Is bigger better?

[asianflava]

Just an observation:

I just got back from a short drive. We went from Austin to Tampa had a short visit (2days) and came back. On the drive we saw A LOT of campers on the highway. We thought families were going camping because it was Spring Break for the kids. Not counting the ClassA and ClassB motorhomes, I'd say that 80% were fifth wheel campers, 15% were standard trailers, and a lowly 5% were popups. I'm assuming I just saw 100 units because we only 4 popups total. As far as tiny trailers, I saw 3 or 4 Castia/Scamp/Bolers and no teardrops.

[steve wolverton]

Asianflava,

Just an observation:
As far as tiny trailers, I saw 3 or 4 Castia/Scamp/Bolers and no teardrops.

That sounds about right. At the park, I see a lot of Montanas and Hitchhiker II's.

As for bigger/better - I guess it depends on the people camping. Most of the RV'ers you see are probably retired or older. I'm guessing they like the conveniences of the larger RV's. The toy haulers are becoming really popular, and that's an entire different demograhic.

Lisa and I decided to sell our tear and keep our popup. I think I priced it too low - people seem to be scared of it. The one thing we really like about the larger popup is we can prepare meals inside when it's raining.

Steve

[ALAN GEDDES]

I think the main difference is between camping and RV'ing. I like the camping thing but the tear keeps my old bones off the ground and they are just so neat.

[Guest]

I think all those people out there lugging around those huge trailers just haven't discovered what we did as of yet, or they own stock in oil.
There's deffinately something unique about a teardrop, when I first came on this board I was going to build a pop-up that compacted down into a teardrop, I mean hey, why build something that you can't stand up in?...
... But then things changed and it took hold of me, thank goodness.

[benjamin]

I can say with out hesitation that in the past 5 years camping in my Pop Up I have not seen a single tear drop in the camp grounds. But even in my Pop Up I have noticed there are getting to be more and more of the larger tt and 5th wheels. I hang out at a pop up web page and we have noticed there as well many of the members are moving into larger travel trailers. It just shows we are living in a time of excess many want the amenities and they are not out there to camp any more. Most don’t know what camping is or even how to enjoy the great out doors. They are there because they want a change from home but they do not want to be with out the things at home. When I first started camping in my Pop Up it was about a 50% slip with the monsters and the canvas campers but over time my numbers have been falling. Call me a traditionalist but I have no intent to leave my Pop up any time soon it makes me feel closer to the natural environment around me. (Except the occasional outing in my tear drop.)

[Sarge]

Benjamin,

I hope the tide is turning and people begin to appreciate that less is sometimes better. I can certainly understand people wanting a camper with a bathroom, indoor cooking facilities and enough room to sleep a family with kids, but as you mention people take this to the extreme. They need a big rig to pull it and a small nuke- power plant to provide the electricity.

I don't think this can go on. India and China have finally awoken and they're using fossil fuels like crazy. Gas will never be cheap again in my lifetime, there is just too much growing demand. I think we'll start to see people scale down from necessity. On the same note, we may actually see more campers as they scale down from other resort-type activities.

Of course, there will always be the very rich...

-Sarge

[John Foote]

Benjamin,
Gas will never be cheap again in my lifetime, there is just too much growing demand. I think we'll start to see people scale down from necessity.

-Sarge

I came to teardrops from dreams of a bus-conversion. By economic circumstance, it would've been a low-budget bus-conversion....

Assuming that a bus-sze RV gets 7 MPG, and towing a tear gets 21 MPG, a 1000 mile trip at $2.50/gallon costs the bus $360, vs $120 for the tear. Spread that 1000 mile trip out over a week, that's roughly $50/day vs $17/day. The $33 difference is not a spectacular expense, considerng the level of comfort invoved.

But then, there's a lot more to moving a massive vehicle than just fuel. Start considering large RV purchase price (typically inflated), depreciation (typically horrendous) and maintenance ($700 tires, $300 oil changes every 3,000 miles, $900 brake jobs), and the big rigs get expensive really quick.

I have enough trouble changing a tire on my Toyota. But the key deal is, I can fuss and cuss, and get `er done. Have you ever taken a good long look at a bus wheel/tire? Sobering to contemplate. If I realistically can't do it, who will? For how much? Honestly, I'm not all that eager to even wash a bus, and that's probably the easiest maintenance chore on the list.

I've been driving a transit bus professionally for 25 years, and I'm very good at it. Still, there's a lot of places, rural and urban, that I would NEVER take a bus, and a lot more that I would be worried about even as I proceeded. Who needs that kind of limitation, or that kind of worry?

Speaking of worries, I would never, EVER consider buying a stick and staple RV. I've seen what happens to a stick and staple RV when it leaves the road. It disintegrates into 10,000 razor sharp little pieces. No kidding. I've seen it. It was absolutely criminally unsurvivable.

Finally, what is the ultimate point of an RV? For me, it's to take a pleasant drive to a beautiful place, and then get out and enjoy it. Outside. Fresh air. Barbecue. Stars. That's the big bonus, if not the whole enchilada. I don't want to huddle inside some climate controlled RV cathouse. I'd rather set up an awning, put on a jacket, and go make some acquaintances.

To me, the worst thing about camping is crummy sleep, in a cold, damp, noisy, lumpy bed. I can solve that problem 100% with a teardrop, just as good as any million dollar bus. After that, it's all pretty much good.

[Grandadeo]

As I said in my intro post a while back, I have wanted to build a tear for quite some time. But when retirement came and a buddy of mine bought a Class A motor home I figured I'd try one. Found a mint '93 Class A with only 7,000 miles on it. Took one weekend camping trip in it not far from home. Then it sat for three months and dominated the landscape in my side yard ( wouldn't pay the $60 a month storage fee they wanted at the warehouse/storage place) Knew I needed to exercise it once in a while and took it for a 3 mile ride. When the perfect looking, low mileage but original front tire exploded and took the fender flare with it, and the $1100, plus change, for six new tires and an oil change bill was paid ( at least insurance covered the tow) I knew I was getting out of the motor home business. Sold it, even made a buck or two, and came back to reality. A tear fits my life style and personality like a glove. Not out to impress anyone, just want to enjoy life, meet good folks, and drag it behind my hot rod to some neat place and watch the sunset.
Lee

[benjamin]

Well it is the price of fuel that brought me to this site. Like I stated I have a Pop Up but it is huge this thing can only be pulled by a truck not even the most astute mini van can pull this pig. I love to camp but driving my Suburban makes me want to hid under my bed. Don’t get me wrong I love my truck and camper but I love to camp even more and it looks like this is going to be hard to do this year with out changing things.

I have had a tear drop dream for the past 10 years. The day I drove my 46 Ford Coupe to tent camp with the family in the summer of 1995 I knew I had to have one but it was never an urgency but this year that changed (after a $70 fill up) so now I am after something I can pull with my Buick.

John

I think you are right in that with the price of gas you will start to see a turn from the excess and more and more people starting to scale things back. I hope that is the case or we will all end up like Rome they lived high on the hog but forgot were they came from and in the end it was there end and I can see that happening here if we don’t start doing some thing.

Now even with the tear drop I find my self not willing to give up some things, like space. I could live with 4’ or 4’6 but I have decided that I have to have 5’ and I am not sure I am willing to back off of that. So I am not ready to give it all up and live off of the land yet.

[Larwyn]

Like many people, when I decided to start shopping for a camper, I started checking out all the travel trailers and 5th wheels. And ended up buying too big at the advise of the RV dealer. "Sure you can pull that easily with your truck". I guess he was right as my truck does not seem to mind the 7000 pound trailer with the 11 ft high walls catching the wind.
On the other hand it is just too much for a weekend outting regardless of gas price. It is so big in fact that I am now living in it (might as well get my money's worth out of this thing somehow....

A lot of my camping involves attending events. That precludes the luxury of leaving when the weather turns bad so cold soggy tents and at other times almost unbearable heat make the camping less enjoyable when we do not take the 5er along.

Had I known about teardrops at the time I bought that 5er I would probably still have opted for the bathroom and indoor cooking. Having experienced the convience of the big trailer, and finding that I still end up tenting it often I now know that the teardrop would have been a better choice. Besides the bedroom of the 5er isn't much bigger than a teardrop trailer anyway. We usually spend most of the time visiting with friends around the campfire and only use the trailer for sleeping anyway.

So when the teardrop is finished I will have the best of both worlds. The 5er makes an acceptable home in the woods and the Escape Pod with heat and air cond. will provide a comfortable place to sleep. We will probably make more camping trips for the pleasure of camping too, not just use it as a place to sleep during events.

[Dee Bee]

I believe you can't take it with you.

As far as camping goes you shouldn't take it with you. Camping is about getting away from all the trappings of modern suburban life, the electronic toys phones and computers, the TV, DVD player, mega stereo and the VCR, and even the sound of the air condintioning.

I camp to hear the wind in trees, to smell the woodland, to feel the change of weather and temperature, to cook simply and eat outdoors.

I camp not to escape nature, but to touch the creation and be touched by the Creator.

End of sermon...

DEE