(?) for Popup owners

[KunneKamper]

I am a 47 year old husband and father of 7, been a camper since I was 5.
I spent 18 years as an mechanical engineer in the automobile industry, which, needless to say, at this point and time is not a favorable career.

I have been working a tent/popup concept for about 7 years now, and before I make my first prototype I would like to be able to gather some Voice of the Customer information.

I have a few (?) for Popup owners:
A) How long did you tent camp before making the jump?
B) What was the deciding factor in making the jump? (time to get off the ground, camping experience when it rained etc.)
C) When you finally made the jump, what was the make / model of your first popup cost? Year?
D) Did it meet your expectations?

Thank you so much for your time

KunneKamper

[TXiceman]

My wife, daughter and I tent camped for about 4 or 5 years. Our first pop up was a basic 17' Starlight...no heater, no A/C and no bath facilities.

Our next trailer was an 18' Prowler...what an up grade over the basis pop up. We had looked at up grading to a larger pop up with more amenities and at times wonder why we did not go to the larger pop up back them. Got out pop up in 1984 and used it for 4 or 5 years. I guess we were tired of setting up a tent, air mattresses going flat in the night and wanted a bit more comfort.

Some times when camping we miss the pop up, but when the weather turns hot and wet, I sure like the hard sided trailer.

For your first pop up, I would suggest looking fro a nice clean used one over a newer one. Had lots of friends with Jayco pop ups and never any real problems like some fo the others. We have not followed them much and don't have a clue for cost.

Check out New Car Prices, Used Car Values, New Car Reviews & Car Buying Guides - NADAguides.com Official Site for used pricing. With the current economy, the they are selling for less than low retail.

Good luck in your decision.

[RustyJC]

After 20 years of tent camping, my wife and I purchased a 1978 Jayco Cardinal pop-up as our entry into RVing. The motivating factor was we felt that it was time to get off the ground and out of the mud. We bought it in 1990 for $2500 with a new roof and new canvas.

The Jayco did have a wall furnace and 3-way fridge, but no A/C or bath facilities. There were a lot of things we enjoyed about that pop-up, and we had some great camping trips with it all the way from Lake Erie (we lived in Ohio when we owned it) to the Rio Grande. The sum total of repairs during the six (6) years we owned it was the replacement of one tire that threw the tread during one trip to Texas - no damage to the trailer since it was built like a tank (tandem axles, 3600 lb GVWR) - and we sold it for $2,450 ($50 less than we paid for it) when we bought our first 5th wheel, a new 1996 Jayco Designer 3030RKSS. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the young family that bought it from us is still out having fun with it.

Rusty

[Superslif]

Both my wife and me came from camping families.

Quote:

) How long did you tent camp before making the jump?

We tent camped for about 12 years, camping anywhere from 10 to 30 nights a year.

Quote:

B) What was the deciding factor in making the jump? (time to get off the ground, camping experience when it rained etc.)

All of the above... One night while camping at Laurel Hill State Park in SW. PA. during a thunderstorm in 98' we looked at each other and said "next year we get a trailer". There were some other trip where it rained for 24 hours straight making it a pain in the A_S to break camp. Even with the Cole man having the front storage trunk, we still loaded up the floor area of the inside of the pop-up. With the pop-up it took about an hour to set up. With the 05' hybrid we have now, it takes about 20 minutes to set up.

Quote:

C) When you finally made the jump, what was the make / model of your first popup cost? Year?

Back in late 98' after we decided to look for a pop-up, we started looking for a used one first. We didn't seem to find anything we thought was worth the money. We ended up buying a new 99' Coleman Cheyenne, which is a 10' box model with a front storage trunk. We paid $6400 out the door.

Quote:

D) Did it meet your expectations?

Yes, it did. We used it for 6 seasons and about 225 nights. It held up very well. We were going to buy another Coleman ( Mesa model) in early 05' but liked the Aerolite Cub hybrids that were only about 5k more. We ended up selling the 99' Coleman for $4200. So 6 seasons of camping we felt we got our monies worth from our first trailer. Also upgraded from a V-6 Toyota 4-Runner to a V-8 Toyota 4-Runner.

[MissLou]

We never tent camped but bought a new Coleman popup in 1986. We loved it, and are now on our third popup camper.

[FatDog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KunneKamper ...... I have been working a tent/popup concept for about 7 years now, and before I make my first prototype I would like to be able to gather some Voice of the Customer information. .... KunneKamper

Thats too much interest stuff to wag in front of our noses,
toss us some sketches or concepts or ..... ??

who knows what kind of great input you could get from this crowd


Fat

[FatDog]

Kunne
people on this site appear to be getting mass-mailed PM's asking for marketing type data, but you don't respond to questions or input on the forum
we could use your interesting input here along with the data you farm

[KunneKamper]

FatDog:
Didn’t really know whether I should post my incomplete results or wait till my research was complete. At the current rate should be first of July or so. Also did not want to "bother" the remainder of the forum with my questions, so I just sent a personal message to those who responded to the original Post: (?) for Popup owners.

Here is a copy of the "mass-mailed" Personal Message:

Good Day!
First and foremost I would like to thank all of you who responded to my first set of question (~60 from various Camping & Hunting forums) . Your responses were encouraging and enlightening. Thank you!

Since you responded to my first set of questions, I hope you don’t mind me asking a second set. You can either respond via a personal message or preferably to my e-mail directly (VisualSpeed2@hotmail.com)

The following is a list of “deciding factors” you contributed to in your original response:

• Set up time
• Separate Sleeping quarters (parents from children)
• Running Water
• Ready to Go – Popup is always packed with camping gear. Participants need only to pack cloths and food
• Off the Ground (Sleeping Conditions)
• Off the Ground (Dryer Conditions)
• More room
• Inclement Weather: Usage – Usable space, food prep, consumption, card playing when it is raining
• Inclement Weather: Take Down
• Heat
• General Comfort
• Extend the Camping Season
• Amenities: Electric, Stove, Refrigerator, Sink Potty, etc
• Air-conditioning.

A) Please choose the top 4 and no more than 5 that are the MOST important to you and your crew
B) I would like you to prioritize your list in the following way: You are given 100 points to prioritize these selections. Which one is the most important? Which one is the least important? What are their relative values? With the sum of them all being 100
a. Example:
i. Set up time 10 credits
ii. Off the Ground (Sleeping Conditions) 30 credits
iii. Off the Ground (Dryer Conditions) 40 credits
iv. Inclement Weather: Usage 20 credits
b. In this case my top 4 are listed and the most important is “Off the Ground (Dryer Conditions)” and is 4 times more important then set up time.
C) How many camping days have you averaged in the last two or three years
D) What additional gear do you bring with you, how many?
a. Bicycles
b. Boat
c. Canoe
d. Kayak
e. ATV
f. Motor Cycles
g. Horses
h. Other

Thanks again for ALL your help

KunneKamper