2006 Quiksilver Edition Bambi 16'

[jbird]

New here with camping but loving life with our new bambi, also new to forums. We brought home our bambi dec.23 and left christmas eve for myrtle beach and stayed four days at Ocean Lakes campground to get accustomed to this cool airstream product and the lifestyle that it allows you to enjoy.
WOW!! Looking forward to the forum information and help from other people who have experience with Airstream products and rv camping.
happy camping,
jbird

[denellen]

Originally Posted by jbird

New here with camping but loving life with our new bambi, also new to forums. We brought home our bambi dec.23 and left christmas eve for myrtle beach and stayed four days at Ocean Lakes campground to get accustomed to this cool airstream product and the lifestyle that it allows you to enjoy.

Great little Stream! Happy camping.

[Stefrobrts]

I'm jealous! Those are so cool! So, how's livin' in that itty-bitty Bambi?

Welcome to the forum!

[jbird]

Hey we are excited about spending many weekends and weeks traveling together in this little cozy bambi,we also have a 9# rat terrier that travels with us and we all are loving life!! Thanks for the comments. Happy Thursday to ya. Oh we are leaving tomorrow to head to Cades Cove area, they are calling for snow tomorrow...c-o-o-l !!!
jbird






2006 Bambi Quiksilver
2005 Toyota Tundra 4x4 4dr
2004 Honda S2000

[robandzoe]

I sat and toured a 2006 Quick Silver 16' yesterday at Colonial Airstream in New Jersey yesterday. Lauren took me out in the cold so that I could see it. She stated only 100 were built...and it is way cool! Thanks Lauren!

Rob

[Bettymsb]

We have one also and would like to hear any comments or suggestions you
might have. We only slept one night in it before putting in storage and now
waiting to pull it out and get on the road. We plan on leaving SV. Id on the
22nd of March and will head to Zion Nat'l. park and then Sedona, AZ. on to
TX. and back by way of Santa Fe. We hope to spend several days going over
all the equipment before headin out. Have you had any problems? Do you have the solar panel? Keep on havin fun! Warm Regards & Happy Trails
John & Betty Sun Valley, Id.

[Bettymsb]

Hi, Forgot to tell you that we travel with two Kerry Blue Terriers....
So fun for all of us. John & Betty

[LuminumTraila]

Do any of you 16'CCD owners camp with kids? I'd like to know how the 16' might work for 2 adults and 2 small children who would just use the trailer for weekend camping and B&B when traveling.

[skutman]

We have a Quiksilver also. Two year old and a small dog are just right with wife and me. I wanted a small cosy unit. I grew up going to the lake. We went from dingy to cabin cruizer to very small houseboat to medium and then large houseboat. The fun quotient went DOWN with each "upgrade." Less is more if ask me. There will be room for one or two of the son's little friends too.

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by Bettymsb

We have one also and would like to hear any comments or suggestions you
might have. We only slept one night in it before putting in storage and now
waiting to pull it out and get on the road. We plan on leaving SV. Id on the
22nd of March and will head to Zion Nat'l. park and then Sedona, AZ. on to
TX. and back by way of Santa Fe. We hope to spend several days going over
all the equipment before headin out. Have you had any problems? Do you have the solar panel? Keep on havin fun! Warm Regards & Happy Trails
John & Betty Sun Valley, Id.

John & Betty---Having had a 16'CCD I can tell you you're in for a lot of fun. For the type of traveling you discribe they are perfect. Here are our observations about the trailer you have:
People----People are fascinate with them and will be knocking on your door wanting a "look inside".
Towing---With the tow vehicle you have you'll hardly know it's behind you. We towed our with an S-10 Chev when we first got it.
Boondocking---The only short coming this trailer has is it's smallish single battery. This is no problem as long as you have electrical hook ups. A small generator easily solves this problem. We used a 1000 watt Yamaha and a small automotive battery charger when without electric.
Storage---We found ours to have more than adiquit storage. However the is little room to leave stuff out that's not being used. Our rule was if it wasn't being used,"put it away".
Bedding----The bed is a bit difficult to make up as you can't walk around it. Our solution was the last person out made the bed as they we getting up.
Shower----With a wet bath everthing in there gets wet when bathing. We try to arrange our baths one after the another. This way it only need be wiped down once. With us the last person to shower did that.
I know you'll have great fun -----Pieman

[RDM16CCD]

Originally Posted by dougjamie

Do any of you 16'CCD owners camp with kids? I'd like to know how the 16' might work for 2 adults and 2 small children who would just use the trailer for weekend camping and B&B when traveling.

We are a family of 4 and have the 16' CCD, although not the Quicksilver. We use it mostly for weekend outings, and a full week (2 times, if we're having a good year...) of boon docking. It works well, but there are some limits that you have to work around.

1) Water & waste tank capacity - probably fine for an overnight, but no way is it enough for a week of dry camping. We use the campground toilet facilities, carry drinking water from home in separate containers to avoid concerns over unknown water quality, and use campground water in the trailer's tank so we can use the water heater for washing and showers. Gray water goes into the campground drain (if available) or on the ground back in the trees if that's permitted (at our favorite spots it's OK to drain gray water onto the ground). The 16' has only a single waste tank for both gray and black, and so we've never used the toilet in the trailer. It's never OK to drain black water onto the ground.

2) The wet bath room isn't much of a problem, drying after showers, when you're not actually using the toilet. A daily cleanup after showers are over keeps it in order. If you need/want to use the toilet in the trailer, then the wet bath is an extra step you have to deal with. When our kids were smaller, we'd let them use the toilet in the trailer (kids recoil in horror when they see the pit toilets...) and the grownups would use the campground facilities. Since we've had the 16', everyone's been big enough to just use the campground toliets.

3) Sleeping - we bought some Travsacks a few years ago. The big one stays in place on the bed in the rear, and the singles get rolled up each morning and stowed on the back bed. Our kids prefer not to share the dinette bed in the front, so we got a low folding cot and they take turns sleeping on the floor - it fits and there's foot room under the table for the cot. If I had my way we'd use the Travsacks at home - they make it really easy to keep the beds made up, or out of the way.

4) Daily activities keep us on the trails, streams, lakes, and around the campfire most of the day - so we mostly use the trailer for sleeping, or getting out of the rain. If it looks like it's going to rain for days and days, we leave and do something else. The 16' is too small fo 4 people to 'live in' for extended times, but it's great as a camper.

5) Main reason for us getting the Airstream was for it's towing abilities, and for quality of construction. Not that people don't have problems with their Airstreams, but in general they are one of the better units available.

6) Since our campgrounds require travel on some gravel roads, nicks and dings on the front aluminum skin will happen (the stone guards still leave a fair amount unprotected). To minimize this damage, I buy bubble wrap in rolls, and tape it over the vulnerable areas. I remove it when we get home, and have had not problems with the tape leaving residue, or damaging the clear coat. We bought the trailer to use it, and there will be inevitable dings on this kind of material, but the bubble wrap really cuts down on the damage.

7) If you camp mostly at campgrounds with hookups, then it's really easy. You can either use the campground or the trailer facilities as you choose, you can drain and refill tanks whenever you need to.

8) We bought 3 soft duffel bags in different colors for each person, sized to fit in the overhead lockers. That way, each person can pack their stuff in the house and load/unload the trailer really easily. The dirty laundry goes into each person's 2nd bag - when the 1st bag is empty & the 2nd is full, it's time to go home! The 3rd bag is used for each person's books, toys, flashlight, personal items, etc. With a unit this small things that aren't being used pretty much have to be put away.

Have fun
Bob

[Bettymsb]

Hi all, do any of you use the outside shower? We had three Rialta motor
homes and a 17"Casita and never used the inside shower. We have a twist
popup cover and a wood slatted board to stand on. Works great & so easy.
We also just recieved a twist popup playhut ordered from QVC it is 10x10
and all screened in. Will cover a picnic table or what ever. We also thought
our two Kerry Blue Terriers would be happier in this than teatherd. We have
not put it up yet as have to do it in the driveway and it is toooo darn cold.
They say it takes two people to fold back up. It comes in a flat zippered bag
and not too heavy. Looks neat. We have coffe every AM in the Bambi and
soon hope to be on the road and new scenery & we hope it is green and not
all white........more snow tonight ugggh time for spring. Warm Regards and
Happy Trails

[wheel interested]

Originally Posted by Bettymsb

Hi all, do any of you use the outside shower?

I was wondering if the new AS outside showers have hot and cold water. What a great way not to fill up the gray tank. Lots of great tips in this thread for camping and conserving, Bob's extensive tips were very valuable as well. And I like your morning coffee ritual.

[CanoeStream]

Yes, Carol, it has separate hot & cold. On my 25' FB SE the outside shower is immediately adjacent to the shower plumbing. As far as I can tell there are no shutoff valves to the outside shower. That is to say that it would be vulnerable to freeze-up when Airstream owners have some misplaced security that the furnace will keep the internal plumbing warm.

If you order I would insist that they install interior shutoff valves at the very least. I've begun to consider where and how I can access this plumbing. Spaces are extremely tight...

[wheel interested]

Originally Posted by Canoe stream

Yes, Carol, it has separate hot & cold. On my 25' FB SE the outside shower is immediately adjacent to the shower plumbing. As far as I can tell there are no shutoff valves to the outside shower. That is to say that it would be vulnerable to freeze-up when Airstream owners have some misplaced security that the furnace will keep the internal plumbing warm.

If you order I would insist that they install interior shutoff valves at the very least. I've begun to consider where and how I can access this plumbing. Spaces are extremely tight...

The Classic has a shutoff valve under the sink for the single faucet under carriage. If there are no shutoffs that would be really bad. Thank you for that information.

[LuminumTraila]

Skutman and RDM16CCD -- Thanks a ton! This is all very helpful information, whether we finally decide on the 16 or the 19. Of course, the 19 will give us more tanks, but the information that describes living small with 2 kids applies to both sizes I think. Doug had already been working on some ideas like what RDM came up with for packing in and packing out of the trailer. The use of the colored duffles is very good, and simple. And I had been wondering about whether one of the kids could make use of floor space for sleeping if they wanted to.

[Bettymsb]

On the 16 ft QS the shower turn on & off are inside, you just open a little
door. Very cool & so easy and does save on the grey water. And you do
not have to wipe down the shower etc. anything to make life more fun &
easy. Happy Trails, Betty PS still snowing here, Y'all come skiing, it is
the best.......well maybe Steamboat Springs, Co. has champaign powder,
our kids skiing in 15' of the stuff. Oh well, hope to be in green grass & sun-
shine soon, maybe at Snow Canyon out of ST George, Utah or Zion.

[Bettymsb]

My late husband & traveled for two & a half Months in Europe in a Westfailia.
What a great trip 11 countries. We did not miss a thing,had very little and
were very comfortable. Met some wonderful folks camped next to us out of Paris with
Kerries...needless to say made us homesick for our guys at home. The camp
grounds in Europe are wonderful, if you ever have the chance to take this trip
You would love it. We came home and bought a Westfalia then a Euro van. My now husband and I have owned three Rialtas and one 17ft Casita. Changed to a trailer when we were going back & forth to our property in
Steamboat Springs, Co. I would drive the MH and my husband the PU....that
got a little old so now in our little Bambi snug as bugs. Still snowing here but
we are leaving Wed. anyway. Happy Trails, Betty

[Bettymsb]

We just arrived home from a 3,750 mile trip in our new Bambi. Mosied to Texas
and had a great trip. We would have liked more shorts weather, but had very
little rain. A lot of wind so not many campfires, mostly sunny all the way. I think it was perfect timing. Arrived home to still almost 3 feet of snow in the
yard and it snowed yesterday UGHH! Time for spring...we had a taste of it in
So. Nv. NM. & Texas not so warm in Sedona, Az. The Bambi is perfect for us
and many people gawked with envy. Our Kerry Blues each had their own bed
and with our foam pad on our bed we slept like babies. Think we might head
back to Moab, Utah it was nice and warm there or Kahneeta Hot Springs in
Oregon out of Redmond. Happy Trails...John & Betty

[lewster]

Betty,

If you get to Kahneeta be sure to keep your money and credit cards on a short leash.......Indian gambling casino is right there at the Springs .