How old were you - Fiberglass RV
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View Poll Results: 1st All fiberglass trailer
16-21 0 0%
22-25 3 1.34%
26-30 6 2.68%
31-35 14 6.25%
36-40 20 8.93%
41-45 20 8.93%
46-50 33 14.73%
51-55 47 20.98%
56-60 30 13.39%
61-65 27 12.05%
66-70 10 4.46%
71-75 6 2.68%
76-80 1 0.45%
81-85 0 0%
86-90 0 0%
91-95 0 0%
96-100 0 0%
100 + 1 0.45%
Don't have one yet 6 2.68%
Never will buy one 0 0%
Voters: 224. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 06-10-2009, 03:04 PM   #1
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What age were you when you bought your 1st all fiberglass camping trailer?
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Old 06-10-2009, 04:03 PM   #2
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I was about 57 years old. I got a 17ft Boler. From there i have had a 13ft Boler, 13ft Trillium, 12ft Compact J and a 17ft Escape.
Best built one was the Escape. Most fun was the 17ft Boler, Why----Because it was old and I could do all the mods I wanted with out worry because it was old.
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Old 06-10-2009, 05:24 PM   #3
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Personally, I started out as a tent camper, with family and friends. I got to see a few different sorts of RVs (truck campers, motorhomes, a few travel trailers) and see some of the pros and cons of those various rigs.
As time passed, I got tired of some of the limitations of tent camping. A large part of it was just getting tired of sleeping on the ground...hehe
I knew I didn't want some monstrous 'Taj Mahal' on wheels. I had already selected my vehicle of choice, my Honda CRV, and one of the deciding factors was that it did have a towing capacity, though small.

What were my major requirements for a rig? After much kicking around, I decided on these things:
1. A refrigerator of some sort-I'm not real crazy about having to deal with ice all the time, or your food goes bad. Its one thing if you're camped close to an ice source, but what if you're way out in the boondocks?
2. A bathroom of some sort-I've done my share of hiking out to a 'bush', or digging holes, and was pretty tired of that...lol I don't mind walking to the campground bathroom, even just a pit toilet, but at night, a bathroom is a wonderful thing.
3. A bed of some sort, hopefully not one that I have to inflate, or that can go flat in the middle of the night! hehe

First I considered a teardrop trailer. There were some great pros with a teardrop:
1. Small total weight, depending on how you equip it.
2. Very customizable, especially since many are homebuilt.
3. Again with the homebuilt factor, they can be pretty affordable, downright cheap sometimes!.
4. One would fit in my garage, negating the need for paid storage.

But on the con side, I'd still have to get dressed laying down, and there was no bathroom. Also, a refrigerator would be just about impossible. So what was my next option?
Well I'd seen a few tent trailers over the years. I knew I'd seen a few being towed by CRV's, so I looked into those rigs.

The reality was that ones small enough to be within my tow capacity were pretty rare, very seldom had a refrigerator, and never had permanent bathrooms. You just sort of hide your porta potty somewhere, and bring it out when you need it...
I did actually end up buying a tent trailer within my tow capacity, though it needed some work. It was actually quite a basket case, but I learned a lot about tent trailers from tinkering with it.
1. The lift systems, cable, chain, or whatever, can be rather fragile.
2. The canvas tent itself can be easily damaged by moisture in storage, and expensive to replace.
Overall, it just didn't seem like the rig I was hoping for after all.

And then, a friend of mine pointed out a Scamp, and how small tow vehicles seemed to tow these little marshmallow-looking trailers around without problems... So I did some research online, learned some about fiberglass rigs in general, and I liked what I saw. Granted, I still couldn't have a HUGE trailer, but there were some possibilities in my tow capacity. So I started looking...

I actually found my Compact II on Craigslist in the Sacramento area. Honestly I wasn't looking for a Compact at first, but (as a LOT of other people can agree with I'm sure!) there just didn't seem to be any rigs in my area that were anything near to what I wanted, or when there was one it was gone almost instantaneously... So I jumped on the ad for my Compact, and it was mine! It's really grown on me since I've had it, and I really enjoy it. It's not perfect of course, like so many of our rigs it's a work in progress, but it's a good little rig, and it's ALL MINE! hehe

Joe
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Old 06-10-2009, 06:32 PM   #4
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Our trailer was made in 1975, just like me.

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Old 06-10-2009, 06:55 PM   #5
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Our trailer was made in 1975, just like me.

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Old 06-10-2009, 07:06 PM   #6
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Hi: All... "Older 'n Dirt" Never liked the smell of wet canvas!!! 57 when we bought our '77 Boler
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Old 06-10-2009, 07:44 PM   #7
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I just bought my Boler a week and a half ago! It was born in 73 just like me!
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Old 06-10-2009, 07:55 PM   #8
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Quote:
[b]What age were you when you bought your 1st all fiberglass camping trailer?
I was 45, and Robert was 43. It was the summer of 2000, at an age of innocence.

We were tenters also. Robert still has the Green & Tan Canvas "Hillary" tent that he bought at Sears-Roebuck in the 1970's. We would buy air mattresses at WalMart that would last only 1 or 2 uses before they leaked and went flat in the middle of the night. I had been searching for a year, after my epiphany during a biannual family reunion trip to the group camp at Roman Nose State Park, Watonga, OK in 1999. I was actually looking for an Eriba Puck, but just missed buying a Compact II.

I decided to try to find a fixer-upper for cheap, and do it like Johnny Cash sang, That's how I happened upon my Compact Jr.
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Old 06-10-2009, 08:03 PM   #9
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DH and I were 29 and 28 respectively. We are some of the younger owners (since most our age go for the big rigs). We tent camped pre kids, and our first summer with dd1. We decided to get our Scamp last summer and have taken it out 3 times now and plan to get a ton more use out of it in the years to come.
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Old 06-10-2009, 08:50 PM   #10
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I was 68 and had retired just a year earlier. We had tent camped in most of the state parks of Texas but we got to old to get up and down in the tent and too there was a problem of the air mattress going flat in the middle of the night. We found our 86 Fiber Stream just two miles from where we live. It was just like it came from the factory, pretty much in pristine condition, with the exception the the refrigerator had been replaced. We have really enjoyed it.

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Old 06-10-2009, 08:59 PM   #11
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I guess we fit the majority vote so far and that is all I am going to say. We are not retired. We do not have grandchildren, but we are old enough that we could have them, except one child is unmarried and the other is kind of thinking of it but he and his wife are immersing themselves in a Lord of the Rings tour of New Zealand right now. They already bought the necessary minivan though.

I was not a tent camper. In fact, my son was dumbfounded when he found out we bought our first one. I never fished with the family or did lots of outdoors thing, because the bugs can be unmerciful to me. Now, I am a glamper, complete with a chandelier made of a trouble light and beads that we hang in the screen house that keeps out most bugs.

Our first fiberglass trailer, the Burro, was purchased with funds from my inheritance from my grandmother. The second trailer, the Uhaul, was purchased with the funds from the sale of the first trailer. It has changed our lives. We no longer wonder if we can afford a vacation trip. We just discuss where we are going. This year, we hit PA (I am into genealogy.), Plymouth, Cooperstown, Niagra Falls, and back to Ohio for a powwow.

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Old 06-11-2009, 12:01 AM   #12
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We worked up to it: 2 tents, 3 VW campers, 8 pop-ups, 3 stick builts and a year and a half ago our Casita. They were in random order. The first tent was in 1968. The second tent was intended to be used in conjunction with a boat, didn't work out. The boats were fun and the campers were fun, but at different times.
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Old 06-11-2009, 12:35 AM   #13
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It was born in 73 just like me!
I wonder if Donna's socks are that old?
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Old 06-11-2009, 05:41 AM   #14
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I wonder if Donna's socks are that old?
Older.
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Old 06-11-2009, 11:18 AM   #15
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Older.
LOL..............


This is a very interesting poll. What would be great to add to it, is Was it your first? Like Herb's camping history. But how many bought fiberglass for their first camping unit ( besides a tent) ? I am sure many of us have camping history, but think it would be neat to know who bought glass for their first. Actually all camping history is interesting. Robin
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Old 06-11-2009, 11:29 AM   #16
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Like several others, we also started out as tent campers. After sleeping on the ground (actually on ThermaRest self inflating pads) for 25 years we decided to "cave in" and bought cots. It was like sleeping on a cloud compared to the ground and we had extra storage space (under the cots) as an added benefit.

Because of having been caught in one too many gully washers in recent years, we had been exploring the possibility of purchasing a tear drop camper. I figured it was a reasonable way of keeping dry and maintaining the "integrity" of tent camping. On our inaugural voyage with the new cots in October 2007, we were riding our bikes through the park when my wife spotted a new Casita (still had the cardboard plates on it) and that's all it took. After researching the Casita on-line (in addtion to liking what we saw, the factory being only 55 miles from home was a major plus) we visited the showroom on a Saturday in January 2008, placed our order on Monday and took delivery on March 6.

The bottom line is that at age 62 and 61, we purchased our first RV. Our only regret is that the cots only got used once.

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Old 06-11-2009, 12:46 PM   #17
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LOL..............


This is a very interesting poll. What would be great to add to it, is Was it your first? Like Herb's camping history. But how many bought fiberglass for their first camping unit ( besides a tent) ? I am sure many of us have camping history, but think it would be neat to know who bought glass for their first. Actually all camping history is interesting. Robin
The Wonder Egg is my first trailer, ever. I recently told someone at the Oliver factory that they might have a problem with me, . . . it will likely be the last trailer I ever buy from them 'cause it will last a lifetime!!!
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Old 06-11-2009, 01:11 PM   #18
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The Wonder Egg is my first trailer, ever. I recently told someone at the Oliver factory that they might have a problem with me, . . . it will likely be the last trailer I ever buy from them 'cause it will last a lifetime!!!
Know what you mean Pete! Did you ever tent it? I remember reading your post about your Egg journey, but find it interesting that first timers look to glass unless just coming across one for sale cause if I remember correctly you really studied up on what you wanted to meet your needs. I guess once you start reading the features and benefits it's easy to get hooked.

Wow, egg's were the first for two so far. Interesting!
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Old 06-11-2009, 01:20 PM   #19
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Minimal tenting experience besides my years as a Boy Scout back a bizzillion years ago . . . as you said, I put some effort into finding the best way to go and glass was it for me (& the Smiley Dog)! It was not only the quality of molded fiberglass, but the quality of the FGRV community that was compelling.
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Old 06-11-2009, 02:33 PM   #20
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I guess this poll proves that people 46-65 are smarter.
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