Back into pup game as second camper/special useage

[PAThwacker]

Picked up a NTM 2007 Jayco 1206 non bath floorplan. Pretty cheap and plan on using it as a small site and off-road use only pup. I have a seasonal fifth. Couples r vision and a pup now. Full circle of rec trailers.

First pup was slideout w bath. Hated it. Back on with different approach. More cabinets and counters and keep a bath outside. Do the tension rod shelves above both cabinets and chill out pupping more. Live and learn

Going to get tri set of super high wind gizmos, new matresses and need to put a fantastic fan in the vent.

[PAThwacker]

Mike my previous pup had cassette shower combo. That was not worth it at all. Getting a countertop and six drawers in its place. I put Cabelas folding cabinet on the counter and on the counter by the sink. All cooking and tools stored in a chuck box. This is not my first foray in popup bliss lol.

[PAThwacker]

I stole my pup for $1500. It's value is $6500. I drove 10 hours to grab it off a Facebook group post. Look everywhere Mike and you may find one. Bathroom is thetford porta pottie in and outside tent. Works as good as a cassette pottie. Could heat that exterior out house and make it as comfortable as I can. I weekend camp either at state park or the woods.

[Mike_Up]

manualman wrote:
Just remember that the key to popup bliss is to regard them as deluxe tents, not foldup RVs.

The problem with that is that these fold up "tents" cost the same and sometimes more than a full featured travel trailer. That 1206 for 2017 can be around $17,000 which is very close to what my fully featured 29' bunkhouse travel trailer cost me.

Myself, I've been looking at some really nice 4 season tents, either Kodiak Canvas or Eureka, Kelty, or Northface 4 season Expedition tents.

My 2 Eureka tents need seam sealing because they only have half coverage rain flys. I'm done with all that work. I want a tent that doesn't have to be seam sealed and can withstand high winds, thunderstorms, and not leak, break poles, or tear the material. Most have failed I've owned.

After having 2 pop ups, all I really want is a private bathroom in them. Unfortunately none have full privacy curtains around the toilet that would make anyone comfortable to go.

I can do without the shower, or the lousy refrigerators that can't cool much below 50 degrees F. I do want the A/C and furnace though.

As much as I love my Jay Flight, I'd like something easier to store and maintain that would be equivalent to the price of a nice open cargo trailer and canvas tent, right around $3K to $4K brand new. Not happening now though so that's why I'm looking at premium tents.

[PAThwacker]

manualman wrote:

PAThwacker wrote:
I do solo backpacking with gear costing more than the pup.

Cuben Fiber guy, eh? 😉

I'm too cheap to get under a 18# base weight. Not terrible, given my big four weigh 12#. I don't get out enough to warrant spending more than garage sale pricing.

My pup: $1500 steal. Pugs ect. Ancillary: 1k.

Backpack to ancillaries easy $2k and not Cuban fibre.

[manualman]

PAThwacker wrote:
I do solo backpacking with gear costing more than the pup.

Cuben Fiber guy, eh? 😉

I'm too cheap to get under a 18# base weight. Not terrible, given my big four weigh 12#. I don't get out enough to warrant spending more than garage sale pricing.

[PAThwacker]

Spent 1k in pup upgrades to matresses. Heaters. Pugz. Outside privy shower tent pottie etc

[PAThwacker]

I have two girls age 4 and 8. pUp over a good tent. I do solo backpacking with gear costing more than the pup.

[IdaD]

manualman wrote:

IdaD wrote:
We started in a pop up and to me they're way too much like a tent to be worth having as a secondary camping rig. If you're going to tent camp, ditch the trailer and you can drive to a lot more remote locations or even break out the backpacking gear and really get after it. If you're pulling a camper of any kind that limits where you can go, and at that point you might as well have the comforts of a full hard sided trailer or fifth wheel. But all of this is just a matter of personal opinion.

Yup, some merit to that statement. But it misses the boat for a lot of people. If all my family camping trips involved backpacks and bivvy sacks, there would be none. Wife ain't havin' NONE of that!

So why not go full-on RV? No truck and no desire to own one, no place to park a fixed height and no budget for renting a storage lot (or 9mpg road trips). The pup happily trails the minivan we had anyways and waits patiently for us out of the weather in the garage. It's the RV that makes nearly zero demands on our life when we are NOT camping. That's what makes 'em the best! 😉

In fact, if I were offered $150,000 free to spend on the RV rig of my choice, I'd probably keep the popup and just pull it with a Roadtrek Class B.

I realize they have some specific advantages, but my comment was directed more at the notion of having one as a secondary RV like OP is doing. To me a good tent would make more sense in that secondary role if you've already got an MH or Fifth Wheel.

[PAThwacker]

manualman wrote:

IdaD wrote:
We started in a pop up and to me they're way too much like a tent to be worth having as a secondary camping rig. If you're going to tent camp, ditch the trailer and you can drive to a lot more remote locations or even break out the backpacking gear and really get after it. If you're pulling a camper of any kind that limits where you can go, and at that point you might as well have the comforts of a full hard sided trailer or fifth wheel. But all of this is just a matter of personal opinion.

Yup, some merit to that statement. But it misses the boat for a lot of people. If all my family camping trips involved backpacks and bivvy sacks, there would be none. Wife ain't havin' NONE of that!

So why not go full-on RV? No truck and no desire to own one, no place to park a fixed height and no budget for renting a storage lot (or 9mpg road trips). The pup happily trails the minivan we had anyways and waits patiently for us out of the weather in the garage. It's the RV that makes nearly zero demands on our life when we are NOT camping. That's what makes 'em the best! 😉

In fact, if I were offered $150,000 free to spend on the RV rig of my choice, I'd probably keep the popup and just pull it with a Roadtrek Class B.

I'd have a f450 and 9.5ft truck camper.


I have a 2500 suburban 10mpg all the time to tow trailer (A), fifth wheel nope (B) that's for kids when off from school, pupup (C)

(C) revisited. So I also have an old E250 van. Pup, Van, Quad>>>>>>Free weekends for me to die an early death!
Every other weekends kids and covering every angle What more can you do!


My offroad towing is very limited to East Coast fire roads. Occasional rut or two. If you could stuff a quad into a 2500 sub i would not need that 97 E250 Ratbox.

[manualman]

IdaD wrote:
We started in a pop up and to me they're way too much like a tent to be worth having as a secondary camping rig. If you're going to tent camp, ditch the trailer and you can drive to a lot more remote locations or even break out the backpacking gear and really get after it. If you're pulling a camper of any kind that limits where you can go, and at that point you might as well have the comforts of a full hard sided trailer or fifth wheel. But all of this is just a matter of personal opinion.

Yup, some merit to that statement. But it misses the boat for a lot of people. If all my family camping trips involved backpacks and bivvy sacks, there would be none. Wife ain't havin' NONE of that!

So why not go full-on RV? No truck and no desire to own one, no place to park a fixed height and no budget for renting a storage lot (or 9mpg road trips). The pup happily trails the minivan we had anyways and waits patiently for us out of the weather in the garage. It's the RV that makes nearly zero demands on our life when we are NOT camping. That's what makes 'em the best! 😉

In fact, if I were offered $150,000 free to spend on the RV rig of my choice, I'd probably keep the popup and just pull it with a Roadtrek Class B.

[IdaD]

We started in a pop up and to me they're way too much like a tent to be worth having as a secondary camping rig. If you're going to tent camp, ditch the trailer and you can drive to a lot more remote locations or even break out the backpacking gear and really get after it. If you're pulling a camper of any kind that limits where you can go, and at that point you might as well have the comforts of a full hard sided trailer or fifth wheel. But all of this is just a matter of personal opinion.

[tatest]

I've always liked the Jay Series 1206 for that use, because it would handle either of my daughters' families in a ping, though as a single I would probably go for Jay Series Sport in the 10-foot box, maximizing interior working space for one person. Forest River has something similar in their LTD line.

RV salesmen think I'm crazy when I come in looking for a small PUP, once they find out I have a 29-foot motorhome. The two things are for different uses, and sometimes I envision towing the pup behind the motorhome.

[PAThwacker]

manualman wrote:
Just remember that the key to popup bliss is to regard them as deluxe tents, not foldup RVs.

To that end, keep it as simple as possible. In 30 years of popup camping, nearly everybody I've ever known who modded their pup or added lots of extra steps to setup eventually moved out of pups to fixed height RVs.

Stay simple, stay happy.

I'm no nubian to pups. Actually hated the glamper model i had 10 years ago. I loved my hybrid like no tomorrow. Fiddled with SHW gizmos on some of the sunny sites and will do it all the time with a pup without AC. I will not put out the bag awning and personally would rip that right off the side of it. I have 2 other campers, so the pup is for special sites and events throughout the year. I winter pup and have no problems messing with reflectex and gizmos. Take dumps in a hossack bucket and let the good times roll at deer camp.

[manualman]

Just remember that the key to popup bliss is to regard them as deluxe tents, not foldup RVs.

To that end, keep it as simple as possible. In 30 years of popup camping, nearly everybody I've ever known who modded their pup or added lots of extra steps to setup eventually moved out of pups to fixed height RVs.

Stay simple, stay happy.