UNIMOG Camper

Looking through a pile of old photos, I found this from a visit to Tobyhanna in 1997.
It looks like an S250 shelter in the bed of this Unimog and I'm wondering how well they work as a camper. I'm considering using one for my deuce.

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Guys,
My S280 is bigger and hooked up to my M720 dolly set. But I know it's well insulated and very rugged. If you have one with A/C it holds the cool air in comfortably. The insulating material also helps keep outside noises outside. Some inside padding of a quieting nature may be needed for those creating inadvertent nocternal bronchial disturbances (INBD also known as snoring). Metal walls tend to magnify the issue. If you have one with a leak, it's extremely frustrating to locate the offending hole or crack to prevent further problems. That's been my experience so far.

The U1300L's used a comms shelter in the back of a cargo bed. They had an interesting looking tied down system though. I think the Swiss have the best idea with the Fiberglass box which is about half the weight of the NATO steel "Koffer" box and has standing headroom in the center as well as a compact thermostatically controlled heater.



Cheers,





Chris M

Very nice box Chris. That would certainly be a lot lighter than the big pig that currently resides on the back of my 404. Welcome to the forum. It's great to have some other Mog owners here. I am just a Mog new'b so you'll be very handy to have around [^]

Thanks Jeff. Great pics. I would love to have one of the 1600s one of these days. They are WAY out of my price-line right now. Hopefully I'll play with my 404 for a couple of years and then pick up a 1300 next. I love diesel Mogs. I almost bought a 900 series Case MB4/94 2 years ago. It was set up as a RR Pusher truck with an 8-speed tranny and torque converter. The Case Mogs all had ROPs, FOPs, and a Case bed for attaching all kinds of implements.

There was a nice spot on The History Channel on the Unimog. Told about it's design and creation as a agricultural vehicle to help rebuild Germany. Basically their version of our common farm tractor except a lot more versatile. Told about how the track width was designed to drive between rows of potatoes. Also showed a lot of the attachments available throught the years. There was almost no mention of military applications though...
On the S250 thing, I'm sort of looking for one to go in my M715. My truck is missing the troop seats and top bows, and I figure I can put the comm box in for a lot less than the cost of the seats, bows and top. Mainly to use for light camper duty in the summer, and just storage for my airsoft and camping gear. Saturn has them on their website, but they are in the $1,200 range, which is a bit much for me, and I have absolutely no use for the comm gear in the back. Oddly enough they look really new inside. Anyone have a lead on empty, but in really nice condition S250s?

That was, sort of, my original question, can you sleep 2-3 people in the S250? How about ventilation?

Guys,

The S-250 box can sleep three people if you have the aluminum board that goes between the "seats" on each side. But you can always make one of whatever materials you want. They are ventilated by a minimum of two double blind vents. The reason why they have double blind vents is because if you have a 231X2 (that's a combat photojournalist, how do I know? I was one) needing to develop film there is a darkroom handy in the field. They are usually equipped with a blower motor too. The ones I delt with in Desert Storm also had A/C to prevent the chemicals from boiling the film in the daytime. I've seen some comm. boxes too. However, I'm very familiar with the stink boxes (all the different development chemicals for photography have a unique aroma that lingers after operations were completed). They also retain heat and A/C very well due to the fact they are heavily insulated. I hope this helps.

Thanks, DR.

Bjorn,
Let me guess. A bit more info than you bargained for?

Yeah, I'd say you got that right.

Some misc. info on S250 Shelters:

http://www.tactical-link.com/s250_shelter.htm

Some exterior dimensions:

http://ilsc.natick.army.mil/SSS/S250.htm

Saturns Shelter page with dimensions and pics:



http://saturnsurplus.com/vehicles/shelter.htm

Sam Winer is Akron OH has new ones for $895 and used ones for $695. I have an S-318 which is just a tad smaller than the S-250. Got it from GL for $140. I made a plank out of plywood to cover the center and made matresses out of foam. The center board lifts up and makes the inside like a picnic bench. I also hung a 5000 BTU windowshaker in the front wall to provide a little cooling. Works pretty decent and the little MEP-015 genset runs it without a problem. They do show up on GL frequently and can be had for a little more than a fair amout.

Oh yeah, the back door has a big panel that opens for air movement but has filters to prevent light flow!

Saturn Surplus pictures the 250's with the vents. I'd never seen the ventless ones. They look weird without the vents to me.

For the larger Unimogs they made a NATO aluminum box (for the U1300L) It is probably very similar to the US version.

I still like the Russian comms boxes they make a really nice shelter.

Chris M