Newbie looking for advice

Everyone is different, but my experience with the couch and table is the opposite. Our table is on a drop hinge attached to the wall with a single folding leg. Takes about 10 seconds to change the dinette booth to a bed. The jackknife sofa equally as fast. We store sleeping bags and pillows under the sofa, so setting up the beds is very quick. Our 22ft ball to bumper has 4 sleeping spots, a double with single bunk over, the dinette bed, the couch bed. None of the kids has to share, and once everyone is awake it is only a couple minutes to stuff the sleeping bags and convert the beds back. It is at least worth looking at models with it and playing with it to determine if it does or does not work for you.

As stated before, the bane of 1/2tons is cargo / payload. They can haul a lot more than they can carry. You will only get close to that 10,000lb rating if you are towing a boat with 9-10 percent tongue weight. A 10,000lb travel trailer will have around 1400lbs tongue weight! General rule of thumb for 1/2tons is 4500-5000lbs dry which averaged 6000-6500lbs loaded and about 800-900lbs tongue weight. If you stick to 4500-5000lbs the numbers almost always work out.

Welcome to the forum, and good luck in your endeavors!

My personal take on folding table and couch is pass if you have kids and will need to make that bed everyday.

Our trailer is much smaller and has a dinette with folding table. After two years I removed table legs and store table surface under dinette cushions. Then we slide it into place in the evening to make bed and slide back in the morning to pick up. Messing with the table with kids scrambling around was never fun. I won't admit it but I probably knocked one or two with a table edge or leg before.

Camplite is an excellent choice for a smaller lightweight trailer.

Ran across this one awhile back, and posted as a recommendation, now you have it:

21BHS Virginia (new)

2013 21BHS New York, (used)

21BHS walk-through video

Svon wrote:
Oh yes, if I could find a campsite cl21bhs for close to our budget, that is also a serious consideration.

JMO but I suspect you'd quickly this model's 7' width awfully constricting, even with a slide. Tougher also to sell a few years later since 8' is by far the most popular width in travel trailers these days. :(

The keystone seems to be right around 20 where ever you look maybe wait till end of the season it might go lower

Svon wrote:
My tow vehicle is a 1500 Silverado with the towing package, and rated to to upto 10,000.

When towing with pretty well any 1/2 ton forget about the vehicle's so-called "tow rating" as it all comes down to payload, or more correctly lack thereof. Subtract the weight of everyone in the truck, any cargo you may carry in it, plus the weight of any WD system, and what you have left is what you'll use to accommodate the weight of any tongue weight transferred from the trailer to the truck when it's hitched up. With most 1/2 tons that means not a whole lot left, usually limiting gross trailer tongue weight to somewhere in the 600 to 800 lb range. You haven't mentioned your Silverado's MY, transmission, or axle ratio but even if it's a newer 6 sp driving anything less than a 3.73 that's yet another reason to be cautious about what you select in a trailer. Currently I tow a shorter 21' couple's trailer averaging ~ 4700 lbs loaded and ready to camp with our '12 Silvy running a 3.42 and wouldn't want to tow much more than ~ 6000 lbs with this truck.

Oh yes, if I could find a campsite cl21bhs for close to our budget, that is also a serious consideration.