Roo or Mini Lite with Murphy Bed?

[tundratod]

New to this forum. I currently own an older Hybrid which I like very much. I want to sell and upgrade. I am looking at the 24WS, 23FL, or 21SSL.

The last time I saw roos at the dealership 2 out of the 3 of then had problems with the tend ends coming apart at the bottom. Lots of extra silicone and it looked awful. Have any of you had this problem. The vinyl part at the bottom of the tent end.

Also thinking of an ultra light with murphy bed.

Any opinons would help. thanks!

[HeyJude]

Originally Posted by tundratod

New to this forum. I currently own an older Hybrid which I like very much. I want to sell and upgrade. I am looking at the 24WS, 23FL, or 21SSL.

The last time I saw roos at the dealership 2 out of the 3 of then had problems with the tend ends coming apart at the bottom. Lots of extra silicone and it looked awful. Have any of you had this problem. The vinyl part at the bottom of the tent end.

Also thinking of an ultra light with murphy bed.

Any opinons would help. thanks!

We bought our 2nd hybrid last season. If I had it to do over I would have bought the Shamrock mini lite 25fks. I like the ones with the murphy bed too. I don't like making the bunk ends, and its terrible if there is someone nearby partying and you can hear everything they say. I guess it depends on your age and what you like.

[tundratod]

Kinda of a pain to always open up and close the ends but gives you so much more room. A little noisy yes but nice to open up the windows and get a breeze..

Still leaning towards the roo/shamrock - How do you like the 21ss layout? I am thinking of the 21SSL so have the deck for all my gear.

[HeyJude]

Originally Posted by tundratod

Kinda of a pain to always open up and close the ends but gives you so much more room. A little noisy yes but nice to open up the windows and get a breeze..

Still leaning towards the roo/shamrock - How do you like the 21ss layout? I am thinking of the 21SSL so have the deck for all my gear.

Loads of room, no counterspace. I'm older so I don't like the beds. I would like the couch and dinette switched. I think the older ones have a better layout. It is very comfortable when it is all put up. My german shepherd loves the dinette, that is his official bed.

[DavidBo]

Originally Posted by HeyJude

Loads of room, no counterspace. I'm older so I don't like the beds. I would like the couch and dinette switched. I think the older ones have a better layout. It is very comfortable when it is all put up. My german shepherd loves the dinette, that is his official bed.

Yours too?

[bikendan]

With a murphy bed, you'll have to put it down every night and put it up every morning.
With a Hybrid, once you set it up, it stays there until you leave for home.

With the TT, it will be like a "shoebox" but you will be better insulated from outside noise, temperature and weather.
With a Hybrid, it'll be WAY more open and spacious but you be more exposed to noise, temperature and weather.

With the TT, you'll have less setup and takedown.
With the Hybrid, you'll have more setup and takedown.

If you want to take toys, the Minilite/Microlite line has nothing to transport them.
The 21SSL allows you to do this, without having to buy a Toyhauler.

We owned our Roo for over 10 years. We moved to a TT last year for longer trips since we're retired.
But we still miss the openness of our Roo.

I don't know what you're seeing regarding the shoddy tent ends.
There has been very few complaints about this in newer Roo/Shamrock hybrids.

[tundratod]

Thanks for the input! Yes I love the openness of the hybrid I currently have.

I bring so much gear with me and I hate cramming it all into my pick-up bed and TT. Would be nice to pack everything on the front deck of the 21SSL.

Hmmm seems like I'm talking myself into the 21ssl....

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by tundratod

New to this forum. I currently own an older Hybrid which I like very much. I want to sell and upgrade. I am looking at the 24WS, 23FL, or 21SSL.

The last time I saw roos at the dealership 2 out of the 3 of then had problems with the tend ends coming apart at the bottom. Lots of extra silicone and it looked awful. Have any of you had this problem. The vinyl part at the bottom of the tent end.

Also thinking of an ultra light with murphy bed.

Any opinons would help. thanks!

You don't say what your family situation is like. We are just DW and I, retired. We bought a 2012 Roo 19 because we came from 20 years in a pop up and liked sleeping under the tent, plus the room you get not having a bed in the box.

Three years later we bought our Mini-Lite 2503S. WHY?

1. Other than to season the tent ends, we NEVER opened the rear bunk of the Roo. (No grandkids - yet)

2. Still need to worry about closing up in the rain in the Roo.

3. But the biggest issue is that in our popup, we slept feet outboard and heads inboard. In the Roo, we have to sleep cross-wise, so somebody (Guess who?) has to crawl over the other one to get in/out; sometimes a couple times/night.

If you're younger, with kids, the Roo's make a lot of sense.

[tundratod]

My wife and I and a 16 year old daughter that likes to sleep in her own tent. Our 21 year old son sleeps in a tent with friends.
I have a 21ft (17 foot box) hybrid right now but feels so open and large with the ends down. We have been in pouring rain with the ends down with no leaks.

We also like all of our luggage and extra stuff out of the way so we put that on one end and sleep on the other. Still has the feeling of tent camping

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

You don't say what your family situation is like. We are just DW and I, retired. We bought a 2012 Roo 19 because we came from 20 years in a pop up and liked sleeping under the tent, plus the room you get not having a bed in the box.

Three years later we bought our Mini-Lite 2503S. WHY?

1. Other than to season the tent ends, we NEVER opened the rear bunk of the Roo. (No grandkids - yet)

2. Still need to worry about closing up in the rain in the Roo.

3. But the biggest issue is that in our popup, we slept feet outboard and heads inboard. In the Roo, we have to sleep cross-wise, so somebody (Guess who?) has to crawl over the other one to get in/out; sometimes a couple times/night.

If you're younger, with kids, the Roo's make a lot of sense.

We used our Roo well into our 60's.
I'm lucky that I still didn't need to get up during the night so I always slept on the outside. Never a problem.
We live Western Washington and rain never bothered us when closing up.
We really miss the Roo but we moved to a TT because it fit our retired lifestyle better than a hybrid. We just got back from 2 months in SoCal and Arizona.

[pkwyatt]

We love our ultra light with the murphy bed. It gives you so much more room and the bed is comfortable. If you're not going to spend time in your RV during the day, you can leave the bed down. We have the 2017 Rockwood 2304DS. It's perfect for just the two of us!

[67L48]

It's obviously an impossible question to answer on behalf of another person. But, a lot of good insight has been provided.

I just moved from a pop up to a TT. One thing that lots of people like about PUPs and Hybrids is the open-air feeling. It's closer to tent camping, closer to nature. I've camped next to a river and enjoyed hearing the river from my PUP's pull out bed. I've also camped around noisy children and didn't like hearing the entire conversations of passers-by from that same pull out bed.

I'm sort of looking forward to a more rigid structure and I am eager to move away from canvas. The real spring mattress of a Murphy bed is a welcome change, too.

But, a Hybrid vs TT is quite a bit different than PUP vs TT.

Good luck.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by pkwyatt

We love our ultra light with the murphy bed. It gives you so much more room and the bed is comfortable. If you're not going to spend time in your RV during the day, you can leave the bed down. We have the 2017 Rockwood 2304DS. It's perfect for just the two of us!

This depends on which floor plan you have. On my Mini Lite 2503S, leaving the bed down kind of impairs easy access from the door to the kitchen/dinette (although you could argue you can still use it).

So if you go TT, think about some other floor plan issues that may or may not be big deals to you:

1. Can you access the bathroom with the slide in? (I can)

2. Can you access the fridge with the slide in? (I can)

3. Can you sleep in it with the slide in? (I can't, unless I use the dinette.)

Good luck with your decision.

[HeyJude]

Originally Posted by DavidBo

Yours too?

Wish I knew how to post a photo. Mine is a long coated GS too! I have the dinette completely covered since he sheds so much.

[HeyJude]

Originally Posted by HeyJude

Wish I knew how to post a photo. Mine is a long coated GS too! I have the dinette completely covered since he sheds so much.

[IMG][/IMG]

[ddbck]

21SSL