PUT vs RVE

[mgbbob]

Hi folks,

Well this is pretty interesting since I don't currently subscribe.  I have thought about it a couple of times but never pulled the trigger.  I looked the other day and couldn't see where to sign up so maybe you can help educate me.

I formerly subscribed to Trailer Life magazine but let my subscription die because the articles were about equipment that didn't fit my interest.  I don't currently own anything.  I have been looking and spent a lot of time at the RV show this year checking things out.

I think I am ready to go with a pop up.  That doesn't mean I would not be interested in reading about other RV's.  I think there all lots of topics that would be good to learn about.  I really likes some of the hybrid units I looked at last winter.  I think the vintage camper craze is a hoot.  I love to see what people accomplish with the older stuff.  

I think you serve a great purpose with the lighter end of the spectrum.  With gas prices what they are I have to believe the easier towing vehicles will gain popularity.  I think that must be true because the number of pop ups for sale used around here is pretty small.

Tell me how to sign up and I will replace one of those folks who decided to move on.  You can't keep everyone happy.

Bob

[sequoyausa]

There are all kinds of magazines about RVs in general. I formerly had a motorhome and got Trailer Life from Sam's club which is so generic that you couldn't find much that applied. Now I have a Popup, and I have learned so much from the Popup forum that I couldn't even begin to thank them enough. We are a relatively small group, but we have interests and concerns just like the big RVs do. I do not want a magazine that addresses RVs that are way beyond my means and interests. I have money to spend, but prefer to spend it on my grandkids in a Pup building memories they probably won't have from any other resource. There is a saying out there that applies very well--Keep It Simple Stupid! (please don't take this personally). I think it applies here.

[mike4947]

One of the RV Industry mags I got last week had a big article on PU's and I can see the guys at PUT's worry. Basically the article said folding trailers have been dropping in sales the past couple of years.

It also hinted to the reason we've seen so many "inovations" in the same time frame. The builders are trying to regain their market share.
Tough to build in a declining market. Niche market mags certainly have a place, but the niche has to be big enough to support it.

[doonoak]

Dont care what you call it you could call it the SwashBucklers gazzette for all I care.  Just keep with the core of what we all came to know and love as we enjoy our poups.  I have a popup Im not really sure if i consider it an RV sure its a vehicle I use for recreation but we all know it's more then that.  Dave and Bob put of a DAMN good Magazine I understand what they are up to and are willing to let them take to magazine we all love in a differnt direction but we are still going tword the same destination that every few months we get an entertaining magazine thats way to small and dosn't arrive fast enough I liked the first issue of RV enthusist just as much as pop up times Im not gonna cancell my sub or complain come on folks quit complaining and just enjoy!
Mick

[tlhdoc]

how many people know about Baxter State Park in Maine? Did you know that Baxters Mt Katahdin is the first place in the continental US that the sun shines on each day?

Yes I know about Baxter SP in Maine.  It takes up a huge amount of the state.  One correction though Cadillac Mt. in Acadia NP is the first place on the mainland to have the sun rays hit it.  There was a big debate about this back on the millennium.  There is an island off the coast that the sun hits at the same time.
 
http://www.outdoorplaces.com/Destination/USNP/meacadia/

[Gone-Camping]

I too have heard that claim about Cadilac Mountain, but to be honest wasn't real sure which to believe. I've been taught since very young that Katahdin took the first rays....guess it doesn't really matter though, I was trying to make a point. Very few people know about that place, and that's just one of thousands of places across the US & Canada...

One of my fondest memories from camping with my folks when I was just a pup, was a stop at North Kingston Ontario for a visit to Old Fort Henry... It was to me (at least at that time of my life) a most amazing place! But to be honest, I've never heard mention of this place ever since then.

[sequoyausa]

I moved from a motorhome to a PUP, so my interests lie with issues that deal with Popups. You can find a myriad of magazines dealing with RVing in general and they are all filled with ads. Seems to me that something dealing with one aspect of RVing is really refreshing. Let's keep the magazine where it's appreciated and acknowledged! We need something we can relate to as a group. Just look at the posts on this website!!!!

[Kelly]

Personally, I thought Pop UP Times was more fun and it filled a unique niche. I'm thinking I should bring it back and experiment with different formats until I find a way to make it profitable.

So I vote for PUT.

Well, there you go.


fwiw ~ I'll subscribe whatever it's called.

[linda16]

I found out about PUT just as you stopped publishing. I kept looking for the link to subscribe until I realized it was no more.   I was disappointed, as I had read several issues of TL and although it was interesting, it really did not apply to pop-ups.  Haven't seen the new RVE, so I can't comment on it, or compare it to PUT.

[jonathan]

Personally, I thought Pop UP Times was more fun and it filled a unique niche. I'm thinking I should bring it back and experiment with different formats until I find a way to make it profitable.

So I vote for PUT.

I wholeheartedly agree. Bring back PUT - the way it was. There are no rules and nothing says you cannot review a travel trailer or $300,000.00 motor home from time to time. Personally, i would find the "high dollar" reviews just as interesting, but i need a mag that has information on my level as well - a pop up.

[camperholland]

I subscribed to PUT for information on ONLY popup campers and not for travel trailers and motor homes. If I wanted travel trailers or motor homes then there is a magazine out there for them.
Also, the magazine needs to be put out in a timely order. We shouldn't
have to wait 8 months.
Hope all these issues can be corrected. The old magazine was GREAT for us PopUpers.

[CampDirt]

I'm new to the pop-up world, and would love to read about, see more pictures, etc. of just pop-ups.  I've fallen in love with these little critters.  Feels like camping without getting wet or super cold.  There are numerous books, magazines, and even a TV show (RV Today on OLN channel) for RV'ers.  I love to look at all of them, especially the show.  But I'm so disappointed that there isn't much on pop-ups, new or old.  PopUp Times has been a real life saver for me because I can chat and find info about pop-ups.  Would LOVE to see a quarterly (even monthly if possible) magazine by and for pop-up owners.  Old, new, pics, modifications, adventures, get-togethers, products, pop-ups for sale, maintenance articles, and anything else related to our beloved campers.  RV's are great, too, but I'm willing to pay for a subscription just for pop-ups.

[rccs]

I too would like to see Pop Up Times left as it was. I subscribed because I have a popup camper and probably always will, I am satisfied with a popup and have no intention of "moving up" to a TT, 5er or motorhome. I am a bit disapointed with the latest issue of RVE because it offers little about pop up campers and is more towards the RV campers.
I have through the years subscribed to Trailer Life, Camping Life and other RV type magazines and have been disappointed with them because they offered little to me on popup articles. I am not sure at this point if I will renew my subscription when it runs out.

[zamboni]

Popup Times had a niche.

RV Entheusiast... is just a "me, too" randomly occasionally publication in a field populated with bigger on-time-ever-month periodicals.

I can appreciate that as a small PUP magazine, you see that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

However, it appears that you did not notice until after you jumped over the fence that there is a huge crew of folks (magazines) already over there who mow, weed & feed that "greener grass".  As a newcomer, how do you plan on convincing the property owner that even though you only show up every now & then, you're better at lawn maintenance than all the like-clockwork "experts" who have been tending that lawn for years?

Meanwhile, the PUP lawn no longer has a caretaker.  It may be small, but it is a dedicated plot.  In theory, it could be much bigger (there are many more PUP's sold per year than subscriptions to PUT) -- perhaps it may make better survival sense to go after those... and even grow the PUP market than abandon it and be a tiny "me, too".

[sandykayak]

Aw, shucks, I've been AWOL for a few months and missed the chance to vote!!  And I've been a paid subscriber since 2002.  Even when other folk defected when PUT started charging membership, I paid cos the information and camaraderie is priceless!

I did subscribe to PUX (and sent Dean a modest contribution once) but PUT is/was always home.

I, too, think that copcarguy said it best: << "My vote is for the magazine to be called Pop Up Times... however I do not object to the occasional article about other types of RV's.>>

I'd love to see more about A-frames also.  There are some neat stories on the Aliner and/or Chalet sites.  And Casita/Scamps/Truck Campers...as others said: RVs that are at the lower end of the camping food chain.  

I decided to let my Good Sam-Highways mag/Camping Life/Trailer Life subscriptions expire since I have a few unread copies stacking up, but would not leave PUT - unless RVE became less interesting to me.

Speaking of which, I received the first one (with the Alex story)...but haven't received another issue.   I guess there hasn't been another?

Dave, I used to have a bunch of PUT brochures that I handed out at campgrounds.  Never did get a new batch (tho I asked) when we went for pay.  I invariably meet oodles of PUPers - many of them newbies who have never heard of PUT.  Please send me more.  It's much easier and more effective that writing down the info on a scrap of paper.  Or even business cards - that would be far more economical.

Perhaps if we make a concerted effort to shill for PUT, we can help increase the membership.