Travel trailers without slides

If you want tons of room inside the camper, just get a floorplan like this 2011 Jayco Jay Feather Select X21M. I went inside and it was more roomy than any other camper I've seen on the dealers lot. But it's a hybrid, laminated walled camper, with a super slide.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." It's been almost 15 years since we were TT shopping but we wanted a unit with no slides. The principal reason for this was our anticipated usage - long, cross-country trips lasting anywhere from 2 to 5 weeks. In the end our "short list" was narrowed down to 4 units - 2 Sunlines, a Coachmen and a Fleetwood product. None had slides and we bought the trailer in our signature as it was the shortest and lightest in the floor plan we wanted. Having said that, our unit is 101" wide so we don't miss the slides and have plenty of room to navigate around each other in the TT on foul weather days. Don't regret our choice one bit.

Harder to sell when the time comes? See the first sentence. SOMEBODY out there is going to be looking for a unit to use the same way we did.

Will our next TT have a slide? Don't know but if it does, one should do the trick. We'll still be doing cross-country but by then it will be me & DW only. OK, and maybe a dog......:R

Envisioning how you're going to use the TT is the key.

Here's a thought, let me compare the 2 slide floorplans we looked at compared to our 26BH. The 2 were the Jay Flight 28BHS and the Jay Flight Swift 267BHS.

Our family is 4 in my camper. 3 people can comfortably sit on the sofa and 4 can sit at the dinette.

The sofa is comfortable but the dinette is not nearly as comfortable. We have sleeping for 7, 2 in the double bed, 1 in the bunk above it, 2 in the queen bed and 1 at the dinette and 1 on the sofa.

We can watch the TV from the dinette and the sofa, meaning 5 can watch TV.

The 28BHS has all the same seating and the same sleeping, it just has a bigger kitchen counter. We don't normally cook at all in the kitchen as we grill outside when camping. So the gain here wouldn't be used. We do lose TV watching for 2 as the TV can only be view by the sofa or the dinette individually, not at the same time. Plus the slide doesn't gain width space but allows the same space in the walkway we have but with the sofa length wise, freeing up length space for the extended kitchen.

So with the 28BHS, we gained a bigger kitchen, lost TV viewing, and for such, reqruired a 1/4 slide out and extra weight and expense.

The 267BHS (now the Jay Flight 26BHS) has the same sleeping areas, but loses sofa sitting to only 2 persons. Plus the TV is at a 45 to 80 degree angle from the sitting areas unless you had a swing arm mount.

The previous 267BHS lost a lot of features and options that I found unacceptable for an upgrade from our then current Jay Flight 19BH.

So we lost a lot of features with the 267BHS, lost sitting area on the Sofa, gained a lot of weight near 1000 lbs and require the slide, and have an additional cost of $2500.

It was a no brainer for us to stick with the same floorplan we had in the 19BH and add a queen bed to that floorplan.

FrankShore wrote:
I made the mistake of buying a 2015 Arctic Fox without a slide and am regretting it. It's nice having the extra room that a slideout provides in my opinion. I'm now looking at Lances and OutdoorRV. The Lances all have slides yet are all considered lightweight, so a slide doesn't mean "heavy" or added weight!

Yes but it means laminated walls, floors, and ceiling to get an ultralite camper. I for one will always buy the heavier stick and tin construction because I've see so many delaminations, large or small areas. To me, the high percentage rate of delaminations are unsettling. Usually a failure of the glue, that glues the walls. Seen many on brand new campers on the lot.

There's no free lunch, everything has it's negatives. When my wife and I went looking, as we're on our 3rd new camper together, we wanted to avoid slides unless we 'needed' them to get a workable floorplan.

The only camper I would get with a slide is a pop up as they add little weight and don't have the mechanical or leaking issues that a travel trailer slide has.

What people buy is what works for them regardless of what our needs our. If people did not buy trailers without slides they would not be built. I would never dream of taking my 35' 2 slide TT into the woods and tight trails, but it works great for the seasonal site with 3 Collies. Likewise I would not want to fulltime in my 17' TT with 3 Collies, each has a purpose.

I bought a used Wildwood 26bhss TT for guests at my seasonal site with a 12' super slide that did leak. I will fix it (new floor in slide) because the way it was built. IT wicked water from the bottom.

Keep in mind that if you're trying to avoid problems of any sort, an RV is not something you want to get into. It's helpful if the owner has at least a basic knowledge of how things work and a small toolbox with the standard stuff. Otherwise, a lot of time and money is spent getting misc things fixed. Still of the opinion that a slide makes indoor time more comfortable, is beneficial at resale time and the odds are against having problems.

Slides give one more floor area to live in when parked. I live outside more than in, therefore I don't need/want any slides. A well designed floorplan works very well without needing the width of a mobile home.

I made the mistake of buying a 2015 Arctic Fox without a slide and am regretting it. It's nice having the extra room that a slideout provides in my opinion. I'm now looking at Lances and OutdoorRV. The Lances all have slides yet are all considered lightweight, so a slide doesn't mean "heavy" or added weight!

"Not everyone wants to camp in a unit as big as a 1 bedroom apartment. If full timing, maybe, but not camping.

My idea of camping is being comfortable inside when inclement weather hits, but being small enough not to need an open, treeless site or pull through.

I want a rustic tree covered site with large amounts of space between me and my neighbors. After all, I go camping to get away from the neighborhood and see nature, not to welcome a block party.

Slides make it hard to get a site without a lot trees and my 26BH is huge, as it's large enough to live out of. Having a 2 slide 35' travel trailer is a full time living quarters to me, with extra space not needed unless you tend to stay inside mostly.

My Aunt and Uncle had a 32' Nomad travel trailer with a superslide. They lived out of it for 6 months on 20 acres with Bears and Moose in the U.P. of Michigan. They had a 27' travel trailer with no slides, they used to travel with, to different campgrounds. "

* This post was edited 08/17/14 01:29am by Mike Up *

Mike Up X2. We go camping to enjoy the outdoors. We watch those with huge 5ers and MHs spend most of their time inside. That's OK because that's their choice. We want a place to get out of bad weather, cook and sleep. Slides are not important to us. We have plenty of room for two adults and one dog.

doxiluvr wrote:
I don't think I could handle a TT with no slides anymore. Would need at least one in the living/dining area. But if you don't want to bother with slides that is your right and there are some out there.

Not everyone wants to camp in a unit as big as a 1 bedroom apartment. If full timing, maybe, but not camping.

My idea of camping is being comfortable inside when inclement weather hits, but being small enough not to need an open, treeless site or pull through.

I want a rustic tree covered site with large amounts of space between me and my neighbors. After all, I go camping to get away from the neighborhood and see nature, not to welcome a block party. :)

Slides make it hard to get a site without a lot trees and my 26BH is huge, as it's large enough to live out of. Having a 2 slide 35' travel trailer is a full time living quarters to me, with extra space not needed unless you tend to stay inside mostly.

My Aunt and Uncle had a 32' Nomad travel trailer with a superslide. They lived out of it for 6 months on 20 acres with Bears and Moose in the U.P. of Michigan. They had a 27' travel trailer with no slides, they used to travel with, to different campgrounds.