Phil Patterson: Man On a Mission |
| Gordon White | Tuesday, 02 June, 2009 | ||||||||||||
|
When Phil isn’t flying around with the Air Force Reserves, he loves nothing more than hitting the road with his 2009 Eagle Cap 995 truck camper.  Phil Patterson’s story will resonate with anyone who’s had to convince their spouse that a truck camper was the best choice. Phil has convinced his wife not just once, but twice! Now she’s as much in love with their 2009 Eagle Cap 995 as he is, maybe more. In this interview, Phil reveals all about the custom features in his new camper and the covert mission to convince his wife to get it. Go Phil.
TCM: How did you get into truck camping? Phil: When I was a young boy, my father took us down to a truck camper dealership. I think that was around 1965. At that time, dealers sold trucks and campers packaged together. I thought, “Wow, this is great! I hope my dear old dad gets one.” Unfortunately, he had other plans for his money. TCM: That’s interesting. I’ve often wondered if dealerships should sell turnkey truck and camper packages today. So you got the bug for a truck camper as a kid. Phil: Yes. And as I got older, I always had some kind of RV in the back of my mind. When I mentioned that I wanted to look at truck campers to my wife, she wasn’t interested at all. Her idea of camping was a five-star hotel! When she was a kid, she went camping with her grandfather in an old camper with crummy paneling, a porta-potty, and no air conditioning. It was not a good memory. Eventually, her heart softened and she agreed to look at campers with me. When she saw what modern truck campers had become, she was all for getting one. The next thing I knew, she was picking out the fabrics and cabinetry. She was really stunned to see the difference forty years had made with truck campers. They had air conditioning, microwaves, and flush toilets. She was completely won over. TCM: What did you get? Phil: We went ahead and bought a non-slide Citation truck camper. Once we had gone camping a few times, we really fell in love with truck camping. My wife said the only mistake we had made was that we didn’t get a truck camper sooner. She had been used to staying in nice Embassy Suites while traveling for work. Now she is so used to having her own pillows, blankets, and towels I think it would be nearly impossible to get her to stay in a hotel. For her, it’s only the camper. Nothing else comes close. That’s how we got into truck camping. TCM: I hear that, “I wish we had done this sooner” comment all the time. When did you begin thinking about a larger camper? Phil: Just before I left for active service in Korea, I had bought a new Dodge 3500. It’s a dual-rear-wheel, six-speed manual, Cummins diesel truck with a 4:10 rear end and an exhaust break. It’s a really nice truck and has made a substantial difference. TCM: Why did you switch to a dually? Phil: I had read a lot on the web forums about single rear wheel trucks versus dually trucks. In the end, what motivated me were the tire ratings. I was within 100 pounds of my maximum weight rating per rear tire with my previous truck, a Dodge 2500. I knew that we were getting a larger camper and would need more truck. We really don’t mind investing in our recreation, so we did it right and bought a dually. TCM: There are disadvantages, but a dually gives you a lot more stability and payload. We really like our Dodge 3500 dually. When did you start your new camper search? Phil: When I returned from Korea, we toured several truck camper factories looking for a larger truck camper. When we went to the Citation factory, Tom Snyder showed my wife their fifth wheels. The next thing I know, my wife is all in favor of fifth wheel. So I spent from June 2007 to December 2008 trying to get my wife off the fifth wheel mindset. It was a slow process. TCM: That’s a long time to be trying to convince your wife to stay with a truck camper. How did you do it? Phil: I waited her out (laughs). I’m very patient and I didn’t want a fifth wheel. With a fifth wheel, you’re so limited to where you can go and what you can do. I like the unmatched mobility and flexibility of a truck camper. TCM: You got that right! When did you discover Eagle Cap? Phil: In December of 2008, I learned that the person who had owned Okanagan also owned the new Eagle Cap. I thought Okanagan made a good product so I thought I’d take a look at Eagle Cap, just for fun. I didn’t tell my wife I was going. TCM: A covert operation. Phil: Yes. That’s when I saw the Eagle Cap 995 and I was really impressed. So I asked my wife if she would go with me to see the camper. By this time I had really worked on her about not getting a fifth wheel. She still wasn’t very cooperative, but she agreed to go look. I had weakened her resolve and it was time to take advantage. TCM: The big moment. What did she think? Phil: When she saw the camper, she was very impressed. I was actually surprised that she liked it. This was a good sign. Then she went to see another Eagle Cap on the lot, an 850 model. The 850 had a camo interior that she really liked. I thought camo was more of a guy thing, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to upset the applecart. That’s how we got the 995. Now she goes in the camper and just beams with joy. TCM: You had some custom requests for your new camper. Tell us how that happened. Phil: I came across the Eagle Cap Owners forum, eaglecapowners.com. That’s when I got lucky and met forum member Goldwinghauler. He had some great ideas for Eagle Cap options so I incorporated a few of his ideas into my plans. Then I called Eagle Cap and spoke to Gary Hubbard, Eagle Cap’s Sales Manager, to ask if he would make a few changes to our 995. That was late December, just before Christmas. Gary was motivated at that time with the economy being in intensive care. It’s not that I was taking advantage of that situation, but I needed to strike while the iron was hot. The stars were aligned with my wife and I needed to make the purchase. Gary was most receptive to my requests. TCM: Tell us but the SeeLevel gauges you had installed. Phil: Our Citiation had standard tank level gauges, which we found to be very inaccurate. We kept getting phantom readings on our fresh, grey, and black water levels and wanted a better solution for our next camper. So I found SeeLevel gauges. The instrumentation sits on the outside of the tanks and are accurate within one percent. We got the basic SeeLevel system and it works perfectly. TCM: You sent us a photo of your inverter’s remote control FOB. What’s that all about? Phil: It’s really slick. I didn’t want a 12-volt television because I wanted something higher quality. I also didn’t want a TV with the DVD player built in. So I got separate components to get the higher quality and got a high quality Pure Sine Wave inverter with a remote. If I’m boondocking, I can turn on the inverter using the FOB which turns all the outlets in the camper to 110. The inverter also auto switches on upon a loss of shore power. I actually sent all these components to Gary to install. TCM: What other components did you send Gary? Phil: We also sent a single-handled faucet, which we believe saves energy and water compared to two-control facets. We just picked up a faucet we liked at Lowes and sent it to Gary. We also picked out towel racks and had Gary install custom generator storage and hickory shelves. TCM: Sounds like an awesome truck and camper. What do you like to do when you go truck camping? Phil: If my wife and I are going together, we usually camp at a campground. We’ll take a break and go to Tahoe, Santa Barbara, or Half Moon Bay. Even if we’re doing nothing, it’s very special and highly valuable time when we can get away and be in the camper. Getting away in the camper for a couple days and changing the scenery helps to clear our minds. We return with a fresh look. That’s made our camper a very worthwhile investment. TCM: What do you do if you go out truck camping by yourself? Phil: If I’m going by myself, I go to unimproved BLM land. I’m very fortunate to live near some BLM land, a place called Stoneyford. It’s in the middle of nowhere. I like to take a quad out and get away from people and work and spend time in the camper. Unfortunately, I’ve not been out for about a year after losing my dog. He was my best camping buddy. TCM: I’m sorry about your dog. I know how hard that is. What’s the longest distance trip you’ve taken so far? Phil: The longest distance trip we have made was when we visited the Canadian manufacturers. We were caught off guard by the warm weather in the Okanagan summer. The Canadians call it the Canadian banana belt. We thought it would be much cooler and weren’t really expecting the hot weather. So we cut across to Vancouver and the coast to cool off. That was quite a drive. Then we came down the Washington and Oregon coastline. We really enjoyed that trip. Our goal is to do more long distance truck camping. I will retire in a year or two and then we’ll be happy and content to travel for extended periods in our 995. TCM: That sounds like fun. Before we wrap up, tell us about your weekend job. Phil: I’m former active duty and now in the reserves. I actually got out of the reserves for a while and then got back into it as a non commissioned officer. I missed it. The comradery is hard to explain and communicate to anyone who hasn’t been in the military. It's not quite the same in the civilian world. TCM: What do you do in the reserves? Phil: I’m in the Air Force Reserve Command reserves. We have our own dedicated and self-supporting command. The command even operates it's own fleet of aircraft. TCM: Our interview was delayed by a week or so because you were on an exercise. What were you training for? Phil: We train with our active duty counterparts to stay proficient. We need to be able to do things manually and perform with very few luxuries. TCM: Thank you for your service Phil. And thank you for the interview. This has been fun. Phil: You’re welcome. |
