Jayco Jay Feather or Keystone Bullet?

First suggestion is to really consider HOW you camp and where/weather conditions/other. Being in the north, you may find that the HTT will shorten your camping season somewhat, although our neighbors north of the border camp way into the cold weather and love it. Gotta prepare. Do you like the outdoorsy feel of a PUP?? Is possibly having to open up again when you get home a problem?? If it is, then maybe a HTT is not for you. Example...if you store at a storage lot, opening up is likely not a great feature. If you store at home, probably not an issue. Our first camper was a HTT - ROO 23SS - and we loved it. The few times we had to open up, it wasn't a big deal. Re the kids outgrowing the bunks....I interpreted that as a bunkhouse TT rather than the bunkends of a HTT...big difference. Personal opinion is that I don't care for bunkhouse beds because they're narrow. To the best of my knowledge, all the beds in HTT are queensize, with only a couple of exceptions being a 13'camper with a rear double size bunkend made by KZ. Believe there are a couple of others similar. We liked the open feeling of our HTT. Loved the fact that we were towing approx. 23' and when set up had 30' of living space. Easy to tow and easy to maneuver into a site. If your tow vehicle allows for the extra weight, strongly suggest a model with a slide. If you spend time inside in the evenings or rainy weather comes along, if you can manage having both a sofa and a dinette it's a huge benefit. Too much closeness gets old in a hurry. Depending on the gender and ages of your kids, you may want to check out a 3 bed model.

As much as we love our new TT and it was a good move for us, we're still hybriders at heart.

Note on our sig that we now have a TT. The only reason for changing from our beloved HTT was that age and all that goes with is crept up when we weren't looking and there were a few things that were getting tougher to handle. Otherwise, we always felt our ROO was the one and only for us.

We love our HTT Jayco X17Z. It has lots of room for being such a small, towable unit, and drying out the tent ends is no big deal as they are so easy to open and fold down once you get home.

We find it is the best of both worlds, the open feel of sleeping in a tent, with all the amenities of a hard-side trailer. It only takes about 20 minutes to fully set it up, and it's light and easy to tow, though certainly more weight than a pop-up.

If you are used to camping in a pop-up, you'd probably love an HTT.

I like my HTT. Seeing how adults sleep in the bunks I do not see an issue with you kids out growing them. We went from a pop-up to an HTT and never looked back and are happy with our HTT. The setup time is a lot less with an HTT over a pop-up. The one think to think about is with bunks that fold out you get a lot more floor space over a TT that has its beds inside the unit.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. It helps to hear from those with more camping experience than us. We're looking for a little less work in the set up and tear down. We were lucky enough yesterday to get out to a couple of dealerships and see the campers. That certainly helped us decide, and now we're just considering whether to go ahead with the Keystone.

Happy Camping! :)

Both have scads o' room inside (My HTT doesn't have a slide...!). One thing I HAVE noticed: In searching for a new (used) TT, I found I really liked the Keystone floorplans, but there seems to be a lot of problems with delamination on the front. You can actually see it in the pictures of campers on RV Trader. I did a little research after noticing that and am left with the impression that Keystone is somewhat less than stellar in helping out in such cases. That said, Keystone IS still on my short list, but a newer model, with the big molded fiberglass front cap...

If you have been following the different forums, you get a flavor for why each group favors their own. Pups are least expensive, easy to tow, but require more setup work. Full trailers and fivers are more or less pre-set up once you unhook and level them. They also tend to require larger tow vehicles. The in between is the hybrid. I went from an 8' Jayco Jayfinch which I camped in for 30 years to an HTT. Was going to to go to the fiver route, had it picked out but my health and the economy didn't cooperate so, upon retirement I got a 24' HTT. I have to say I enjoy sleeping under canvas (and have never had to set up or take down in the rain-just luck I guess), and the big plusses are a smaller tow vehicle, a 30' trailer with only having to tow 24', and all the comforts to with stand incliment summer weather. There are downsides as others have talked about--the setup and packing in the wet. The actual setup time for a bunk to fold it and pack it is really pretty minimal, the time comes in making the beds if you use other than sleeping bags. The other is condensation. Personally I have never had any on the inside of the tenting, I get some in cooler weather between the mattress and the bunk door. As of yet, I haven't heard of a solution for that one other than lift the mattress and let it dry.

All in all, I like the HTT, but it is certainly not for an area of rain, cold weather, or maybe full timing. We are retired occasional campers and it suits us nicely.

Good luck and enjoy whatever you decide. Remember it is your trailer, not someone elses so base it on what you like and want.

Curious as to what are your reasons are to "upgrade". A pup will give the best sleeping arrangement for a growing family and is a ton easier to haul(pun intended).

Bunks tend to be quite short.

The extra work of all the systems, maintenance and storage of a bigger trailer will be a lot more than your current pup requires. Just something to consider.

In the past 2 years have you found yourself in the trailer a lot?

What are you using as a tow vehicle btw.

I personally hate the idea of dealing with plumbing,roof sealing, Winterizing,Window leaks,delamination issues, WDH's that can come with a HTT or TT over most pups. I prefer to just use CG facilities and when I am gone so are the issues.
We may be different though. We use our trailer for sleeping only. Ours sleeps 8 so it is very roomy. We spend every waking hour biking,hiking,touring,walking,swimming,canoeing, etc etc. rain or shine there is always something to do.

Goodluck in your decision

Thanks for your input!!

I'm not a big fan of hybrids because you can't just roll them up and out them away after a rainy period. You need to let them dry out.

The Keystone Bullet looks like a nice unit with a slide and the bunk area looks good too. The storage cupboards in the hallway are also a huge plus.

If it were my choice, I'd go with the Bullet.

WoodGlue