Has anyone gone from a 35' TT to a HTT?

[mrgrim007]

Seems like a lot of people go the other way. We have a 35' Jayco bunkhouse that we love, but it's HUGE and heavy. We knew when purchasing it that we'd be limited on the places we could camp and what we could carry with us.

With our TT full of firewood, food, bikes, etc. we really can't take water, a generator or much of anything else. Even if we could we can't get into some of the tighter camping spots. Finding a place to camp with thing is is expensive too!

So we went to a dealer yesterday and looked at Roo HTTs. DW loves the 23IKSS. We are waiting for a 233S to come in so that we can compare the two. Overall there is a ton of living space in it with the two slides. We've never camped in a HTT before. With the HTT weighing less and being about 10' shorter, we think it will be more flexible and give us added payload in the 'Burb (rated to tow 12,000 lbs, ~2900 lbs payload). Jayco GVWR = 9,975 lbs vs Roo GVWR = 6,402 lbs. Seems like with a HTT we can load up with fresh water, a generator, lots of food, firewood, etc. and still have towing capacity and payload to spare.

I guess my questions are:

Will there be a big difference in how a HTT tows compared to our TT? We live in CO.

What will we be giving up in the name of flexibility? (Not as quiet with the tent beds? Maybe not as secure? How well will the AC and furnace work?)

How much easier is a HTT to maneuver vs our TT? Or is there not a huge difference?


Always seems like the grass is greener on the other side haha. Any input is welcome. Thanks everyone.

[sillynikki]

PAThwacker wrote:
I have a nonslide 2 tent plus rear perpendicular bunkbeds in a 21ft box. Sure its tight, but give 100% access, and rear bunk beds for off season use.


:BWorks wonders for our family: 1 year old toddler, 5 year old and both are girls. They can play on the side bunk, or up front. Lower bunk secure area for the baby, upper bunk gets dirty clothes, and stores extra bedding, toys, and pillows.
We have super high wind gizmos and have no fears about camping in direct sunlight. Ambient temps in the upper 90s, high 1pm sun angle, and you can hang out, sleep or play in the front bunk area.

This is almost identical to what we're going to look at tomorrow (used model we found on CL). My only hesitation is it not having a slide. I have to see it in person to decide if a slide is a must.

[sillynikki]

mrgrim007 wrote:
Seems like a lot of people go the other way. We have a 35' Jayco bunkhouse that we love, but it's HUGE and heavy. We knew when purchasing it that we'd be limited on the places we could camp and what we could carry with us.

With our TT full of firewood, food, bikes, etc. we really can't take water, a generator or much of anything else. Even if we could we can't get into some of the tighter camping spots. Finding a place to camp with thing is is expensive too!

So we went to a dealer yesterday and looked at Roo HTTs. DW loves the 23IKSS. We are waiting for a 233S to come in so that we can compare the two. Overall there is a ton of living space in it with the two slides. We've never camped in a HTT before. With the HTT weighing less and being about 10' shorter, we think it will be more flexible and give us added payload in the 'Burb (rated to tow 12,000 lbs, ~2900 lbs payload). Jayco GVWR = 9,975 lbs vs Roo GVWR = 6,402 lbs. Seems like with a HTT we can load up with fresh water, a generator, lots of food, firewood, etc. and still have towing capacity and payload to spare.

I guess my questions are:

Will there be a big difference in how a HTT tows compared to our TT? We live in CO.

What will we be giving up in the name of flexibility? (Not as quiet with the tent beds? Maybe not as secure? How well will the AC and furnace work?)

How much easier is a HTT to maneuver vs our TT? Or is there not a huge difference?


Always seems like the grass is greener on the other side haha. Any input is welcome. Thanks everyone.

We went from a pop up to a hybrid to a 38 foot TT. Now we're heading back to a hybrid I think. The 38 foot TT was just TOO big. We loved our hybrid. The only reason we sold it is because we thought bigger was better. That's not always the case for everyone. We're wanting the hybrid with 3 pop out beds.

[bikendan]

spud1960 wrote:
Never heard of them!

they are always mentioned on every popup and hybrid forum i've been on, for the past 7 years.
many popup owners are quite familiar with the company and since many hybrid owners are former popup owners, they already know about their value and often use the same PUGs from the popups that they owned.

[spud1960]

Never heard of them!

[dadmomh]

Worth their weight in gold.

[mrgrim007]

spud1960 wrote:
What are PUGS that you guys are talking about?

Popup Gizmos

[spud1960]

What are PUGS that you guys are talking about?

[spud1960]

We went from tent to pop up and last year we bought out HTT.When we decided to upgrade form our pop up my husband was sure he wanted a TT but we walked into our Kiwi and fell in love with it.It has more storage than any TT we looked at and with the slide it has plenty of room.Most of the time we have at least one or two of our Grandkids camping with us but if it is just us then we only put down the one end.
We camped the whole HOT week of the 4th and our AC worked great at keeping us cool.

[Campfire_Time]

Can't help you on going from a TT to an HTT, but I can comment on the HTT related stuff. We just bought our second HTT. The first was a 17ft that we had for 10 years. Prior to that we had a pup for 10 years.

mrgrim007 wrote:


What will we be giving up in the name of flexibility? (Not as quiet with the tent beds? Maybe not as secure? How well will the AC and furnace work?)

Personally I think you'll gain flexibility, but that's just my opinion.

Yes, it is not as quiet with the tent ends. In fact we just had a mildly annoying experience with a group 2 sites down that stayed up talking and laughing until 4:00 AM. They weren't obnoxious or causing trouble, just getting loud from time to time. We're used to it, we've slept under some sort of tent for nearly 30 years. But if you aren't use to it...

Security is relative to where you camp. But in the years we've camped in tents, PUPs and HTTs, we never felt unsafe or vulnerable. Even when we camped with our old HTT at Circus Circus on the Las Vegas strip we didn't feel unsafe. So yes, someone *could* slash the canvas and get in but the likelihood is next to nil. Someone had a general thread last week asking about thefts, etc and nearly every response was "never".

Just like a PUP, in really cold weather the heater will pretty much stay on all the time. We camped in West Yellowstone MT twice with our old HTT. Both times the nights were in the low 20s. We were never cold. Until morning when we went to use the showers! Pretty much the same for A/C. We camped in 95-100f temps and have never felt like it wasn't able to do the job. BTW, we don't use the PUGs. They are too much extra work IMO for the little gain they seem to offer. Might as well go hard side...

The bottom line is that hybrids are not everyone's cup of tea. If there is anyway you can rent one for a weekend and try it out, I'd suggest that before you plunk down cash for something you might end up hating after a short time.

[dadmomh]

Given your children and their ages, I would definitely pass on the 23IKSS and go for the 3 bed unit. Making up the dinette and or sofa every night would get old really fast. Would think they'd be much happier campers, too, having THEIR beds.

Yes re the 30' opened up. BTW, when you're making reservations, it's easiest to just tell them 30' rather than to try to explain "hybrid".....just gets them all confused and you might end up with something not workable. Also, with the 3-bed, you need to check for trees on that side that might be in the way.

[Mr_Beebo]

With the bunks open, I believe our Roo is 30'.

[drenjoey]

sorry

[PAThwacker]

I have a nonslide 2 tent plus rear perpendicular bunkbeds in a 21ft box. Sure its tight, but give 100% access, and rear bunk beds for off season use.


:BWorks wonders for our family: 1 year old toddler, 5 year old and both are girls. They can play on the side bunk, or up front. Lower bunk secure area for the baby, upper bunk gets dirty clothes, and stores extra bedding, toys, and pillows.
We have super high wind gizmos and have no fears about camping in direct sunlight. Ambient temps in the upper 90s, high 1pm sun angle, and you can hang out, sleep or play in the front bunk area.

[bikendan]

a slide lock is a adjustable brace that goes between the inside top of the slide and the inside wall of the trailer, when the slide is retracted.
it helps prevent the slide from moving out, while transporting it, especially for curvy mountain roads.

and yes, PUGs have to be put on and taken off or at least unclamped. once it's unfastened, you could leave it on top of the canvas when you fold it up and close it. just make sure it doesn't get stuck in the seals.