All testimonials are non solicited

John DeShazo's adventure home

My wife and I bought an old Keystone from All Terrain Campers that had been completely rebuilt with the base resized to fit later model trucks. We are happy with the unit, no buyers regret, no hidden complications, and we are satisfied. Ben was straight with us about it. We knew what we were getting. My observation is Ben, Marty, Jeff, et al know what they are doing. Marty, Jeff and the others are old school and do old school first class work. They take pride in what they do.

All Terrain Camper's place of business is in an area on the north side of Sacramento. It is located in an old rural subdivision. It appears to be in a unique outlying rural area that has been annexed into the city after it was subdivided unincorporated years ago into very large lots, at least an acre or two each. Some folks might call each of these lots small estates due to the large space around each house. Obviously, the zoning allows businesses on the properties because there are several mixed in with the residential properties.

Actually, All Terrain Campers is a classic cottage industry. They have a well equipped shop attached to a home. I counted four men building the campers. Ben, the salesman, does manual work too, though he does the sales transactions with the skill of someone accustomed to handling money, very professionally. Due to the small work force, you will probably have to stand in line for one of their campers.

Their products are almost identical to Four Wheeler Campers'. I saw a new camper under construction and looked it over carefully. The quality of the welding on the aluminum frames is good. I am experienced in metal work, having grown up in a machine shop. In addition to camping, one of my hobbies is restoring vintage cars. I do the body work and I know how to weld. I know what I am looking at in connection with the quality of metal work. The welding on the aluminum frame is important for this product to last. All Terrain Camper metal work is good. They know how to weld aluminum. If you are able to get All Terrain to build you a camper, DO IT, because you will have a durable classic.

One thing I very much appreciated were the gentlemanly comments made about Four Wheel Camper. Ben, Marty and Jeff had nothing but praise for Four Wheel Campers and their products. This high road way of doing business is rare these days. It made me feel good about both Four Wheel Campers and All Terrain Campers.
 
I was in Utah visiting my daughters over Christmas and had decided last Summer to purchase a new Four Wheel camper while we were out West. Unfortunately, I had gotten too busy in my work and did not order in time. I sold my old camper a bit prematurely and was without. As Christmas approached, Four Wheel Campers told me I would have to wait about 4 months for my order. All Terrain Campers had a similar waiting period. It is a long drive from Alabama to California to pick up a camper. I was in a position where I felt lucky to find anything close to what I wanted. The only thing available that would fit my truck was an old Keystone refurbished by All Terrain Campers. The result, I now own a camper built by Four Wheel and extensively rebuilt by All Terrain. I have experience with both companies' products and I can recommend them both.

My wife and I put the Keystone to a minor test on our return trip to Alabama, as follows. It took most of Thursday, December 28th for the guys at All Terrain to install the Keystone on our Chevy 1500. They were thorough. Our truck has an 8 foot bed and extended cab with helper springs from the previous camper. The truck has 2 wheel drive with limited slip, 5 speed manual overdrive and a 5.7L fuel injected V8.

Departing the Sacramento area about 3 PM, after stopping for some In and Out Burgers in Auburn, we drove to Falon, Nevada and camped in the WalMart parking lot Thursday night. Having not personally checked out the furnace, we were cautious and slept the first night in our heavy sleeping bags and no heat. Next morning the bank sign across the street from the WalMart said 12 degrees. We followed US 50 across Nevada to I-70 and ended up at Arches National Park for a wonderful camp in the national park campground second night. Next morning, we had breakfast in the Moab Cafe.

Speaking with a friend via cell phone, we received warnings of the BIG SNOW STORM. On the way out of Moab, we topped off the Keystone's propane bottle. We changed our plan of going east on I-70 and headed toward Albuquerque, planning to loop South around the storm.

This plan did not work. As it turned out later, and we were caught by the snow. At the time, not wanting to delay, we kept driving East after dark on I-40 slowly up a long ice slick grade out of Albuquerque. The traffic comprised mostly by 18 wheelers, slowed to a crawl. There was no way off the interstate because exits were choked with snow, piles of snow plow scrapings and stalled traffic.
 
We saw big RV motor coaches stopped at any wide space in the interstate, leveling jacks down, slide outs deployed, generators running and the TV screens visible through the windows . It was too dangerous for these large vehicles in the hands of amateur drivers to continue. Some of the professionals were not up to the task either and we saw a road train, tractor with two trailers, up side down in a ditch.

That night, I witnessed some of the best professional driving I have ever seen in some of those 18 wheelers. Many of them found places to get off the interstate, but after two or three days of sitting still, the truck payments and bills at home were forcing the drivers on the road against their will. This caused enormous congestion, many wrecks and stalled vehicles.

Nearing Cline's Corners in New Mexico about 8 PM we were stopped dead at mile marker 202. There we sat, stranded. By 2 AM, the outside thermometer on the guys Lincoln stopped next to us said minus 1 degree F. All around us, people were becomingdesperate, running out of gas, freezing. I am sure there were some deaths, but do not know the specifics.

A young Mexican American father with his family in a mini SUV came up to me and another man shivering in the dark and almost in tears because his kids were so cold. He said they were crying. He was frightened. He said he was from Los Angeles and had never seen snow before. I gave him a thick candle and explained how to use it to warm the inside of his car, which he understood. (We saw him the next day. He, his wife, and his kids were OK.)

My wife became very cold too. She is tough and tried to stay awake. After repeated urgings, she finally got inside the Keystone with the top down into a heavy sleeping bag under a thick comforter. We had plenty of gasoline but shut off our engine, not knowing how long we might be stuck. I decided to start the Hydro Flame furnace. It worked, as the guys at All Terrain said it would. Using my wife as a human CO detector, I let her go to sleep in the camper while I stood watch all night outside in a heavy military parka I had fortunately brought along. The Hydro Flame did its job. My wife eventually thawed out and slept well inside the camper.

There we sat, not moving a foot for about 10 hours. A little before daylight, some folks in 4 wheel drive trucks began breaking trail along the shoulder in the deep snow. Thanks to their efforts, we were able to follow with our 2 wheel drive pickup after several of the more able trucks made a path. The weight of the Keystone helped with traction. We took the jacks off the Keystone because they did not clear the deep snow. We negotiated a couple of miles along the escape lane to a rest area and ran the truck into the heavy snow out of the way of other vehicles. I had chains with me but we decided to camp and stay put until the 18 wheelers got moving.

Finally, clear of other vehicles, I got some much needed sleep. Marty had given us some oranges which we were glad to have. With the interesting events going on around us, we never got hungry. I had brought along a shovel from Alabama and used it to clear the snow from around our truck. I also dug out some nearby cars. After doing this a couple of hours, I got back to the camper.

My wife asked me if I knew the lady I had helped dig out her car was probably a prostitute. I was kind of shocked at the question because it is unlike my wife to say anything like that. Apparently, while I was taking my nap, my wife had been watching this woman going from one stalled 18 wheeler to another while talking on her cell phone in between. In the afternoon, deputy sheriffs in two four wheel drive SUV s came to check on the welfare of the stranded. The lady hastily departed. I told my wife the lady was very nice. We had taken turns on the shovel digging out her car. She kept saying what a good public service we were doing by shoveling snow. She was obviously a person with a desire to serve the community.

My wife did not say it but I got the idea she thinks I am pretty dumb when it comes to women. Even if I am a dumb male, I observed that a natural disaster is a great leveler of people.

The short version of the story is we made it safely home to Alabama. We are very happy with the refurbished Keystone. This is a larger camper than we wanted because we like to do a lot of National Forest dry camping, but after our experience with it in this natural disaster, we like it a lot. For the transcontinental trip, our worst tank of gas gave us 15 mpg and the best was 20 mpg. Remember, we have a manual transmission with over drive and I would not expect the same mileage with an automatic. Our gas mileage was much better than with our old hard sided camper which we had driven across the United States several times on this same truck. There is no question, lighter weight low profile campers will save gasoline.