Some questions

[bosredsoxgirl79]

Hi! We are brand new to pop-up camping. I have only ever been tent camping. We just purchased a new Flagstaff 176ltd. I was wondering if anyone has any tips, tricks, advice. We will be taking it out on our maiden voyage next week.
Thanks!

[Falconer]

Set it up at home and spend the night in it, doing everything you'd do camping. See what makes you go "oh... we need this" or "we need to do this..."
Make the first trip reasonably close to home.
Check all your tire pressures every time you start driving for the day.
Give yourself plenty of time to get there, set up, figure things out, relax, etc.
Try to be wherever you're going well before dark so you have plenty of time to set up in the daylight.
Keep a notepad handy and write down the things that you missed.
Most important? Enjoy your time and experience. Even if things go a bit haywire, take it in stride and have fun doing it. First trip with a new camper is a blast!

Charlie

[bosredsoxgirl79]

Thank you, for your kind words and the great advice! We are so excited, especially the kids!

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by bosredsoxgirl79

Hi! We are brand new to pop-up camping. I have only ever been tent camping. We just purchased a new Flagstaff 176ltd. I was wondering if anyone has any tips, tricks, advice. We will be taking it out on our maiden voyage next week.
Thanks!

FRF is a great forum so please don't take this the wrong way.

[Bob414]

During the home test, make a checklist on setup and tear down. When you go out follow the checklist. This will prevent accidental problems if your memory fails after a week, or 50.

Bob

[imp81318]

I saw someone else mentioned PopUp Gizmos. I highly recommend them - they really do wonders for keeping temps down in the heat of the summer and for keeping moisture from building up and dripping on you while sleeping on cool/damp nights.

The only other piece of advice I really have is to make sure the canvas and everything is 100% dry when you pack it up, and ALWAYS store something in it to pull the moisture out of the air - damrid or something similar. We bought a used popup to get started 2 years ago that smelled musty/mildewy at the dealership. We made the mistake of listening to the dealer and believing it was just because it had been closed up all winter and hadn't been thoroughly cleaned yet. After getting it home and camping a few times we developed mildew and black mold in the one corner of the canvas and on the tent end. No matter what we've done to clean it, it always comes back in the same spots and we've tried everything we can think of. I believe that as long as you keep it dry inside and don't let anything start to develop you'll be fine and don't mean to scare you (we are trading that pup in on a new HW296 this week), but just a word of caution.

As others have said, leave plenty of time to get setup and plan something quick for dinner your first night, at least until you get the hang of setting it up. Our system is that I set up the pup and once I have it opened up my wife unpacks our gear into it and puts everything away for the weekend while I start working on the fire (our son is taking over this job). Loading our stuff into it takes as long or longer than opening it up so allow time for that as well when considering when you'll realistically be able to start cooking.

[formerFR]

"you don't know what you don't know until you don't know it...", a fancy RV saying : )

really, you won't know 'what' questions to ask us until YOU have gone out in the driveway and stayed several days and nights WITHOUT going back into the house for ANYTHING...you'll have many questions, then.

[CurtPutnam]

Welcome from SoCal!
You have some good advice above. In particular, the parts about get there in plenty of time to set up without stress - because camping is fun, not stress. If you have trouble figuring out some system or other while driveway camping, video the proper sequence when you do get it figured out.

[DogMan635]

Originally Posted by bosredsoxgirl79

Hi! We are brand new to pop-up camping. I have only ever been tent camping. We just purchased a new Flagstaff 176ltd. I was wondering if anyone has any tips, tricks, advice. We will be taking it out on our maiden voyage next week.
Thanks!

Here is a VIDEO that will walk you through the setup. But do it at home first before going to a campground. You may need something or it may have stuff inside you do not want on the trip.

https://www.google.com/search?ei=L47...sclient=psy-ab

[Geobound]

I'd suggest a swear jar, it's amazing how quickly you can upgrade your trailer with the money you've added into it!

The biggest issue I think you will have if you're not used to it, is towing a trailer and then learning how to back it up into your site.

Trailer sway can be a scary thing if you've never encountered it before, so take your time a drive within your comfort zone, not what the people behind you want you to do.

As for backing up into your site.......everybody had to learn at some point, so don't panic if it takes you several attempts to get it where you want it as we've all been there before.

Also don't forget the nice cold beverage when you are done setting everything up, it will likely be the best tasting drink you will have all week long.

[bosredsoxgirl79]

Thank you so much everyone! You have all given GREAT advice! We will be taking out maiden voyage next week! We have been practicing in the yard. The kids and I even had a couple practice campouts. Thank you all for the great advice!

[HarrynSally]

One more thing to add that I have learned is once you have backed into the site and have it where you want it the first thing is plug in the power cord and check see if the power pole is working correctly before you set everything up and then have to move! Or use a volt meter to check for power!

[bosredsoxgirl79]

Good thinking! That would stink to be all set up and it not work. Thanks for the tip!

[OYO]

+1 on the check list. We've been doing this for five years and still use it everytime. Won't put the truck in gear without it.

Enjoy!