Couch, or No Couch

bobndot wrote:
There are different comfort levels of rv sofas, just because it has a sofa doesn't mean it's a comfy sofa. I would prefer a sofa that worked.
I have had u-dinettes that also worked , however, it's suppose to be camping in the outdoors, those indoor family times might not be as often or as long as you might expect.

It will also depend on how well you do your homework regarding the specs of your TV (tow veh) in relation to your expected payload and 'real' hitch weight.
Your TV might be the limiting factor and keep you from towing the larger TT without exceeding your trucks specs.

Yeah, our first trailer had a couch. But it wasn't very comfortable to sit on for more than 15-20 minutes. My wife wanted something that she could really lounge on to read a book.

So we bought a new trailer.

Our first TT had no sofa. Our first TT lasted exactly one season... :(

We moved up to a longer TT to get a sofa and also to get a slide for more space. It was a very good move... :)

A sofa is one of the most important things in our TT and gets constant use (two adults).

Note that the typical "jacknife" sofas in TTs are NOT very comfortable and aren't very well built. We replaced ours with a double recliner with power recline.

Also note, that unless you kids are different, most of them prefer using a tent next to an RV. A sofa might only get used by the parents.

ur first TT had no sofa. Our first TT lasted exactly one season... :(

We moved up to a longer TT to get a sofa and also to get a slide for more space. It was a very good move... :)

A sofa is one of the most important things in our TT and gets constant use (two adults).

Note that the typical "jacknife" sofas in TTs are NOT very comfortable and aren't very well built. We replaced ours with a double recliner with power recline.

Also note, that unless you kids are different, most of them prefer using a tent next to an RV. A sofa might only get used by the parents.

We recently purchased a new TT to replace our old (owned for 11 years). Family of 4, with 9 and 12 year old girls. The previous layout was a total 26' in length, no slide out, had a queen bed in front, a dinette on one side, and a jackknife couch on the other with the kitchen near the rear and the bathroom in the far back. It was a perfect layout till date. Space inside was tight, but the couch was a great space for enjoying coffee in the morning or just a place to sit (and quite comfortable). When looking for a new trailer, we wanted a bunkhouse in the same length, with a slide out, and a couch. We just couldn't find one (a quality one) with the specs we wanted. Anything with the layout we wanted was a couple feet longer, and anything in the length we wanted didn't have the couch. The closest we came was a Jayco (I think Jayflight) that was about 27' and had a Murphy bed that converted to a couch in the front. The downside to that trailer was that there was very little storage inside and out. I nixed it based on outside storage, and my DW felt the same inside. We didn't have weight restrictions due to a bigger TV.
Being in a bit of time crunch on purchasing, we opted to go with an Outdoors RV 21DBS. It's slightly less than 26' with a HUGE dinette. No couch. The kids love the bunks, we love the space and size of the dinette, but do wish we still had a couch. That was the one thing we sacrificed, but are still happy with the purchase. The first trip out a few weeks ago was a rainy start and we spent some time in the trailer during the day. the kids stayed in their bunks (very spacious on this model) and the DW and I either sat at the dinette near the window or laid in bed reading.
Will be testing the layout on a Yellowstone trip with friends later in the summer, so will see how we feel about traveling with friends and not having a couch to sit and visit on. Previous trips, occasionally people would come in and sit down, but not often, so not a justifier for having to absolutely have a couch.
For what that story is worth. Good luck on your decision!

We chose the 24ft BH variety with the U shaped dinette due to vehicle constraints and it works for us with a 3 yr old and 1 yr old. But our next will definitely have the couch. So in short, yes couch.

Say...rainy day and you are couped up in 150 sq ft of floor space or less. Now say couch!

rbpru wrote:
You hit upon a key issue, will your tow vehicle and finances handle the loaded tongue weight and cost of the model you want?

Exactly! And therein lies the next question. But I'll save that for another topic on another day. :)

Kind of like which beer is best.

You hit upon a key issue, will your tow vehicle and finances handle the loaded tongue weight and cost of the model you want?

In our case the couch is a key part of our interior, so much so that we replaced the original model with a more comfortable sofa/bed.

I have three kids and when I take a trip without one of them, the fact that we don't have to prepare the dinette at night is great. The couch is just easier to deal with in general.

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. Seems the concensus is that having the right, comfy lounging space is critical. Kind of what we also thought, but exploring those shorter, non-couch models really seemed interesting due to the weight reduction... but probably not worth the trade off. This will really help me in focusing my searching on the right model types.

Thanks!