Comparing 2 campers

[acorne]

I posted earlier last week about what we could pull with our 2002 Dodge Dakota. Well we traded it in Friday for a Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 so now we are back to the drawing board.

We are looking at 2 different campers.
2013 Jayco Jay Feather X20E Hybrid with Slide
2012 Palomino Puma 19-RL

I'm really liking the Jayco but husband is liking the Puma. But since we are newbies to camping, can you guys give me some pros and cons of them?

Thanks

[wbwood]

acorne wrote:
Thanks, we have been looking for a little while. Then we traded trucks and can now pull a little bigger one so we started looking again. We have so many brochures looking at floor plans.

Yest we looked at a Shasta Oasis and a a Starcraft AR One. The Starcraft seemed to be built a little better and you had a little more room in the bathroom.

Go to the RV show in Greensboro. You can walk through a bunch of floorplans. After teh show, a bunch of the dealerships will have trade ins due to people buying new.

[bikendan]

B.Sjulestad wrote:
We had Thor Cub about 15 years ago. During one camping trip my DW and I heard knocking on the door and a little voice saying let me in. Turns out that the bungie type ropes that held the canvas under the flip out bed had come loose and my 4 year old daughter fell out. I traded that trailer the next week.

newer hybrids no longer have bungee canvas ends, they are pre-attached with screws and there are no gaps.
for example, the Roo/Shamrock hybrids canvas ends are a almost like a bag, with the only opening at the attachment points to the trailer's front/rear walls.

[B_Sjulestad]

We had Thor Cub about 15 years ago. During one camping trip my DW and I heard knocking on the door and a little voice saying let me in. Turns out that the bungie type ropes that held the canvas under the flip out bed had come loose and my 4 year old daughter fell out. I traded that trailer the next week.

[acorne]

Thanks, we have been looking for a little while. Then we traded trucks and can now pull a little bigger one so we started looking again. We have so many brochures looking at floor plans.

Yest we looked at a Shasta Oasis and a a Starcraft AR One. The Starcraft seemed to be built a little better and you had a little more room in the bathroom.

[FunnyCamper]

Take your time and research. There are tons of smaller rvs with floorplans that would suit you. Just slow down and look. I jumped and bought our first rv fast. Never did that again. immediately, even tho I loved the little stinker, I found out 'I shoulda bought' that other one that was just a tad more money and had a slide. I could have lived with that one alot longer than the one I got and traded the second year 🙂

just look and look again and again and that perfect one falls into your lap!

[wbwood]

Ahh ok. You are not far away. Have y'all looked at Camping World in Statesville?

[acorne]

wbwood wrote:

acorne wrote:

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Didn't realize you had kids.

That age it is important in my opinion that the kids have a place of their own. Making up a bed every night in the middle of the living area is a pain. It also restricts options for the adults.

I have seen a Jayco Jay Feather X213 which is only 300 lbs or so heavier than the X20E. It has bunks on the front wall, bath in the middle and a slide out king bed - head out behind the living area. Hate to suggest another trailer to look at, but I think it would suit your needs better - and give you a trailer which can grow with the kids.

I don't mind you suggesting other TT's at all. I like the set up of that one but for us just starting out, we don't want to spend more than 13/14,000. I've seen a few where the bunks are tucked way back in the corner with only a small section for them to get in and I know my boys good enough, they wouldn't sleep in that. They need bunks that are more open.

Thanks again for all of your help.

What part of NC are y'all in?

We are in the Winston Salem area.

[wbwood]

acorne wrote:

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Didn't realize you had kids.

That age it is important in my opinion that the kids have a place of their own. Making up a bed every night in the middle of the living area is a pain. It also restricts options for the adults.

I have seen a Jayco Jay Feather X213 which is only 300 lbs or so heavier than the X20E. It has bunks on the front wall, bath in the middle and a slide out king bed - head out behind the living area. Hate to suggest another trailer to look at, but I think it would suit your needs better - and give you a trailer which can grow with the kids.

I don't mind you suggesting other TT's at all. I like the set up of that one but for us just starting out, we don't want to spend more than 13/14,000. I've seen a few where the bunks are tucked way back in the corner with only a small section for them to get in and I know my boys good enough, they wouldn't sleep in that. They need bunks that are more open.

Thanks again for all of your help.

What part of NC are y'all in?

[acorne]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Didn't realize you had kids.

That age it is important in my opinion that the kids have a place of their own. Making up a bed every night in the middle of the living area is a pain. It also restricts options for the adults.

I have seen a Jayco Jay Feather X213 which is only 300 lbs or so heavier than the X20E. It has bunks on the front wall, bath in the middle and a slide out king bed - head out behind the living area. Hate to suggest another trailer to look at, but I think it would suit your needs better - and give you a trailer which can grow with the kids.

I don't mind you suggesting other TT's at all. I like the set up of that one but for us just starting out, we don't want to spend more than 13/14,000. I've seen a few where the bunks are tucked way back in the corner with only a small section for them to get in and I know my boys good enough, they wouldn't sleep in that. They need bunks that are more open.

Thanks again for all of your help.

[Chock_Full_o__N]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Didn't realize you had kids.

That age it is important in my opinion that the kids have a place of their own. Making up a bed every night in the middle of the living area is a pain. It also restricts options for the adults.

I have seen a Jayco Jay Feather X213 which is only 300 lbs or so heavier than the X20E. It has bunks on the front wall, bath in the middle and a slide out king bed - head out behind the living area. Hate to suggest another trailer to look at, but I think it would suit your needs better - and give you a trailer which can grow with the kids.

I agree. The Puma would be great for 2 people but it's going to get very small, very fast. Look at a small TT with bunks. We've had two when the kids were still going camping with us. You will probably be a lot happier with a unit that has beds for everyone, and a dedicated dinette and couch. (Keep in mind that when you open that couch to make a bed, you probably won't be able to walk between it and the dinette.

[atreis]

My 5 year old hybrid is also well used, and in some pretty bad storms. No leaks.

The very early ones (late 90s early 00s) had a lot more issues with leaking though.

[Handyman_Xenabl]

Our 3yo HTT has been well-used with both bunk ends opened every time and haven't had any sign of a leak.
If you treat the seams as recommended and clean and maintain the canvas/vinyl properly, as well as taking care when folding them up, that they're dry and clean then there's no reason to expect leaks.

[wbwood]

acorne wrote:

rjf7g wrote:
VERY different floorplans and campers! I am curious - are they both used or both new or one new and the other used? Are they in the same "condition"?

The tent beds in the hybrids (and pop-ups) require someone to crawl over the other person to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. If you are claustrophobic, you will not want to be the one stuck in the corner. As the person previously in the corner, I won't go back! It looks like you don't escape this with the Puma floorplan, though.

The tent beds do need to be cared for and can leak. They should not be packed up wet and if they are, need to be opened ASAP so they don't dry rot and stuff in the camper doesn't mold. Also, tent beds are not a good idea if you ever plan to camp in bear country.

The Puma is 600 lbs heavier, looking at the unloaded weight. The Puma has larger holding tanks - a plus if you are parked and have full hookups, but if they are full and you're driving they will add a lot more weight to the already heavier choice. The Puma can carry more stuff, but that will also add more weight to the already heavier choice.

The TV location in the Puma seems to make it only viewable to the tongue-side bench of the dinette. I personally like to sit on my couch and watch TV. A person sitting on the couch right beside the fridge may be able to see the TV, but I would need to test this out! This doesn't seem to be an issue in the Jayco.

If you leave the tents in on the Jayco, and use the dinette as your bed unless you have others joining you, you may have a pretty good setup. A few TV trays for eating off of would be all that was needed to make this work. I do not like having to break down the dinette to make a bed each day.

I hope this helps! I have a Puma trailer and have had a Jayco pop-up in the past. I would buy either brand again but would make sure the specific trailer I was looking at had the amenities I wanted and that the build quality was good.

They are both used but in about the same condition. Very well taken care of. The idea of the hybrid being more open and having the beds on both ends was what I liked. But I do worry if my kids, 7&9, would sleep under the canvas esp when it's raining hard and lots of noise outside. The one thing I didn't like about the Puma was the bed being turned like it was.

I do appreciate all your help. I've learned a lot from everyone's answers. Several people warned us about the canvas and then reading about it on here, I think we may have ruled out a hybrid. But we are going to keep looking and find a floor plan we like.

There's way too many TT's out there. This is worse than picking out our house!

I would listen to those who have had a tent camper or hybrid before going on assumptions of others who have not owned one.

Do they leak? Some might, just as some hard sided campers will. Depends on how they are cared for. If seams are not sealed periodically on TT's they can develop leaks as well. Sun will dry out seals on a TT.

We've owned a couple tent campers before and they never leaked. Is it loud when it rains? Yes. But it's somewhat loud in a TT as well. The good thing about hybrids is that the beds are not taking up floor space. They also save on weight because of that...

Things to consider is where you will do most of your camping. If at the beach, then you may want to go with a TT because of the wind. Find yourself a starter camper. Don't invest all your money into it. Camp in it for a year or so and then you will really know what you want.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Didn't realize you had kids.

That age it is important in my opinion that the kids have a place of their own. Making up a bed every night in the middle of the living area is a pain. It also restricts options for the adults.

I have seen a Jayco Jay Feather X213 which is only 300 lbs or so heavier than the X20E. It has bunks on the front wall, bath in the middle and a slide out king bed - head out behind the living area. Hate to suggest another trailer to look at, but I think it would suit your needs better - and give you a trailer which can grow with the kids.