CTRussells wrote:
ependydad wrote:
It's an older list and doesn't include many new models, but here was my list from 2012 when I was shopping:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvEDJnVFaozKdDVLSF9UZ1JXQ1JpamM0UzFicUFodEE&usp=sharing
Pretty much every major brand has what you're looking for.
That list is impressive! Very informative. Why did you end up purchasing what you did?
Paul
That's the freaking irony of it all - what I bought is
NOT on the list! Each camper that we looked at had some kind of quirk that we didn't like and were going to have to settle for something.
For instance, (and no offense to those owners), the Sierra/Sandpiper SAQ365 was our front-runner, but we felt like the bunkhouse felt a little cheap. The lower bunk on the passenger side didn't support our weight like we felt it should (I'm kind of a fatty). I've actually come to learn that we weren't alone in that concern and newer ones have been beefed up in that area. Had we bought it, we were going to have to make up some kind of support. We also weren't crazy about something in the bathroom setup. But, it's pros were the kitchen layout and its awning placement (being towards the middle/rear of the camper- all but coming to the outdoor kitchen slide).
The Cedar Creek 35QB4, we didn't like where the awning was placed outside. We couldn't figure out where a picnic table would go without blocking a door or hatch or something. We liked its bunkhouse, but the kitchen of the 365SAQ. Had we been able to combine the two- I'm certain we would have had a winner.
๐The Wildcat 344QB, we didn't like the lack of cabinets in the outside kitchen. And, we also didn't like that we couldn't have sleeping arrangements off of the floor for 2 of the bunks (they used some kind of cube seat/bed things). We commonly camp with my in-laws and I "needed" them off of the ground.
Others had walk-through baths or no slides in the bedroom or didn't offer an outside kitchen or didn't have a u-shaped dinette or... you name it.
We were pretty close to pulling the trigger on the 365SAQ when my wife started looking online and came across Sabre's floorplan. I swapped emails with the factory rep and ended up buying from pictures of their pre-production unit. I had some sway into their final design/placement of the awning.
There are still compromises, of course- I still like the kitchen layout of the 365SAQ, though I do feel like it had less counter space. And I don't like that my TV is perpendicular to the seating area. I can't get to my fridge easily with the slide in. And so on... There's no one perfect camper unless you design/build it yourself and that's mucho dinero (and in my experience from building a house- you still don't get it exactly right :D).
