Truck Camper Reviews

Adventurer 116DS Double-Slide Review

Adventurer Manufacturing starts with a clean slate, throws out the multi-slide playbook, and dares to build a truly unique double-slide floor plan.  The question is, does it work?

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In an industry that routinely puts entire truck camper floor plans on a copy machine to produce their latest camper, the Adventurer 116DS is quite the rare find; a truly unique floor plan.

There are many good reasons why we don’t see many new floor plans in the truck camper marketplace.  The most important reason is risk.  It’s simply safer to copy or evolve an existing floor plan that’s already selling well in the marketplace.  After all, the truck camper industry is in the business of selling truck campers, not entertaining us with interesting new floor plans.  I know – shocking, right?

Another reason new floor plans don’t regularly hit the marketplace are the inherent space and weight limitations of the truck camper concept itself.  The introduction of slide-outs has certainly “opened-up” the possibilities over the past twenty years, as have the increased payload capacities of modern trucks, but those factors only go so far.  Several truck camper industry leaders have told us that the best truck camper floor plans have already been invented and there’s very little room, literally, for future innovation.

Well, don’t tell that to Adventurer Manufacturing’s ace design team; Dave Frampton and Dave Catron.  If it’s nothing else, the 2014 Adventurer 116DS is definitely innovative.  Even a quick glance at the floor plan tells you that Adventurer has come up with something quite different for the multi-slide market.

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In full disclosure, I wasn’t exactly excited when I first saw the floor plan of the Adventurer 116DS.  At first blush, the floor plan looked awkward.  The kitchen peninsula and rear kitchen slide was so different than anything ever attempted on a truck camper before.  What would that be like?  The placement of the sofa or optional theater seating seemed forced.  Would that seating position be comfortable?  And the wet bath made no sense to me for a multi-slide truck camper.  Why did they do that?

Then I had the opportunity to spend some time in an Adventurer 116DS at Princess Craft Campers this past April.  Within minutes, most of those notions went out the side door.  In the proverbial flesh, this camper works.  If ever there was a truck camper that shouldn’t be judged by its floor plan, it’s this one.

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Over the past few years, Adventurer has been steadily upgrading the exterior aesthetic of their truck camper line.  The 116DS in front of us featured the high-gloss Lamilux 4000 exterior fiberglass (a 2014 update) and dark tinted windows with black frames and accents (a 2013 update) and all LED lighting (also a 2013 update).

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The gold and garnet logo and graphics have also been stepped-up, but remain subtle and understated by RV industry standards.

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Perhaps the most interesting exterior feature is the rear slide.  Based on a Schwintek system, the refrigerator vents and the narrow horizontal window gives clues to the unique floor plan inside.

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I was very happy to see the ladder on the rear of the camper giving important access to the camper roof to check seals, remove debris, and make sure that tree limb you just graced didn’t poke a hole in the TPO roofing material.

That said, I’m not entirely thrilled with ladders on slide-outs.  It should go without saying that you never climb a ladder on a slide-out when the slide-out is out (try to say that three times fast).  I actually stopped a twenty-something knucklehead from climbing a ladder on an extended slide-out earlier this year.  The good news is that my command tone still works, “Get down!”

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Will you think less of me if I admit to standing on a travel trailer roof to take this photo?  With the trailer underfoot, the roof on the 116DS is actually quite unadorned.  Just look at the next camper down the row and you’ll notice more going on up top.

While this may seem like a slight for the 116DS, it’s actually a plus.  From an RV maintenance perspective, the less holes in the roof, the better.  Besides, there’s a lot of real estate up there for solar panels.

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Every exterior light on the 116DS is LED.  The clear LED marker lights give the 116DS a modern look.  We may have to try these for our upcoming top secret project, which I didn’t just mention.

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The basement in the Adventurer 116DS is above-the-rail.  That means the floor inside the camper is actually above the truck rails.  This allows for a wider floor, and an incredible amount of basement storage.  It also raises the height of the center of gravity.  In truck campers, as in life, everything has trade offs.

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Above: Click thumbnails to enlarge.

The basement storage area on the 116DS is accessible from the rear skirt of the camper.  Inside this area you’ll find the black and grey dump valves, battery disconnect switch, slide-out controllers, an LED light, and a rather large storage area.  Off the top of my head, this is probably where I’d store my metal detector and any thrift store tube amp and LP record finds.  Normal folks would probably use this for a portable grill, tools, and pink flamingos.

The overall presentation inside of this area could be better.  The wiring appeared okay, but not well dressed.  A few more minutes in the neatness department could pay dividends here, not to mention help keep all wires out of the way and better sorted for future trouble shooting and maintenance.

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The rear driver’s side of the 116DS features two twenty-pound propane tanks.  We have long stated our preference for twenty-pound versus thirty-pound tanks for ease of handling, filling, and exchanging (not to mention camper weight).

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It’s always best to double-check that your slides are free of sticks, excessive leaves, and/or dead squirrels before retracting.  Unfortunately, that won’t always be possible with the 116DS because the roof ladder is on the rear slide.  Unless you bring a ten foot ladder on your travels (not likely) you’ll be trusting the slide-covers to keep stuff out of the slide path.

The good news is (a) to the best of our knowledge, no one has yet found a dead squirrel in their slide-out and (b) the Adventurer 116DS comes with slide covers.  Slide covers help to protect slide-outs from rain, snow, ice, and debris.  For these reasons, slide covers should be standard on every slide-out truck camper.

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The rear kitchen slide on the 116DS utilizes a Lippert Components Schwintek in-wall aluminum slide mechanism.

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The driver’s side dinette slide utilizes an above-floor, double ram Lippert slide mechanism.

Using the Schwintek slide for shorter-throw, lighter-weight slides and the traditional Lippert double-ram slide for the longer-throw, heavier weight slides is becoming more and more common in the truck camper industry.

If you ask the manufacturers why they do this (which we have) they always say they use, “The right slide for the right job” or something to that effect.  It seems the Schwintek is better suited to lighter weights and shorter throw distances.

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Above: Click thumbnails to enlarge.

Exterior storage is always a welcome sight on a truck camper.  The driver’s side dinette-slide has two large storage compartments that run under the dinette seats.  The further aft compartment contains your manual slide tools in case the power slide on the double ram mechanism fails.  Having these tools neatly stowed in this compartment is fantastic.

I’m not as wild about the carpeting on an exterior storage compartment.  Adventurer is not the only manufacturer that does this, but it just jumps out at me as a bad idea every time I see it.  Anyone want to guess what this carpet will look like in five years?  Unless the owner is a neat freak, or keeps everything in tupperware containers, this carpet is toast, waiting to be buttered.

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The driver’s side skirt on the 116DS we reviewed had an optional Cummins Onan RV QG 2500 LP propane generator.  With two batteries and all-LED lighting, the need for this generator (or any generator) comes down to your need to use the air conditioner and microwave while off-the-grid.

If we were buying a big truck camper like the 116DS, we would get a solar panel system, two AGM batteries, a good quality portable inverter, and skip the generator.  Generators are wonderful to have if you need them, but only if you need them.  After camping for several years now with LED lighting, we’re in the no-generator camp, at least for now.

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Above the generator compartment is where the propane water heater and fresh water fill is located.

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Above: Click thumbnails to enlarge.

An important design challenge for any truck camper is how to move the weight of the wet truck camper (full fresh water, batteries, and propane) as far forward as possible while allowing for access to the batteries and propane.

Over the past five years or so, a few multi-slide manufacturers have placed battery compartments on the front exterior wall.  This often allows for bigger batteries and shifts the considerable battery weight all the way forward.

It also means the battery compartment is not accessible unless the camper is demounted.  For most users, this will not likely be an issue, but it’s something to be aware of.  It may also mean sealed AGM batteries would be a better choice as water levels would not need to be monitored.  We would certainly go with AGMs in this situation.

Following the trend, the 116DS has its battery compartment on the front wall.  It also has an access door to check and maintain the fresh water pump and PEX plumbing around the fresh water tank.  Kudos to Adventurer for giving the owner this kind of access.  Although rare, water pumps do fail.  This kind of access would make that repair quicker, and less expensive.

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No matter how you slice it, the Adventurer 116DS is not a light weight truck camper.  As a long bed double slide, the 116DS is in “big and heavy” truck camper territory.  For that reason, we were pleased to see Happijac’s 4800 Heavy Duty series jacks on the 116DS.

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Each of these jacks has been rated to handle 2,800 pounds.  You can read more about these jacks, their capacity, and technology in the article, “Happijac Announces 4800 Heavy Duty Jack System”.

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The optional full-side electric awning on the passenger’s side is a stunner.  The multi-slide campers are becoming more and more popular with the rally crowd, and this awning says “rally time” all over it.  Even better, there’s an LED light and a pair of stereo speakers ready to start the party right.  I’ll have a Dark and Stormy, please.

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Forgive me as I praise Adventurer, once again, for their red center of gravity stickers.  They just make me happy.  They should make you happy, too, as this is a manufacturer trying to help you properly match their camper to a truck.

Cue the broken record.  Every manufacturer should be doing this.  If I have to write that a thousand times to get our industry to listen, I will.  Well done Adventurer Manufacturing.

To the right of that gorgeous sticker is the outside shower, city water connection, and furnace.

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It took me a minute to figure out what this round black thing was on the side of the camper.  Maybe a giant stick-up air freshener to make everywhere this camper goes smell like a crisp breeze or sparkling citrus?  Perhaps a collapsed top hat ready for those top and tails occasions that so often come up during truck camping adventures?  My parents 70’s fondue pot?

It turns out this black mystery dish is actually the bathroom fan vent.  When you see the bathroom interior, this will make more sense.

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I know many of us like to grill outside while truck camping.  For that reason, Adventurer has an exterior propane attachment point located just forward of their rear passenger skirt wall.

There’s no other way to say this; this looks dangerous to me.  It projects too far out from the sidewall of the camper and appears unprotected from even the most minor of side-collisions.

When we recently took out a 2014 Adventurer 86SBS for a weekend rally, I had this propane attachment moved to the inside wall so it was no longer projecting outwards.  I strongly recommend Adventurer take a serious look at this and any current owner have this propane attachment moved to the inside wall.  Besides, it looks goofy, and the hanging warning labels look like dirty rags.  This is one feature I would nip and tuck.

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The almost always inaccurate (for every truck camper manufacturer) exterior weight sticker on the Adventurer 116DS stated the dry weight, with full water, propane, and refrigerator at 3,794 pounds.  Never trust these exterior weight stickers as they are universally based on a camper without options.  There’s also no official or legal entity that polices these weights.  Some companies just put a round number on these stickers.  Please ignore these stickers.  They are almost all wrong.  Some are very wrong.

To get a handle on the actual wet and loaded weight of a camper you’re researching, start with the wet weights in Truck Camper Magazine’s Buyers Guide.  Then add the weight of any options you want in that camper.  That will get you fairly close, but will probably still be under.

Adventurer also has a build your own system that allows you to option camper and calculate its dry with options weight.  Adventurer is leading the industry with this feature, and should be applauded for it.  Link: http://www.amlrv.com/build-your-own-page

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While we encourage you to all but ignore every outside weight sticker posted on every truck camper, we do encourage you to pay close attention to the weight stickers inside all Adventurer truck campers.  Posted inside an interior cabinet (upper kitchen cabinet door on the 116DS), this sticker reflects the dry weight, including factory installed options, for the specific camper the sticker is posted.

According to Adventurer’s inside weight sticker, the 2014 Adventurer 116DS under review was 4,624 pounds.  Let’s put that weight into Truck Camper Magazine’s wet weight equation and see where we end up.

Adventurer 116DS: dry weight (with options) 4,624 + 38 gallons fresh, 316.9 pounds + 6 gallon full hot water heater, 50 pounds + 2x 20-pound full propane tanks, 40 pounds + 2x batteries, 130 pounds + stuff, 500 pounds = 5,660.0 pounds.

In reality, 500 pounds is probably a little low for stuff weight on a camper this big.  To be more realistic, I would add another 250 pounds for stuff putting the total at 5,910 pounds.  While nearly 6,000 pounds is nothing to sneeze at, you can easily find long bed dually trucks with more than 6,000 pounds of payload; if you spec them right.

You can always go to your truck dealer (Chevy, GMC, Ford, or Dodge) and say, “I need 6,000 pounds of payload, or more, on the yellow payload (also known as cargo) capacity sticker inside the driver’s side door.”  Show them an example of that sticker if they don’t understand, and tell them it’s a requirement for your purchase.

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Side entry is a popular floor plan feature on multi-slide truck campers.  Not only does side entry allow for more creative interior layouts, but it also allows for easier towing.  The innovative floor plan in the 116DS wouldn’t be possible without side entry.

The 116DS steps are solid and, together with the large assist handle, make entering and exiting the camper a confident and comfortable experience, at least until that third Dark and Stormy.

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Just inside the side entry door are the slide room switches, power awning switch, and a light switch.  This is good because, while physically possible, the camper really isn’t comfortable to enter and use with the slide-outs in.  If you’re relatively skinny, you can do it, but it won’t be fun.

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Above the slide room switches is where the control panel is for the optional Onan generator, and the monitor for the holding tanks, batteries, and water pump switch.

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One step into the 116DS and you know this isn’t just another me-too, copy-cat, nothing-new-to-see-here truck camper.  There’s some serious wow factor here.

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From a kitchen peninsula, to the theater seating, there’s a lot to take in.

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This photograph shows the full-wall rear-slide kitchen in its entirety.  This is where most other multi-slides have put a sofa slide.  Putting the kitchen on a full-wall rear slide is what makes this floor plan possible.  Best of all, you still get a sofa (or) theater seating, and a full-booth dinette.  You’ve really got to hand it to Adventurer.  This is definitely an innovative design.

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I was really unsure about the rear kitchen area in the 116DS, until I saw it.  It’s a little tight with everything compacted to fit on a rear slide but, aesthetically, it’s a total knock out.

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Overall, the rear kitchen slide design looks well sorted and very functional.  Dave and Dave spent some serious design time here, and it shows.

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The kitchen peninsula offers a double sink, more storage, and much needed counter space to the 116DS kitchen.  You can also see the Fantastic Vent over the kitchen area, right where it should be.

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The longer I stayed in this kitchen area, the more I liked it.  The large window gives the kitchen user light, ventilation, and a view.

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The refrigerator in the 116DS is a monster seven-cubic foot Dometic Renaissance with blue LED lighting and enough room for more beer than any of us should drink, at least in one sitting.

Having a refrigerator on a slide means dealing with a potentially noisy refrigerator fan.  Refrigerators are almost always quieter if they’re ventilated from the roof.  Another benefit of the 116DS floor plan is that the refrigerator is as far away as possible from the cabover sleeping area, should fan noise be an issue.

I have also had folks suggest that a rear mounted refrigerator might blow out while driving.  First, it’s not advisable to run a propane refrigerator while driving (although I know most of us do).  And second, I’ve heard no reports, from dealers or consumers, of the refrigerator on a 116DS actually blowing out.

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The kitchen drawer storage in the the 116DS is excellent.  In this photograph you can see five drawers with steel roller bearings in the lower kitchen.  This not only looks and feels like a typical home kitchen, but gives every knife, fork, spoon, spatula, ladle, potato masher, can opener, pizza cutter, oven mitt, lemon squeezer, and nut cracker its place.  What?  You go truck camping without a lemon squeezer?  How do you live?

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The upper kitchen cabinetry features one cabinet and an optional microwave oven.  We usually would want to see more upper kitchen storage area for cups, dishes, and food, but this camper isn’t lacking for storage, it’s just not where we normally find it.  With this being a unique floor plan, it will be interesting to see how owners adapt the storage opportunities to the day-to-day needs of life on the road.

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For example, the under stove storage drawer could work well for pots, pans, and dishes.  Or, it could be a place for larger dry food items.  As with any new camper, it takes time to figure out where everything can and should go.

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Above: Click thumbnails to enlarge.

The tall stainless steel sink faucet is another nice touch.  The storage under the sink appears big enough for a small trash can.  Under the wing of the peninsula counter is where the Suburban hot water heater switch is located, along with a 110 volt outlet.

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Standing at the sink, you can clearly see the television and the whole camper stretched out in front of you.

It’s hard to explain, but this camper feels very social.  When you’re standing behind the sink, you’re facing into the heart of the camper and can see and talk to people sitting in the theater seating or in the dinette.  The whole camper feels very open and ready for a small gathering where everyone one has their comfortable space.  Is this a party camper?  You bet.

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Above: Click thumbnails to enlarge.

Adventurer uses Kaper II LED lights for the interior of their truck campers.  These slim light fixtures have a rocker switch to turn on one side or both sides.  LED lights can be very bright (much brighter than traditional incandescent RV lights) so the ability to turn on only one side is welcome.  That said, the Kaper II lights were a good level for brightness and light color.  They won’t have you diving for cover when turned on, but offer plenty of light for reading.

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For some, the theater seating in the Adventurer 116DS will have them at, “Hello”.  To have not one, but two comfortable recliner seats in a truck camper is a real luxury.  Technically, Bob Mehrer at Snowriver started this trend in the mid-2000s, but Adventurer has taken the concept to the next level.

The question is, would you rather have a sofa, or dual recliner theater seating?  Both are available (as an either/or option) in the 116DS.  I’m really split on this, but I think the theater seating ultimately wins the day.

WARNING: Please be careful with this particular feature.  To sit in these theater seats is to want them in your next truck camper.  Casually take your spouse into a 116DS and you may be filling out a check or credit app moments later.  Compared to just about everything out there in truck camper land, these theater seats are ridiculously comfortable.  You’ve been warned.

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Since we’re talking about theater seating, let’s make sure you can see the television from the theater seating, right?  Well, you can.

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In between the theater seats is a tall and narrow pull-out storage drawer, perfect for a few books or magazines.

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Immediately above the theater seating is a window, two speakers, and a Jensen audio-video system.

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The Jensen audio-video system offers DVD and CD playback with MP3 support, AM/FM radio, USB connection, and auxiliary in for iPods and other portable devices.  If the Jensen system is to be used as a DVD player, the location is fantastic for the theater seating area, and potentially quite inconvenient for watching films in the cabover.

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The Jensen speakers are attractive, out of the way, and offer the opportunity for a quasi-surround-sound experience.

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On either side of the Jensen audio-video system are two storage cabinets.  Given the proximity and accessibility of these cabinets to the kitchen, it would not surprise me if some folks used these for kitchen items or dry foods.

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Across from the theater seating the Dream Dinette has almost become ubiquitous in full-booth dinettes, and for good reason.  The post-less Dream Dinette allows for more leg room and very fast dinette-to-bed changes.  The seating in the 116DS dinette was comfortable with plenty of room for four adults.

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The two large pull-out drawers under the dinette offer yet another excellent storage opportunity in the 116DS.  Note the metal roller bearings that are standard on all Adventurer truck campers.

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Made into a bed, the dinette bed would measure about 65 inches wide, but I couldn’t get the last cushion to lay flat, no matter what combination I attempted.  Granted, I was no Geometry major, nor was I a Tetris champion, but I can put together Lego like no one’s business.  No matter what I tried, this bed did not lay flat.  I’m sure Adventurer will call me and say, “Look genius, you are supposed to…”  We’ll see.

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With a curved wall and sliding door, the centrally located wet bath appears elegant and refined.

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If I were working at Adventurer, I would be concerned that some customers might dismiss the 116DS purely on the basis that it has a wet bath.  I know many folks in the multi-slide camper category who would not even consider a wet bath.  For them, a wet bath is a deal breaker.

In the case of the 116DS, that might be a huge mistake.  First, the bathroom in the 116DS is easily one of the biggest wet baths we’ve ever seen, if not the biggest.  Somehow this wet bath feels, at least to me, like a small bathroom in a regular house; what I remember the adults during my childhood calling a “downstairs powder room”.

Second, for showering purposes, nothing beats a large wet bath for space.  Way too many folks have told me that they are too big to fit into their truck camper showers.  They have described shower curtains sticking where no shower curtain should stick.  They have told me of inappropriate and unprovoked encounters with bathroom fixtures during otherwise routine bathing exercises.

While I have likely been scarred for life by these conversations, they have suffered the consequences of not having considered the size and space of their camper showers.  If this concerns you, take a serious look at the size of the wet bath in the 116DS.  It’s really big.

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The bathroom floor offers plenty of room to move around.  The straight and simple walls and floor will make cleaning the bathroom faster and easier.

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The bathroom sink is integrated into the fiberglass mold of the bathroom and incorporates ducted heat and a protected toilet paper holder.  In the future, Adventurer could kick the sink up a notch by adding a metal/chrome sink faucet.

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The bathroom has a medicine cabinet and pull-down towel rack.  I appreciate the wood added to the medicine cabinet shelves to help prevent items from spilling out.

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It’s difficult to see in the photos, but the skylight in the 116DS bathroom is enormous.  When I describe this wet bath as big, this skylight is a big part of that big.  As someone who stands over six feet tall, having the headroom and light from this skylight made a big difference.  It may also alleviate the need to turn on a light at night to use the bathroom.

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Remember the fondu fan on the side of the camper?  Well, here it is inside the camper; a small, but powerful, side-mounted bathroom fan.  The handle is what opens and closes the fan by pushing the handle forward (open) or pulling it back (closed).

Having the fan side-mounted allows for the larger skylight, a significant plus for headroom, light, and the sense of space.  Having used these side-mounted fans on other campers, I quite like them.  They’re not as powerful as a roof mounted Fantastic Vent, but they get the job done.  Want a little background noise and air flow while you’re in the bathroom?  The fondue fan does the trick.  Let it be known that the fondue fan company had better come up with a catchy name for their product soon, or I’ll give it a “cheesy” name of my own.

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This surprised me.  Immediately under the wet bath door, a place where folks will be showering, is the location of the fuse panel box.  Now we all know water and electricity aren’t the best of friends, so I’m not sure why Adventurer would have placed the fuse box in this location.  Other truck camper manufacturers place controls and switches under the kitchen sink area, another potential trouble area.

In the future, we hope to experiment with waterproofing treatments like Rustoleom’s NeverWet.  If the online videos are to be believed (see here), owners have treated their smartphones with NeverWet, submerged them in water for extended periods, and they come out water free, and 100% operational.

Maybe NeverWet and other waterproofing technologies are too good to be true, but maybe they’re a technological breakthrough with exciting implications for our truck campers.  Could we one day see a completely waterproof truck camper?  I think so.

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This is what a California King bed looks like in a truck camper.  Honestly, I didn’t really notice the additional size until looking at the photographs later.  For some folks, having a California King will mean more sleeping space and comfort.  For others, it means no storage on the driver’s side of the cabover.

The bed was comfortable, and I can see some pet owners appreciating more room for Fido at the foot of the bed.  Our cat, Harley, would love it.

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The driver’s side of the the cabover features an optional HDTV television and window.  Again, other than the cabinetry over the headboard, there is no storage on the driver’s side cabover.

For Angela and I, this set-up could pose some challenges.  Honestly, we would prefer a queen size bed and cabinetry on the driver’s side.  Where do we put our underpants and socks?  Where do we put our blue jeans and T-shirts?

If it were up to us, each company would keep a large suitcase full of these items for cabover testing purposes.  While I’m 100% sure owners of the Adventurer 116DS would figure out where to put their underpants, socks, jeans, and T-shirts, the answer is not as obvious as it would be with two side-hampers, two front-penguin cabinets, and two side-closets.

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The passenger’s side of the cabover features a small window, nightstand-like table surface with underneath storage nook, and a large mirrored wardrobe.

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The wardrobe is huge, and quite deep.  If you bring a lot of hanging clothes, this would be great.  Fortunately, most of us don’t bring hanging clothes when we go truck camping.  Heck, many of us are happy if we’re wearing clean clothes, much less something that needs hanging.

This wardrobe might be more useful if it had (a) some optional shelving and (b) some storage containers on the floor.  Angela and I are not big fans of these big wardrobes in the cabover (especially the mirrors) but they could be made more efficient and useful with some minor modifications.

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Over the headboard in the cabover are three cabinets.  This is probably where we would put our underpants, socks, jeans, and T-shirts, but there’s a question about co-mingling.  I don’t want my socks co-mingling with her T-shirts when I’m not around, and vice versa.  We also like to have equal storage opportunities, and there are only three cabinets.  All I know is this looks like a great bonus storage area, but it gets interesting when it’s a main storage area, for two.

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For 2014, Adventurer has upgraded their cabover LED lights and they are a world better.  These white puck shaped lights turn on and off by pressing their face making them quick to turn on and off, even without glasses (an important point for some).

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They also have a good quality and quantity of light for reading and finding what you’re looking for.

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Next to the passenger’s side of the cabover is an outlet for charging electronics overnight, or a CPAP machine.

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Flat panel television mounts are getting better all the time and the mount in the 116DS is no exception.  The television mount in the 116DS had a convenient pull to release the television.  Once released, the television was quick to position for viewing from the cabover or the dinette, theater seating, and kitchen areas.

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Reattaching the arm is as easy as moving the arm into position, pulling the chain, and letting it snap back into position.

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I might cover the end of this chain with something soft as to not rub on the wall, but I like the mount.  I also appreciate how Adventurer dressed the wires from the ceiling to the television.

Wrap It Up

If you have the opportunity to check out the Adventurer 116DS, be sure to leave your preconceived notions of what a multi-slide is, or should be, at the door.  Yes, it has a wet bath – but that wet bath has to be seen to be fully appreciated.  Yes, there’s a funky kitchen peninsula and an industry-first rear kitchen slide – but it really works.  Yes, you are forced to choose between a sofa and theater seating – but you won’t care once you sit in those recliner seats (hint hint).

My only serious nit pic with the 116DS is with the awkward storage opportunities in the cabover.  I would prefer a more traditional approach to the cabover cabinetry.  I’m sure we would figure it out, but I hope Adventurer takes a long look at the cabover storage in the 116DS, and then puts a sock in it, or a dozen, not to mention some T-shirts, blue jeans, and underpants.

The 2014 Adventurer 116DS was the 2013 Reader’s Choice Award Winner for Best Truck Camper of the Year.  Now that I’ve spent some real time in this camper, I have to agree with our readers.  If you’re in the market for a multi-slide, the 2014 Adventurer 116DS should definitely be on your short list.

Quality, Customer Service, and Long-Term Reliability

Truck Camper Magazine inspects all reviewed truck campers for design, material, and quality issues and reports what we find. However, since Truck Camper Magazine reviews only brand new truck campers, our reviews do not address long-term quality, customer service, or reliability.

To learn about a brand’s long-term quality, customer service, and reliability, Truck Camper Magazine recommends talking directly with truck camper owners at truck camper rallies and online via truck camper forums and truck camper owners groups.

Please be sure to balance your gathered feedback across multiple sources including direct correspondence with the truck camper manufacturers and your closest truck camper dealers.

If you are new to truck campers, visit the Newbie Corner.

Contact Adventurer about the 116DS.  For more information on the Adventurer 116DS, visit their website at adventurercampers.com.

 

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