Is a HTT right for us? And a few other ??'s
Looking for a little guidance on improving our camping experiences (and thank you in advance for indulging a low-winded first post!): First a little background: - We are a family of 3 (me, DW and...
Forum Discussion
Thanks to everyone for the great info!
We have a lot of experience in our PUP so we're familiar with the pros/cons of tent bunk ends (or so we think)... We've done Gizmos and Reflectix with our PUP as well (plus tons of other mods).
So I think we are just about convinced that a HTT is the next step for us. But a couple of things I'm still trying to wrap my head around.
1. It seems like all the HTTs we've seen online utilize on-board BW/GW tanks - and smallish ones at that. We're used using the cassette toilette and a system of Aquatainers for GW.
None of the CGs we go to have hookups so we are manually adding FW and dumping GW in the CG bathrooms.
While its a real pain (literally) to constantly schlep water to/from the PUP, the ability to replenish FW and empty GW mid-camp without moving the trailer has been advantageous. Plus the ability to pass by the lines at the dump stations on the way out of camp has been a bonus. I'll have to rethink our approach with a HTT.
I calculated that we used about 15 gallons of GW/day on our last trip (incl showers). That only gives us 2 days of camping in a HTT w/a 30G GW tank.
So how are folks dealing with this on longer trips?
I know I can tell DW to cut back on her luxurious showers but that negates one of the pros for going to to a bigger/nicer rig.
I'm not so concerned about FW, as I can always add more from a jug, nor am I concerned about BW as we typically haven't needed to dump our cassette potty mid-trip (opting to use the CG's bathrooms except for late night nature calls.) Its the GW that I'm concerned about for us.
Are there tricks or techniques to avoid going to the dump station just to dump GW mid-trip?
Maybe plumb off a separate GW dump valve that dumps into Aquatainers?
2. In following the "Buy your 2nd trailer first" advice, we are considering a larger HTT now - perhaps a 21-23' with at least one slide-out. Something along the lines of a Roo 233S would be at the high-end of our range.
So the question is, how realistic is it to use a HTT only partially deployed in camp? Does leaving one or two of the bunk ends folded up look too messy (DW concern) or make the trailer feel claustrophobic?
This is also a concern for certain tight spots where we may not have the space to fully deploy.
Which leads me to my concern:
3. I've gotten pretty creative with putting our big heavy PUP into "interesting" placements in less than ideal camping spots using a combination of a front-mounted TV hitch, block/tackle w/electric winch, and the trailer's rolling jack wheel.
Do I need to change my way of thinking with a HTT? Do folks get creative with "off the hitch" maneuvering, or is it a "place it with the TV or forget about it" type of operation? I'm thinking its the later since I don't see HTTs with wheels on the tongue jack.
Thanks again for all the great info!
We have a lot of experience in our PUP so we're familiar with the pros/cons of tent bunk ends (or so we think)... We've done Gizmos and Reflectix with our PUP as well (plus tons of other mods).
So I think we are just about convinced that a HTT is the next step for us. But a couple of things I'm still trying to wrap my head around.
1. It seems like all the HTTs we've seen online utilize on-board BW/GW tanks - and smallish ones at that. We're used using the cassette toilette and a system of Aquatainers for GW.
None of the CGs we go to have hookups so we are manually adding FW and dumping GW in the CG bathrooms.
While its a real pain (literally) to constantly schlep water to/from the PUP, the ability to replenish FW and empty GW mid-camp without moving the trailer has been advantageous. Plus the ability to pass by the lines at the dump stations on the way out of camp has been a bonus. I'll have to rethink our approach with a HTT.
I calculated that we used about 15 gallons of GW/day on our last trip (incl showers). That only gives us 2 days of camping in a HTT w/a 30G GW tank.
So how are folks dealing with this on longer trips?
I know I can tell DW to cut back on her luxurious showers but that negates one of the pros for going to to a bigger/nicer rig.
I'm not so concerned about FW, as I can always add more from a jug, nor am I concerned about BW as we typically haven't needed to dump our cassette potty mid-trip (opting to use the CG's bathrooms except for late night nature calls.) Its the GW that I'm concerned about for us.
Are there tricks or techniques to avoid going to the dump station just to dump GW mid-trip?
Maybe plumb off a separate GW dump valve that dumps into Aquatainers?
2. In following the "Buy your 2nd trailer first" advice, we are considering a larger HTT now - perhaps a 21-23' with at least one slide-out. Something along the lines of a Roo 233S would be at the high-end of our range.
So the question is, how realistic is it to use a HTT only partially deployed in camp? Does leaving one or two of the bunk ends folded up look too messy (DW concern) or make the trailer feel claustrophobic?
This is also a concern for certain tight spots where we may not have the space to fully deploy.
Which leads me to my concern:
3. I've gotten pretty creative with putting our big heavy PUP into "interesting" placements in less than ideal camping spots using a combination of a front-mounted TV hitch, block/tackle w/electric winch, and the trailer's rolling jack wheel.
Do I need to change my way of thinking with a HTT? Do folks get creative with "off the hitch" maneuvering, or is it a "place it with the TV or forget about it" type of operation? I'm thinking its the later since I don't see HTTs with wheels on the tongue jack.
Thanks again for all the great info!
