RE: Your Wisdom Please

[homecrew]

 
Hi Everyone ! We are toying with the idea of a hybrid. Now that we have had our pop-up for a few years I have two lists - 1. Cool Things I wish I would have known to look for and 2. Things pop-up designers do to drive us crazy - or Mods you have to make. So all you hybrid owners - what are the things on your lists ? Thanks for your help !!  []

[Robucko]

 homecrew
We have a 2002 Bantam 17B, we have only used it a few times but have absolutely no complaints. There are just 2 of us, if we were a larger family, I would have gone with the 19ft.
 I towed it with a 1996 GMC Sonoma, big v/6, it was ok but we have since bought a Ford 150 with a 5.4 v8 and it is so much easier towing now.
 Our previous PUT was a 1986 Coleman Sequoia and set up and take down is much easier with the Bantam and you can get to everything without popping. It s great to pull over ,safely of course, and make a pot of coffee and a sandwich and even take a nap without popping anything.
 Hard to beat, imho!

[Gone-Camping]

 homecrew
Interesting request!!!
 
 I ve had mine for a couple of months now, and really love it! I ve been searching for actually a couple of years, bought the Coleman last year as an interim piece to keep my happy.
 
 I chose the Trail Cruiser (basically same thing as the Trail Lite - both made by R-Vision) because of the floor plan, and the fact the Trail Lite/Cruiser series came highly recommended by someone very high up in the RV media world, editor of RV-News among other things. While his recommendation stayed at the back of mind, I was out there looking at everything.
 
 One day I walked onto the local Starcraft dealers lot to look over his latest inventory, and saw this Trail Cruiser sitting there. I had heard of Trail Lite, but not this cousin also made by R-Vision. Turns out they both share the exact same floor plans, except the TC doesn t have the slide-out version. As soon as I stepped aboard this particular trailer, my mind instantly said " This is it" .... I think out loud I commented something to the tune of " look at all the room in this thing" , then both DGF and myself had to step outside and take another look to make sure we were in the right trailer!
 
 The floor plan was so open, and with the bunks extended it just screamed " LOTS OF ROOM"  at me. Storage cabinet s are spacious and numerous, something not all the manufacturers pay particular attention to. Outside storage was limited, but again, had more available than even the Coleman Caravan, much more! I was truely impressed. Then I looked at the price tag which was reasonable, but what really set the hook was the unit s dry weight... a 24  ultra-lite expandable TT with an empty weight of 3025# and a GVW of 4600#... Adding in for the A/C, propane, and awning the empty weight went up to about 3350# but still was not bad, that empty weight was about 100# more than the Coleman with a full load!
 
 What I didn t figure in when shopping, was all the other things I was going to have to spend money on! Starting with the water, I felt that adding a charcoal filter system was going to be needed to help keep the system (and myself) free of junk coming from various fresh water inputs around the region. Then came the other side of the system, sewer. The old gray tank was now obsolete, and I had to purchase sewer hose s (yes 2 of them, one is not always enough), and a connector piece to make the 2 hoses go together. Then of course you need a hose connector that goes to the trailer, and another for the other end that goes to the sewer connection (This is all required for both FHU sites, or for when using a dump station). I quickly found out that the sewer hose also needs to be supported and eleveated so that it will drain properly, for this I have a home made solution that seems to work pretty well (mod #1)....
 
 Also had to add in things to the inside, paper towel holder, TP holder, tank chemicals, one ply paper, towel rack that could handle 3-4 towels, and some way to control the dirty laundry (lite weight folding hamper, we keep it in the shower since we don t use the oboard shower, yet). Wet bathing stuff gets tossed into the bottom of the shower, at least until we can get them hung somewhere to dry. Added a spice rack, and a small " wet things"  holder for the kitchen sink, planning on getting flourecsent lights for over the sink and the stove.
 
 Also found that the little plastic silverware drawer that came with the unit was totally inadequate, and found a much larger one at Lowes that fit right in, had to add a handle to it though. While I was at it, I added a pull handled to the screen door to make closing it easier.
 
 The old tacky lights were way too small and not enough of them for the new 20  awning, so I had to buy a set of them, plus the special little hanger pieces that slip into the awning tube, then add a couple small extension cords so that it would reach the outside receptical.
 
 I also added some home made bunk end covers. I had spent so much on everything else, that I couldn t afford Gizmos so I made some... reflectix works just as well, cost half as much, and was enough there to make two complete sets, sold one of them for the cost of everything, so my covers wound up costing something to the tune of $12 + change.
 
 Another thing I had to buy was a hefty WDH and a friction sway control. With the PU I never had those two items, though they might have been useful if I did have them!!!
 
 Mostly little things to get it equipped properly, but otherwise it s very big, very nice, and I really enjoy being able to unlock the door, and walk inside to take care of anything that needs taking care of. So much easier than Popping up everytime I need something in or out of the trailer!!!
 
 

[SheBantam]

 homecrew
I have had my Bantam for a Season and a half. We bought it because we could sleep 3 turtled.  Knowing what I know now, I would still have bought the same one used like I did.
 
 But if I were to buy a new one, I would want the bigger bathroom (I have the wet bath), I want a slide out couch, better yet the slide out couch dinette.
 
 *   I want a microwave where I do not have to bend over to get things in and out. My Bantam has no built in microwave, I have a small one I store inder the small dinette. A kiwi I saw had and under the counter micro-wave, too low for me.
 A big fridge.
 *   Doors on the sides of the dinette benc storage so I do not have to take the cushions off to get to some of the stuff. I could do this mod myself.
 turn the base cabinet by the camper door around so the cabinet door is accessible from the doorway, (again another mod I could do if so inclined, I could get the right sized cabinet door and have 2 doors on this cabinet)
 *   Real drawers. The plastic slide things for flatware and utensils are a pain and actually the frame takes up too much storage space.
 *   the 9 volt interior lights with the jack, again something else I could do and myself as this is not really changing the trailer itself.
 *   Cigarette lighters in the camper that can run off ac or dc.

[Gone-Camping]

 homecrew
Paula, with the exception of the slides, I think everything you mentioned the C23B has!!! Maybe you ll get get bit by the " time to upgrade"  bug after you look mine over at TPSP.  Oh, I still got the plastic drawer thingies too.... []
 
 Only thing I don t care for with mine so far, is the size of the bathroom. While it s an upgrade from Paula s wet bath, it s still too small, the Coleman Caravan had a much larger lavatory.

[SheBantam]

 homecrew
Cliff, I would love to upgrade, but we just upgraded the Corolla to the van, so I still have truck, van and trailer payments.  Raymond feels that the Bantam is more than enough, especially when in a few years it will be just me and him camping (we will probably go seasonal at that point in time), we are looking for " that"  campground close to home for us to settle into...
 So I have my wish list for now, in about 4 1/2 years, when everything is paid off, then I can think about upgrading to a Bantam or Kiwi with everything I want. Loved John s Kiwi at RJ Ranch (Birol s new friend he is looking for a campground to camp with John and Steph).

[birol]

 SheBantam

 

ORIGINAL:  SheBantam
  (Birol s new friend he is looking for a campground to camp with John and Steph).
 

 Forget his Kiwi which is great, the guy is hilarious ! We are both Taurus, and say and think and do the same things at the same time ! Same jokes, same thoughs, it is just great !  I look forward to meeting him once again. And my DD liked Steph a lot, she is a little lovely monster []
 
 What I really really want to do is, attend another rally and spend more time with my PUT friends, get to know them little bit better.
 
 
 
 

[homecrew]

 homecrew
Hi everyone. I just got back from visiting the Jayco dealer near here and they had just got a Jay Feather in stock this morning. It looks very nice. It appears to be 8  wide and has more headroom than the Kiwi s that were on the lot. The dealer said that the layouts are basically the same as the Kiwi except that they are doing away with the 17 and 21 foot floorplans. Paula, it appears to have everything that you are asking for, well at least in the 23 foot model. The M/W was eye level, all of the drawers were wood, a 12v cigarette lighter outlet and a decent size bathroom with a fan powered vent. The shower was tall enough that I could stand in (6  1" ) however I would need to bend down to put the hand held shower nozzle over my head. There were even towel racks and toilet paper holders. (not all hybrids have these) This one had a 6 cu ft two door refridgerator/freezer. The wood was a lighter color that the Kiwi s and I thought that the color of the fabric,etc was very nice. The one thing that bothered me was that the drain pipe was angled pretty far down. They also had Coyote s in stock. These were nice, but I liked the Jay Feather better. The one thing that I liked about the Coyote is that there is an outside shelf that folds down that contains a built in 2 burner stove and a wood side table (for lack of a better word). It sounded like most, if not all, of the Jay Feathers will have slide outs. This is definately one that is on my list.
 
 
 I think I need spellcheck.

[SheBantam]

 homecrew
Raymond says NO WAY!!, he wants to retire and says no to more debt. I guess when I get the Van and the Bantam paid off...maybe he will agree.
 
 But then again, if I REALLY wanted one, I would get it. So I guess that I REALLY do not want a new one...at least not right now.
 
 Coyotes are are nice, but they are not considered an ultra-light. I would go with either another Bantam (do not want to change my sceen name [8D]) or a Kiwi (it is a bird a bantam is a bird, I think that I could fudge the screen name). If I buy one new, then I can order what I want in it, but I bought this one used and having a starcraft as a teenager with the only amenitie being a 3 way fridge, then after years of not camping  and buying the Jayco with NO amenities, I think of my little B-21 as paradise and only have a wish list...

[Proctor]

 homecrew
Hubby and I just bought a 25  Coyote(upgraded from Coleman Cheyenne)...has a slide out sofa, microwave (which I didn t want but couldn t remove) - they added the oven I did want at no cost. It also has a surround tub, so the bathroom is a nice size. Also plenty of storage with a pantry that is more than enough space. 2 door Frig/Freezer.... We haven t been able to use it yet, but our first trip is August 22.  We looked at all lightweights in Jan at the RV shows and originally decided on the Trail Cruiser 22   but then when I saw the Coyote and it had a slideout and didn t weigh much more I was hooked.  (Total weight is 3896 with options) The Bantam we compared it too ended up costing $2,000 more so we opted for the Coyote.  I think we made the right choice. My only gripe is I have to step on the dinnette cushions to get out of bed. I would rather have a straight shot to the floor.  Although the dealer suggested he could get out the chainsaw and fix it to my liking! [8D] Hope this helps
 The Proctors
 Empty nesters except (3 cats and 1 dachshund)
 03 Coyote
 03 Exterra
 []

[NCSunshine]

 homecrew
Homecrew what dealer did you go to to see the Jayco s?  It will be another year before buying (if we get to then), but I have been window shopping to check out all that I can.  Plus we need the TV first.

[homecrew]

 homecrew
I went to Terrell Camping Center in, where else, Terrell. I-77 North of Charlotte to exit 36, route 150. Then west for about 6 miles. It is on your left. Prices looked to be reasonable. They have Jayco and K-Z (Coyote). I know what you mean about a new TV. However, I think that if I keep it a reasonable size that I can still use the Pathfinder for a while.

[jawilson]

 homecrew

ORIGINAL:  homecrew
 Hi everyone. I just got back from visiting the Jayco dealer near here and they had just got a Jay Feather in stock this morning. It looks very nice.

I can t seem to find these on Jaycos web site, only the Kiwi s. Do you have a URL for them?

[homecrew]

 homecrew
The dealer said that Jayco has not sent out any brochures yet for thr Jay Feather. He was unsure of when they would acutally be sent out, except to say that they would have some before the show in Charlotte (January!!). I would imagine that the Jayco website would be updated at that time. I do not know of any other place to see them on the internet.

[fivegonefishing]

 homecrew
We had our pop up for one year, then traded it in for Bunkie [] our 23 foot Palomino hybrid, we have no regrets, other than it s getting further from camping.  However, the floor plan we got was perfect for us, it has three bunk beds on the rear wall.  That made the difference for us, I did not want to give up living space for sleeping space and we didn t.  Make sure you get a slide out couch!