what is the difference?

[ffej1010]

Can somebody help me to understand what the difference is between popups, tent trailers, and hybrids?
Apparently I have been using the term tent trailer incorrectly.

[fritz_monroe]

Hmmm.  A pop up is a camper that folds down for transport and pops up for camping.  This would include the hard sided pop ups like Hi-Lo and A-Liner.  A tent camper would be a pop up where the sides are made of canvas or other material.  A hybrid is a hard sided travel trailer that has 1 or more areas that fold out of the main trailer.  These are covered by a material like the tent trailers.

I was corrected on the hybrid explorer forum when I linked to a hard sided trailer where the sleeping areas extended out of the trailer but were hard sided.  I was told these are no really hybrids.

Sound about righ folks?

[brainpause]

I was corrected on the hybrid explorer forum when I linked to a hard sided trailer where the sleeping areas extended out of the trailer but were hard sided.  I was told these are no really hybrids.

Sound about righ folks?

The rest of your explanation is pretty accurate.

As for the above statement, someone at PUX was splitting hairs, because many people still consider the hardsided bed slideouts (on the ends) to be hybrids.

Me? I call them hybrids, too. But I don't care. I just wanna go camping.

Larry

[Gone-Camping]

I'm the senior moderator over at Hyx, and the above post is correct, someone indeed (and we won't mention any names) is making his own rules as he rolls along, I went in behind that post and tried to make suttle reference to the hard sided units still being Hybrids.

A Hybrid trailer is any Travel Trailer (TT) that has extended bed bunks, canvas or hard sided. Many hard sided bunk ends out there that fit the bill, the Coleman/FFT Caravan was one of the first to adopt this, plenty of other makes have followed. One of the things that differentiate them from regular TT's are the overall weight, as the Hybrid is made & designed from the ground up to be lighter than their full blooded counter parts.
 
As for the difference between a Pop-up, tent trailer, or a folding trailer... most people pretty much make these 3 names synonimous and for the most part interchangable. About the only people calling them Folding Trailers or Fold-Downs are the manufacturers and their dealer network, most everyone else calls them Pop-up's or tent trailers.
 
The Hi-Lo's and Trailmanor are kind of a cross between a PU and a Hybrid actually, they are very unique trailers! BTW, even a PU doesn't have to have canvas...the A-Liner and Chalet PU's are totally hard sided!!

[fritz_monroe]

I don't take any offense from much of anything.  I know there are a lot of purists out there in ever field.  You know the ones that say the second generation of anything is not really the same thing.

Personally, I feel any expandable camping trailer is a hybrid.

And good explaination.

[mlslocks]

What about a TT that has a Sofa and Dinet slide out? Is that a Hybrd? The sofa converts to a bed.

[fritz_monroe]

What about a TT that has a Sofa and Dinet slide out? Is that a Hybrd? The sofa converts to a bed.

OK, so maybe the wording needs changed a little.  Typically a slide out is powered, and the area that slides out is from floor to ceiling.  The portion of an expandable trailer that expands is not floor to ceiling.

[brainpause]

What about a TT that has a Sofa and Dinet slide out? Is that a Hybrd? The sofa converts to a bed.

  I was thinking the same thing, but wondered WHO was gonna say it first! :p

[tlhdoc]

I wonder if there are official definitions for the terms.  I have heard Hybrids called expandable trailers, so there is another term.

[Gone-Camping]

The difference would be where it slides out, almost every style of RV has models available with slideouts. Even pop-up's have slide-outs! The Hybrid usually does NOT have an on-board bedroom, the beds are usually similar to a PU in that they utilize bunk ends...some of them tent, some of them hard side! A regular TT has an on-board bedroom and generally weighs more...

[6Quigs]

What about a TT that has a Sofa and Dinet slide out? Is that a Hybrd? The sofa converts to a bed.

What about a hard sided Trailer with Tent ends, Is that not a "Tent Trailer" :yikes:

And is a popup trailer a cross between a tent and a trailer, making it a 'Hybrid" :compumad:

And if someone is living full time in an RV, is it still a "Recreational Vehicle"? :eyecrazy:

And if you are camping without hookups and it rains, are you still "dry camping"? :confused:

O.K. I need to go camping

[TheViking]

I say if it has canvas sides and bunkends it is a pop-up. If it has hardsides and canvas bunkends it is a hybrid. A TT with a slide is just that. A vehicle that uses Fuel and electric is called a Hybrid because it is a mixture of the two. Same with a camper that has a little bit of a TT(Hardsides) and a little bit of a pop-up (Canvas Bunkends)
   
 That was to easy.
 
 My question is why is it called a fifth wheel when it only has four wheels?
 Why do you drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?
 Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
 
 I'm so fricken confused now !!:confused:

[Miller Tyme]

Ummmm...I've got one of those whatchamacallit "hard side/canvas bunk" trailer thingies ....but I've never called it a "Hybrid"...because it cranks down...like a "pop-up"...:eyecrazy:
 
 All right, now I'M confused......:compumad::confused:

[fritz_monroe]

...because it cranks down...

Oh great!!!  Now we've got a new term, the crank down.  :eyecrazy:  :confused:

[TheViking]

If you all would just buy Travel Trailers we could avoid all this confusion!!!!!