Pop Up

Thanks for the info.. I have a teardrop camper which is good for 2 as its main purpose is sleeping in it... However might be looking for something mid range as my grandson would like to go camping...

How much weight can those beds hold?

Cons
More setup involved than with a hardside trailer.
Setting up in the rain.
Packing usually takes longer because of storage.
Storage.
Less space to move around.
More outside noise coming in (annoying neighbors, cars, dogs barking, etc)
More inside noise going out.
Longer breakdown of camp.
Can be harder to cool in really hot areas.

Pros
Easier to tow.
Easier to store in most cases.
Better fuel mileage.
Doesn't require as big of tow vehicle in many cases.
More outside noises coming in (good noises like birds singing and waves).
Fits in more sites.
Can get the same amenities as a hardside trailer.
Possible to get to more remote sites.
Fewer tires to replace (Most Pups are single axle).
Generally don't need weight distribution hitches.

I'm sure there are plenty more, but it is early for me.

We had a popup for one summer and then sold it. I did not like cranking the top up, pulling out the bunk ends, inserting the hardware, snapping the material down all around the unit, putting the bunk under-supports into place... by the time I got done I would be sweating pretty good. Breaking camp was the same thing in reverse, plus the trays sometimes wanted to jam a bit crooked, and I got a couple of slivers from the plywood. We camped in bear country (Tetons), and my wife had trouble sleeping because she was worried about bears coming through the canvas.

You did say pros AND cons, didn't you? ;)

Fast forward to now. After owning and selling 3 travel trailers, I'm looking at buying another popup. But this time it will probably be an A-frame, like Chalet or Aliner. Although I am also looking at the Palomino Basecamp model that has no pullout bunk ends and an electric-powered top (the wife is done with camping these days, so I don't have to have hard walls to please her).

I'm not trying to scare you off, just keeping it realistic. While you're set up, you have a nice big vacation home. But there can be some setup and takedown bother. And you can hear the wind flapping the canvas and the neighbors talking.

We had a Coleman Williamsburg model pop up for 16 years. It was used 4-5 weekends a year as well as a 2 week vacation. It is a great compromise - low cost, easy to tow, gets you off the ground and provides some nice features. Set up takes a little while which is not fun if you are setting up in bad weather! They are great for sleeping but get tight on rainy days with 2 adults and 3 kids. We often set up a large canvas tarp outside over the picnic table to provide additional space.

We loved the pop up and it made many memories for our family. We have moved on to our toy hauler now that we are empty nesters. Kind of funny - much more room for less people!

We had a smaller, lightweight StarCraft of '88 vintage, and loved it - kept and used it (copiously) for 16 full seasons and into a 17th. Loved the versatility - it was so simple we could camp with hookups or without, only lacking a heat source w/o hookups. It was light enough (and had a wheel on the tongue stand) so we could manually push it around to take advantage of a site's view or to afford ourselves more privacy in a site. Loved the fresh air, and for 2 of us it had plenty of room (2 double beds on each end, and an end dinette - which we usually didn't use, eating outside much of the time) and an awning so it was comfortable in rainy weather. It was easy to tow, though our underpowered vehicles did struggle with it in mountains (trailer brakes would have been nice; we had none) and probably didn't cost us even as much as 1 mpg. Uncomplicated - we disabled the water system after finding out it was nearly impossible to change the check valve, which failed at least once a year; no a/c, no furnace, no fridge.

The main thing that grew old along with us :) was all the toting & carrying. We had to store most of our clothes, food, and some other items in the vehicle, and carry them into the camper when setting up camp, and back to the vehicle when breaking camp. One-night stays were a LOT of work. Dampness is a problem in anything with tented sides and bed ends. And having to set it up just to put things in it got to be a pain. Once we went to a full-height camper and could load & empty it without setting it up first, we haven't gone back. But we do have a lot of great memories from our popup years.

we had a nagara, by Fleetwood. weigh 4k. still talk about it.opened up 28ft long. nice popup.now its all happy-camping

I gave my PU to my son years ago, but we really liked it. The DW still sometimes says she wishes we had it back for some camping trips; it gave more of a camping feel. Mine was an older Coleman all metal PU and unfortunately, they’ve been gone for years. The ones I notice today have showers and are heavier than my current 16’ TT so they don’t have much appeal to me. But I haven’t kept up with the market and don’t know what all is out there.

Being all metal, mine was on the light side and the impact on my gas mileage was negligible. It was very maneuverable and I could also get it far back in the boonies on the primitive roads where we liked to camp. If I needed to I could be set up and inside 10 minutes after I pulled into a camp spot. Canvas never bothered me; I camped for about 17 years in tents so there was little difference. It was in some ferocious storms and rain was no problem, either. You don’t want to leave one closed up wet. But if I was camping it was open, if I moved it was open that evening, and when I came home it was opened to unload. So the whole idea was a non-issue.

It did have smaller tires than my TT and I could expect to lose a tire and sometimes a wheel bearing on a long trip. That was just a minor nuisance; I carried an extra spare and bearings and got adept at changing them out along the road or in parking lots. The TT also had the advantage of being able to pull off the road and go inside for lunch or a break, the PU had to be opened up to do that. And I think the DW felt a little more secure with a hard side, especially if we were camped in bear country. I did finally have to replace the canvas, but I used a tent and awning shop to make a duplicate for hundreds of dollars less than a factory replacement. All in all, we used it for about 15 years and I can’t really find anything of substance to complain about, it did a great job for us.

Lets see where do I start...

I came from the tent camping days up in the AZ Jerome and Smiley Rock high country in the 60s and 70s. This pretty much sums up the way we camped back then from this google search photo of Jeep with utility trailer.


Moving back to the East Coast side in the late 70s to present time we continued tent camping all up and down the Blue Ridge mtns. Made many of trips between Virginia and Gatlinburg TN Smoky Mtns areas.

I now have the 2008 Starcraft OFF-ROAD 14RT POPUP with mods for extended camping off the power grid using just my on-board batteries...



The big thing for us is we have the same modern conveniences the big boys have from on-board potty/shower to high def TV. My OFF-ROAD POPUP can go anywhere my 4WD drive truck will take it. I get great gas mileage going down road - have minimun expenses, Sleeps good, and with my off road mods we can camp up to a couple of weeks with the only thing that hampers us is being able to run our 2KW generator every morning to recharge our depleted battery bank so we can do everything all over again for the next day/night camping. We like to end each day with some HDTV time, checking in with kids, pay some bills on-line and enjoy some country cooking along side a creek bed somewhere. I need to add some solar panels now so I don't have to run the generator as much...

I guess the only drawback we have is there is not much moving around room when having to stay inside due to bad weather. For the most part we use the trailer for sleeping and do all the other camping things outside.

I would not trade places for the big trailer guys. That has to be one hugh nightmare pulling one of those 40-foot monsters and the hugh expenses that goes with it. Certainly not my cup of tea...

My hat goes off to those that like that camping lifestyle...

Camping off the power grid here on the East coast is not like doing this out West. The East Coast seems to have alot of generator run time restrictions in place and very few DISPERSED camping places. The only dispersed type place I know of are on private property. About the only public places are the NASCAR places where you can run generators all night long if you like.

One of my favorite spots I love to camp at is up behind Harrisonburg VA on the Virginia/West Virginia wooded state line where access is a narrow forest road. Even here we have generator run time restriction in place. One spot I have to cross a rock bed small creek. Truck and trailer does just fine. This is near a popular spot the JEEP guys around like to go to called FLAGPOLE KNOB.

Just my thoughts about my camping style. Everyone does what they like to do... The grand idea is enjoy yourself in the big outdoors while we still can...

Roy Ken