To slide or not to slide. That is the question.

[WarrenS65]

I've have an 8' Lance with no slides, a 9'6" Lance with a dinette slide (usable with the slide in), and a 40' DP with slides (usable with the slide in). I have a Host Everest on order (not usable with slides in).
Obviously, with a MH you want to be able to move around while driving, so it makes sense to get one that's usable with the slides in.
I've seen several people comment that they don't like campers that you need to deploy at least one slide for a quick bathroom stop. Even the big, slow, 36" deep slide on my DP took less than a minute. I feel like it would be a very rare occasion that deploying a single slide (2 in the case of my Everest) would be a hardship for a quick stop.

For those that believe it is a problem, is that your assumption from looking at them, or based on personal experience?

[Dave_D_]

We have a Host Cascade dual slide. It takes less than 10 seconds to open the slides to easily access the bathroom. I just don't see any problem with it. Edit: guess I should post some pictures that are newer than 15 years old!

[Grit_dog]

WarrenS65 wrote:
I've had a non-slide and a slide camper and know what I'm getting myself into. If I were buying a camper to use strictly by myself, I would have bought an 8', non-slide model and a longbed, 3/4 a longbed.
Because my wife wants to go as well, I went big.

I understand the weight and cost issues.

my only buyer's remorse is that its going to be 10 months from order to delivery.


My question was philosophical. I was wondering if the people that recommend against slide models have had problems themselves, or don't like the idea.

Grit dog wrote:
Interesting observation. You have effectively purchased about the largest triple slide camper on the market and now questioning whether you want to go with a much smaller unit with no slides?
Or is this just one of those “hypothetical “ questions to tone down anticipated buyers remorse in advance?

Hypothetical, philosophical...kinda the same in this instance.

Enjoy your new camper when you get it! Those things are sweet.

[jimh406]

Most forums now have the ignore or block feature. Since those who want to prove they are right seem to be repeat offenders, just use the feature. I resisted for years, but finally had enough. They can fight with themselves.

It's amazing how different the forums get when you use the feature. Yep, maybe more boring, but also less frustrating.

Btw, I also use it to eliminate the noise by some who ask for information and are surprised to find out that what they want to do really is wrong by any objective measure. Then, they complain about the answer. They also seem to be repeat offenders, so you will miss the chance to respond to people like that. I don't know about you, but that works for me.

[notsobigjoe]

restlessways wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
No, seriously, the OP's question isn't answered.

This is just the typical myopic one-sided "old phart" rantings. "My way is the only way and everything else is stupid and should be outlawed."

What's weird about this site, and forums in general, is the "OMG, this person has an opinion different than mine. MUST. BE. DESTROYED." mentality. I picture a scenario where said angry person's wife is talking on the phone to her sister, asking if she's happy with her divorce, and when she hangs up she says "honey, isn't there something outside the RV that you can do?" Seriously.

Yes I agree and have been a part of it. Last week I had a back and forth on my saltwater fishing forum and was told that a 24 volt set up for my 24 volt trolling motor was not safe the way I had it hooked up and would cause much interference with my electronics. I hook all of my 12 volt accessories to each individual 12 volt battery in the 24 volt set up and I've been doing it this way for at least ten years. Not good enough! Huge back and forth about how dangerous I was to my fellow boaters, I'll be going through batteries like water, shorts in the system and you name it. I have experienced none of what they were saying. It is the nature of the forum.

[restlessways]

mkirsch wrote:
No, seriously, the OP's question isn't answered.

This is just the typical myopic one-sided "old phart" rantings. "My way is the only way and everything else is stupid and should be outlawed."

What's weird about this site, and forums in general, is the "OMG, this person has an opinion different than mine. MUST. BE. DESTROYED." mentality. I picture a scenario where said angry person's wife is talking on the phone to her sister, asking if she's happy with her divorce, and when she hangs up she says "honey, isn't there something outside the RV that you can do?" Seriously.

[WarrenS65]

I've had a non-slide and a slide camper and know what I'm getting myself into. If I were buying a camper to use strictly by myself, I would have bought an 8', non-slide model and a longbed, 3/4 a longbed.
Because my wife wants to go as well, I went big.

I understand the weight and cost issues.

my only buyer's remorse is that its going to be 10 months from order to delivery.


My question was philosophical. I was wondering if the people that recommend against slide models have had problems themselves, or don't like the idea.

Grit dog wrote:
Interesting observation. You have effectively purchased about the largest triple slide camper on the market and now questioning whether you want to go with a much smaller unit with no slides?
Or is this just one of those “hypothetical “ questions to tone down anticipated buyers remorse in advance?

[toedtoes]

I think you are looking for some sort of justification to argue that folks who haven't owned an RV with slides don't have sound reasons for not having slides.

I'll reiterate what I said at the beginning: What does it matter? If you are happy with your slides, then enjoy them. If someone else doesn't like them, then they can enjoy life without them.

People make decisions everyday about things they haven't tried. Sure, some may be making a decision based on "assumptions" rather than "personal experience" but that doesn't make it less accurate for them.

Just because YOU have slides and like them doesn't mean everyone must agree with you.

And just because someone else says "I don't want one because I don't want to have to deploy it to use the bathroom" doesn't mean they are wrong.

[notsobigjoe]

For those that believe it is a problem, is that your assumption from looking at them, or based on personal experience?

I just re-read them all and I think this thread very much answered is original question.

[mkirsch]

No, seriously, the OP's question isn't answered.

This is just the typical myopic one-sided "old phart" rantings. "My way is the only way and everything else is stupid and should be outlawed."

[Geo_Boy]

mbloof wrote:

Yeah, really.:h

[mbloof]

[restlessways]

I had a Lance 1030 with no slides. When I sat in the Arctic Fox 990 with the slide out, it felt twice as big. I loved it. That being said, I do like the convenience of no slide for quick restroom breaks while on the road, making lunch, etc.

I have a 5th wheel with 3 slides. I have never had an issue with any of them in almost 10 years of use. I don't worry about that. But having to open and close a slide is certainly something that does take a small amount of time and thought, no matter how "quick" it opens.

[Bedlam]

Out five RV's, the last three have had slides. I do not boondock on city streets, so I have no worry about deploying a slide. Slide mechanism can be fast (Power Gear) or slow (Schwintek), but none are so slow that that they limit accessibility in less than 30 seconds. We like a compact package when traveling and expand it out when when reach a destination. We travel year round in all kinds of weather, so inside space with comfortable seating was important. We are not full timers and still work full time, so we cannot chase the most desirable weather and take time off when ever work allows. We are more destination campers Than traveling around with the camper - I typically have a trailer in tow with smaller more nimble vehicles that explore the rough off road or towns and cities. We also use the camper as portable hotel when going to venues whether art, music , fairs, rodeos...

If our style of camping was different, we would have an RV that matched it. As it is, our choice works for currently do but is not the solution for everyone. You have think about the RV will be a tool to help you do things that interest you and then select the best tool to accomplish this.

People worry about leaks or mechanical failures. There are better and worse mechanisms when selecting a camper with a slide or multiple slides. I am confident in a couple designs and not with some others. I avoided those where I saw design issues or repeated failure feedback. I can say after three RV's with slides, none leaked the Northwest weather in and none failed with multiple deployments and retractions at each stop.

[jimh406]

TC slides usually aren't very deep, so they open pretty quickly.