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Old 01-02-2019, 12:46 PM   #21
AnJ
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We ordered our fabric from Sunbrella, which Escape recommended. I believe the cost was about $350- you buy the fabric and then a $100 customization fee to Escape. We went with a vinyl for the seat cushions and love our choice- you can wipe down any spills or dust that blows in from the windows being open. It is super durable- you can order samples from Sunbrella and I tried really hard to make some holes or scratches in those and could not, so it's super durable.

We waffled on the 2 way hot water heater and in the end did not. Camping in the trailer for about 3 weeks doing dishes and cooking 1-2 meals a day, showering once a day x2 people and running the furnace overnight for a handful of nights and we did not empty one propane tank. When we both shower, it takes about ten minutes for the water to get hot again for the second shower with propane and the wait isn't really a problem when we're on vacation. The shower head is just like any other, works just fine for us.

I find that our biggest limiting factor when we are boondocking or not hooking up to utilities is that after one night with doing dishes and showering, we have to empty grey water and refill fresh water. We can get two nights if we are very conservative, use paper plates, etc.

Enjoy the "newer" style paneling and flooring- we were sad we missed out on this, it looks great!
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Old 01-02-2019, 01:32 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AnJ View Post

I find that our biggest limiting factor when we are boondocking or not hooking up to utilities is that after one night with doing dishes and showering, we have to empty grey water and refill fresh water. We can get two nights if we are very conservative, use paper plates, etc.
I have a few suggestions for extending your water usage while boondocking if interested. You may already do some of these things.

-We use a plastic wash tub for dishes and don't use paper plates. We empty it into the toilet. The soapy water helps keep the black tank cleaner and reduces the water going into the grey tank. (If there are toilet facilities where we are camping, we only use the trailer for urination in the middle of the night)
-We shower every other day unless we have gone on a vigorous hike. We alternate days so only one person will use the shower a day. The alternate day, we just use a wash cloth for our face and other critical parts.
-When we do shower, we do what is called a "Navy Shower": Wet down, turn off shower, soap up, turn on shower and rinse.
-We also bring along a 6 gal jerry can that we use for our drinking water. We use the trailer fresh tank for everything else.

We can easily go 5 days with the two of us using these water conservation measures.

Cheers!
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Old 01-02-2019, 01:33 PM   #23
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As for the fabric ask them to put fabric on all sides of the seat cushions that way they are reversible so you don't get flat and wear spots in one area and on one end. They normally put plastic underneath.
We re-upholstered our cushions because we wanted fabric on all sides.
Good luck with you new Escape. We love our 19.
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Old 01-02-2019, 02:05 PM   #24
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-Are 5.0 TA owners satisfied with the standard shower head? Is it worthwhile to have it changed from the get-go or see if I like it first and maybe change it out later?

I would recommend trying it first. We have not had an issue with ours that warrants changing it out.

-Having enough hot water has never been an issue for the two of us.

-I'm considering going with the propane/electric combo option.


If you are planning on doing dry camping, I would recommend the combo. I like to have options and have never had a problem refilling my tanks in the US, Mexico or Canada. We full time in our 21’ and we switch propane tanks about once a month on average. I only leave one tank open at a time, so I have plenty of time to get the empty tank refilled.

-How did you all go about selecting fabric for your build?

Once we found the fabric we liked locally, we ordered our fabric through JT’s Outdoor Fabrics in Canada. They shipped to ETI directly without Customs issues and offered free shipping on our order. ( you may want to confirm they still do that)

https://www.jtsoutdoorfabrics.com

Congratulations on your new rig!

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Old 01-02-2019, 02:11 PM   #25
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We ordered our sailrite from https://www.jtsoutdoorfabrics.com/ which is in Ontario. Two huge benefits if you want to save a good bit of $$. One is you get the exchange rate on the order and the price on the fabric was no different than US, but less about 30%. Two it is shipped within CA and is much less expensive on the shipping. There were no issues and ETI got the fabric right on schedule from them.
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Old 01-02-2019, 03:40 PM   #26
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How did you all go about selecting fabric for your build?

We ordered our fabric from Sailrite and they shipped directly to ETI, which was very convenient.

One thing I found a little disconcerting, I was told because I was ordering a directional pattern with full wrap, I needed 23 yards of cushion fabric (58" wide) and an additional 3 yards for the solid-color valences. Well, when we picked up our trailer and received the 'extra', I found that I have a little over 10 yards of cushion fabric and 1.5 yards of valence fabric left. Since I sew, I had queried our sales person several times about the amount of fabric she was asking for, but was assured it was correct. I recently saw someone's build sheet for their 19' and it states ETI was requiring 6 yards of custom fabric (full wrap) for cushions and valences. Thus, make sure you get clarification on your fabric requirements.
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Old 01-02-2019, 04:07 PM   #27
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Quote:
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How did you all go about selecting fabric for your build?

One thing I found a little disconcerting, I was told because I was ordering a directional pattern with full wrap, I needed 23 yards of cushion fabric (58" wide) and an additional 3 yards for the solid-color valences. Well, when we picked up our trailer and received the 'extra', I found that I have a little over 10 yards of cushion fabric and 1.5 yards of valence fabric left. Since I sew, I had queried our sales person several times about the amount of fabric she was asking for, but was assured it was correct. .
We were also a bit surprised by the amount of fabric we had to provide, extra because of a directional pattern, and I'm sure when we go to pick up our trailer there will be a good bit left. But the upholstery is not done by ETI, they provide the fabric to a local shop that does it. There are so many different types and patterns of fabric, some patterns no doubt take more fabric in order to match the pattern up correctly, and it's probably just not practical to try and come up with precise amounts for each pattern type and each size trailer. By the time your custom fabric has been sent to the upholstery shop your trailer is entering production. If they ran just a bit short on a custom fabric and couldn't finish the cushions, there wouldn't be time to try and obtain more fabric from you so I can understand completely that they have to estimate high to make sure that doesn't happen. And human errors can happen...a piece that needs to be re-cut. I'll bet that years ago it only took a couple of times of coming up short on a custom fabric to decide that estimating high was the only safe thing to do. Certainly if you were upholstering the cushions yourself, on your own schedule, you could get by with less fabric. Just the fact that ETI is willing to allow their customers to have pretty much any fabric in the world that they want is worth a lot....certainly to me it's worth having to buy some extra. And who knows, maybe one day when we spill a glass of red wine we'll be glad we have that leftover fabric on hand.
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Old 01-02-2019, 05:23 PM   #28
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i ordered from fabric.com. they shipped directly to escape, and there was a customs charge of $28 that escape added to my build sheet. i am very happy with both fabrics i chose, and saved a lot of money.
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Old 01-03-2019, 09:02 AM   #29
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A note about ETIs requirement for double the amount of fabric if you opt for custom fabric with a directional pattern to it: This is done so ETI can have the cushions made so they all “go the same direction”. If you don’t care, though, you can specify such to ETI, as we did, and then only provide half as much fabric. The directional component of our fabric, however, is extremely subtle. YMMV.
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Old 01-03-2019, 12:39 PM   #30
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no issues with the installation of the Anderson with the ball type set up or with my bed liner. In regards to towing my truck is a 2.7 F150 and yes i notice i am towing but i have no issues with climbing mountains at speed feels like my truck is not working hard and feels very stable. i really don't think you need a truck rated for 10 K unless - my biggest limiting factor is payload I'm OK but i do pack carefully
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Old 01-03-2019, 01:58 PM   #31
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Not sure what the sewer that woks for ETI is doing but my wife re-upholstered our 19 after only like 12 months or so because we didn't like the fabric and the plastic under the cushions. We only needed just over 6 yards for all sides including the valences.
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Old 01-03-2019, 02:47 PM   #32
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We are leaning that way also, remaking our own seat covers. After 3+ months of living inside the 19, the bottom cushions are starting to compress too much. So new bottom foam, likely make it slightly thicker. The stock fabric always looks dirty in spots, we'd like to move to an ultrasuade. Finally, the straight seatbacks are uncomfortable. On my husband's seat a friend in aircraft reupholstrey added a lumbar supporting batch of foam to the cushion back. On my side I added a 3" diameter pool noodle. The pool noodle is not nearly as nice for support as the dual layer dual density foam. We also have 4" diameter pool noodles behind the back cushions on top of the bottom cushion. That pushes the upper cushion out of 90° and makes it a more comfortable angle.
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Old 01-03-2019, 02:52 PM   #33
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We are using a couple of over sized and overstuffed pillows in the same fabric that my wife made that we put in our backs when inside. They also keep our cushions from falling over when travelling !
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Old 01-03-2019, 05:01 PM   #34
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Thank you all for the insightful replies, very much appreciated!
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Old 01-03-2019, 09:45 PM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by arniesea View Post
I have a few suggestions for extending your water usage while boondocking if interested. You may already do some of these things.
!
All awesome ideas, thank you. I especially like putting some dish water down the black water tank, that's a good idea.
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Old 01-03-2019, 09:46 PM   #36
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We ordered our fabric from Sunbrella, which Escape recommended.
My apologies, I meant Sailrite, but it is too late to edit my original post.
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Old 01-03-2019, 10:01 PM   #37
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Just a quick note on the fabric ... Yes, I was aware that extra fabric would be needed because our fabric was directional and it's true that the cushion covering is sourced outside of EIT; however, one thing that happened was that the direction of our cushions is the same direction all the way around. In other words, one side has the fabric running the correct direction but when you flip it over, the fabric is upside down. I guess they didn't want to make any seams (other than the zipper). As I said in another post, it's not a deal-breaker AND our fabric isn't as noticeable as some might be, but it is something to be aware of as it might bother some. (And, yes, extra fabric is nice in case something happens.)
Attached Thumbnails
1-Fabric, Correct Orientation.jpg   1-Fabric, Reverse Orientation.jpg  
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Old 01-03-2019, 11:03 PM   #38
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Just a quick note on the fabric ... Yes, I was aware that extra fabric would be needed because our fabric was directional and it's true that the cushion covering is sourced outside of EIT; however, one thing that happened was that the direction of our cushions is the same direction all the way around. In other words, one side has the fabric running the correct direction but when you flip it over, the fabric is upside down. I guess they didn't want to make any seams (other than the zipper). As I said in another post, it's not a deal-breaker AND our fabric isn't as noticeable as some might be, but it is something to be aware of as it might bother some. (And, yes, extra fabric is nice in case something happens.)


Can you exchange the cushions from driver to passenger sides to regain correct orientation without flipping from “side B” back to “side A”?
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Old 01-03-2019, 11:28 PM   #39
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Unfortunately, the only way to keep the correct orientation is if the zipper was on top (or facing out in the case of the bottom cushions). My main concern was being able to flip the bottom cushions.
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Old 01-04-2019, 01:36 AM   #40
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Unfortunately, the only way to keep the correct orientation is if the zipper was on top (or facing out in the case of the bottom cushions). My main concern was being able to flip the bottom cushions.


BTW, I love your fabric! Watch out for the red wine though!
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