I hate dinettes

[byhamr]

Have owned, borrowed, rented, and walked all types of rv. That does not make me an expert but it does leave me with some perspective and the more matured I become in my rv age, the more confirmed I am that the rv industry in order to see more explosive growth needs to bring to a rapid end the addition of the proverbial dinette to any and every type of rv. Please just stop! My reasons are several but basically revolve around the simple fact that sitting one for more than five minutes is absolute torture. In fact I wish we could all ship our dinette to Guantanamo. Make a terrorist sit in one for more than 5 minutes and he/she will tell u everything they know. Painful I say and also purposeless. Indoor tables are not needed for meals. Even in our homes very few Americans eat at tables. And if we do while camping, it is the outside picnic table. So why does the rv industry force us to go backwards by 20 years and give us sore backs at the same time? Maybe it is to play games which again I say are so much more enjoyable outside. So please rv industry leaders stop with the dinette. Give us another couch or comfortable chairs or even more bunks for the neighbor's kids. I saw one ad recently for a moderately priced 38' class 8 that slept 8.i had to ask how. The answer was a picture of a dinette area removed to be replaced by floor to ceiling 3 bunks. Genius thought I. Whew... Thanks for listening. I feel so much better having gotten that of my chest.

[jolooote]

My 7th RV./ I LOVE Dinnettes.

[4x4van]

byhamr wrote:
Have owned, borrowed, rented, and walked all types of rv. That does not make me an expert but it does leave me with some perspective and the more matured I become in my rv age, the more confirmed I am that the rv industry in order to see more explosive growth needs to bring to a rapid end the addition of the proverbial dinette to any and every type of rv. Please just stop! My reasons are several but basically revolve around the simple fact that sitting one for more than five minutes is absolute torture. In fact I wish we could all ship our dinette to Guantanamo. Make a terrorist sit in one for more than 5 minutes and he/she will tell u everything they know. Painful I say and also purposeless. Indoor tables are not needed for meals. Even in our homes very few Americans eat at tables. And if we do while camping, it is the outside picnic table. So why does the rv industry force us to go backwards by 20 years and give us sore backs at the same time? Maybe it is to play games which again I say are so much more enjoyable outside. So please rv industry leaders stop with the dinette. Give us another couch or comfortable chairs or even more bunks for the neighbor's kids. I saw one ad recently for a moderately priced 38' class 8 that slept 8.i had to ask how. The answer was a picture of a dinette area removed to be replaced by floor to ceiling 3 bunks. Genius thought I. Whew... Thanks for listening. I feel so much better having gotten that of my chest.

The RV industry is experiencing quite the explosive growth as it is, I would say. And part of that is by offering what the majority of their buyers want. While you may hate dinettes in RVs, you hopefully have now seen and understand that many others feel the opposite. I could just as easily say "Please, RV manufacturers, stop with the single purpose table/chairs, or add'l couch. Give us somewhere for a family to sit down and eat together, play board games, look over maps, etc." And why would I want to sleep 8 while not being able to "seat" 8?!?!. Ever hear the "6-4-2" rule? 6 for drinks, 4 for dinner, 2 for sleeping! My A, with a dinette, a couch, and the 2 swivel cab chairs, fits that rule perfectly, although I CAN sleep up to 6 if I want to.

Many RVs do offer table & chairs instead, or a couch with a couple of small removable tables, so you actually do have a choice. And let's face it; it's much easier to remove a dinette and install a couch or a table/chairs than it is to do the opposite, if that's what you want. I certainly hope that RV manufacturers don't take your "advice" and eliminate MY choice; and it seems more than a bit arrogant for you to suggest such.

[Rick_Jay]

Well, I'm a little late to this discussion, but put us down for a family of votes FOR a dinette. Our dinette provides 4 additional seat belted positions, allowed the kids to have snacks & play games while travelling down the road, or to work on homework assignments/whatever while travelling. VERY utilitarian, and then they slept on it at night.

Comfort? Not the best, but everything is a compromise. For us, the dinette along with two sofas in the living area of our class A have been an awesome combination for our family over the past 15 years.

~Rick

[AlwaysOnTheRoad]

byhamr wrote:
Have owned, borrowed, rented, and walked all types of rv. That does not make me an expert but it does leave me with some perspective and the more matured I become in my rv age, the more confirmed I am that the rv industry in order to see more explosive growth needs to bring to a rapid end the addition of the proverbial dinette to any and every type of rv. Please just stop! My reasons are several but basically revolve around the simple fact that sitting one for more than five minutes is absolute torture. In fact I wish we could all ship our dinette to Guantanamo. Make a terrorist sit in one for more than 5 minutes and he/she will tell u everything they know. Painful I say and also purposeless. Indoor tables are not needed for meals. Even in our homes very few Americans eat at tables. And if we do while camping, it is the outside picnic table. So why does the rv industry force us to go backwards by 20 years and give us sore backs at the same time? Maybe it is to play games which again I say are so much more enjoyable outside. So please rv industry leaders stop with the dinette. Give us another couch or comfortable chairs or even more bunks for the neighbor's kids. I saw one ad recently for a moderately priced 38' class 8 that slept 8.i had to ask how. The answer was a picture of a dinette area removed to be replaced by floor to ceiling 3 bunks. Genius thought I. Whew... Thanks for listening. I feel so much better having gotten that of my chest.

While I will respect your opinion I couldn't disagree with it more...
Over the years we have had a dinette in every coach and camper we have owned except our newest toy hauler. The rear flip seats and table is close but we miss having a dedicated dinette.

[CavemanCharlie]

byhamr wrote:
Have owned, borrowed, rented, and walked all types of rv. That does not make me an expert but it does leave me with some perspective and the more matured I become in my rv age, the more confirmed I am that the rv industry in order to see more explosive growth needs to bring to a rapid end the addition of the proverbial dinette to any and every type of rv. Please just stop! My reasons are several but basically revolve around the simple fact that sitting one for more than five minutes is absolute torture. In fact I wish we could all ship our dinette to Guantanamo. Make a terrorist sit in one for more than 5 minutes and he/she will tell u everything they know. Painful I say and also purposeless. Indoor tables are not needed for meals. Even in our homes very few Americans eat at tables. And if we do while camping, it is the outside picnic table. So why does the rv industry force us to go backwards by 20 years and give us sore backs at the same time? Maybe it is to play games which again I say are so much more enjoyable outside. So please rv industry leaders stop with the dinette. Give us another couch or comfortable chairs or even more bunks for the neighbor's kids. I saw one ad recently for a moderately priced 38' class 8 that slept 8.i had to ask how. The answer was a picture of a dinette area removed to be replaced by floor to ceiling 3 bunks. Genius thought I. Whew... Thanks for listening. I feel so much better having gotten that of my chest.

To each their own. I like the dinette on the curb side of my rear bath 20 foot TT. Space is limited and I use the dinette all the time. I am lucky enough not to have a bad back and I set at mine often in the morning having breakfast and looking out the window. ( I do use a pillow behind my lower back for comfort but, I don't need to use it, I just like it.) When it rains I set at the dinette and watch a little TV. Plus,, (and this is a big plus in a 20 foot TT) it folds down to become another bed. I get use out of that fairly often too. I also need it as a place to prepare food even if I do then go outside and cook it over the fire. I have very limited counter space.

In your large Class A's I suppose you might be right. But, in my little TT is nice to have. It would suck it it wasn't there.

[LoudRam]

CFerguson wrote:
Everyone has different needs and travels differently. There is no 1 Answer and to say "I'm doing it right you aren't" is quite arrogant imo.

The way I see it this is pretty much the bottom line. To each their own.

[tekman741]

I'm on my 3rd TT, the first was a 19' hybrid with a nice roomy dinette that sat 4 no problem. I could actually sit comfortably. The 2nd TT was a 33' with a cramped u shape dinette and 3 could sit but it was not comfy and we are a family of 4 so dad (thats me) sat nice and comfy on the couch. Just bought a small 22' and contemplating on removing the table and put one bench against the wall to create an L shape sitting area and have a couple of tv trays. Not loosing any storage space this way.

[BruceMc]

(Snip)

[Dutch_12078]

The underseat drawers on our dinette are where we store our various pots, pans, baking trays, and left over storage containers. We weren't satisfied with the cushion comfort either, so I had a marine upholstery shop redo them with a better grade of foam.

[pnichols]

Harvey51 wrote:
Yah but what else in a 6 x 6 ft area can ...
Seat 2 artists with their canvases, brushes and pallets
seat 4 people with a full meal
serve as two couches for reading and napping
seat 6 modest sized people if necessary
serve as a double bed with a few minutes conversion

Well stated indeed!!

For What Little Bit It's Worth: I try to not merely "live my life in accordance with what works for me at the moment." I try to adjust my living to be in-line with an optimum arrangement in general - not just for me at the time.

That's why I like these forums - I learn that the way others do things or think about things is very often better for me than where I'm currently at. Often unbeknownst to me at the time, good enough for me can be the enemy of better for me.

[Harvey51]

Yah but what else in a 6 x 6 ft area can ...
Seat 2 artists with their canvases, brushes and pallets
seat 4 people with a full meal
serve as two couches for reading and napping
seat 6 modest sized people if necessary
serve as a double bed with a few minutes conversion

[CFerguson]

Everyone has different needs and travels differently. There is no 1 Answer and to say "I'm doing it right you aren't" is quite arrogant imo.

I had a guy on these boards once tell me that I wasn't carrying enough tools (i think I carry too many actually). Honestly, he sounded like he RVs with more tools than a lot of folks own. But...its whats right For Him.

[pnichols]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
Last time I had a dinette it only lasted about a month and I took it out. No legroom and almost sitting on the floor doesn't work for me. If you need those puny hard to access benches for storage, you're dragging around too much junk.
B.O.

The "junk" that we carry under our outstanding dinette underseat storage areas consists of such things as:

- rocks that we pickup when rockhounding
- extra drinking water
- rain gear
- down cold weather jackets
- all the RV manuals and info that Winnebago supplies with their units
- electric heater for when/if we're on hookups
- life jackets if we tow/bring our boat along
- deep fat fryer and beer for the batter if we catch fish for fish-and-chips

We didn't buy a self contained RV to get way out in the middle of nowhere and not have the right stuff along. I guess whether or not one needs under-dinette-seat storage depends upon how well they want to be prepared for anything, anytime regardless of any "destination planning" that they may have done beforehand for any particular trip. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best applies for RV'ing and backpacking.

[B_O__Plenty]

Last time I had a dinette it only lasted about a month and I took it out. No legroom and almost sitting on the floor doesn't work for me. If you need those puny hard to access benches for storage, you're dragging around too much junk.
B.O.

[Chum_lee]

Dinette? What dinette? Where mine used to be in my 30' long no slide Class A was replaced with a built-in 6'-0" long desk with drawers (underneath) on both sides. A very comfortable multi adjustable wheeled office chair now functions as my command center when parked.

It's perfect for me. The desk is about 22" wide so the center aisle is now wider than when the dinette was there giving more space in the kitchen area. Guests now sit on the jackknife sofa or the 360 degree captains chairs. (3 in front) I wouldn't have it any other way. The RV still sleeps 3, . . . . 4 in a pinch.

When I bought the RV used, the previous owner actually discounted the price because there was no dinette/drop down bed.

Chum lee