Finally making the transition from cabin to campsite! Time to buy a camper!

[WishIwasFishin]

So I'm learning to quote messages thanks to my wife.

Welcome Bill,

Your wife sounds just like mine. "Camping" must have A/C, a microwave, satellite TV and shopping within 30 minutes. I would stay in a tent and don't mind back packing in everything I needed. The good news is there is a WalMart within 30 minutes of everywhere, so I get to enjoy the outdoors and DW gets the A/C and shopping.

I just went through the new camper wish lists and finally found one I wanted. I saw the general layout I wanted (midbunk) last year at the rv show. Then I made up a list of what I really wanted. Since I've been RV'ing for a long time, my list of wants wasn't the normal list. I wanted the kitchen on the street side. My old 5er had the kitchen on the door (campsite) side. Other than in the bunk room and front BR, there was only 1 little window over the sink that looked out over your campsite. I wanted lots of insulation. Midwest heat and humidity is bad enough. Camping in the middle of a field at a race with no shade makes it really hard to cool a camper. Also wanted large holding tanks. We mostly camp at state parks and COE campgrounds. Most around here only have electric sites.

Then there were the smaller things I've learned to like. Slam latch basement doors. The little twist latch ones on my old camper were always a problem. And for some reason, my hands a never clean when I'm camping and there seemed to always be dirt and hand prints around the twist locks. I wanted an outdoor TV mount and hookups. I had an outside coax and power hookup on my old trailer. I added a mount to the outside. I use this a lot when camping. I also wanted a king bed option. I have a king at home and my DW won't sleep if there is anything within a few feet of her, including me. I want more than the edge of a bed.

I spent a lot of time going over web sites of every manufacturer out that had a midbunk model. I even made up a spreadsheet with rankings for each thing. 2 trailers came out above the other 15. We drove 3 hours up to see one and immediately didn't like it. The next weekend we drove 2 hours to see the "2nd place" and we brought it home 4 days later. I got everything I wanted except for a large fresh water tank. My old 5er had a 62 gallon tank. I could dry camp for 4 or 5 days on a tank. This new one only has a 48 gallon. I figured it was probably good for a 3 day weekend. If I find it's not enough, I may look into a portable tank for the bed of the truck with a transfer pump.

I also considered a leveling system, frameless windows and dual pane windows, but the price on those things didn't seem to be worth it to me.

j

Thank ya for the welcome. This thread is much different than the ones DW is on, and I say that in a positive way.

The mid bunk is something I like a lot because it gives you a bigger den area. If you don't mind me asking, what campers did you look at and buy? Several we saw in Tampa had a mid bunk area with a loft, too. My oldest son really liked that idea. The TV outside sounds great. That's really something that I have not thought about. I do like the frameless windows but it's not a deal breaker if we don't have them. We have not thought about the size of the tank either. Leveling system??? Not worth it? It seems like it would be kinda nice to press a button and go.

And would really like to go to the races and camp! My sons, too. I have a cousin in Florida that use to race late models and modified cars, on a small scale. He did his share of camping at the race track.

Great info!

We call that "Roughing it Smoothly". No kidding, a friend of mine has a sticker saying that on the back his 5th Wheel.

Gotta have that one. The wife seriously wants it!

 

[bama_ed]

This thread is much different than the ones DW is on, and I say that in a positive way.

Oh I would say he is getting the hang of this.

Bama Ed

 

[Teamubr]

If you don't mind me asking, what campers did you look at and buy? Several we saw in Tampa had a mid bunk area with a loft, too.

It's a long list. I think I considered everything in the $35-$50k (my price, not MSRP) range. I was also really looking at loft models at first. I figured my DS could sleep up there when we brought friends along. I finally decided it wouldn't be as useful. The head room is pretty limited. If you are much bigger than a 12 year old, they aren't really practical, except for storage. Nearly all were also high profile trailers. I learned pulling the race teams toy hauler, that height will kill your fuel mileage much more than weight. Wind resistance really stinks. Here's the short list and why I didn't buy.

Columbus 377MB- Super nice, but really expensive. Not nicer enough to justify the $10k
Columbus Compass 377MBC- Same layout as the full Compass, but stripped down. Price was better, but at the expense of a lot of otherwise standard items.
Sandpiper 371REBH- I saw this at the show last year and it hooked me on a midbunk. This one was nearly perfect except for limited kitchen storage compared to the one I bought. No loft on this on.
Sandpiper 372LOK- This is a brand new floor plan- It has a loft and more kitchen storage, but the entertainment center was on the curb side next to the dinette, meaning you couldn't sit at the table and see the TV.
Sprinter 347FWLFT- This was "The One" until we saw it. Cheapest of the group, huge holding tanks, great insulation, loft, but no king bed option. We drove up to see this the first weekend of 2016 and were really dissappointed. It felt cramped and not as "nice" as all the others we looked at. Too bad. On paper, it was perfect.
Forest Rive Wildwood Heritage Glen 368RLBHK-(that's a mouthful) The living area was backwards. Kitchen was on the curb side. No loft, and no slam latches, but otherwise a really nice option. We looked at this one twice.
Heartland Elkridge 39MBHS- I like Heartland trailers. Our team toyhauler was a Hraetland. This one was nice, but small water tank and limited insulation for some reason. Saw it at the RV show this year and I like mine better.
PrimeTime Crusader 380MBH- Saw this at the dealer when we drove 3 hours to see the Sprinter. I liked it a lot. No loft, but huge water tank. Everything else was comparable to my Chapparal, but my my DW wasn't as crazy about it.

And the winner was:
Coachmen Chaparral 390QSMB- Great kitchen storage and overall layout. Good insulation, king bed. Nice decor. It just had the tiny water tank.

Leveling system??? Not worth it? It seems like it would be kinda nice to press a button and go.

Nice, yes, but not $3000 nice. I have actually looked at adding one. Lippert makes most of the ones I saw on trailers. They have a 6 point system with controller and installation parts for about $2500. That may be an upgrade in a year or two... After my wife gets the generator we lost when we sold our old 5er.

And would really like to go to the races and camp! My sons, too.

We used to go to a lot of NASCAR races. Boondock in a field somewhere. We had a generator and enough capacity to stay out 4 or 5 days and never need anything.
8 years ago I got back into driving after a 8 years away and started road racing with a friend of mine. I'm the one in the purple hat.

And beating my teammate at Topeka.

I hung up the helmet in 2015. I love racing, but Mark was adding a 4th car to the team and I was the primary car chief for all of them in addition to driving. It was getting too much and my family wasn't interested anymore. When I added up that I was at the race shop or on the road racing 44 out of 52 weekends, I decided it was time to stop and enjoy life, camping and Disney with my real family instead of my race family.

j

 

[WishIwasFishin]

Nice, Teamubr ! Must say I am jealous of that. What guy wouldn't like driving those things around?! Wish I had more time to do the races. Heather and I use to watch NASCAR religiously and go to a race every now and then. But with 3 kids we are always busy now. Appreciate all the info on the campers. Too many choices for inexperienced campers like me. It is fun looking at these things though.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

When we were shopping for a new 5er, we would try to think of the small things, we would go in each one we liked, without a salesman, sit in each one for a while, kinda pretend we was camping. We looked at things like the numbers of plug ins and their locations throughout the coach, storage in the bathrooms, stuff like that.

 

[PaHunter]

When we were shopping for a new 5er, we would try to think of the small things, we would go in each one we liked, without a salesman, sit in each one for a while, kinda pretend we was camping. We looked at things like the numbers of plug ins and their locations throughout the coach, storage in the bathrooms, stuff like that.

Have to do that, kinda find out if something is gonna be a deal breaker. My big thing is kitchen layout and bathroom access while on the road. DW is the one looking at storage.

 

[tiggerdad]

If it has an outdoor kitchen, make sure you know where the sink drains to. Most campers = sinks drain to grey tank. On my 32BHDS, outdoor kitchen sink drains to black tank. Found out the hard way. Don't be me...

On the flip side, my camper doesn't have a black tank flush hookup, so you have to fill it up and dump. The fact the outdoor sink fills it makes it easier than standing there at the commode holding the foot pedal down or sticking the garden hose in the commode (which I can easily do since there is an exterior exit in the restroom).

Something small, but worth asking believe me.

 

[peg110]

Have to do that, kinda find out if something is gonna be a deal breaker. My big thing is kitchen layout and bathroom access while on the road. DW is the one looking at storage.

Bathroom access while on the road is KEY to my DW. If that isn't there, it's a deal breaker.