Pop-up campers? I need advice

[Retterath]

Who has had a popup camper and what do you think of them. It would be used for family camping. This is a bigger sized popup with a slide out,tandem axle, 2 king beds on the ends, ac,hot water heater,furnace in good shape for the year. Wife and I are trying to decide if to buy it. We were planning on a travel trailer but for storage reasons kinda leaned away. What about in a rain storm how are they?

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

The problem I've found is that they are not too great for cold weather camping. Leaking usually not a problem on newer units.

 

[JimP]

My friends that have them have found that if it rains while they are in the down position the the beds usually get wet no matter what you do. And if they are up when it rains and you put them down and then store them you get mold growth even if they have some kind of mold prevention on them. Also a CC said, they don't do so good in the cold. The furnace will keep you warm but they will go through propane like water through a shiv.

 

[MtnBuck]

The great thing about a pop up is you don't have the frontal area so you use less gas and can pull them with a smaller vehicle.

They do tend to be cold. If you need it to be toasty all night you'll want a hard side. We always turned the heat off at night and used good sleeping bags. No different than a tent. Same thing with mold. Treat them like a tent and wait until they dry out before storing.

Ours never leaked, ever. All campers have their particular issues though so I would get the model number and start googling.

 

[bghunter]

We had one and cold was the biggest issue during cold nights.

 

[ivorytip]

we used one a couple of years, big canvas tent was much more comfortable. add in the stove and you stay as warm as you want.

 

[wy-tex]

We used an older pop up for years with all the rain issues everyone mentioned. We decided to have an extra "room" made to slide in the awning groove. Wyoming Tent and Awning made us an aluminum frame canvas room that attaches to the side of the popup.We open the inside windows on the popup and use the wood stove to keep the whole camper warm from the room. A giant tarp over the whole camper takes care of the rain leaking issues. After clearing 18 in of snow from the leaning popup one morning we decided a wall tent works better for hunting.View attachment 16793

 

[Team Kabob]

I owned a Jayco eagle 12 SO for 5 years. Which I just sold.

Pros:
Light and easy to haul
Cheaper then a travel trailer
Smaller foot print at they pop out
Easy to fix the basic stuff
Good camper for the money
Easy to resale when you want to upgrade.
Better than a tent for base camp off a road

Cons:
Fighting mildew
Hard Winds can bend the supports if the top is up and in use
Not fun putting down in the rain or hard snow as it goes inside and must be popped back up in a garage to dry.
Stuff inside not secure if that's a issue in your area

Pros are better than the cons
Only fixes on mine we had to do was new radial tires 2 plus spare, propane, fixed lights once, Fix a support cable for lift for the roof, seal the roof every spring in corners(sun is hard on them), and patch canvas in one spot (buddy cut it)

Buy it and enjoy!
Only reason I'm upgrading is to place it at the lake during the summer and more space for fall!





TK

 

[Team Kabob]

Powered it by a Honda generator 2000 watt



TK

 

[sneakypete]

I spent 5 nights two years ago in a tent trailer, froze my ass off, water tank froze at 9000 ft. NEVER AGAIN!

 

[Retterath]

i decided against the popup. Gonna wait till next year and get a travel trailer. Thanks for all the input guys!

 

[roknHS]

Wise decision.......

I sold my pop-up and bought a nice used 18ft camp trailer. So much nicer and easier............

 

[Team Kabob]

Think your making the right move!



TK

 

[sneakypete]

When you get one make sure it's underside is sealed and insulated, nothing exposed!

 

[Slugz]

When you get one make sure it's underside is sealed and insulated, nothing exposed!

That's what she said! 45 days till the Colorado archery opener.....I'm going nutz!!

For what its worth.......I was a lot happier ( warmer/dryer/more room/ease of set up) and had many more camping/hunting/fishing options post wall tent purchase. Maintenance and space to carry it was super small also.

 

[wy-tex]

I back the wall tent purchase. You can set one up in lots of places a trailer can't go. Takes less than 1 hr to get our camps set up with a wall tent. That includes getting everything inside set up also.