TrailManor Owner's Forum - View Single Post

Mr. Adventure · 05-15-2008, 10:14 AM

Over the years, we've owned 3 popups, 1 standard travel trailer, a 37 foot Winnebago, and the TrailManor. We've used our RV's to go all over, in lots of different kinds of family adventures.

The advantage of the popup is that's lighter and a lot less expensive. They also can have king sized beds without the weight and length of a big TrailManor.

The disadvantages of a popup versus a Trailmanor:
Canvas:
- Canvas is thin. Issues include noise from other campers, light (headlights at night and the sunlight holds reville for you in the early morning), and it's easily damaged and sometimes hard to repair. And yes, there are potential security issues, but we never experienced any problems.
- Canvas is uninsulated. It gets lots of condensation on the inside when the heat is on, it lets heat out in the winter, and lets lots of heat in in the summer sunshine. Temperature control is harder.
- You have humidity management problems inside. When you camp in cold weather or the rain, your bed tends to get wet around the edges.
- If you're out in wet conditions, you have to dry a popup out before you put it away in order to avoid mildew and mold in the trailer.
- When you set up or fold down in the rain, it's hard to keep the beds dry.

Other things:
- Popups used to not be fully self contained, with hot/cold water and gray/black holding tanks (but maybe they do now).
- Most popups have relatively primitive stoves, ovens, sinks, drawers and cabinets.
- No popup bathroom was ever able to pass the DW test, although eventually there could be one, of course.
- The TrailManor awning, roof, sides, doors, and windows are more like what you'd see in larger and more comfortable RV's. The insulated TM walls are better than most other kinds of RV's.
- Popups still use a lot of wood in construction. Trailers can get wet in storage, and wet wood rots.
- Popups do not hold up as well as most other RV's. TrailManors hold up much better than most RV's.

Would we do a popup again? No, because we've gone soft these days, and our budget is better than when we were younger. But when we had young kids, we had a wonderful time camping with them in popups. The motorhome was a great RV, but the cost of gas makes it a park model. The TrailManor is a perfect compromise, where you can be on the road with 16-20mpg in the vehicle you'd otherwise drive to work.

05-15-2008, 10:14 AM	#9
Mr. Adventure TrailManor Master Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Williamsburg, VA Posts: 668	Popup vs Trailmanor Over the years, we've owned 3 popups, 1 standard travel trailer, a 37 foot Winnebago, and the TrailManor. We've used our RV's to go all over, in lots of different kinds of family adventures. The advantage of the popup is that's lighter and a lot less expensive. They also can have king sized beds without the weight and length of a big TrailManor. The disadvantages of a popup versus a Trailmanor: Canvas: - Canvas is thin. Issues include noise from other campers, light (headlights at night and the sunlight holds reville for you in the early morning), and it's easily damaged and sometimes hard to repair. And yes, there are potential security issues, but we never experienced any problems. - Canvas is uninsulated. It gets lots of condensation on the inside when the heat is on, it lets heat out in the winter, and lets lots of heat in in the summer sunshine. Temperature control is harder. - You have humidity management problems inside. When you camp in cold weather or the rain, your bed tends to get wet around the edges. - If you're out in wet conditions, you have to dry a popup out before you put it away in order to avoid mildew and mold in the trailer. - When you set up or fold down in the rain, it's hard to keep the beds dry. Other things: - Popups used to not be fully self contained, with hot/cold water and gray/black holding tanks (but maybe they do now). - Most popups have relatively primitive stoves, ovens, sinks, drawers and cabinets. - No popup bathroom was ever able to pass the DW test, although eventually there could be one, of course. - The TrailManor awning, roof, sides, doors, and windows are more like what you'd see in larger and more comfortable RV's. The insulated TM walls are better than most other kinds of RV's. - Popups still use a lot of wood in construction. Trailers can get wet in storage, and wet wood rots. - Popups do not hold up as well as most other RV's. TrailManors hold up much better than most RV's. Would we do a popup again? No, because we've gone soft these days, and our budget is better than when we were younger. But when we had young kids, we had a wonderful time camping with them in popups. The motorhome was a great RV, but the cost of gas makes it a park model. The TrailManor is a perfect compromise, where you can be on the road with 16-20mpg in the vehicle you'd otherwise drive to work.