slide-in popup camper w/ 2 horse trailer or GN

[TPCDrafting]

The wife and I are trying to decide if we want to keep our good 2-horse BP trailer and get a slide-in pop-up camper OR sell the trailer and get a GN trailer with a weekender type package. The GN route is going to be much more expensive initially, but we have pulled several GN's and prefer the way they handle. With a slide in camper, we'd get more ammenities for camping. Anybody had both? Which is best?



We want to be able to take the horses and go camping, period.

 

[wyosteve]

tpc, my . 02-- I have had the same dilemna. I didn't like the slide in/bumper pull idea because the GN pulls so much better. BUT I also know, as do you, that the GN w/ living quarters are mucho dinero. So I went with a GN that has an enclosed tack room in the front sealed off from the rear horse area. It has sliding windows and screens on each side plus one in the door. 2 can sleep in the gn part in comfort. Most cooking & eating is done outside. Can change clothes, stay dry and warm inside, use the porta potti if the need arises. It more than suffices especially if it's only a 2-4 day trip. Cost of a new gn this way is probably similar to what a camper and bp would run. Let me know if you'd like to see mine.

 

[VicR]

There are a lot of advantages and a lot of disadvantages with a slide-in pop-up. We have one and love it - very easy and no hassle to take it anywhere. Very handy for weekend trips, etc. If you are going to take the horses on all of your trips, the GN probably has more comforts. But if you ever plan on doing some trips w/o the horses, you can't beat the convenience of a pop-up. Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions.



-Vic

 

[TPCDrafting]

Thanks for the input guys. Vic, do you have a slide in for a short bed or do you just have the 8 footer and travel with the tailgate down? I would have to go with a camper setup for a shortbed so I can still pull a trailer behind. I'm finding it hard to locate one in my immediate area so I can take a look. I'm wondering if the 6' slide in is worth anything or even has enough "ammenities" to make it worth while. We are still undecided, but we're not necessarily in a hurry either. I was a bit shocked when I started calling around and getting prices for slide-ins. It's not much more to go with a GN with living quarters. I can take a GN camping even if I'm not taking horses. Granted I can't go deep into the back-country with it in tow, but it'd give me reason to put dirt bikes into the back where the horses ride. We went and did Yellowstone last weekend and it would've been worth dragging along my Ninja to ride through the park. I'll just keep looking. Tim

 

[Soot4Life]

A buddy of mine went to a GN with front tack room and bed up front. He did it the cheap way... ... ... . tackroom with no insulation. His 1st trip in cold weather taught him about condensation and sweating sheet metal. By morning he was very wet. Just do what your wife wants anyway. "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"

 

[VicR]

We have the short bed model - it doesn't stick out past the rear end. Our type of touring usually involves moving every 2-3 nights and a lot of sightseeing, so drivability was my #1 priority. For instance, we were able to take the camper INTO the parking garage at Hoover Dam because its so small. Parking it in the little resort towns of Northern and Central Calif is very easy. Typically all we do in the camper is sleep, change clothes, and cook breakfast. We did get the furnace and 3-way refer and port-a-potti as a reward for all the trips we spent sleeping on rocks in a tent when we were in college. This is the floor plan we have:



http://www.sunliteinc.com/floorplans/truck/eaglesb.htm



If we were more in the destination camping mode, we would probably go with a trailer that we could unhook and leave.



Good luck finding that perfect rig. Its a balance between being comfortable when you get there and keeping it convenient so its not a pain to go somewhere.



-Vic

 

[roadranger]

We ended up with a slide in pulling a trailer...

we've got 2 different trailers to pull different kinds of toys. Loading/unloading all of that stuff into a single trailer would be a hassle.