To camper or not to camper... Hunting and married couple trips

[Oregon]

21’ bullit trailer. I love my head, queen bed and heater. Despise digging a hole, cots and waking up 3 times a night to add wood to the stove. My trailer is on every hunt I do. I have an outside cook station and shower. I have a DVD player for crappy days and an air conditioner for early season hunts. I take my 5 dogs everywhere I go, and enjoy the camp.
I’m not worried about costs towing. If I tow it 500 miles, it hurts the pocket book but my seat is warm and bed comfy. It’s a good trade off.
I’m off on a 15 day hunt Oct 3rd. I’d rather stick a stick in my good eye than be in a tent or an hour or 2 from hunt area.

 

[jsb]

OMIGOD, The first and only time I've been in a camping world I had to ask the guy if the prices were correct.

Back on track. We have a 20' trailer and love it. It basically has all the creature comforts of home (well except the hot tub). Wife LOVES having a bathroom and shower. Will never be without one. We take it everywhere, State Parks, RV parks, boon docking, etc. If you go that route, get a slide out, it is amazing the extra room you get. Get the roll out roof for it too. Remember, people who diss slide outs are the people who don't have a slide out.

Two things I don't like about slide outs. One, they add weight. Two, I don't like having to "step up" to my dinette. I just like to plunk down and slide into the seat. These may seem like minor considerations to some but I like what I like.

But getting back to the OP's original question, as others have said, you have to enjoy camping. The whole process. Everything about it. Otherwise just accept that you're a hotel guy. NTTAWWT

 

[137buck]

I have an Arctic Fox travel trailer and absolutely love it, I use it almost year round, except in the really cold months here. As a matter of fact, I'm "living in it" right now, I drew a moose tag here and took a month off of work to chase elk and moose and I'd never do that in a tent, as I like to have a nice shower and shitter. I have dragged this thing into places that most wouldn't, but it's nice to be able to wake up and just go hunting, or jump on the atv and go. Now, the only draw backs that these Arctic Fox's have, besides the price of them, is they are heavy, but they are very well built.

 

[displacedtexan]

OMIGOD, The first and only time I've been in a camping world I had to ask the guy if the prices were correct.

Back on track. We have a 20' trailer and love it. It basically has all the creature comforts of home (well except the hot tub). Wife LOVES having a bathroom and shower. Will never be without one. We take it everywhere, State Parks, RV parks, boon docking, etc. If you go that route, get a slide out, it is amazing the extra room you get. Get the roll out roof for it too. Remember, people who diss slide outs are the people who don't have a slide out.

I didn't want slide outs because I wanted to pull into a parking lot and have my space. Have a cocktail before bed, easy access to the bathroom, make coffee standing at the counter.

No matter how nice a camper is... It's not on a foundation, it doesn't have a 45 gallon water heater...

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Two things I don't like about slide outs. One, they add weight.

Adds a couple hundred pounds. My pickup doesn't care.

I didn't want slide outs because I wanted to pull into a parking lot and have my space. Have a cocktail before bed, easy access to the bathroom, make coffee standing at the counter.

Slider in or slider out, I can do all the above just the same with both configs.

 

[displacedtexan]

Adds a couple hundred pounds. My pickup doesn't care.


Slider in or slider out, I can do all the above just the same with both configs.

Really? Not more crowded with the slide in?

I've been in DOZENS with the slide in. None were comfortable to relax in.

 

[Fowl Play]

A lot of what makes a camper a money/problem pit is that they typically come with undersized axles with terrible leaf springs — meaning you are literally driving an earthquake down the road. The constant hard shocks and bouncing are a nightmare on all the various systems. If you can find one with a proper independent suspension it’ll cost more but you’ll save a ton of headaches along the way.

 

[rogerdoger]

I am confused on how campers are money pits? I get it if you choose to throw zero down and finance one. But if you get a decent used camper what money are you all dumping into the camper?

I have a 95’ Jayco I purchased for $4700 used in 2015. We did an eleven night honeymoon ski trip to bc and slept in the camper 8 of the nights. That trip alone payed for a chunk of the camper by not getting hotels every night. The only major cost I have put into the camper is a new heater, $500.

I know I would rather chill with a cup of coffee at camp at 6am rather than sitting on a couch at a hotel planning my drive to the woods.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Really? Not more crowded with the slide in?

I've been in DOZENS with the slide in. None were comfortable to relax in.

Nope. Our bed is a Murphy bed that turns into a couch when up. Plenty of room, comfortable, slider in or out.

 

[Gravel Road]

If you can't park it inside or aren't willing to tarp the roof every time, then I wouldn't buy most trailers built in the last 20+ years. Crap quality. If you have skill, build it yourself on a good enclosed trailer and build it in a way that meets your needs and quality standards. Oh, and buy GOOD tires for the trailer. I saw two Sunday on the interstate that had tires come apart and destroyed the sides of the trailer.

 

[yfarm]

Buy the right trailer right and a lot of the negatives go away. For me the dog issue is the number one reason for a camper. Have had dogs injured boarding, costs continue to rise and 2 out of three dogs hate the kennel. As far as a camper, buy a molded fiberglass camper and forget about leaks. Bigfoot, Escape, Casita, Oliver. Avoid slideouts, eventually all are a problem. Truck camper, again molded fiberglass.
Buy quality and buy used. My 2002 Casita repairs are a bathroom faucet and a water heater since new. Replaced the axle because I wanted more ground clearance and went from a torsion axle to leaf spring.
Most I have ever paid for an overnight was $75 last July at a casino rv park in Durant Ok, had granite furnishings in the bath house. Usually pay $30-40. Very rare to pay under $85 for a clean hotel room usually over$110 then add pet fees of $25/ night to $25/pet/night. Most times I stay in a hotel with my dogs their response in any room with carpet makes me not want to take my shoes off.

 

[displacedtexan]

Nope. Our bed is a Murphy bed that turns into a couch when up. Plenty of room, comfortable, slider in or out.

A rarity then...

Murphy bed still keeps it from meeting my (admitably specific and arbitrary) requirement of zero setup in a parking lot.

It was a minor thing I wanted when we bought this one, but now that I've had it, it's non negotiable.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Murphy bed takes less than a minute to deploy or undeploy into the couch. Plus there is a crap ton of storage underneath.

 

[K9kodi]

We have a camper. 30 foot toy hauler, the garage is separate from the living quarters, but doubles as a nice private room when not being used as a garage.

Is it cheap? Well considering if we didn’t have it we wouldn’t incur the cost and financial responsibility.

We used it w the family a couple times this summer, I hated it, bc I hate the heat, but the nieces and nephews loved it. So, worth the cost? For that? Yes

We store it at the farm oct-feb for hunting season. There is a house up there that is beautifully renovated, but it’s a weekend vacation home for her family. Soooo, we have the camper 100 yards away on electric and water and use the house for the bathroom/shower. Is it worth the cost to ninseal w waking people and dogs up at 0400 to get ready to head into the woods and feel like an eternal pain in the ass? Yup.

Is it worth the cost to stay up late watching tv and sipping bourbon and not worry about being an imposition on the family? Absolutely.

There are things that need to be upkept and maintained. Waterlines winterized. Re seal the roof every year, maintain bearings and such. But it’s all worth the incurred cost.

We used to stay at a hotel in town (15 min away) and it was a friggin pain in the ass. Not to mention when you get back to the hotel you’re stuck at the hotel in the room.

 

[taskswap]

The rationale for buying a camper vs. using hotels for longer trips typically includes cost savings from cooking your own meals, having flexibility to stay closer to parks and wildlife areas, and being able to stop wherever and whenever you want. In our case we could also include eliminating dog sitters or boarding fees.

For those of you veteran camper folks, in your experience, are the hard and soft savings from having a camper worth the extra maintenace and cost? I've always heard campers are one of those items you're better renting vs. buying, and I'm interested to hear from practical people that love them and would never go back vs. those that suffered buyer's regret.

As a sidenote, I have a 2009 Duramax that can tow around 13k pounds, and my wife and I have been casually looking at campers with a max length of 22-23', so capacity isn't an issue. Primary uses would be "couples" camping to visit our grown kids with our 3 dogs and occassional hunting or fishing trips. Thank you in advance for the advice!

IMO? If you aren't sure, you shouldn't get a camper. Rent one the few times you want to camp (this is really easy to do on sites like RVShare). if you WANT a camper, nothing else will do and no justification is needed.

Hotels have long, hot showers and tons of room to spread out. Campers have all your stuff already in them - nothing to unpack/bring in.

Hotels are often in much more convenient locations if you're visiting a city/a person in a city. Campgrounds are often in better spots if you want a view, a lake, a river, etc.

Hotels are easy - pay, go to your room, done. And they look it - unless you stay somewhere odd, the halls smell the same, the linens are the same, the fake wood desk is the same, the $7-per-bottle water from the fridge is the same... Campers (mostly) require setup, managing tank levels, dealing with frustrations like neighbors laughing loudly til 1am right next to you, very out-of-level sites, and "poop pyramids".

Hotels are much more expensive per night. I mean, maybe you're on a budget, but I won't stay somewhere with <4 stars. (Actually these days I prefer VRBOs and have stayed in some lovely ones.) Who wants to sleep on sketchy linens and walk barefoot on gross carpet 50 other people did too (maybe with athlete's foot)? So I'm not usually at a $40/night no-tell-motel in the boonies, I'm at a Sheraton/Holiday Inn/Embassy Suites/etc. Even on a budget you can be looking at an average of $120/night, and double (or more) in city centers.

You can buy a lot of camp site nights for that. But if you camped 50 nights in 5 years (10/yr) let's say you averaged $45/night (after taxes, fees, etc.) For 50 nights in that $120/night hotel you'd pay $6,000. To camp you'd pay $2,250. But of the amount you saved ($3,750) no way do you buy even a moderately decent camper for that. You can adjust the numbers however you want. There's still no objective world where it makes sense to "buy a camper so we can save money using camp sites instead of hotel rooms."

Unless.

You want to buy a camper... And then no justification is needed!

 

[displacedtexan]

Murphy bed takes less than a minute to deploy or undeploy into the couch. Plus there is a crap ton of storage underneath.

I didn't say I wasn't insane, or was reasonable. Lol

I think it's an extension of being very particular about how my stuff is in the tent. But I want to walk in and it be EXACTLY like I want it setup.

On edit- I only bring it up, because when we were shopping, I was "it would be kinda nice if...", but it will be an absolute requirement next time we shop for a camper. I spend a lot more short roadside nights in it than I expected, so it being setup and ready exactly as I'm used to makes it a lot easier and more comfortable.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I didn't say I wasn't insane, or was reasonable. Lol

Funny. Got a chuckle out of that. From the stand point of owning a truck camper or trailer for 25 years, I now just tell people to look at the layout inside, more than anything. Whatever fits your needs the best. When we looked for our trailer, we saw a lot of them with bunks in one corner near the bathroom. That would have been useless to my wife and I. However, with 2 kids, perfect. Unless you go with the high end cost trailers, they are all the same in quality, built in the same couple factories in Goshin, IN. When we bought, it was our first trailer so we went with the cheaper model. $20K vs $40-$50K. So far so good, no major problems. But I do all routine maintenance myself. Next one, maybe high end.

 

[displacedtexan]

Funny. Got a chuckle out of that. From the stand point of owning a truck camper or trailer for 25 years, I now just tell people to look at the layout inside, more than anything. Whatever fits your needs the best. When we looked for our trailer, we saw a lot of them with bunks in one corner near the bathroom. That would have been useless to my wife and I. However, with 2 kids, perfect. Unless you go with the high end cost trailers, they are all the same in quality, built in the same couple factories in Goshin, IN. When we bought, it was our first trailer so we went with the cheaper model. $20K vs $40-$50K. So far so good, no major problems. But I do all routine maintenance myself. Next one, maybe high end.

Ha! I tell people the same. Look at layout for YOU.

Footnote of, look at which convenience features. Dad has one that's VERY comperable, I've got all electric jacks, he's got an integrated power cable and built in radio... Seems like it's all over the place which trailers get which nice features.

The bunks by bathroom work great for me, the mattresses are both on the bottom for when I have a friend, and there's LVT on the topbunk, I use it for storage.

I was about to bring out that there's basically 2 tiers, and they're pretty equal across the tiers.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

IMO? If you aren't sure, you shouldn't get a camper. Rent one the few times you want to camp (this is really easy to do on sites like RVShare). if you WANT a camper, nothing else will do and no justification is needed.

Hotels have long, hot showers and tons of room to spread out. Campers have all your stuff already in them - nothing to unpack/bring in.

Hotels are often in much more convenient locations if you're visiting a city/a person in a city. Campgrounds are often in better spots if you want a view, a lake, a river, etc.

Hotels are easy - pay, go to your room, done. And they look it - unless you stay somewhere odd, the halls smell the same, the linens are the same, the fake wood desk is the same, the $7-per-bottle water from the fridge is the same... Campers (mostly) require setup, managing tank levels, dealing with frustrations like neighbors laughing loudly til 1am right next to you, very out-of-level sites, and "poop pyramids".

Hotels are much more expensive per night. I mean, maybe you're on a budget, but I won't stay somewhere with <4 stars. (Actually these days I prefer VRBOs and have stayed in some lovely ones.) Who wants to sleep on sketchy linens and walk barefoot on gross carpet 50 other people did too (maybe with athlete's foot)? So I'm not usually at a $40/night no-tell-motel in the boonies, I'm at a Sheraton/Holiday Inn/Embassy Suites/etc. Even on a budget you can be looking at an average of $120/night, and double (or more) in city centers.

You can buy a lot of camp site nights for that. But if you camped 50 nights in 5 years (10/yr) let's say you averaged $45/night (after taxes, fees, etc.) For 50 nights in that $120/night hotel you'd pay $6,000. To camp you'd pay $2,250. But of the amount you saved ($3,750) no way do you buy even a moderately decent camper for that. You can adjust the numbers however you want. There's still no objective world where it makes sense to "buy a camper so we can save money using camp sites instead of hotel rooms."

Unless.

You want to buy a camper... And then no justification is needed!

I really appreciate this message, because you hit a lot of points we've been considering. There are 2 key pieces regarding costs. 1) in your example, if I camped 50 nights with my dogs, it would also save me $5,000 in boarding fees, not to mention piece of mind that they're with us. This would also eliminate any anxiety about their behavior and care while we're gone. 2) my wife isn't high maintenance whatsoever, but she aint staying in a Super 8 or similar stumble in... Gross carpet, questionable bathrooms, etc... Our hotels are typically in the Hilton chain since we're rewards members, and on average I would say $150-200 per night. When we're being extra budget-wise we'll stay at a comfort inn and suites, newer Best Western, or similar in that $120-150 range. To find a "reasonable" rate in the Fort Collins area on popular visit weekends, we've been staying in Loveland which is a solid 20-30 minutes from campus. If we could find a cool camp spot even an hour away, it would reduce the annoyance for sure.

The question of whether I want a camper is easy. Of course I "want" a camper, but that doesn't mean it's the right choice. LOL! I have a tendency to be impulsive or similarly talk myself into something even if its a bad idea, so leaning on ya'll for pros and cons and bringing up things we haven't though of has been awesome.

The floor plans we like have the bathroom in the back to maximize shower and most importantly toilet space and the bed in the front. I like the north/south bed config., but they take up a lot of extra room, and I don't want kids or guests sitting on my bed during a visit (pet peeve/OCD) so if we went that route, we'd try to find a murphy bed. If we went east/west bed we'd probably look more closely at a trailer with a slide out for the dinnette area just to open it up a little. However, there are some newer trailers with 8' wide box without slides that have a ton of room inside.

Regarding maintenance, I service all my vehicles- oil, brakes, bearings, etc..., and am decently handy with plumbing and other moderate repairs. So I don't see this as a huge con, just another consideration.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I was about to bring out that there's basically 2 tiers, and they're pretty equal across the tiers.

Can you please say a little more about this?

I checked out the Nash trailers and they seem to be well appointed and most, if not all, are 4-season rated. However, you can get tank heating pads, some even automated, on other brands as well.

The independent suspension models from No Bo look very functional, but as with everything else, more expensive. I'm also not sure why so many manufacturers think mud terrain tires are a good choice for their "off road" models, other than the aggressive "look".