Pop up tent campers?

[JeffRaines]

I’m aware there’s a thread or two floating around on these, but they’re aged a bit(a lot in some cases).

I’m gonna try to not turn this into a novel, my apologies in advance if it gets a little long winded.

I’ve normally been pretty against campers in general. I have no issue with people who use them, but after borrowing a 27’ bumper pull a few times some years ago it just didn’t thrill me. The worrying where we’re gonna park, what roads you can fit down, and the absolutely abysmal fuel economy all totaled up to me missing my tent for the cost savings and relative ease of use.

That was a few years ago, and while my general attitude toward big ass campers is the same, I now drive a Tacoma and have some growing kids. We still tent camp and don’t mind that aspect of it at all, but our use case is usually setting up on a river for a few days, fishing around, then packing up and moving to the a new piece of water and repeat. Doing so right now involves a hell of a lot of moving pieces, shuffling boxes, setting up mattresses, setting up kitchen, setting up tent, etc then doing the reverse when we go to move, only to do it again a few hours later. You can see where space is at a premium, and having a camp in a trailer could be beneficial. I have a feeling a pop up probably goes up and comes down easier and faster than our current setup.

On the flip side is fuel economy. One of the biggest costs of our trips is fuel. Buying a hard sided camper even a little 16’ will likely result in doubling or more the cost of fuel, not to mention the increased cost of a hard sided camper, and then at 16’ you’re getting back into “can I go down this road” “where are we gonna park it” “man towing this thing sucks gas” territory. With camp and my family in the truck we get 21-23mpg. While I know putting 1500lbs behind it is gonna reduce that, the hope is that it’s a reasonable amount.

All this to say, I’d love to hear your advice and experience with these things. I know it sounds like my mind is made up, but I’m still in the research phase on this. I could go ask a dealer, but something tells me anything I ask them will be glowing and great. “Oh your mpg won’t even drop a little with it back there!” “It only takes 3 minutes to put it up!”

The use case for this wouldn’t be in extreme weather, and obviously Im not trying to drag it up goat trails. We already don’t have a shower or toilet, and we sleep on the ground happily so this isn’t me trying to bring a motel room into the woods. Mostly maintained gravel, late spring/summer/early fall usage. I mention some of this because a few folks I’ve asked(coworkers who have never owned one) of course wanted to say “well I’d just buy a regular 16’ camper that way you have a shower and a tv to watch if it’s raining! And a toilet! The bad fuel economy is the cost of doing business!”. Thanks, I guess.

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for your thoughts and experiences.

 

[LostArra]

Aliner
Setup and take down is simple.
No moldy canvas.
Pulls easier than a utility trailer

 

[sbaker0029]

Pop-ups are definitely easier to pull than larger campers but there are definitely trade offs.

I've pulled my popup on several long trips (5-12hrs away). On those trips pulling with my 2013 F150 I would drop from 16.5-17mpg avg to 15.5mpg.
I had a jayco hummingbird 18mb, 21ft overall teardrop camper, for a bit and got 9-11mpg on similar trips.

As far as setup goes. A popup is not the easiest thing. I will say fairly similar to your current routine but maybe a tad quicker.

It was very nice to just back the jayco in, level it, unhook, unfold a chair and crack a cold one.

Having a popup is definitely a lot more work but not terrible by any means. Setup and take down in bad weather absolutely sucks and the after trip care sucks just as much as tent camping.

I would definitely look into the hardsided popups.
Never owned one but always wanted to give them a try. Feel like you would kind of get the best of both worlds, easier pulling and quicker setups.

 

[JeffRaines]

Aliner
Setup and take down is simple.
No moldy canvas.
Pulls easier than a utility trailer

Not against it, but there’s only one used near me and new for a model that sleeps 4 is $40k which is quite a bit more than I want to spend. Any chance the Rockwood/alternatives are decent?

 

[sbaker0029]

Not against it, but there’s only one used near me and new for a model that sleeps 4 is $40k which is quite a bit more than I want to spend. Any chance the Rockwood/alternatives are decent?

I did a ton of research on the Rockwood and other brands. They seemed like good campers.
The A-liners are kind of like the Airstream of the hardsided popup world.

 

[S.Clancy]

For years said I would never own a camper. I camped out of the back of my old diesel under a topper in all weather conditions. After the last couple of years, particularly last year where I spent ~70 days out during big game season, I decided that I would at least look. I drove to CO this winter and picked up an older FWC Keystone (my truck has an 8ft bed) for pretty cheap, it's a pop-up with canvas (not really canvas, more like raft material) when it is popped up.

The FWC are aluminum framed, light (mine weighs ~1200 lbs) and it had new canvas. Since I've got it I have ripped almost everything out, including the toliet, and rewired it with a 300 AH battery and a straight DC system. I have it set up really simple. I have a propane stove/oven, fridge (propane and DC), some USB charging ports, a couple DC fans and LED lights. I created a lot of space by removing cabinets/toliet that I would never use. There is A TON of storage inside, which kind of shocked me. I've spent a week in AZ with it and 3-4 days turkey hunting. For me, it works great.

Full economy before was 18-19 mpg, now I probably average 15 mpg, depending on speed and wind. The weight doesn't do anything, but the added wind resistance crushes fuel economy, I imagine with a smaller gasser like a Tacoma it would be worse.

I would really be careful what brand you buy if you go used (and I would buy used, new prices are crazy $$$). I think a FWC Fleet would fit in your Tacoma. The FWC are really well-built being aluminum framed, light, and well thought out. There are other brands that may fit, but most have wood frame construction that is heavier and will rot if anything leaks. Personally, I hate trailers and avoid them at all costs, so it was a slide-in pop-up camper for me.

 

[rem.ostrem]

My wife and I own a 2007 Fleetwood Cheyenne pop up camper. Altogether its about 21 ft long and may 1100 pounds with the water tank empty. It can technically sleep 7-8 people depending on how familiar you are with them, I pull it with a half ton Chevy pickup and I can barely tell it is there. The top of the trailer rides level with the top of my truck bed and I don't lose much in fuel milage. This camper is balanced enough that I have been able to unhook it and manually move it to get out of a potentially bad situation. A time or 2 we took it up a switch back road we had no business trying to pull a camper up(hindsight and all).

That being said, it is well worth hauling into some blm ground or staying at a quiet rv park. The water tank holds 20 gallons and the water heater holds another 7 if you prefill it. It will run for a few days off the battery if you are careful but we also bring a very quiet generator that can run the ac if necessary at 25% load(still able to keep the generator on quiet mode at this load). 3 burner stove inside and a 2 burner outside stove works well. Heater will roast you out of the camper if you let it on those cold nights. No toilet but we bought a cassette toilet to use and also have a pop up privacy shelter for using either the toilet or outside shower.

The only downside is these older models tend to have a leaking room because the ac units were not factory installed and the roofs tend to not be braced properly to support that weight. We had that issue and spent a winter tearing the roof apart and rebuilding it with better support. Also the canvas does not block noise so if you are in a louder camp ground expect to be up as late as the partying neighbors.

Definitely worth having in our opinion and we are looking forward to the day we can upgrade to something a little newer.

 

[Jimmy]

I traveled probably over 20k miles with a tent trailer with my family growing up. Loved it. It does best in good weather, and some rain. Folding it up wet you will get some moisture inside. But if you open it up the next night and get it dried out it's usually not a big deal. Just don't leave it wet and closed for days on end.

My dad added an anti-sway bar, as it would go from side to side just enough to be annoying. We used it 95% as a place to sleep, and if it was raining we would cook and eat inside.

My dad and brothers and I would have the thing set up in 2 minutes flat. You can store a decent amount of gear in it too. Towed it with a very well used Ford Econoline Van all over the west and some of Canada. We crammed 10 people(mostly kids) inside to sleep.

If you aren't sure if you'll like it, get a used one.

 

[JeffRaines]

We used it 95% as a place to sleep, and if it was raining we would cook and eat inside.

This is precisely how we currently use a tent and likely will be the same for a trailer if we get one. I’m not looking to spend the entire trip in the camper, camping is a means to an end for us.

 

[JeffRaines]

My wife and I own a 2007 Fleetwood Cheyenne pop up camper. Altogether its about 21 ft long and may 1100 pounds with the water tank empty. It can technically sleep 7-8 people depending on how familiar you are with them, I pull it with a half ton Chevy pickup and I can barely tell it is there. The top of the trailer rides level with the top of my truck bed and I don't lose much in fuel milage. This camper is balanced enough that I have been able to unhook it and manually move it to get out of a potentially bad situation. A time or 2 we took it up a switch back road we had no business trying to pull a camper up(hindsight and all).

That being said, it is well worth hauling into some blm ground or staying at a quiet rv park. The water tank holds 20 gallons and the water heater holds another 7 if you prefill it. It will run for a few days off the battery if you are careful but we also bring a very quiet generator that can run the ac if necessary at 25% load(still able to keep the generator on quiet mode at this load). 3 burner stove inside and a 2 burner outside stove works well. Heater will roast you out of the camper if you let it on those cold nights. No toilet but we bought a cassette toilet to use and also have a pop up privacy shelter for using either the toilet or outside shower.

The only downside is these older models tend to have a leaking room because the ac units were not factory installed and the roofs tend to not be braced properly to support that weight. We had that issue and spent a winter tearing the roof apart and rebuilding it with better support. Also the canvas does not block noise so if you are in a louder camp ground expect to be up as late as the partying neighbors.

Definitely worth having in our opinion and we are looking forward to the day we can upgrade to something a little newer.

If I could get one without ac I’d be game. I don’t want to lug a generator and we currently don’t have ac anyhow. I know buying used(and new in most cases) you’re kinda stuck with what you get, but there’s some stuff I couldn’t care less about and AC is one of them.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Had one for five years and sold it. It leaked, everything in it was made of press board so water inside was not a good thing. Leaked around the ac and the door. Stay away with the ones with slide outs,one more thing to go wrong. God bless you if the cables jumps the tracks.
Didn't want to upgrade to full size camper for a number of reasons, bought a cabin.

 

[LostArra]

Not against it, but there’s only one used near me and new for a model that sleeps 4 is $40k which is quite a bit more than I want to spend. Any chance the Rockwood/alternatives are decent?

I looked for a while and one popped up (no pun) 2 yrs old for $8k. That was pre-COVID.
Used market takes persistence.

 

[thegrouse]

I went from a tent, to a pop up, to a bumper pull, to a off-road trailer, and now I am back in a tent. None of the trailers I owned seemed to have much space inside. They were not much fun to cook in during the bad weather. I much prefer 2 easy setup tables outside to prep, eat and cook. I can cover these in bad weather or put them inside a Gazelle Gazebo.

I put racks on the roof and me and my 3 kids would go all over the West in tents dispersed camping. I dialed in my gear and got the kids to help the process. I could set and break camp fairly quick and didn't have to worry about trailer maintenance and fuel economy tanking. I could get further into the NF without dragging a trailer behind me.

 

[elkliver]

all the inconvencience of a Tent with all of the inconvenience of a camper?

 

[bigunit]

I really like my 6x8 jumping jack. I pull it with my outback and you can hardly tell youre pulling anything. Less than 10min to set it up solo. Would be tight but doable with 4 people.

 

[BLJ]

all the inconvencience of a Tent with all of the inconvenience of a camper?

I agree.

 

[JeffRaines]

I went from a tent, to a pop up, to a bumper pull, to a off-road trailer, and now I am back in a tent. None of the trailers I owned seemed to have much space inside. They were not much fun to cook in during the bad weather. I much prefer 2 easy setup tables outside to prep, eat and cook. I can cover these in bad weather or put them inside a Gazelle Gazebo.

I put racks on the roof and me and my 3 kids would go all over the West in tents dispersed camping. I dialed in my gear and got the kids to help the process. I could set and break camp fairly quick and didn't have to worry about trailer maintenance and fuel economy tanking. I could get further into the NF without dragging a trailer behind me.

As far as indoor cooking, it's not really something I'm looking to do. I guess the option during bad weather would be nice, but if I'm being honest aside from a short summer rain shower bad weather isn't really family camping weather for us already. We don't typically spend a lot of time at camp anyhow... we're there for another reason.

Part of me wishes the gear aspect could be dialed further, but unless we completely gave up any base camp comfort(meaning switching from Exped Megamats to CCF pads, etc) there isn't really much to dial back. We only use a single tent(currently a Snow Peak Alpha Breeze that packs up small), along with one of those GSI kitchen setups and a stove/water jug. We don't have some super elaborate camp setup like some folks do(cassette toilets and showers with popup tents, ez ups, dinner tables, propane fire pits, wall tents, etc.). The biggest issue I have is the loading and unloading. We have a compressor cooler in the bed of the truck and it sits at the back for access, so everything has to go behind that, which means pulling it out every time we're loading and unloading. Even if I moved that into the front of the bed, it still has to get moved every time we make and break camp.

I get that typing that out may not sound like it's that bad, but doing that every two-three days of a 10 day trip gets old fast. If it does rain, a wet tent has to be stuffed back there somewhere. This isn't even mentioning the initial load up and final pull out at the end of the trip where the bedding and stuff has to come out, get aired out then repacked and distributed to the storage areas.

I understand that a pop up camper is, for all intents and purposes, a tent, so if it gets wet it has to be aired out(we already have to do this). One huge advantage is that bedding can stay on the beds, and there's some(limited) space in the camper for other stuff during travel. I'm seeing a reality where I have a LOT more of the bed of my truck available - and that's not so I can stuff more crap back there, but I can get to stuff like fishing gear easier.

Again, I hope it doesn't come off like I'm 100% sold on the idea and looking for confirmation. I do enjoy hearing both sides of the arguments for them.