood weighs about .563 pounds per square foot
epoxy resin weighs about 12 lbs per gallon
glass + resin + gel coat weighs about .43 per square foot

Using the above weights, I calculated the weight for the basic box:

329 lbs. - 585 square feet 4mm marine plywood (Edensaw)
97 lbs. - 292 square feet of 2" 40psi foam (Western Insulfoam)
66 lbs. - 168' 1" X 2" spruce (Aircraft Spruce)
180 lbs. - 15 gallons epoxy for constructing panels (West System)
20 lbs. - exterior paint (2 gallons Carboguard 890 LT)

692 - estimated weight for basic box
400 - estimated weight to trim out the camper

1092 - estimated dry weight of camper

6300 - estimated weight of truck with aluminum flatbed

7392 - estimated weight of camper on the truck


This would be 1388 pounds lighter than the first camper!

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