Hybrid expandable or not?

Hybrids as you seem to already understand are not for everyone. We bought our second one last year, the first we owned for 10 years. A hybrid can be a great choice with a family of 5.

If you've tented before or used/owned a pop-up camper you may as we do, love hybrids. If you are not used to some kind of tenting, know that you will hear all the outside noise both during the day and at night, conversely, everyone near your trailer will hear you. That's probably the biggest drawback to a hybrid.

Some folks will cite leaky beds but the reality is that stories of leaky beds are not as common as some like to think. This was a problem on some early models but is very rare now.

Some will also talk about the extra setup time involved. That may be true depending on how fancy you like to "make" the beds. It was certainly true on older models that used poles to hold up the beds. I'm pretty sure all makes use cables for the beds now. It takes us all of a few minutes to fully setup the beds with bedding. Again, this could be a longer process if you want to make it so.

You can make general setup as involved or as simple as you want it to be with any type of trailer.

Packing wet may be a problem. The tent ends are vinyl covered and don't absorb water so if its wet, we wipe them down before folding them up. If its raining, we open them when we get home and they dry off fast. That could be a hassle though especially if you have to store it somewhere other than your own yard. I'm not sure we'd have a hybrid if it wasn't next to my house.

Some definite pluses are a lot of floor space in a small package. Our Jayco X20E has the floor space of a 24/25 ft trailer and is only 21 feet long. when the beds are open you can open up all the bed flaps and get a lot of light as well as nice cross breezes, even on really warm days. But you also have the convenience of AC when you really need it. Typically a hybrid is lighter weight than a similarly equipped hard side trailer, but there are so many sizes and floor plans out there that I think think the point about weight is moot.

I would highly recommend that you really "test" them out at the dealers. Climb up on the beds and see if they are comfortable or if climbing on them is a hassle. Imagine yourself trying to sleep in one. Some mattresses are thicker than others. Some folks use a memory foam pad because the mattress can be uncomfortable. That can be a deal breaker for a lot of people. A dealer on a Saturday afternoon is usually busy so you'll get a feel for the inside noise level. Ask if they can show you how to open and close one of the beds so you can better understand what's involved.

We have camped in the HTT listed below for atleast ten years with our family of six.. We camp ten month o 12 and here in Oregon we often have to set it up again when we get home to dry and avoid mold. Also if you have noisey neighbors running a fan for noise is all you can do. In short I would dump mine in a quick minute if I could fine something with similar space to weight ratio. Not everyone feels as I do. Best wishs in whatever you choose.

Well covered by Campfire Time. We enjoyed our HTT but had loved our 16+ seasons with a popup, and to us it was a huge step up just being able to access the fridge without setting up the camper. :) Oh, and having a bathroom on board was great too! :) We did find that the "turtling" option - living in the camper w/o deploying the bed ends - was not a good one for adults, as the dinette & couch were not suitable for anyone over 5'0" in our model, and setup - as is also true with a popup - is a real drag in wet weather. That set us looking at fully-enclosed trailers and we bit.

The only other downside to HTTs which I don't believe was mentioned is the tendency for the front bed end to leak some when driving in the rain. Almost all of them have had a problem with this, to some extent. Ours wasn't serious, but still was a bit of a worry over the longterm, given how water damage can be a real problem with a camper.

As previously said, if you have enjoyed tenting or camping in a popup in the past, you will probably love the extra space and amenities (such as fridge and bathroom, and more storage) in a hybrid.

We are on our seventh rv in 15 yrs. Started with a large pop up and kept it 5 years. Got the itch for real bathroom and bought a 23 foot hybrid. It was Ok but would have skipped it altogether it I did it over again. We kept it 2 yrs and then went with a 26 foot bunkhouse TT, kept that for 2 yrs then a 31 foot bunkhouse TT. Kept that 3 years then a 35 foot bunkhouse fifth wheel. Kept that 3 yrs and now have a 37 for bunkhouse fifth wheel with outside kitchen.
I guess my point is buy your third Rv first. You will save a lot of $$. Also, whatever you decide, make sure that you do your research and make sure that your tow vehicle is well suited to handle the gvwr of the trailer and don't forget the weight of kids, toys, pets, etc.

Expandable bunk ends is purely a matter of preference. For me I like a real bed, without having to worry about condensation dripping on me while sleeping. Also for me, it became a nuisance to close up the beds and reopen when we got home to dry out. The canvas was not trouble free either and a pain to keep clean.

Pros:
Most room for the size and weight as compared to TT's or FW's, other then popups. You don't need as big a vehicle, not much difference in mpg though.
Much more open feel to them, much better airflow.
Lower cost

Cons:
Noise intrusion
If it rains you have to dry it out.
A little harder to cool and heat. Enclosed units better for cold season camping.
Have to make the beds each time you set it up
Takes a little longer to set it up

WOW! I am new to this forum and this was my first ost and everyone has given me some great insight. After that I am still interested.
My history of Camping & RV:
I am personally a minimalist and love backpacking. I spend my free time guiding hiking and paddling trips in Louisiana. I am perfectly happy sleeping in tents ALL the time, but my wife is not. She needs her creature comforts, own toilet, shower, and place to put her face on. I don't fault her for that. 10 years ago I wanted to buy an RV to make the connection for us a family with my 3 boys and her. She was first against it, but quickly realized how much she loved it. My first RV was a 30' TT bunkhouse, then 3 years later I sold it to buy a 35' FW bunkhouse decked out. I had to sell that with the down economy to reduce expenses. Since then only my boys & I camp, leaving her at home.:(
So the other day we were talking about doing some road trips west staying at NP and visiting the Grand Canyon. We thought this would be great to have an RV.
So we don't have a ton of money and I would like to tow it with my Tacoma if needed. This is where I thought the HHTT would be a perfect fit. I figured 2 adults on the fold down, 2 bigger boys on the other fold down, and my youngest on the sofa or dinette.
I am used to setting up my wet tents every time I camp now. However, I do not tent camp in campgrounds and the noise could be a small issue for us, but maybe more so for the others in tents from our noise :).
The leaky front bed is a great heads up and will help when searching. Also, I will be buying used.
As mentioned earlier from someone else, Is there any other camper that is SUB 4K lbs that sleep 5 as comfortable as a HHTT? I think not.

Nothing will be out there under 4klb that sleeps 5 comfortably. Comfort is eye of the beholder sleeping on the horrid couch or dinette. Ours might work but they are hard to find. It weighs 4100lbs wet/ready to camp and has a gvw of 5000lbs. Tent out the front, tent out the side, and rear bunkbeds for kids. Clothes go under front bench in bins, and under side bunk. Towels, and extra food in vertical pantry. Toys and extra bedding go in the bunkbed cubbies at the foot of those beds. 7ft 6 wide, and 1600lbs payload. 3 bed hybrids with out slideout such as the roo 183 or the rest of the 3 bed nonslides will work.
The downsides of 3 bed nonslide: you lose a ton of interior/exterior storage.
My floorplan and picture.

I tow it with a k2500 sub loaded to the gills, 2 kids on second row captains, and 94 lb lab at their feet. The rear gets firewood, strollers, camper site box, while the roof gets a bike, canoe, or roof storage pod. Mt bikes, coolers, gray tanks, screenroom ride in the hybrid. Entire loaded up GCW is in the high 11k to 12K range.

I added memory foam toppers, and super high wind gizmos to kick our units comfort level to the roof. Our family loves sleeping in it, kids bounce around of the bunkbed to side tent. Canoe on the roof, fishing poles, memories being made practically every weekend from April thru November. Hunting season ends the camping season, and before you know it deep freeze hits New England. You can camp year round in LA and romp throughout the swamps with whatever fits on the roof of the tow vehicle.

We bought an '07 ROO 23SS in July '06. LOVED IT!, and never had any thought of having anything different. Only leakage we had was 1 time driving in a monsoon - bad enough DH pulled off the interstate twice and we waited it out at a Flying J. Checked when we set up and a kitchen towel fixed the small amount of water. Usually just the 2 of us, but the rear bunk was always set up - let extra light in and in great weather you unzip the bunkends and it's wonderful having the breezes blowing through. Absolutely no complaints. We did turtle a couple of times and it's not the most comfy in the world for that, but for a night you can make do. DH got the sofa - he's 6'3" and I got the dinette and slept diagonal and we lived through the experience. Absolutely recommend Pop Up Gizmos....you'll find mountains of info on them and they're worth their weight in gold. Yes, it does take extra time setting up/breaking down and that's what finally did us in. It's only about 15 min extra, but age crept up on us - we're both sneaking up on 70 way too quickly - and the extra effort was making it less enjoyable. Have a 26' TT now and life is good again. As long as you know the details about a hybrid + the extra effort needed sometimes, you should love it. BTW, we never had an issue with noise at a campground.