Escape as lifeboat

[Mike Lewis]

I'm spending tonight in my Escape. I'm not on a trip-- I'm at home. My house A/C decided to fail and I didn't want to sleep in a hot house tonight. I don't mind, because the Escape's bed sleeps better than the one in my house, anyway. Hopefully I'll get the house A/C fixed tomorrow.

It's not the first time I've done this. Before it was because of a (self-inflicted) plumbing failure in my house.

[splitting_lanes]

One could also use an escape as a doghouse, if one’s spouse was mad.

Hasn’t happened here yet.

[sumac.rhus]

Yes! Nothing like a back-up house! Loved when my well pump died (decades past it’s life expectancy) I still had a working water system…And when on-grid electricity goes out, (meaning no electric kettle or stove,) I can still have my very necessary morning coffee. Seems utterly luxurious

[John in Santa Cruz]

we don't have home A/C around htese parts, as a hot day is rarely over 85 for more than a couple hours in the afternoon with quick cooling at sunset, but this summer we've had a whole week of 100+ weather, so yes, I took my afternoon nap in the Escape with the A/C running when my home office got over 85F inside.

[Tonny LR]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

we don't have home A/C around htese parts, as a hot day is rarely over 85 for more than a couple hours in the afternoon with quick cooling at sunset, but this summer we've had a whole week of 100+ weather, so yes, I took my afternoon nap in the Escape with the A/C running when my home office got over 85F inside.

Can your Escape AC run on 120V or you have a 20-30 Amp outlet to plug in?

Tonny LR

[John in Santa Cruz]

Mine seems to run fine on a 120VAC 15A cord and outlet. fyi, 30A RV power is also 120V, just capable of more current.

[Iowa Dave]

I would only add that on a 15 amp circuit I would use a 12 gauge wire drop cord, as short as possible.

We used to do some hunting and I had a house with a wood burning fireplace. One of my mechanics got a “Redneck” daily calendar from his daughter each year. He heard about one of my trips to and from our deer hunting host’s home.
He set me via the city mail courier, two tear off dates
You might be a redneck if you’ve ever hauled firewood in a flat bottomed boat
And, you might be a red neck if you’ve ever hauled a dead deer in a flat bottomed boat.

He’d been told that I had recently hauled both, in one trip.

So it should not surprise anyone to know I’ve used the Escape as a dog house with me as the dog, a replacement air conditioner and a Covid quarantine hovel. But not all at one time. Yet.
Iowa Dave

[stratos175]

We plan to own our Escape until we die, it's a guest house. Sometimes for guest and sometimes for ourselves.

Enjoy the journey,
Steve

[Allan Bornestig]

Reminds me.I guess I am a redneck because I hauled a young moose in a 15 foot Chestnut canoe with two inches of freeboard.Next day the lake froze up.That was back in 1974.Time flies.

[Crazypill]

My escape is an economic life raft. As a millennial with little time to accumulate wealth, home ownership is a massive burden. I own my home (E21NE) free and clear no matter what happens in the world I have my home wherever I take it!

[hugh]

Well, we've had our 21C less than a week, and I'm already using it as a "life boat". I came down w/ Covid (mild symptoms) less than 48 hours after picking up the trailer. It seems like a good place to stay isolated from the rest of the family. On the plus side, I'm getting to try everything out, and start on my first round of mods.

[John in Santa Cruz]

yeah, we too have used our trailer as a driveway quarentine zone... our son came back from the UK right when the pandemic first broke, and we had him stay in the trailer the first couple weeks. And a month ago, I came down with mild symptoms and tested positive, so I 'camped' in the trailer until I tested clear 2 weeks later.

[Kateyras]

We would love an escape, but are waiting for one with twin beds. Had this Casita for 10 years though and have used it to outrun hurricanes and then to return home and live in it with our Honda generator while waiting for electric to come back on, last time for 2 weeks in August. An all around “escape” pod.

[Vermilye]

Not sure I’d call it a “lifeboat” but I have used my 21C to escape upstate NY’s 200 inches of winter snow & hang out in the Arizona desert for the last 7 winters (well the first 2 in a 17). Because I make it a slow trip both ways, I’m now spending more time in the Escape than I do in my stick & bricks!

[JumpinJoe]

We also owned a Casita for ten years and the logical progression was to an Escape. Bought an 2016 Escape 5.0 and have twin beds in it. Makes it easier to get out of bed in my opinion!

[NCBill]

Originally Posted by JumpinJoe

We also owned a Casita for ten years and the logical progression was to an Escape. Bought an 2016 Escape 5.0 and have twin beds in it. Makes it easier to get out of bed in my opinion!

My favorite Escape layout for sure! Our E19 is a compromise. Love having the truck bed for “stuff”. So there we are.

Back when we lived near Seattle, we would tend to get a week or two of 90+ weather. Our house wasn’t air conditioned, so out we went.

Our current camper carport has a nice 30a outlet. But in Seattle, it was 15a with a short extension cord. Not ideal, but it never was a problem.

[EscapingDan]

We get wildfires in our area and have been on extended evacuations more than once. One of the selling points for my wife is that a trailer would be a place we can go to when/if it happens again. The fires terrify her so having a trailer (which we don’t have yet, maybe an Escape) is already helping her feel more comfortable.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by EscapingDan

We get wildfires in our area and have been on extended evacuations more than once. One of the selling points for my wife is that a trailer would be a place we can go to when/if it happens again. The fires terrify her so having a trailer (which we don’t have yet, maybe an Escape) is already helping her feel more comfortable.

yeah, when the Santa Cruz MOuntains were on fire a couple years ago, our home was in the very corner of an evac zone, so we took the trailer and visited friends, camping a few days on the street in front of their homes, then moving on before we wore out our welcomes...

this was us in McKinleyville, on the far north coast, where we traveled to get out from under the smoke that was choking most of the state.

[Ops]

Wondering what we'd do if there was an emergency requiring evacuating our home, we talked about a travel trailer. Retiring in 2005, we bought a 1971 Boler with the intent of upgrading, updating and otherwise making it ours. The next few years diverted our attention to our parents needs, and we never did get that Boler renovated.

Moving to Vancouver Island in 2013 and giving the Boler to my daugher/son-in-law, we started looking at Bigfoot and Escape trailers.

Then the fire at Fort McMurry in 2016. Watching videos of the one highway out of Fort McMurry being inundated with trucks and cars towing travel trailers, a renewed interest in getting a rig, grew much stronger.

Between living in a seismic zone, where "the big one is long overdue" and the risk of wildfires consuming forested areas (which surround us) - we committed to getting a travel trailer. Back to looking at Bigfoot and Escape. Price point determined the final outcome, along with weight and size. As well, we wanted to be sure that it was a decision that we could live with long term. Two years of ownership and travels throughout the island, along with Covid restriction verified our desire for glamping.

But what is still the major point of ownership - we have somewhere to go if we have to go right now.

And you can define that last statement what ever way you wish

[HABBERDABBER]

We used our rig a few weeks ago as our lifeboat, so to speak. We were up in Northern Wisconsin, staying on property of a summer rental cabin an old pal has enjoyed for decades. Big Portage Lake, and our 3rd year of visiting there. Storms came through one night and all electric power was lost to the area. Yawn...for us. Propane refrig, portable solar panels....no issue, and no storm damage locally. The cabin rental folks had to use lake water for their flushing and a run into a town for ice for their refrig.
Our rigs are self-contained, mostly. Power was restored 36 or so hours later.