Hello - looking for my first fiberglass trailer

[AndyF]

I'm new to this forum and trailers. When my kids were kids, we car camped - set up a tent within walking distance of our car and camped at the campground.

I am test driving retirement this year and if it agrees with me will continue with it. I've wanted to see the national parks and much of the US and Canada for a long time and am considering getting a trailer and taking some longer trips with my partner.

I'm looking for a fiberglass trailer that will be good for 3 season travel and OK for some long trips and have decided it is time to stop lurking on this site and start participating and asking questions.

[EricAllyn]

Welcome! You'll get a lot of good ideas here. Retirement is great! We too are planning on seeing the National Parks. Have a plan for the Washington/Oregon/Northern Cal. parks in August. Hope you find what you are looking for.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by AndyF

I'm new to this forum and trailers. When my kids were kids, we car camped - set up a tent within walking distance of our car and camped at the campground.

I am test driving retirement this year and if it agrees with me will continue with it. I've wanted to see the national parks and much of the US and Canada for a long time and am considering getting a trailer and taking some longer trips with my partner.

I'm looking for a fiberglass trailer that will be good for 3 season travel and OK for some long trips and have decided it is time to stop lurking on this site and start participating and asking questions.

Welcome Andy. Do you have an idea of the size of trailer you will be looking for, and what features you want? It's also handy to know what you intend to tow it with. That helps narrow down your options.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by AndyF

I'm new to this forum and trailers. When my kids were kids, we car camped - set up a tent within walking distance of our car and camped at the campground.

I am test driving retirement this year and if it agrees with me will continue with it. I've wanted to see the national parks and much of the US and Canada for a long time and am considering getting a trailer and taking some longer trips with my partner.

I'm looking for a fiberglass trailer that will be good for 3 season travel and OK for some long trips and have decided it is time to stop lurking on this site and start participating and asking questions.

for us, having a shower+toilet was a must, so that eliminated the 13' models.

for 2 up travel, the Casitas are hard to beat for price and comfort. they are very cozy. if you are 6' or taller, you'll want the 17, if you're smaller the 16 is probably fine. I'm 6' if I stretch but more like 5'11 if I slouch, and the 16 was tall enough. the 17's have larger water+holding tanks,at least as an option.

the main reason we upgraded from our 16 is we're both kinda plus sized, and whomever is on the inside has to climb over whomever is on the outside for those midnight bathroom runs. so I ended up sleeping in the dinette converted to a 2nd bed, which is kinda narrow (24") so I ended up making a 30" wide platform for it and a different mattress, but this means we couldn't use the dinette. normally we sit outside, anyways, but in bad weather...

our upgrade is the Escape 21. considerably more expensive, better insulated, much nicer full queen bed, larger dinette, much bigger fridge, bigger water and holding tanks, and dual 6V golf cart battery instead of a single marine/rv battery, whihc will make it much better for extended dry camping. oh and ours has an actual oven, which likely will get way more use than the microwave. Its about 1000 lbs heavier tow than the Casita, but my Tacoma handled it nicely. I would not want to tow a camper with a FWD based crossover or minivan.

[Gerry]

Welcome to the group Andy, There is no such thing as a perfect trailer for everyone and it all depends on the $$$ you want for the luxuries or needs you prefer.
The wife and I love our 79 Boler 13 footer and it fits all our needs as we need them...
We cook outside 99% of the time and we always try to get a site close to the restrooms.

If you can, find a rally that is being held, go take a look at some models. The owners are most always glad to show off their campers.

If you do get a camper by next spring, Come on over my Spring Fling in New England Rally set for May 17 - 20 (see under Rally section)

Happy hunting...

[AndyF]

Thanks for the welcome.

In my internet research, the Escape 21 seems to be the best fit so far, between being reasonably small for towing and large enough to be comfortable for a longer trip. We have a lot of looking to do still, especially in terms of finding trailers close enough to us that we can actually touch and walk through to see how they feel. I'm 6'1" and would prefer not to be bent over in the trailer, so one with sufficient headroom and a large enough bed - ideally queen size - is on the wish list. I also live in Central NY and contemplate some fall trips in the Adirondacks and New England as well as longer trips that will bring me through areas where it might be below freezing occasionally, so a trailer with a real 3 season capability is also on the wish list.

As for a tow vehicle, I am considering either a Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon or possibly a Silverado. I have a F350 XL extended cab that I use on the farm for chores now which is bigger and more truck like than I want for vacation travel, but I still like the idea of an open vehicle for chore work when I'm not travelling, so will probably get another pick up rather than an SUV.

When we travel, we'll probably be packing our bicycles and canoes/kayaks also, so will want to have a tow vehicle with the room and oomph to handle both the trailer and the associated toys.

[Jon in AZ]

Sounds like you are on the right track. You might want to join the Escape owner's forum as well- that's where the family laundry is aired, so to speak.

Meantime, welcome to this forum, and I wish you well in your trailer hunt and retirement travel!

[JBB]

Welcome Andy and good luck on your search. There are a lot of campers out there to choose from. We had looked at Scamp, Casita, Parkliner, and Prolite before we decided on our Snoozy. We went as far as almost ordering a Scamp but my husband's height was the issue with it. At the time we had a older SUV that limited our towing. Since we upgraded our TV last year, the Snoozy met our needs. Picked ours up last September and love it! Have fun on your search!

[thrifty bill]

Escape 21 is an excellent choice. I would get a full sized half ton truck to pull it. I use an F150 to pull my Escape 19. I'd rather have a little extra in reserve than to max out my tow vehicle.

I am retired too, and we tend to take longer trips. On such trips, we see a lot of variation in terrain, pulling long steep grades. Realize its not just the towing conditions in your region. If you have the travel bug, you will likely travel well outside your area of the country.

On our last long trip, we saw temperatures from 25 F (Yellowstone) to 105F (St George, UT).

I would consider a truck camper top with a roof rack to hold canoes/kayaks/whatever. I store bicycles inside the camper top. As you load up the tow vehicle with "stuff" you can run out of payload capacity. The more options on your truck, the faster you run out. Our F150 Lariat has much less available payload than an F150 XL model. Fortunately, we are still fine capacity wise, but payload is something to watch out for.

A rally is a good place to check out units. We went to a rally shortly after buying a Casita, which introduced us to an Escape. No perfect trailer out there, but the Escape fits us much better.

[rbryan]

I think the Colorado long bed with the 3.6L and the towing package (you mentioned it in another thread) will do ok with a 21. I much prefer an F150, but I admit my bias. Just a superb truck.

[ZachO]

Height will be, as people pointed out, one of the bigger considerations. And if you're looking in the range of 21', that further narrows it down. You're pretty much looking at an Escape, or a Bigfoot. The others top out at 16-17', with the exception of the Scamp 5th wheel, which may not be the way you want to go.

[bookernoe]

Lots of good advice above, but the best two were 'go to a Rally's (we have a big one in FL next weekend (Jan12-15)); and don't skimp on the tow vehicle. There was a well written piece somewhere about how we tend "upgrade" our trailers, but just buy 'enough' towing capacity. We are currently in a 17' Casita Liberty Deluxe, and upgraded from a Honda Pilot (adequate) to a Nissan Titan (overkill) and love it. We actually get better towing mileage with the V8. GO SEE SOME TRAILERS. It's all guess work until you do. Good used ones sell very fast, so it is much easier once you know exactly what you want. My number one advice is to recognize that you really live outdoors. Inside is for sleeping and (perhaps) the restroom. Best of luck!

[k0wtz]

good luck andy sounds like you have a plan. we were confirmed tent guys been tenting to Europe 4x nothing like it but our age has caught up with us.

now a 13f scamper no b/r get along just fine.

have fun

bob

[WaltP]

Originally Posted by ZachO

Height will be, as people pointed out, one of the bigger considerations. And if you're looking in the range of 21', that further narrows it down. You're pretty much looking at an Escape, or a Bigfoot. The others top out at 16-17', with the exception of the Scamp 5th wheel, which may not be the way you want to go.

There's (at least) one more 21' out there, the Oliver. High quality and accordingly rather pricey.
You don't say how many you want to sleep in your trailer, but for one or two there are used 13' Casitas out there with a wet bathroom, same size as in the 16'. They stopped making those recently due to lack of demand.

Walt

[ZachO]

It's true, I rarely think about, and don't really know much about Olivers.

[John in Santa Cruz]

The Olivers are 8 feet wide (as are the bigfoots). my Escape is 7 feet wide, my Casita is 6 feet wide. my Tacoma is 6 feet wide. the Tacoma can pull the Escape OK with mirror extenders, but i'd want a larger vehicle to pull an Oliver or Bigfoot.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

The Olivers are 8 feet wide (as are the bigfoots). my Escape is 7 feet wide, my Casita is 6 feet wide.

Olivers are not 8 feet wide. They're 7 feet wide (outside). The inside width is 6'7". Also, Casitas are 6'8" wide, not 6 feet.

Escapes vary in width depending on the model. The 17 is 6'8", the 19 is 7 feet, the 21 and 5.0TA are 7'4".

[Tom 72]

Two good ways to view molded fiberglass trailers:
Rallies, at regional campgrounds. I think I've seen some listed here in the margins.
Also, most manufacturers will refer you to owners nearby willing to show theirs.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Olivers are not 8 feet wide. They're 7 feet wide (outside). The inside width is 6'7". Also, Casitas are 6'8" wide, not 6 feet.

Escapes vary in width depending on the model. The 17 is 6'8", the 19 is 7 feet, the 21 and 5.0TA are 7'4".

it sure seems like the escape is signficant;y wider than the casita.... casita 16, I needed no towing mirror extensions to see around it with my Tacoma. I bet its only 6'8 at the band, since it tapers in above and below the band.. the escape, even my 2014 (original, not the new updated one) seems much more slab sided

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

it sure seems like the escape is signficant;y wider than the casita.... casita 16, I needed no towing mirror extensions to see around it with my Tacoma. I bet its only 6'8 at the band, since it tapers in above and below the band.. the escape, even my 2014 (original, not the new updated one) seems much more slab sided

All the width specs are from the widest point (in this case the belly band). The Casita shell does have more radius at the top than Escapes have. Also, the original Escapes do have flat sides, even though tapered toward the top and bottom from the band and not vertical from the band as in the 2nd gen models. The Casita sides have a constant curve. Perhaps that's what you were seeing.