Comparing 2 campers

acorne wrote:

rjf7g wrote:
VERY different floorplans and campers! I am curious - are they both used or both new or one new and the other used? Are they in the same "condition"?

The tent beds in the hybrids (and pop-ups) require someone to crawl over the other person to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. If you are claustrophobic, you will not want to be the one stuck in the corner. As the person previously in the corner, I won't go back! It looks like you don't escape this with the Puma floorplan, though.

The tent beds do need to be cared for and can leak. They should not be packed up wet and if they are, need to be opened ASAP so they don't dry rot and stuff in the camper doesn't mold. Also, tent beds are not a good idea if you ever plan to camp in bear country.

The Puma is 600 lbs heavier, looking at the unloaded weight. The Puma has larger holding tanks - a plus if you are parked and have full hookups, but if they are full and you're driving they will add a lot more weight to the already heavier choice. The Puma can carry more stuff, but that will also add more weight to the already heavier choice.

The TV location in the Puma seems to make it only viewable to the tongue-side bench of the dinette. I personally like to sit on my couch and watch TV. A person sitting on the couch right beside the fridge may be able to see the TV, but I would need to test this out! This doesn't seem to be an issue in the Jayco.

If you leave the tents in on the Jayco, and use the dinette as your bed unless you have others joining you, you may have a pretty good setup. A few TV trays for eating off of would be all that was needed to make this work. I do not like having to break down the dinette to make a bed each day.

I hope this helps! I have a Puma trailer and have had a Jayco pop-up in the past. I would buy either brand again but would make sure the specific trailer I was looking at had the amenities I wanted and that the build quality was good.

They are both used but in about the same condition. Very well taken care of. The idea of the hybrid being more open and having the beds on both ends was what I liked. But I do worry if my kids, 7&9, would sleep under the canvas esp when it's raining hard and lots of noise outside. The one thing I didn't like about the Puma was the bed being turned like it was.

I do appreciate all your help. I've learned a lot from everyone's answers. Several people warned us about the canvas and then reading about it on here, I think we may have ruled out a hybrid. But we are going to keep looking and find a floor plan we like.

There's way too many TT's out there. This is worse than picking out our house!

I would listen to those who have had a tent camper or hybrid before going on assumptions of others who have not owned one.

Do they leak? Some might, just as some hard sided campers will. Depends on how they are cared for. If seams are not sealed periodically on TT's they can develop leaks as well. Sun will dry out seals on a TT.

We've owned a couple tent campers before and they never leaked. Is it loud when it rains? Yes. But it's somewhat loud in a TT as well. The good thing about hybrids is that the beds are not taking up floor space. They also save on weight because of that...

Things to consider is where you will do most of your camping. If at the beach, then you may want to go with a TT because of the wind. Find yourself a starter camper. Don't invest all your money into it. Camp in it for a year or so and then you will really know what you want.