Buying my first pop up !!!

[Stickbowonly]

Hello,

I have made my decision to purchase either the Rockwood A214 or HW296.
I live in Southwest Virginia, but plan on camping on the east coast at the beach.
Plus all over Virginia and Tennessee. My question is, would either camper hold up equally well in strong winds or strong thunder storms?

As a first time pop up owner, would one style be a better decision?

Thanks,

[michigan_camper]

I enjoy my hw296, but it looks like the other one you are looking at his hard-sided. I would expect that to hold up better in high winds.

[bikendan]

The A-frame would handle strong winds better than the canvas popup.

[HONDAMAN174]

It was frightening in our HW277 in a high wind storm where gusts were 50+. And in the few times that it rained while trying to pack to leave, we would have to open everything back up when getting home to let the canvas dry out and not grow mold.

[Blackrock]

I had a big canvas tented FR 19BSR popup several years ago that weathered many hard driving wind and rain storm with no leaks at all. Just be sure to tighten the end canvas good and snug and tuck everything in. Yeah it gets loud and wild but handled it ok.

[rlh1957]

No worse than wind gusts in a tent. It's part of the experience.

[BillyBass]

If you go with canvas make sure when looking at it from the inside out you cant see daylight.If so you will have a wind problem.I have seen a lot of them putting a tarp over the ends.

[dtptrson]

I have a Hw296, it holds up fine to wind driven rain and thunderstorms, I'm sure the hard side will be fine too. It's all a matter of preference, either will be a pain stetting up or taking down in the rain. If you don't have someplace to setup after you you come home to dry it out I'd go with the hard side, and if it's more than 2 people you're going to find the hard sided ones cramped.
If you plan on camping in hot sunny locations the hard sided will stay cooler provided you're hooked up to shore power, and if electric isn't available the Hw296 is better suited to catch a breeze. It all depends on where you plan on going camping.

Good luck

[drkaj1]

I have a Rockwood A192HW, which is a hard-side A-frame. It handles wind beautifully once it's set up. Quite rigid, tight, and strong. But, you don't want to try to set it up in high winds. The two roof sections have quite a bit of "lift" before the sidewalls are up and locked in. But, this whole process takes less than a minute once you get good at it. Plus, the insulation against heat and cool is basically comparable to the Flagstaff 26 footer I had before. So, I definitely recommend hard side over canvas.

[Dan n Gerda]

We had an Apache canvas pop up several years ago! Slept 6 adults! Everything but a shower and toilet! We had and used it on trips literally all over the USA! Every type of weather (rain, snow, hot sun, winds, and even ice! Camped up and down the East and West Coasts! We were assigned to Ft Lauderdale, FL and we donated our still like new (always garaged) pop anonymously to a homeless family after Hurricane Andrew decimated the Homestead area! Went back to a VW pop up camper after that! Finally saw the light in 2015 and bought our first RV. A Forester 25ft 2401 W Diesel. Our pop top Apache was our family step up from tent camping! It was great and never failed us!

[tomandtess]

Not sure where you are in southwest Virginia, but we live just south of Staunton, Va. We bought the Rockwood 214 High Wall a-frame brand new in 2016 from McGeorge’s in Ashland. We love it! We have had it all over the state of Virginia and last year we took it to Utah and visited five national parks and Dead Horse Point State Park. It tows beautifully with our Ram 1500 pickup. We have been in horrible storms (hard pounding rain, hail, and high winds) and it has always kept us safe and dry! The queen size bed is very comfortable and two of our five small grandchildren can fit on the fold down dinette bed if they happen to be with us. We can have it set up in less than a minute...of course, leveling and hook ups take time, but that’s true of any camper. But we can be inside of it in less than a minute. Ours has a dormer and the complete bathroom...glad we went that way too. Hope all goes well with your decision making! We will be camping at First Landing State Park in early fall! Can’t wait!

[OYO]

For me the big drawback of the canvas is getting/keeping it dry while stored. If you don't need the extra bunks the A-frame hands down:

Better in high wind
Less drafty
Easier setup/takedown

Just my biased opinion.

[rsdata]

Easier setup/takedown

A-frame

X2

put up or tear down in the rain is a PITA with pop-up

[Waterops1]

Originally Posted by Dan n Gerda

We had an Apache canvas pop up several years ago! Slept 6 adults! Everything but a shower and toilet! We had and used it on trips literally all over the USA! Every type of weather (rain, snow, hot sun, winds, and even ice! Camped up and down the East and West Coasts! We were assigned to Ft Lauderdale, FL and we donated our still like new (always garaged) pop anonymously to a homeless family after Hurricane Andrew decimated the Homestead area! Went back to a VW pop up camper after that! Finally saw the light in 2015 and bought our first RV. A Forester 25ft 2401 W Diesel. Our pop top Apache was our family step up from tent camping! It was great and never failed us!

Dan & Gerda, Great memories invoked by your talk of your Apache. My parents had a Silver Eagle back in the late 60s. That was a basic PU but gave me the bug. And, thinking of other unrelated posts, I don’t recall sawdust and other debris inside.