Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We have a Columbia A-Liner. These are hard-bodied popups that can be put up and taken down in 5 minutes or less (and that's including the jacking). All you have to do to take down, is clear your counter space, reach up and detach the stays and fold right down. You never have to worry about drying off canvas. They are a little more expensive than traditional tent popup campers but they have all the same amenities, plus a heck of a lot more headroom. They are quite sturdy although in extremely high winds you should be careful (we're talking 50+ mph).
After 3 or 4 seasons of use, we are extremely happy with it. The only downside? (if you can even call it a downside) You will attract stares at almost any campground, and curious people who will have lots of questions.
I've seen those and always thought they were very cool campers, if I ever get over being a cheap skate I may just have to replace the old tent trailer with one of those.
Livin' Lite (relatively new company) makes some pretty slick light weight tent trailers. They're all aluminum, no wood at all, so they're VERY light-weight. You would be able to tow one of them with pretty much anything.
While camping in Montana this past week, I had two other campers nearby that were in tent trailers. Both were towing them with motorcycles. There are some pretty neat units out there for those that have the money to spend on them. I don't believe either of them offered anything more than just a tent, so cooking and so forth would still have to be done outside on a campstove, but they were pretty neat anyway.
Having had a popup trailer for several seasons, I have to say that cooking inside a trailer is not really desirable, because everything inside the trailer starts to smell like food after a while. IMHO there really isn't any way to avoid stinking up your upholstery even if you use a hood or a fan. The stoves that come with popup trailers are really best used only for boiling water, or maybe heating up precooked food or frozen items. So over the years, I've come to care less about whether or not a trailer has a stove in it. When we camp we use a Coleman stove outside anyway.
Just came back from camping, I never saw so many tent trailers in my life, they sure are loaded compaired to my old trailer, looked like coleman was the most popular in that campground, my old 20 year old tent trailer survived another outing
Having had a popup trailer for several seasons, I have to say that cooking inside a trailer is not really desirable, because everything inside the trailer starts to smell like food after a while. IMHO there really isn't any way to avoid stinking up your upholstery even if you use a hood or a fan. The stoves that come with popup trailers are really best used only for boiling water, or maybe heating up precooked food or frozen items. So over the years, I've come to care less about whether or not a trailer has a stove in it. When we camp we use a Coleman stove outside anyway.
Mine has it so you can use the stove indoors or with the outside hook-up where it slides onto the side. That way if it's very cold, we can use it indoors in the morning for hot chocolate and warm oatmeal and it warms everything up, but mostly it's used outside.
Mine has it so you can use the stove indoors or with the outside hook-up where it slides onto the side. That way if it's very cold, we can use it indoors in the morning for hot chocolate and warm oatmeal and it warms everything up, but mostly it's used outside.
A portable stove would serve the same purposes.
Mines the same way but I've never used it outside, I have a coleman stove I always take along.
It has already been stated but the biggest problems with pop ups is the noise, if you are at a full/busy campground expect to hear everyone (the drunks) laughing all night around the campfires, late night arrivals driving by your site with their diesel rigs etc......one other drawback depending where you may camp is that there are a number of campgrounds that do not allow pop up campers due to bear or other animal activity
There aren't many CG's that will refuse a PUP because of wildlife issues. One in Yellowstone and maybe one other right off the top of my head. You might run into an issue with some private CG's refusing to let a PUP in because they feel they're not "classy" enough. I would avoid places like that anyway.
As for the noise issue, it cuts both ways. Yes, you can hear other people every now and then, but you can also listen to the creek running right behind you, or drift off to the sounds of crickets and frogs or wake to the music of birdsong. I LIKE hearing the sounds of nature. One of the reasons we went with a Hybrid after our PUP. And if the CG noise gets to be too much, turn on some music or turn on the A/C. That'll drown out everything else.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.