Regret buying a Hybrid?

[bakken]

Originally Posted by bikendan

this is stated all the time. but rarely has anyone actually posted the name of the campgrounds that supposedly have this policy. the few that are posted are usually back-country campgrounds that RV's can't get to.

Yellowstone is most often mentioned, regarding such a ban, yet the ONLY campground in YNP that has a permanent ban on soft-sided campers, is Fishing Bridge.
Bridge Bay CG, which is virtually across the road from there, has no such ban. in fact, soft-sided campers are allowed in every other YNP campground, except Fishing Bridge.

now, there might be a temporary ban due to bear activity but that would also ban tent campers.

I was just there, and was talking to the campground host at a national forest campground a few miles from the east gate to Yellowstone. They had two bear contacts in the last week, one tranquilized by the rangers and the other bear-sprayed by a camper.

[bakken]

The thing is, even if there wasn't an outright ban on tents and soft-sided campers, would you really want to expose yourself to that risk?
At the Buffalo Bill museum, they had a presentation on grizzlies, and showed a tin-sided camper opened up like a sardine can. So just how much protection would canvas provide?
I am not bashing hybrids, popups, or tents. Simply stating the obvious.
Accept it or not, everyone's personal choice.

[bikendan]

first, if a bear wants into a RV, doesn't matter if it's canvas or hard-sided, a grizzly can get into both. i don't think a filon-sided RV will be that much harder than canvas. but plenty of tent campers stay in these areas and they're even easier to get into.

second, my comment was about Yellowstone, not Nat. Forest CG's, which tend to be in more backcountry areas.
i think the last grizzly death was a tent camper in a Nat. Forest CG, near the YNP entrance.

i had no issues or fears when we stayed in YNP, at Madison and Grant and Canyon. plenty of popups, tent campers and hybrids there, along with MH's, 5th Wheels and TT's.
as long as we followed park bear policies, we were good.

[bakken]

[PHS79]

We had a Kodiak K215 that we sold about 1.5 yrs ago when we bought our Grey Wolf 26BH. We really liked the little Kodiak, it was light weight, the beds didn't take up any of the valuable floor space and yet still had most of the features of a bigger hardsided TT or 5er.

But for us the cons out weighed the pros.

90% of the time we were comfortable with the temps inside the hybrid, but there were 3-4 days/nights a year that either the A/C or the heater just couldn't keep up with the temps outside. Also the fact that our DD is a very light sleeper, we ended up with a crabby kid ALOT because with the canvas ends the noise just came right in and woke her up.

So a hybrid just wasn't for us.

[John4th]

We traded in our 2008 Trail Cruiser C191 hybrid for a 2014 Wildwood 261BHXL this past June. The Trail Cruiser was a good camper, solid little trailer. We got it when our TV was a Dodge Dakota. Unfortunately, the Dakota was too much trouble to keep running and costing us $200-$1000 a month in repairs, so upgraded to a Tundra. But between the Dakotaand the lightness of the Trail Cruiser, we felt it was the best fit at that time. We knew we were going to upgrade to a TT eventually, and after getting the Tundra that just sort of accelerated things.
We did love that little camper, we thought it was a very nice unit for a first camper. Lots of storage, totally self contained, and very light. Plus our son was only 2 and our daughter was still baking in the oven when we got it. So thoses memories made that trailer somewhat special. I remember the day I brought it home to get the rest of our stuff out before we went up to the dealership later that day to do the trade. Stood inside that thing, could hear the kids voices, seeing my daughter rolling around in the front bunk as a chubby little 4 year old. Oh what memories. Be darned if my eyes didn't well up. To make a little more hard, as we left the dealer with the new trailer, there was ours, they had it opened up, and as we drove by my son says "Bye old camper, we still love you."
I don't regret it at all, but I don't miss the minor leaks in the front bunk when closed up. Could never get that to stop. Rear bunk never leaked. My wife was tired of making beds and tearing them down, and I was tired more so of opening and closing the ends, and putting the solar covers on. It was time to move up.

I don't regret buying a hybrid, but I also don't regret trading it in. Heck, the Wildwood was over $500 less than the Trail Cruiser was when new. Not bad. But that's how it is for me. If your wife is really preferring a TT, and you have a capable TV, you might go her way. Heck, you can always pack a tent and set it up by the trailer if the CG will let you.

[John4th]

Ok, meant to say my daughter was a chubby little 4 MONTH old rolling around on the front bunk. Whoops.

[Prothos]

Everyone that i know here in Texas have not enjoyed them. The summers are just to hot for the ac to keep up. Had one person i know that ended up leaving the beds folded up and slept on the dinett/bed

[John4th]

You'll see a lot of them here in Indiana. I've noticed it is a regional kind of camper.

[miatared]

We love our Shamrock 19.

Feels like a 24 footer when it's all set up.

Love to open the ends on warm nights and feel like sleeping on a floating bed in the forest. For us it's as close as you can get to camping as it gets, while still having the comforts of home.

We do not do private campgrounds we only do provincial or state parks. We like nature and peaceful surroundings.

Had a few little issues, but less than many friends with standard boxed-in travel trailers.

No regrets whatsoever.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Prothos

Everyone that i know here in Texas have not enjoyed them. The summers are just to hot for the ac to keep up. Had one person i know that ended up leaving the beds folded up and slept on the dinett/bed

I have to respectfully disagree.
Being on numerous Hybrid forums, for the past 9 years, i know of many happy Texas and Florida hybrid owners.
But they have educated themselves on how to make the canvas ends stay and retain the coolness.
PUG's and Reflectix are the most common cures.
And i'm sure that there are lots of happy Texas popup owners, which are even harder to keep cool.

[RedStick]

Happy Texan with a Roo 23ss here. We've camped a few nights over the last couple of months - the pugs are wonderful and help greatly. I've not yet purchased the reflectix but will probably do so prior to our next trip.

We've made sure to plan our summer camping with swimming in mind - too much fun swimming at the lake, or canoeing around, taking a dip here and there. The wife and I agree that water must be a primary focus during the hot summer months, the rest is gravy.

[Prothos]

Originally Posted by bikendan

I have to respectfully disagree.
Being on numerous Hybrid forums, for the past 9 years, i know of many happy Texas and Florida hybrid owners.
But they have educated themselves on how to make the canvas ends stay and retain the coolness.
PUG's and Reflectix are the most common cures.
And i'm sure that there are lots of happy Texas popup owners, which are even harder to keep cool.

well i did say everyone i know. and that being about 7 hybird owners or past owners. i have talked to a few at variuos places while shopping for an rv that was trading there's in. im sure there are plenty of owners that like them here.

[John4th]

We never had trouble staying cool during the heat wave last summer. At Lake Rudolph I swear it hit 110. We always used the Pop Up Gizmos Solar Covers on the ends. I always felt they really helped. The AC had no issues keeping the trailer cool, but it was working hard.

[inluv4life]

We own an 18' surveyor hybrid here in sunny(and hot) central Florida. I love camping during summer! It's my favorite season for staying at the beach or the springs. Our ac keeps our unit real cold. In fact I put the baby to sleep in fleece pajamas because he will freeze without! And the rest of us sleep in sweats. Whatever temp keeps my hubby happy. Lol Maybe we don't have the temp issues in the bunk ends because our trailer is so small. Which if I did have a complaint, it would be the size. It gets kinda cramped during long rains with 3 kids bouncing around. Happy camping!

[bb920]

We have had a 21 foot Kodiak since 2006, we loved it. Being short (only 5'3'') the putting up of the sides was the biggest challange. We never had a leak. It was very light to tow. Moving up to a Class C this week. Looking forward to having new challanges.