Newbie -- Considering Hybrid Purchase

You are stepping a natural progression in your camping style that many of us have been through, going from tent to Pop-up / or / hybrid, to travel trailer / or / fifth wheel, to motor home.

For many of us, it was initially hard leaving the "tent" feeling, so a pop-up or hybrid was a good alternative. They both afford the luxury of having a solid bed, getting off the ground, and still be surrounded by a "tent".

However ... depending upon where you live, how you camp, and WHEN you like to camp, pop-up's and hybrids may NOT be all that good. Pop-up's and Hybrids still have tenting (soft) material that can (and is) a real pain to work with ... The biggest "pain" is having to close up the camper when the ends are wet. They can be wet from rain, or wet from dew. It doesn't matter, water is still water. And closing up a camper that has water is a "mold" just waiting to happen.

So, that often means waiting for the sun to get up and hot enough to dry everything off before packing up, or having the ability to open the camper up once home so it can dry out.

I think those who are most happy with both Pop-up's and Hybrids are those who can open them up at home and leave them open. If you cannot do this at home, because of where you live (like in a home-owners-association), or in a city zoned No RV's! Then you absolutely do not want a hybrid! You are destined to get caught in the rain sometime.

Another thing to consider about hybrids. If you plan on early Spring, late Fall, or even winter camp, you're going to find those tent ends VERY cold, and you'll be burning through a lot of propane and / or electricity for space heaters to just keep warm. You will loose a lot of heat (and air conditioning) through those soft sides.

On the other hand ... there are those who seem to really enjoy their hybrids. The biggest factor is they can have a shorter box to tow, and when opened up, creates more space. However, if you need to just park for an over night, while traveling, you'll have to unhook the tow vehicle, move it, then lower the tent ends. But then, you may never stop for just an over night. Still.... something to consider? You don't know how your camping style will change a year from now once you've started experiencing it.

I may sound like doom-and-gloom, but coming from experience, may I suggest you skip right over the hybrid and go directly to a conventional travel trailer, for all the reasons I stated above. Your life will be much more simple!

Dutchman speaks with much camping wisdom.

You don't have to unhook if you choose not to. You can always "turtle" and then leave the next morning without disconnecting. Also, you can buy pop-up gizmo's to reduce both temperatures and light. As far as weather one or two electric heaters will keep the rig nice and warm. We have camped in all weather, including snow, but be prepared to keep snow limited on the tent ends. As far as brands, everyone has the picks. The best thing to do is find one that will fit your needs, both now and a few years ahead. Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

We've owned 3 Jayco trailers we purchased new. A '93 1208 pop-up, an '03 Kiwi 17a hybrid, and our current X20E hybrid. All have been solid trailers. No major issues. The only issues were little things like misaligned door locks, a strip or door molding not glued down all the way, loose screws on the microwave bracket, stuff like that. What's going to be most important for you is floor plan and your dealer.

As said above a hybrid is not for everyone, but also speaking from experience, having owned 2 hybrids over the past 13 years and still own, we can't say we're ready to be cooped up in a box just yet. We've been sleeping under some sort of tenting since 1985. We're in our middle 50s.

You can't compare pop-ups to hybrids. Different animals, it's an apples to oranges comparison. We had a pop-up for 10 years before buying our first hybrid in '03. Night and day difference. We don't miss the work and hassle of a pop-up at all. Closing up wet is big problem with pop-ups, in fact we got mold in ours even after I was pretty sure it was dried out. Never completely got rid of the stains.

Speaking of packing wet, our hybrids and others brands I've seen are vinyl covered canvas. They don't/can't get soaked. If they are wet when packing, they get dried with a towel. If it's raining, they get opened at home and toweled off. Not once have we gotten mold or mildew. If you live in HOA or in a no-RV zoned city, you've got far more issues than just drying the ends off. I'm honestly not sure we would have ever bought any trailer if I would have had to store somewhere else. The cost alone would have made me question it.

Heating/cooling has never been an issue. Even in 28 degree weather, or in 100 degree heat in the NV desert. My wife now likes a heating blanket to supplement the heat, but it's due to a medical condition. Some folks use PUGs to cover the bunk ends but I personally think that would be little gain for a lot of extra work. Those that use them love them.

We've done many over nighters without disconnecting. If our daughter was traveling with us I simply dropped the back bed and we slept on the dinette. Otherwise we didn't open anything and slept on the dinette.

Whether or not you can open your hybrid while hitched has to do with the length of the bed when open and the length of your hitch. We have a Jayco 17Z.

We have a weight distribution hitch which lengthened the truck portion of the hitch by about a foot and we can open the front bunk while hitched. We even have just barely enough room to open the tail gate on the truck with the bunk open.

Having said that, I understand that just adding a hitch extension is mondo dangerous so you don't want to do that.

When we're overnighting in a rest area or truck stop we stay hitched and open only the front bunk. When overnighting in campgrounds we stay hitched but open both bunks. When overnighting by myself I often just sleep on the couch, but I'm short and fit on the junior bed.

We had pop-up's, a hybrid, small 5th wheel and now a Class C MH. The hybrid is a big step up from a tent no doubt. However we only kept ours 2 years, much less that the other styles. I guess partly we got into workamping and spent so much time in it. Doing it over we would have skipped the hybrid but I realize that requires a truck and more cost. Nothing so much wrong with the hybrid except there still is set-up and put-down and you are covered by canvas providing less feeling of security. It just depends on what you want and your RV style. Setting up and down gets old if you do a lot of 1-nighters.

I love my 18 year old hybrid. I never liked the idea of pop-ups because I like the idea of having a small hard shelled camper for those times I don't need to open the tent ends. By the way I am able to open my front bed without unhooking from my Ford explorer, but just barely.

ricks99 wrote:
After many years in a tent, the wife and I are looking to upgrade to hybrid. Have been looking at Kodiak Express 172E, Jayco 16XRB, and Starcraft Launch 16RB.

We'd love to get any feedback on these (or other Hybrids we should be looking at).

Jayco and Starcraft has a much better reputation than Dutchmen's Kodiak.

you must be limited in tow vehicle, to be looking at HTTs with a GVWR around 3500lbs. if you're not limited in tow vehicle, my advise is to get a bigger hybrid with a slideout.

the best first advise is buy your second trailer, FIRST!
second, many newbies buy a hybrid, without considering the pros and cons of hybrids. they end up selling it after a year or two.

most hybrid owners are former popup owners who want more amenities but still want the "camping" feel that the canvas ends provide. a conventional TT feels like a shoebox to us.
so, we're willing to deal with the few negatives that come with the canvas tent ends.

we have owned our hybrid for 10 years now and still love it, even though it isn't the best RV for us being retired now.

What Dutchmen Sport said! Solid advice. We too went thru the PUP to HTT to TT transition; enjoyed the HTT, had it 3 years (after 17 years with our PUP) and then fell in love with the fully enclosed trailer a little sooner than planned. :) We did have to keep upgrading our tow vehicle, though, to keep up with the ever-larger camper - something else to keep in mind. If you are towing with a small to medium-size SUV, you may find the HTT is just a bit much for it, mostly due to the wind resistance from the taller camper. It's a significant difference from pulling a popup.

We're on our third hybrid. We had a Travelstar. then a Palomino, and now we own a Rockwood Roo 23ws.....and love it! Will we ever go for a Travel Trailer or a Fifth wheel... I really don't think so. and here's why:

1- Our hybrid has two queen size beds......I don't know of any TT or Fifth wheel that has that!

2- Our 23ws has a private room in the back which is very convenient for us.

3- Hybrids nowadays are so easy to set up and close (no more bungies or velcro)

4- We have a 30 foot + camper (opened) which can be pulled with a 1500 pickup truck. or a big SUV. No need to trade for a 2500


We have no intention of becoming seasonal or going south for the winter.....so an hybrid for us is the way to go!

Dre