Narrowing it down...would love experiences/opinions

[mnmbeck]

We are buying a HTT and have narrowed it down to 3.

Rockwood Roo 233S (2010)
Forest River Shanrock 23SS (2011)
Forest River 21DK (2012)

Obviously, 2 are the same size, 1 is smaller. We are trying to balance how important it is to us to sleep more people vs. having a shorter trailer with a cool outside kitchen (we spend most of our time outside). These are ALL really great options! We probably need to make our choice in the next couple of days.

Any opinions about any of these? Would love to hear the 'down' side to any if you've experienced them, as well as the 'up' side. Do any of these seem far and away a better choice in your opinion? We do a lot of dry camping in wooded state parks, but plan on doing some national parks this year as well. We are almost never on a power site, so some of the fancy bells and whistles that are from power aren't quite as big of a deal to us as they may be to some. All of these are priced fairly.

Bring on your opinions! Don't be shy!!!

[mdcamping]

mnmbeck wrote:
We are almost never on a power site, so some of the fancy bells and whistles that are from power aren't quite as big of a deal to us as they may be to some.Bring on your opinions! Don't be shy!!!

Over time you will find the power/heat/refridge and A/C will probably become a big deal when I comes to keeping the entire family happy.

Mike

[rbq]

Another 233S owner here. One thing to consider about the outside kitchen is if it has a fridge it will only work on AC power & you said that mostly you are in non power sites so that is something to consider. There is only my wife & I, but she wanted the 233S because of the deep slide & the wide open front end that it has due to the deep slide & she also wants to take some of the kids & grandkids. 2 weeks ago we slept 8 in there comfortably.

[TK421]

We own a 233s and are also from MN. Typically four of us are camping: Dad, Mom, Daughter 11, Daughter 3. A couple times a year our Son 17 will come with and on the week long trips. We also have camped with an adult friend of ours. The third bed is very helpful when its more than four of us. Otherwise, the bed is opened up and used for storage, fresh air, and light. The camper actually "feels" bigger with all three bunks open.

We almost exclusively cook outside. Have always done it that way when tenting, popup and now with the hybrid. We have used the oven and will do so this summer. Its a nice feature to have available. We heated some soup inside a couple of times and that was the extent of using the inside stove.

Having both the dinette and the couch are nice to have when inside the camper. We primarily spend our time outside though. Our inside time really is limited. That said its nice to have that big space with the large dinette slide. We all have a bag we bring along with our gear/clothes and that floor space comes in handy at night when we hop into bed and need to put our bags somewhere.

As far as the width of the trailer we have never had a problem getting it into a site. We have camped at MN state parks, National Forests, MN State Forests, privates, and boondocked. The pictures and specs that are provided with most websites when reserving comes in real handy when finding a site that works. Like I said no problems so far. We've setup with poles and trees in between the side bed and slideout. Thats about as close as we've come to not finding a site that works.

We have popup gizmos and they work great however setup/teardown does add some additional time and with one extra bunk that adds a few more minutes on each end. I know some say its just a few seconds but that has not been the case for us. Its actually significant effort. We also bring a ladder along now to help with that. What does help ease the pain of all that extra work is that they actually do help a lot!

[dadmomh]

Definitely with having your children, I would say the 233S, in spite of the smaller kitchen. Making up sofa or dinette nightly is a PITA. If you want more space for food prep and cooking, you can always look into a portable camp kitchen that many have and love them.

FWIW, with our TT we have a real bedroom for us. We also have a sofa bed with an air mattress in the living area and it's very comfy. We take a yearly trek to FL for baseball with our disabled adult son. This was the first year for really using the sofa bed. Toward the end of the trip - about 17 days, DH was really getting sick of even that set up. It wasn't nearly as tough as doing the dinette or sofa thing, but it gets old really fast.

[BobnKris]

We decided on the 233S because of the ample floor and bunk space (4 large dogs at the time of purchase). With the front and side bunk screens open, it allows a lot of light and ventilation into the camper. We normally use the rear bunk to store our bags of clothes. The biggest downside is the lack of counter space and drawer(s) for silverware and things. Both models seem to be popular, so you will lilkely be happy with whatever you choose.

[bikendan]

the 23SS slideout is 12' long, more than half as long as the trailer's body and has sofa and kitchen.
the 233S slideout is dinette only.

so the 233S slideout is deeper but it's half as long as the 23SS slideout.
and it has virtually no kitchen counterspace. plus the 23SS has way more interior storage.

[mnmbeck]

Whoops...I did forget to mention how many in the family....just mom, dad, 12 y.o girl, 15 y.o. boy.

[dadmomh]

You don't mention how many in the family....that makes a difference in my suggestion. We had a 23SS and loved everything about it, especially the large kitchen area and great interior storage. If you have 1 child and don't plan on expanding that number any time soon, then I would say the 23SS. If more than 1 child and you think you'll want to keep this trailer for many years, then definitely the 233S....the major reason being that somewhere down the line, they're going to want to bring a friend and you won't have to mess with setting up the dinette or sofa at night and taking it down in the morning. Or the same applies if you see that family or friends might be joining you, that 3rd bunk would be invaluable. The downside is that you have to look for campsites and the utility hookups differently than you would with just the slide on the 23SS. IIRC, the slide on the 23SS is maybe 15 - 18", but maybe someone with one sitting at home could check that. We never had a problem with sites, but with our new TT having about a 3' or more slide, we have to watch for those things and sometimes shift over in the site to clear utilities especially.

I'm not a big fan of the rear slide units in general. You can also run into the tree problem at the rear of the site, but in some cases you lose access to the frig and/or bathroom while on the road. That may or may not be the case with this model, can't recall.

For many years the 23SS was the top seller of HTTs and having one makes it easy to see why. Very functional, comfortable to spend time in during bad weather, exceptionally nice kitchen area. Just depends on how many in the family, how you use your camping time and what "feels" the best to you. Good luck, they're all nice.

[Campfire_Time]

When you say "shallow slide", how shallow. Our HTT has a small slide that moves out about a foot. While we've only used it one season so far, I haven't seen anything that would prevent us from using any site we have in the past. We looked at HTTs with the 3rd bed. For us it would have been used for nothing more than storage. We found we like the extra floor space the slide out gives us. We would love an outside kitchen!

Really you have to balance what will work best for you with any disadvantages you see. Just from your description it sounds like that outside kitchen may be just the ticket for you!

[mnmbeck]

I typed incorrectly...I meant the 233S with the 3rd bed. 23SS has a more shallow slide.

[mnmbeck]

For those who commented about finding a site wide enough for the tent bed on the side, is this also a problem for a shallower slide? This ia one of our concerns, actually. Although, the 23ss seems to be a perfectly functioning camper (not too narrow) with both the 3rd bed up amd the slide in. The 23SS seems like it could work with the slide in, but it is a bit tight.

[PAThwacker]

23ss vs 233s.....
kitchen super slide vs dinette slide
large kitchen vs small kitchen

said to say: roo 233s kitchen is the same size of our starcraft 21rbh. (small)

[PAThwacker]

we always camp at state parks and have to find sites that are wide enough for side bed and awning clearances.

the same can be said for the 233s variant.

[PAThwacker]

we have two tents and bunkbeds. the tent ends are slept in and the bunks are used for storage.
occasionally they are used for sleeping.

the same can be said for 3 tent ends.
primarily use 2 and keep 3rd for storage or use in a pinch.