A214HW no longer with hard side bathroom?

[VailDan]

Hey Guys,

I had ordered a Rockwood pop-up 214HW that normally has the hard-sided wooden pop-up bathroom. I was informed later that all the 2021 ones are now using a canvas shower tent instead of the fold-up wood frame around the wet bath. I do understand that there were some maintenance issues with the wooden frame, but really wanted that because it feels more private, etc. I canceled my order when I was informed of the change. Has anyone heard if this is just temporary because the buyer demand is so high?, and possible change in 2022 models? I might try to track down a used one, but was really disappointed and would have rather had the other 2021 model with the bathroom because the layout of the table, etc is a lot better because not over the wheel well, etc.

[GalsofEscape]

since the curtain surround is now on website (as seen on the 360 view for the HW296 and HW277) - it does not look very temporary.

[pgandw]

I think the OP is talking about an A-frame pop-up. Rockwood A214HW (and the Flagstaff equivalent) is indeed the one Forest River A-frame with the inside toilet/shower combo.

Roberts RV in Denver has a web site discussing the various Flagstaff models and layouts. They don't like the A214HW because the dinette has zero legroom due to the intrusion of the wheel well. Roberts RV can probably tell you whether the soft enclosure is permanent - they have an inside track with Flagstaff on pop-ups and A-frames because of their volume (and they sell nothing else).

We have the A213HW (Flagstaff T21TBHW). We realized that the inside shower was not worth all the other design compromises when we looked at our style of camping. The A213 has the installed cassette potty with the removable waste container you can easily dump into a toilet anywhere. It's plumbed into the camper water supply. DW fitted a shower curtain that goes across from roof latch to roof latch for a little privacy when we want it. The dinette sits 3, and is a usable bed for 1 adult.

On 3 day trips, we generally do without showers, although almost all Colorado State Parks have showers. On longer trips, we generally shower every other day if available. Forest Service campgrounds in Colorado usually have vault toilets and no showers - the price we pay for being in the forest. If we get desperate (haven't yet) there's always the outside shower in our swim suits with a mat of some kind to stand on.

The dormer is so much nicer than the bubble windows in the front end of the A-frame (as long as you are less than 6' 4"). The high walls give you a larger fridge, much more comfortable height counter tops and microwave, and more headroom at the rear of the rear bed.

I prefer the lighter weight and easier handling of the non-HW A-frames, but the extra comfort and room inside and extra outside storage makes the A213HW more practical for extended trips when I retire later this year.

just our experiences
Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by pgandw

I think the OP is talking about an A-frame pop-up. Rockwood A214HW (and the Flagstaff equivalent) is indeed the one Forest River A-frame with the inside toilet/shower combo.

Roberts RV in Denver has a web site discussing the various Flagstaff models and layouts. They don't like the A214HW because the dinette has zero legroom due to the intrusion of the wheel well. Roberts RV can probably tell you whether the soft enclosure is permanent - they have an inside track with Flagstaff on pop-ups and A-frames because of their volume (and they sell nothing else).

We have the A213HW (Flagstaff T21TBHW). We realized that the inside shower was not worth all the other design compromises when we looked at our style of camping. The A213 has the installed cassette potty with the removable waste container you can easily dump into a toilet anywhere. It's plumbed into the camper water supply. DW fitted a shower curtain that goes across from roof latch to roof latch for a little privacy when we want it. The dinette sits 3, and is a usable bed for 1 adult.

On 3 day trips, we generally do without showers, although almost all Colorado State Parks have showers. On longer trips, we generally shower every other day if available. Forest Service campgrounds in Colorado usually have vault toilets and no showers - the price we pay for being in the forest. If we get desperate (haven't yet) there's always the outside shower in our swim suits with a mat of some kind to stand on.

The dormer is so much nicer than the bubble windows in the front end of the A-frame (as long as you are less than 6' 4"). The high walls give you a larger fridge, much more comfortable height counter tops and microwave, and more headroom at the rear of the rear bed.

I prefer the lighter weight and easier handling of the non-HW A-frames, but the extra comfort and room inside and extra outside storage makes the A213HW more practical for extended trips when I retire later this year.

just our experiences
Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

Listen to Fred, he's our resident A-frame guru.[emoji6]

[CampChaos]

Originally Posted by VailDan

Hey Guys,

I had ordered a Rockwood pop-up 214HW that normally has the hard-sided wooden pop-up bathroom. I was informed later that all the 2021 ones are now using a canvas shower tent instead of the fold-up wood frame around the wet bath. I do understand that there were some maintenance issues with the wooden frame, but really wanted that because it feels more private, etc. I canceled my order when I was informed of the change. Has anyone heard if this is just temporary because the buyer demand is so high?, and possible change in 2022 models? I might try to track down a used one, but was really disappointed and would have rather had the other 2021 model with the bathroom because the layout of the table, etc is a lot better because not over the wheel well, etc.

I was recently looking at the new 2021 HW tent campers and was going to take a trip to look at one..... Until I began to look closer at the images and noticed that it had the shower curtain wrap around. I thought maybe it was just temporary. But I reached out to Rockwood and asked about it. They will no longer be making the wetbaths with the hard wall enclosure. I guess they have had too many problems with them.



So now I am trying to find used HWs between 2018 and 2020. A needle in a haystack in Wisconsin for a HW of any year. Hopefully the closer to spring it gets, the more some will become available. *crossing fingers*

[pgandw]

Could this be moved to the A-frame forum where it belongs?

Fred W

[Mrhavi]

We purchased a 2020 hw296 I am so glad we got it when we did when I saw that they removed the hard side shower both my wife and I were dismayed couldn't believe they would do that the things they do reduced to save a Buck is ridiculous they need to re visit this because we do believe it will definitely hurt their sales I know myself I would not have bought this if it did not have the hard shower very important fixture in this unit good luck with you as I hope everything goes well. Good luck

[OYO]

Originally Posted by Mrhavi

We purchased a 2020 hw296 I am so glad we got it when we did when I saw that they removed the hard side shower both my wife and I were dismayed couldn't believe they would do that the things they do reduced to save a Buck is ridiculous they need to re visit this because we do believe it will definitely hurt their sales I know myself I would not have bought this if it did not have the hard shower very important fixture in this unit good luck with you as I hope everything goes well. Good luck

I suspect they do sales analysis. We didn't purchase the A214HW just because it had the shower (2016). A waste of space in our opinion. We went with the A213HW, no dormer, no shower. But we would have loved the dormer. Now the 213 has the dormer, no shower (i thnk). Oh well.

And as usual: Fred is right. This should be in the A-frame forum.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by pgandw

Could this be moved to the A-frame forum where it belongs?

Fred W

Done

[OYO]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Done

Thanks. Missed that.

[PopupCamping]

We have a HW276 and not an A frame but we are definitely fans of the hard side vs just the shower curtain. It might not seem like that much of a difference to some but we really appreciate having it.

[VailDan]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Nice to know that I am not the only one that really wanted the nicer wetbath with the wooden shower. To me it made all the difference and that is why I canceled the order. I just often go to parks and am out hiking, biking, or jogging and soaked and nice to have that better shower/more private toliet option when needed. Just wished they would have waited one more year before removing that feature, and I would have been sorted.

[supercoyote]

Wouldn't it be easy to put a piece of wood with a hinge in its place? We had a starcraft 1235 with a cassette toilet and shower that just has a canvas curtain, but I was going to add a lid like the Rockwoods seem to have to turn it into a seating area in the mean time. Am I missing something?

[VailDan]

SuperCoyote - I am not the best at rigging an attached wooden frame that has a water-tight door, and the unit folds down smoothly and quickly when needed. It sucks because they had that feature in the same models for the past few years. I really was excited about buying one and now looking at basecamps and trailers that do not fit into garage

[cdnred]

I haven't looked into to this close enough but if the only change was with the curtain, would it be possible to order the wood components from last years model and have them installed. Might not be worth all that effort but at least you'd be able to have the same shower design that you were looking for..? Finding an older model with this feature may be difficult to find..