Why do you camp in a pop up??

[Miss-Teri]

I'm really not AGAINST moving "up" to a 5th Wheel or TT - it's just we have never found one we'd be happy in.
We've gone to RV show after RV show, and all we find are miniature "living rooms".  They look very cozy and comfortable if you want to spend your time indoors in front of the TV while you "camp", and they might be great for on-the-road type campgrounds that you just stop at on the way to your destination, but when I'm in the middle of a national forest, or sitting in the middle of God's gorgeous scenery, I want to feel like I'm a part of it.  I want my pop-up's large tent-like open windows.  I want to hear the outdoors, smell the outdoors, and feel the outdoors.
Nope.  Maybe someday something larger may be built with the same magical feel as a pop-up, but until then I'll stick with my little pop-up camper.
-Teri

[garym053]

Why do I camp in a pop-up? The short answer is anything else, (except a tent) isn't camping! It's staying in a motel room on wheels!

The longer answer is: I have been looking at Hybrids, TT, and 5ers trying to decide what I want to use when we get on towards retirement age and into retirement. For a while I thought it was going to be a Trail Manor, then a TT, then a Hybrid, then back to a Trail Manor, which I guess technically would still be a "pop-up" wouldn't it? I still haven't made up my mind on any of them except I do know this: No matter what I get (if anything else) I am keeping the pop-up to camp in!

One salesperson mentioned the convenience of having your own bathroom with shower. I laughed at him. Said mister, "I'm 6'3" and 250 lbs, I don't have a problem with "most" State Park bathrooms and showers and I bet you that I can barely fit in the shower in this trailer!" Went in, took off my shoes and steped into the Tub/shower, (which by the way, calling those things TUBS is like calling my swimming pool a pond!) and sure enough, the only way I could fit is by bending my head forward, chin to my chest! Now THAT's a comfortable shower I said! The salesman said perhaps you'd be happier with your pop-up!

I am sure of several things that are down the road; Higher Gas prices and my love of the outdoors. Both of these can best be answered with a pop-up.

[Gone-Camping]

I suppose I followed the traditions of my parents, who started out tent camping, and eventually moved up to pop-up's. Their first trailer was a 1962 Apachee, which was pretty much a tent on wheels. Their second trailer was a late 60's Starcraft Starmaster-8 which I remember fondly. This was slightly different than any pop-up I've seen before or since, as the bunk ends had hard cover fiberglass roof, with canvas side curtains. The trailer was otherwise the same as they today.
 
After I struck out on my own, I too tent camped for many years, but found it increasingly more difficult to carry all the things I thought I needed. Compounding this problem was the size of my car, which kept me pretty limited. I made the decision one year, after packing the cars trunk, and back seat with enough equipment for a week in Maine. That left just the two front seats in my overloaded 88 T-Bird. It was during that trip we decided we had to have a trailer. A pop-up could not only hold most of this stuff in the car, but it could also replace a lot of it too, especially the bulky stuff. Things like tents, air mattress, cookstoves, propane bottles, dining canopies were eliminated. Almost everything else would fit in the trailer.
 
The following year I bought a Jeep and a used Pop-up. The Pop-up was a $700 1974 Starcraft Stardust fix-er-upper, but did well enough to make a huge difference! However, my Jeep Wrangler was too small to pull it, and the trailer was in too poor shape to maintain, and within six months I had upgraded both the Jeep and the trailer. The new trailer was only a slight improvement, but a familar unit just the same, a 1978 Starcraft Starmaster-8, just like the one my parents had, sans the hard covered bunkends, other than that, it WAS THE SAME trailer!
 
This worked well, and I used that old trailer for 3 years before upgrading again, this time to a late model Coleman Rio. The Rio was much nicer, and bigger, with an A/C and front storage trunk. But I only kept it a year, before upgrading again...this time to a Hybrid trailer. I'm still under the canvas bunk ends, but get to enjoy all the bennies of the bigger trailer!

[JonesFamilyJayco]

I decided to purchase a pop-up camper soon after my son was old enough to camp with me.  I found a great used camper, a '95 Jayco Eagle 8, that fit my needs perfectly.  It has a simple floorplan and therefore easy to setup & take-down.  Our trips are usually short get-aways (1-2 nights), so like many others here, I found that tent camping was too time consuming for such a short stay.  I really like being able to adapt & modify my camper, most of the ideas I found here at PUT.

Simply put, it is just the best combination of function, fun, & economy that I have found with camping/rving.

[OC Campers]

I guess I would really like a hardside trailer or motor home but the pop-up is a nice compromise:
 
1- I have freinds that tow larger trailers and they quote numbers like 7 miles per gallon. Plus they have a $40,000.00 tow vehicle. My astro gets 14 to 15 miles per gallon and towing is pretty easy. In addition to the better mileage, I can go up a steep grade passing motor homes and travel trailers like they are sitting still.
 
2- I don't have to pay to store my pop-up
 
3-Brand new my trailer cost $8600.00, try and buy a motorhome for that.
 
4- I have most of the conveniences of a travel trailer plus two king size beds.
 
5- My trailer weathers a storm waaaaay better than a tent and as good as a travel trailer.
 
6-I can fit in almost any campsite anywhere.
 
7- maintenance is considerably cheaper.
 
8- When I open my trailer at home, it smells like a camp fire!
 
The only drawbacks I have are that you can't pre-load at home without popping up and set up and take down takes longer than a travel trailer. Oh yes and then there's status, for a lot of people an RV is all about status. For us it's about spending time with our kids before they grow up.
 
Randy
Randy

[Camping Coxes]

1.  You can buy a unit for a reasonable price.
2.  You don't need to have a huge vehicle to tow with.
3.  It tows nicely with little or no wind resistance.
4.  While inside, it has an "open" feel, compared to most trailers I've been in where you can't see outside except for a small window here or there.  It feels almost cave-like in most trailers.
5.  You have a wider selection of campsites you can fit into because of the compact size.
6.  Pop-up campers are friendlier to each other than the "big boys" seem to be.  Total strangers will visit each other at a campsite to ask about their pop-up and its features.  
 :W
Personally, we looked into a hybrid or trailer when we were going to upgrade from our 8' Rockwood.  We had a much bigger vehicle and could easily tow a bigger trailer.  Everyone in the family agreed that we preferred the Pop-ups to the trailers we saw.  There was only one hybrid we saw that we would even have considered, but it was almost double the cost of what we were looking at in pop-ups.

[MommaMia]

Why do we like PU's more than TT's?
 
Here's why:
Easy to do.
We can see all around us. We feel closed in in a TT.
I can store it in the driveway.
I could afford it.
I can see out the back window.
 
Happy camping,
Moose

I found what you were trying to say!  Your color code is wrong...this prog doesn't recognize #f1f1f1