Will a popup work for us?

[amylevan]

I've seen hybrids where instead of the two end fold out beds, they have a third one on one side - like this one: http://www.forestriverinc.com/Hybri...=floorplandetails&floorplanid=4003&RVType=HYT

I would think when you are dealing with little ones that that would be big enough to sleep everyone.

Having enough room for everyone's stuff or housing everyone in the rain is a whole other story though.

 

[way2tyred]

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[rbork]

PUP owner here. I could certainly see 9 ( with small children ) in the old Coleman Westlake? It had a 10-12 foot box, 2 kings, table/bed and sofa/bed.
However as the kid's reach teens it gets tighter and tighter especially with teen mood changes. At that point, I'd send the oldest ones to a tent outside. A simple dome tent with 2-3 poles make for quick set up that they can do themselves. Our pup a/c keeps us frozen! Love it, it was the best option we added. During a sunny hot day out in the open, it would be important to close the curtains to the bed pop outs and keep the a/c in the main cabin to conserve. Frankly the canvas over the beds just bake. But typically your not in there during a hot day. Pups offer an affordable way to vacation and they are easy to maintain and handle by yourself if needed. You do learn to pack lightly and just go.


p.s. we set up our pup in 18 minutes flat. That is without children interrupting us

Good Luck and do what's right for you

 

[Disney Bunny]

We are a family of 9, with kids ranging in age from 2 - 15. We have a Suburban to tow with. The manual says tow capacity is 7400 and the total (sorry I can't remember the initials, GW??) is 13000.

We are really just looking for air conditioned sleeping quarters. We are content to use the bathrooms at the campgrounds and don't need kitchen facilities either, which is why we are considering a popup.

Are there even popups that will sleep 9? Will our clothes take over? We are generally not "stuff" people, so I don't think we need a lot of storage.

If a pu wont work for us, what would you recommend? I'd love something with a few bunks, but we really would like to stay as small and inexpensive as possible. My husband has mentioned buying an older, smallish TT and removing the bath/kitchen areas and adding bunks. Anyone have any experience with doing something like that?

I appreciate your opinions and help. We've tent camped for years, but it's just really hard with small kids (at least for me)!

This pop up might work for you......

http://www.forestriverinc.com/PopUp...ge=floorplandetails&floorplanid=75&RVType=TNT

The U-Dinette should be able to sleep 2, as well as the 60x80 bed and 72x50 dinette with the 70x80 sleeping the 3 small ones. You give up the bathroom option in this, but I think that the only way you will get a large enough pop up is to just plan on using the comfort stations. If you are currently tent camping, you are already doing that.

As others have said, I would still put up a tent to store clothing containers in and as a second dressing area and also put up an EZ up canopy or screen tent to store other gear in to make it easier to access and to give you extra space in case of rain. When we had our popup, there were several items that just went on the floor of the popup whenever we closed it up. You can easily store tent and canopy bags on the floor of the pop up to save room for travel just pulling them out when you get ready to set up along with a cooler. I don't know how you currently pack your camping gear, but I used Rubbermaid containers that stack easily on top of each other to maximize space.

 

[way2tyred]

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[englishteacha]

I think if you get a pop up with 2 king beds and a slide out (if those exist) you'd have enough room. You can put 3 in a king bed with feet "in" toward the camper if they're short, so there's 6, and then if the sofa and table each fold into a bed, you have room for 3-4 more. I have seen small travel trailers and hybrids that sleep a lot of people, too. I've seen a camper with 2 sets of triple bunks for kids (so room for 6) but I don't know what the brand was. I'm the youngest of 8 kids so most of my siblings were grown up by the time I was born, but my parents camped with the older 7 in an old canvas army tent or in a borrowed pop up. My parents drove a station wagon till I was 17, and my eldest brother slept in the back of the car! When your kids get older, a small tent might be perfect for the oldest kids.