0.1 Tent Camper DIY: How it all starts

This whole tent camper DIY journey started when a buddy of mine, a master carpenter, walked into my office one afternoon and tossed something on my desk. Two pieces of what felt like plastic, joined together at a right angle tumbled in front of me.

“What’s this? A new puzzle?,” I asked as I picked up the L-shaped form. I noticed how light it was.

“Thought you’d like to see that,” he said. “I know you were talking about materials to build a lightweight camper. This might be it.”

As I turned the piece over in my hands, I noticed how strong the bond was between the opposing pieces. “It’s PVC,” he explained. “PVC in sheet form. You can get it in 4 x 8 or 5 x 10. And you use regular PVC cement to join it. Those joins are indestructible when they set.”

Well now I really was intrigued. A light, rotproof material that could be cut like plywood but joined with weld-like seams…this was pretty interesting. I’d been thinking about starting a camper project for some time now and this was the impetus I needed.

I started drawing up some plans and ordered a couple of sheets of material. This was early 2017 and my buddy’s visit marked the start of my journey into tent camper DIY design and building.

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