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Just wondering if you like it. What are the Pros and cons of having one? Dh and I are thinking of getting one. We are in our research phase and just what to know everything. We figured something like that we could pull with the mini van. We do a couple camping trips a summer and are getting tired of the whole tent thing, especailly with kids. We might consider more camping trips with a tent trailer.
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we have a tent trailer. I like it as I am not a BIG camping girl. I would recommend one with a potty or make sure u get a portable potty. Ours doesn't have a potty and most places we camp we use an outhouse which is not fun with girls in the middle of the night. for now we use a child potty which we then empty first thng in the morning. we only do this for overnight. bad thing is only kids can use it. I have to trod done to the outhouse and as I said I'm not a big camper girl. we pull ours with the mini van and have had no problems. Even I can drive, and I have stated many times, I HATE TO DRIVE. we have propane so we can have heat, but heating heavy canvas is still going to waste heat. we have never been cold and we camp during freezing point weather in MN. also if it rains u have to be careful not to touch the sides, just like in a tent. we have been in really bad weather(tornado warnings) with it and it never leaked. They worse part of it is having to put the tent down when the sides are wet. You have to hurry and put it back up as soon as u get home so u don't get mold. we store ours outside with a blue tarp over it. we have never really had bug issues. we did get an ant infestation but it only took two applications of terro and they were gone completely. u do have to be careful to keep door closed over u will get eaten by mosquitos but that is common camping problem. They do not seal 100% but we never had any issues. hope that answred lots of Q's.
allgirls
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My fil used to have one, that basically we kept and used. We loved it. He has since sold it. We would love to be able to get another.
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We had a tent trailer for awhile last summer. For us the pros included being off of the when ground when sleeping, having something a little more solid to put our things in, and having really big beds (one of them was a king size!)
The cons included no air conditioning, something I didn't think would be necessary but we camp at motocross tracks where my DH, DD, and DS all race - they needed somewhere to cool off, we did not have a potty , and the first couple of times were a pain to pack up because we were not used to having to put everything in a certain spot before we could close the trailer up.
We ended up getting a bigger trailer that met our needs better, but if we did normal camping we would have probably kept the tent trailer.
I would just recommend that you check out the towing limits of your minivan (most are rated at 3500 pounds) and make sure any trailer is within the limits. Some tent trailers are getting pretty heavy these days. Another great place to look is RV.net, they have all kinds of info on every kind of camper, trailer imaginable. I did a lot of research at that website before we made our purchase.
I hope this helps!
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We have had one for several years and love it. I'm a tent camper but DH is a city boy and never camped so this was the compromise. He actually looks forward to camping every year when before he would rather be sentenced to death than take the kids camping in a tent! Wetook a two week trip through DC, Colonial Williamsburg, spent a week in a house in the Outer Banks and then came back through North Carolina, the Smokey Mountains and back to Ohio. The longest we stayed in any campground was 3 days so the packing and unpacking of the trailer was a pain but we got good at it and could set up in no time. Everything went in and out in the order we would need it (jacks last, etc.) and everyone had a job.
The thing I like most about it is being able to put the things we use in it and leave them there so we don't have to repack everything everytime we want to go somewhere. There are a couple cons that we would do differently with our next camper. First, it had a ice chest (refrigerator) that you put ice in and has a drain as it melts. We have never used it as an ice chest just as an extra cupboard. It would be a pain to try to keep things cold in so I wish we had an actual refrigerator. It is also a tight squeeze moving around and in and out with 5 of us but since our oldest is gone it is a little easier with the two little ones. The mattresses are not that great on the bed so I will probably get the egg crate mattresses to cushion them a little more this year. The awning isn't great and can be a pain to unroll and roll back up but has come in handy a couple times. I just wish it were easier. We also don't have air conditioning and didn't think we would need it but it would be nice to have the option.
Take a look at and click on their RV Forum at the bottom of the page. You'll find lots of suggestions and reviews on different campers, types of camping, cooking, reviews on campgrounds, etc.
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Thanks for the input. If we can find a decent price on a used one, I think we will be getting one. Sleeping in a tent is a joke with little kids and next summer we will have a 6 month old. We would like to have a little more room to sleep. The tent we have just isn't big enough for 5.
We went to a RV lot last night and looked at a couple trailers they had. The girls thought they were cool and dd is now saying she gets the top bunk and daddy gets the bottom. I had never actually seen inside of a tent trailer until last night. I think it would be perfect for our family and the type of campers we are.
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Tent trailer... is that a pop up camper?
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my parents have one. we like it. but instead of heating it just brnig extra blankets. and also if your planning and having any nookie just be careful becuase it can tip over if you do it on one side of the camper and are a little to enthusiastic lmao. this happened to people we were camping beside 2 years ago. otherwise we like the tent camper.