Dave Rogers: Whazoo On Top of the World

Dave Rogers, aka Whazoo, loves to take his Outfitter Apex 8 to the edge.  He also loves mountains, trees, red rocks, stale donuts, and sci-fi.  Set your sense of humor to stun.













Anyone who's spent some time on the popular RV.net truck camper forum is probably familiar with Whazoo.  Not only is Whazoo one of the most fun and colorful personalities on RV.net, but he can also stop you in your tracks with his spectacular photography and stories of extreme off-road truck camping.  Then he'll throw in one of his amazing Photoshop imaginations just to see if you're paying attention. 

So who is this Whazoo and what led him to become the to-the-edge truck camper that he is today?  Get your sense of adventure, and your sense of humor, ready.  Here's Whazoo, aka Dave Rogers.

TCM: How did you become interested in off-road exploration and camping?

Dave: When I was ten years old or so, my mom taught me how to drive a Jeep in the foothills of San Bernardino, California.  Those were the good old days.  Kids could do things back then and not get in trouble.  For example, kids could drive in our out-of-the-way neck of the woods.  I had friends in Junior High already riding motorcycles to school.  When I was ten or eleven years old, I used to drive my grandfather on his rural mail route.  I took out a lot of mailboxes.

I always liked four wheelers and being off-road.  I got my first dirt bike in seventh grade.  I’ve always loved camping and dirt goes along with it.  I was also in the Boy Scouts and did a lot of camping.  I did my first fifty mile hike the summer between seventh and eighth grade.

When I got older, I went off-road with my dad’s AMC Javelin.  That’s when I learned to take air out of the tires, real important in a two wheel drive vehicle.  I remember I got stuck in Anzo Borrego and had to dig out.  I’ve been going there since early 70s.  I just love camping, any place, anywhere.

TCM: What was your first off-road vehicle?

Dave: I bought a 1973 Bronco in 1974.  Before that I had a 1959 Chevy Apache pickup truck.  The truck was two-wheel drive, but I four wheeled with it, or tried to.  After 1974 I've never been without a 4x4 and have had a total of thirteen since.

TCM: Tell us about how you got into truck camping.

Dave: It all started in the early days of my marriage.  It’s funny in that we just celebrated our thirtieth wedding anniversary by camping.  All we want to do is camp out somewhere.

In those days we had a 1967 Chevy three-quarter ton pickup with a camper.  We actually bought two trucks and campers so that we could take friends with us.  Things were cheap then, Gordon.  It wasn’t like it is now.  A used truck and camper now will still cost you $40,000 or $50,000.  Back then it would be like $1,200 for a truck $400 to $500 for a used camper.  I can’t remember the name of our camper.  It wasn’t important; it was just a camper.

We had the two trucks and campers and then we had our first child and sold the campers.  Later we made a mistake.  We rented a motorhome and then, within a year, I owned a motorhome.  I four wheeled our twenty-seven foot Class C motorhome and took it into places most people wouldn’t.  My friend welded expanded metal like tracks and we put them in front of the motorhome to get where we wanted in sand and soft dirt. Then we'd pull them up from behind the motorhome and put them back in front and drive a few more feet.  We would go down to the beach in Mexico and get inches away from the water and hide the tracks.  Many people got stuck trying to get out where we were.  When you want to go where you want to go, it doesn’t matter how hard it is to get there.

TCM: Wow, that’s hard core.  How did you go about assembling your current rig?

Dave: Before we owned our current truck camper, we towed a Jeep behind our motorhome.  The problem was that we wanted to camp where we took our Jeep and not need to go back to our motorhome.  We began to wonder, “How can we camp in style on mountain peaks?”  

While exploring Colorado for a place to live we noticed Colorado has so many pop-up campers.  We had seen them for years and not thought a thing about them.  I give my wife a lot of credit and you should do the same Gordon, with your wife I mean.  (I’m after some points here with Lynn.)  Well, Lynn said, “That’s what we need.  A pop-up camper is perfect”.  Consequently somewhere with in the next year, I was reading Off-Road Magazine and low and behold, there was an article about the making of an off-road camper and it was an Outfitter.  So, for the next few years, I dreamed and saved.  In 2007, I got Apex 8, which is exactly what I wanted.

TCM: Other than the article, what lead you to purchase an Outfitter pop-up camper?

Dave: Pretty much everything.  Really it’s the whole deal.  I couldn’t have picked a better camper from coming out of a motorhome.  I’m a little spoiled.  I need a shower, heater, television, and a generator, not to mention a toilet.  The Apex has a generator compartment.  My camper also has a heated basement.  I love going out in the dead of winter and the heated basement keeps my tanks from freezing.  I also have twelve windows to look out of.  My camper is the neatest thing I own, I love my Outfitter and can't say enough about it.

I also want you to know that in all my years of servicing customers as a painting contractor, I thought I did a pretty good job.  However, Bob and Brian of Outfitter, oh my gosh!  Anytime I’ve had an issue, they help me.  Brian even came by to get my camper after making a delivery in the area.  They put on a power roof, new refrigerator, and a bunch of different things.  So now I’m trying to service my customers better because of Bob and Brian.  If I had more money, I would buy a second Outfitter with a few more options.

TCM: What would you get on your second Outfitter?

Dave: If I could do it again, I would like solar, but I need room for my canoe.  And right now I’ve got two six volt batteries but would like four batteries because I don’t like to use the generator.  

TCM: Tell us about the truck that you use with your Outfitter.

Dave: Being a V8 guy, there’s nothing better than the sound of a V8.  To me, the diesel was loud with a lot of smoke.  About that same time I had also read a new article about the new Duramax diesel engine being quiet and not having as much smoke.  It was a new low sulfur diesel. 

I went over to the local GMC dealer and started up a truck with the new Duramax engine.  We could talk standing outside truck, the motor was so quiet for a diesel!  Lynn and I hassled over the four door or extended cab.  We got the four door and have the extra room.  With our daughters and son-in-law we can take everyone with us.  There is even room for my multiple personalities.  We love our truck.

Dave: I’ve modified it with a two inch lift kit.  I bent a tie rod last year, so now I have heavy duty tie rods.  I also have slightly larger tires and rims.  They’re thirty-two inch tall tires.  I got two flat tires on one road about a year and a half ago.  On the internet they always say to take two full size spares with you on this particular road.  Well, we were two miles down the road and I got my first flat.  So, we turned around and went back to Kanab, Utah and they couldn’t fix the flat.  We only had the OEM spare, so we had to buy new tires and all they had were Nittos and Toyos.  We got the Toyos.  Coming back out we got another flat on the way out, so wound up with the Nittos.

TCM: Can you tackle Jeep trails with your rig?

Dave: Our goal with our truck camper is to do old jeep trails.  In the picture you were nice enough to put in your calendar we were on a Jeep trail called, Top of the World, which is northeast of Moab.  We did that with the truck and camper.

There is a point where we won't be able to do a particular trail due to the rear overhang of the camper, but there are plenty of other trails to choose from.  I have a couple trips planned in the spring where I will take the jacks off.  They are in the off-road position and they sit higher than most.  Outfitter does that for guys who want to go off-road. The ground comes up pretty quick on the back of a longer vehicle.  I want to talk with Bob and Brian about a thick piece of steel for a skid plate where the camper bottom is exposed.  I know I’m going to scrape rocks at some point.

TCM: Have you ever damaged your truck on a difficult trail or scratched your camper on a rock wall?

Dave: I’ve got the usual desert pin stripping where we’ve gotten into the cedars.  The decals have been scratched from the trees.  And yes, I have come close to kissing a rock wall.

Once, on the White Rim Trail in Utah, the last fifty miles were solid mud.  We were 500 feet over the Green river.  The cliff on the passenger side was so close I had to pull in the mirror.  Lynn walked it because it was so spooky.  I tagged a rock with my jack.  I feel extremely lucky that I didn’t damage my camper.  It was more of a slide than anything.  I thought I was going to die.  My stomach was actually somewhere else and I was wishing for those adult diapers.  It was scary because we only had six inches before we would fall off into the Green river.  I couldn’t even look out my own window.  I couldn’t give it gas and couldn’t hit the brakes, just basically idled down the road pushing mud or sliding.  

On that trip, we fell in love with the truck camper as a combo because the weight of the camper pushed me through mud to harder ground.  And the diesel was great.  Diesel engines are like tanks in that and they will crawl through anything.

TCM: It sounds like you like being on the edge.

Dave: If you know you can make it, it’s not exciting or fun.  If there’s no possibly of damage, it’s not exciting or fun.  I like to be right there.  I’m not one to go out and break things because we are usually by ourselves.  I like the challenge of getting to places and getting back without damage or breaking down.  I’ve been in a lot of precarious situations.  I’ve done a lot of crazy things that I’m lucky to have lived through.  We don’t live on that edge anymore, the young man’s edge.

TCM: What are some of your favorite areas to go truck camping?

Dave: At the Top of the World, the view is stupendous.  It borders on a religious experience.  The sight is just to die for.  The edge of the rocks drops 1,500 to 2,000 feet. It's especially beautiful if you're lucky enough to be there just after a snow.  The great thing is that you are the only person there, I like it when nobody else is there.  That’s why we have a truck camper instead of a motorhome or fifth wheel.

TCM: How do you find out about new areas to explore?

Dave: I will talk to anybody.  I will hunt up backcountry rangers.  If you approach people the right way, and they see that you’re a respectful outdoors person, they’ll tell you their secret places.  We’ve found a lot that way.  People will post stuff on the internet and that doesn’t quite do it for me.  I like to pick up the phone and talk to a ranger or find a ranger when I’m out and about.

TCM: Tell us about your trip to the The Wave in Vermillion Cliffs.

Dave: The Wave is sandstone.  It’s a seven mile easy hike there and back.  Coyote Buttes is the overall name.  The Wave is so incredibly hard to get a permit for.  We first went fifteen years ago when my girls were little.  Back then you could mail in for passes and get in.

Now, it’s an online thing and you need to get a permit four months in advance.  If you were to go on the BLM website on the 30/31st of a month at midnight, you were one of the first people to get a permit for four months later.  They would only sell ten online per day.  Well, what happened was that people were buying blocks of permits and reselling them for more money.  I pointed that out to BLM and they shut the website down.  Six months later, they were back up with a new system, which works better now.

Now they have a ten person per day online and ten person per day in person sign-up.  Go to Kanab, Utah to the BLM office and get there early.  Remember, it’s all on how you approach people.  Last time we went, we had gotten snowed out of Cedar Mesa.  We went to Lake Powell and called Kanab.  We didn’t want to go to Kanab if we couldn’t get in to the Wave.  Well, people had backed out of going to the Wave because of snow conditions, so they verbally let us go over the phone.  We got lucky.   The gods are typically with us.

TCM: Isn’t it cold to go out in a pop-up camper in the winter?

Dave: Between our propane furnace and our catalytic heater, we are snug as a bug in a rug when we’re camping.  We’ve been camping in six degree weather.  Of course we wear our long johns all the time and I wear a beanie when I sleep.  Half of our body temperature goes out of our head and our feet.  I tend to lose more from my head because of a certain hole there.

Come summer we go to higher elevations since we live in Phoenix and don't like to camp in the heat.  We have been to Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana in the summer.  I love mountains and I love trees.  I’m dying to live back in the trees.  I also like the north and northwest.  Last summer we took our truck camper to Vancouver Island.  We used to live in Bend, Oregon, so we went to our old town.  In the summer we can’t beat the cooler climates.

Outside is the only place I’ve ever wanted to be.  Lynn and I are not sit around kind of people.  Our relaxing is getting there and hiking to see as much as possible; we’re not just in or around our camper.  And I take as many pictures as I possibly can.

TCM: What can you tell us about using a catalytic heater in a truck camper?

Dave: We have an Olympian Wave 3 catalytic heater.  It’s is like having a fireplace in our camper.  They don’t use as much propane as a forced air furnace.  I do open both roof vents when we’re using it.  I have MaxxAir covers, so the cold air won’t come in.  I also have O2 alarms so I don’t worry about the fumes.

We go out in the snow and the heater is nice and toasty when we come back.  At night we have the lights out and sit and talk.  It’s like having a fireplace in our bedroom.  I just keyed it into our existing propane line and drilled the cabinetry.  It’s the biggest catalytic heater I can mount in my Outfitter.  On my last trip, I set the furnace at fifty and I don’t think it came on.  The Wave 3 did most of the heating.  It’s great.  It uses a lot less propane and there’s no battery drain.

TCM: Your photography is exceptional.  Tell us about your passion for photography.

Dave: I have a  prosumer camera, a Sony A350.  It’s not expensive.  As much as I want to be, I'm not a photographer.  I use some of the shooting modes.  My brother is a studio photographer and my best friend is a professional photographer.  We all post process our photos in Photoshop and Lightroom by Adobe.  I will at least sharpen them, but I don’t do hue and saturation because I don’t like unrealistic photos.  The bottom line is that I have hundreds of dollars invested in photography magazines and I want mine to look real.  Really!

TCM: You’re also known for some humorous and fun photoshop renderings.  Where did the idea for those come from?

Dave: That’s just from my brain.  I’ve been watching Sci-Fi most of my life and I just like goofy stuff.  I’ve been painting houses for thirty-eight years now and am quite bored with it.  I photoshop when my wife isn’t home, kind of a closet case Photochopper.  It takes hundreds of hours and relieves my boredom.  

TCM: Another passion of yours is the RV.net forum where you post under the name Whazoo.  Is there a story behind the name?

Dave: When my girls were little, I was the Grand Whazoo, a cartoon character that knew everything.  I wanted my girls to think I knew everything.  It stuck, so please don't tell them that I don't... know everything I mean.  Later my wife said that Whazoo has another meaning.  I fit that meaning as well.  At times I am a big Whazoo.

TCM: What do you enjoy about the RV.net forum?

Dave: It’s just a big friendly club.  I’ve really enjoyed the few RV.net people I’ve met.  Going to a truck camper rally would be so phenomenal.  Family, friends, and a truck and camper.  What else is there?  To go to a rally and have another hundred friends would be great.  We have a common interest, so you already have a starting point for conversation and friendship.

TCM: What are your future truck camping plans?  What’s next?

Dave: My wife and I wanted to go back to the Doll House in the Maze District in Canyonlands National Park.  That’s going to be put on hold because we are hoping to go to the Overland Expo with Bob and Brian from Outfitter.  I don’t want to possibly damage our truck camper because I want it to be nice for the show if I do get involved. But I also have other off road plans for the WHAZN8R this spring.  By the way, my new license plate has that name on it.  Named by friends we've met and camped with from RV.net.

TCM: Is there anything we didn’t ask that you want to add to your interview?

Dave: Maybe we could talk about donuts, especially Entenmann’s donuts.  We measure trips in length by the number of donuts we eat.  I like old fashioned glazed donuts, stale and crunchy.  With all the preservatives, I’m preserving myself, plus they’re full of sugar to run around.

TCM: That has to be the most original answer we’ve ever had to our last question.

Dave: Donuts are a staple of our camping.  We have at least a box.  When we went to Canada we took four boxes.  I’m surprised I don’t weight 300 pounds.  The hiking trails take it off, I suppose.

TCM: I like a good pumpkin pie, but that’s another story.  Thanks Dave.  This has been fun.

Dave: You’re welcome.  Next time Gordon, I'd like to interview you!  And since you like pumpkin pie and I like donuts, if we ever get together for a camp I'm thinking... pumpkin donuts!