Question:
My family and I have been car camping with a tent for a few years now.
We're ready to move up to a pop-up camper, and are seeking advise as to
what brands are the best. We were impressed with the Viking pop-ups,
but I have two concerns about the model we liked. First, the roof is
aluminum and has one seam. Should I be concerned about leakage?
Secondly, the model we liked came with a heater. How useful is this
considering the sides are canvas? What brands do you folks feel are the
best and why? Any advice is GREATLY appreciated!
Answer:
-Like many folks here we are veterans of many seasons of POPUP camping.
I never owned a Viking, but from seeing them in show rooms and on
campsites I believe they are a reasonably good product. If a popup
suits your family camping there are really only a couple of things to
consider seriously before you buy.
The first is the lift system. Our first popup was an old Venture deluxe
10' model. It was wonderful in every way but the lift system. It used
the fairly standard (for that day and time) ratchet system for cranking
control. While you are going up this is no particular disadvantage.
When you are lowering the roof it can be downright dangerous. If you
slip or let go of the crank handle the thing whirls like a demon posing
serious risk of injury to your hands and arms. Newer units like the
Jaycos use a crank up/crank down with brake system that is much better
and safer. The other aspect of the lift system is whether it is
internal or external/internal. In the former case all the components
are inside the walls of the camper and are not exposed to road dirt,
salt, and other corrosive elements. In the latter case you can plan on
repairing or replacing a lift cable every now and then. Ours happened
to quit on a rainy night in the Adirondaks in October. Fortunately we
were friendly with the ranger and he cut us 4 2X4 planks to hold up the
roof.
The only other serious consideration with a popup is the braking system.
Many popups come with no brakes. Dealers tell you "It only weighs 1000
lbs so it doesn't need brakes". Baloney. That is what it may weigh
without water, propane, your clothes and utensils, bikes, canoes, row
boats, etc. On good dry roads your car may very well stop your popup
with little change in the braking characteristics. When it starts to
rain, snow or you start down a steep grade you will find braking much
more difficult with your popup attached.
Regarding your heater. If the unit is equipped with a modern heater
(one that has an electric fan) you will find it very useful on cold
nights. We had our Jayco 1208 equipped with 2 12,000 BTU furnaces
because we do a lot camping in April-May and October-November in the
mountains of New York State. One night we were camped in Algonquin
Provincial Park in late October. The snow was coming down and the
outside temperature was hovering around 20 degrees. We could
comfortably sit in the camper in our normal camping clothes. Older
gravity fed heaters (no blower) are much less useful, though they do
provide heat given an hour or so to warm up.
-Me my Wife and two boys 10/7 Have been pop-up camping for 4 years now!
We have a jayco eagle series 10 pop-up. we have been to approx 10 states
with it and love camping.
the model your talking about sounds like ours alum. roof and 1 seam. so
far we've had no leaks. furnaces in pop-up's are a big help but they will
run alot if temp. is below 32 degrees. Even though they have canvs sides
if you have curtains they seem to help.
One note of advise, make sure that if its raining when breaking camp or if
canvis has a heavy dew on it make sure when you get home (if weather
permits) set up camper to dry out.
