Hybrid Campers

[Live4FW]

As I was heading to my car to go to work this morning I herd a high pitch beeping noise coming from my Trailer. Come to find out it was my Propane Gas alarm.
The Trailer is winterized and the propane is turn off. So I was trying to figure out how to turn the dame thing off. I was going to unplug the trailers electricity from the outlet inside the garage only to find out it wasn’t plug in, so I plug it in and the alarm went off.
I have a few questions about this.
1. What would cause that to happen?
2. By plugging the Trailer in, does that charge your Trailer Battery?
3. By not having your Trailer plug in, does that drain the battery from the safety equipment being on, or should I disconnect the battery all together?

Thanks!

1 - Yes, it is a low battery alarm
2 - Yes, the battery is charged by the power converter when the trailer is plugged into AC
3 - Yes, there are usually small drains for stuff like the LP alarm, etc.

On my trailer, I have a disconnect on the main battery line that I shut off when we store the trailer.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

The LP gas alarm will kill a battery if left connected and the trailer is not plugged in. At minimum, if you are storing, pull the fuse that goes to the lp alarm. Since my trailer is stored outside and winter temps get pretty low here, I pull the battery, charge it up and store it on boards in my basement.

 

[Brer Bear]

While I don't own a hybrid, we looked at them very seriously before getting our current RV. One of the brands that we looked at several times had a hard bedroom slide that came out the rear. I think it was a Keystone Outback. It had the advantages of the shorter length (pulled 21ft, opened to 27ft) and no worries about canvas.

Good luck whatever you decide!

BTW, I write off my RV interest as a second home!!!!

 

[tellnotails]

While I don't own a hybrid, we looked at them very seriously before getting our current RV. One of the brands that we looked at several times had a hard bedroom slide that came out the rear. I think it was a Keystone Outback. It had the advantages of the shorter length (pulled 21ft, opened to 27ft) and no worries about canvas.

Good luck whatever you decide!

BTW, I write off my RV interest as a second home!!!!

Its Hard to beat.....a Hard sided TT......when compared to a hybrid.......Unless I had storage issues......I would not recommend a hybrid.....

I pull my 1999 shasta 24.5' flight 5 th wheel dry weight 3900 lbs.with a 2000 silverado 1500....10-12 mpg........zero leaks....100% accessable when towing....

Just something to think about.....If your tow vehicle can pull it and you have a way to store it.......hard sides are a nobrainer....IMHO

 

[daddyphat808]

We have a 2005 Jayco 23b and love it! So far 3 trips to the fore and one to Lion country safari and a couple at the old backyard campground.

My only issue is the front door has had water leaking on it and has turned soft. We layered some marine plywood on the inside until we order a replacement door and seals. Other than that the room inside was our reason on the purchase!

 

[joshiesdad]

I am a current pop up owner and my brother has a Hybrid. I never thought that I would like the Hybrid very much but I was wrong. I love the fact that he can access the camper while in tow. He has the full size fridge so less need for coolers. Having the full bathroom and Shower (although small) is a real advantage. Having the hard body is great in bad weather. With his slid out there is so much more room than any pup up even with a slide out (ours has a slide out). If you are headed in that direction and want the feel of sleeping in a pop up with the convenience of a travel trailer this is the way to go. We will probably be heading in that direction as well.

 

[cyberdeb]

I know this is a little late but here goes anyway. We have a 2002 22S Bantam R-Vision Hybrid. We bought it as a leftover in 2003. I love it, husband hates it. Prior to this we had a pop up.

Pro's

More room, the beds do not take up floor space.
You can keep it loaded and get in and out anytime.
We can use the bathroom, dinette and kitchen while on the road.
Can sleep in it without opening ends.
Tons of storage
Still feel like you are camping
Love the bathroom and larger fridge and freezer
We can deduct the interest paid on it

Con's

Husband says it takes just as long to set up as the popup
Cant leave the beds made
Bed cushions are uncomfortable partially due to split nature
Condensation on the tent ends
We just decided to do a seasonal site at our local campground and we dont want to leave it open for the whole season
Spend more on gas to tow

Otherwise, I love the trailer. Husband wants to get hard sided trailer so he can park and be done. Due to lack of money, we wont be doing that any time soon. However he almost sold it while we were at the fort last summer.

 

[braclark]

I'd think the answer is no, but would a hybrid be allowed to camp in the tent/popup loops?

 

[striker3636]

We sold our hybrid last year - a 23' KZ Coyote . We loved it for the several years we had it. We did move "up" to a 5th wheel as we were uncomfortable leaving our dog in it as if he REALLY wanted to, I am sure he could get out of the tent ends. After many years of tenting or camping in hybrids, we were ready for a little less set up time.
Pros:
-our floorplan had 3 beds, so that each child had a separate "bedroom" that was away from the main living area (great for earlier bedtimes, family of 4)
-we could access everything when closed up - frig, food, (great for meals on route), on the way back from FW we set up the couch and table to sleep, rather than set up the beds, for example.
-beds did not interfere with livable floor space (good with a big dog)
-many of the other ideas already mentioned
-storage, storage, storage and a bathroom
-not a whole lot more money than a pop up with many more features

Cons:
-set up time (no worse than a pop up, IMHO)
-we dealt with condensation with bunk fans and with reversable solar blanket type covers that we used in cool and hot weather to insulate or reflect heat as needed.
-as mentioned, dog concerns...we were worried about the dog hearing noise and barking, or possibly trying to get out of the tents (not a problem for us, but we wanted to be more confident in leaving our dog in a completely hardsided camper.)

If we had to trade down again, it would be to a hybrid, rather than a pop up.

 

[daddyphat808]

Just another note. We were at the Fort last weekend with two campers our 2005 Jayco 23B and my Uncles fleetwood flair class a.

We had 6 Brownies and two troop leaders in our 23b and 4four of us in the class a. Man I missed my 23B A lot more room and everything worked. I would say it takes us about half an hour to get ours setup. I would trade it for a toy hauler just so we could bring our cart with us.

 

[PixieCamper]

I'd think the answer is no, but would a hybrid be allowed to camp in the tent/popup loops?

Yep! We've camped there in our hybrid

We sold our hybrid last year - a 23' KZ Coyote . We loved it for the several years we had it. We did move "up" to a 5th wheel as we were uncomfortable leaving our dog in it as if he REALLY wanted to, I am sure he could get out of the tent ends...

We love our KZ too, it's laid out really well. We bought some of those nets that you can put on pickup trucks instead of the tailgate (not sure what they are officially called) to "close off" the bunk ends when we leave the camper so our dog can't get up into the bunks at all. It seems to work really well.

... I would trade it for a toy hauler just so we could bring our cart with us.

We bought a toy hauler hybrid with a front deck just so we could take a cart to the Fort! Now all we need is the cart to put in it

 

[~Kristina~]

My mom spent all winter torn between a large PUP (had a slide and bathroom) and a hybrid TT. We took her to an RV show and she was able to go in and out of a lot of them. In the end she went with the hybrid for a few reasons.

1- The hybrid holds the heat better which is important here in MI
2- The inside is accessible while on the road. She can stop and use her own bathroom and even get to the kitchen and dinette if she wanted to. With the PUP she couldn't access anything inside
3- If it's raining when they get to the campground they don't HAVE to pop out the beds right away. They've even slept on the sofa bed because of weather before.
4- Lots more storage
5- A bigger fridge
6- Most importantly, in the end the hybrid only cost them $1000 more than the large PUP would have.

Some things that she doesn't like as much:
1- They had to pay for storage since it wouldn't fit in their garage
2- At first she was nervous about pulling it, but she is fine with it now

She has a 23ft Surveyor

We just bought a hybrid yesterday and what Shannone1 typed was exactly my pros/cons list.