Thoughts on White Hawk 25BHS?

[RJC1024]

My wife and I are looking to upgrade from a popup to a TT. We have looked at lots (LOTS) of them and seem to come back to the Jayco every time. We are interested in the White Hawk 25BHS because of the overall size and the floor plan. We had a sales person make a comment to us that we may outgrow the 25 (we were standing in a 28DSBH when she made the comment). TV is a 2014 Silverado so no concerns for me there. Looking for input from families with a TT of a similar size.

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to see the 25BHS yet as no dealers in our area stock them. I have been a bit surprised by that as we live about 40 mi northwest of Chicago and there are quite a few dealers. There is a dealer in Indiana that has one so we're planning a trip to see it soon.

Wife, me, 6 yr old, 4 yr old, small dog

Plan to do quite a bit of local camping (within 100 miles)

Plan to do at least one longer trip each year (7-9 days) and likely 300-700 miles from home.

Won't be too long before the kids are big enough to bring friends. This is one reason we like the 25BHS (wide bunks). Friends would only come on local trips.

Anyone have a similar family/TT experience? Thoughts on outgrowing this TT? I would really like to stay under 30' but can move up if we need to.

General thoughts on the White Hawk?

I know that we have to make the decision on what's right for our family but would really appreciate any thoughts from seasoned RVers.

[dmward]

We looked at the 25bhs when shopping around. We liked a lot about it, especially the U-shaped dinette. I liked the size of it (weight/length).

The bunks were pretty tight tho ... My wife called them "coffins", so that pretty much sealed the fate of that TT with us. We have 8yo and 11yo.

We decided on the 28bhds. Nice big bunks plus we have a hide-a-bed now.

I'm not crazy about the extra weight but Happy Wife....

Derek

[canuckowner]

Originally Posted by dmward

I'm not crazy about the extra weight but Happy Wife....

Derek

Happy Wife = Happy Life

[Moosiedad]

Only 30 days into my White Hawk ownership, and I couldn't be happier. Jayco did a great job with the features (e.g. storage, extra lights, extra outlets, etc.), the quality and construction. I too looked at a lot of other brands and kept coming back to the White Hawk. You'll love it.

I would suggest going larger now if you think there's a chance of outgrowing 25 in the future. 28 Tows exactly the same as 25 and you'll spend a lot more money selling/upgrading later than you would just going a bit bigger now.

Good luck; keep us posted; and don't forget to join the White Hawk Owners Social Group on this forum!

[SawBuck]

Originally Posted by Moosiedad

Only 30 days into my White Hawk ownership, and I couldn't be happier. Jayco did a great job with the features (e.g. storage, extra lights, extra outlets, etc.), the quality and construction. I too looked at a lot of other brands and kept coming back to the White Hawk. You'll love it.

I would suggest going larger now if you think there's a chance of outgrowing 25 in the future. 28 Tows exactly the same as 25 and you'll spend a lot more money selling/upgrading later than you would just going a bit bigger now.

Good luck; keep us posted; and don't forget to join the White Hawk Owners Social Group on this forum!

+1 and I couldn't have said it better Mossiedad!

We were serious about buying a smaller TT prior to buying ours. The first rainy day you spend in the trailer with the kids you will thank yourself for the extra space. For us, the time we spend in the RV is part of being on vacation too.

[dmward]

Originally Posted by Moosiedad

Only 30 days into my White Hawk ownership, and I couldn't be happier. Jayco did a great job with the features (e.g. storage, extra lights, extra outlets, etc.), the quality and construction. I too looked at a lot of other brands and kept coming back to the White Hawk. You'll love it.

I would suggest going larger now if you think there's a chance of outgrowing 25 in the future. 28 Tows exactly the same as 25 and you'll spend a lot more money selling/upgrading later than you would just going a bit bigger now.

Good luck; keep us posted; and don't forget to join the White Hawk Owners Social Group on this forum!

Agree with this entirely. It didn't take much persuasion to go a little bigger, given the options and extra space. The deep slide on the 28DSBH makes a world of difference too.

We've packed it with our normal "stuff" and we still have empty drawers/cubbies and half-empty wardrobes. Hopefully, I can keep it that way to avoid upgrading the TV next!!!

[maromeo]

As a former pop up owner and moving to a TT, I would purchase bigger if you can. We originally purchased a 2011 26RLS within 2 yrs we knew we should have gone a bit larger. We needed more storage, larger bed for DD to sleep. The dinette breakdown every night got old especially after having to do that in the pop up. You could say we had 3 footitis. Within 2 1/2 yrs we traded for our current 298RLDS. We can't be happier, perfect for us.

A few things to consider are, access to fridge and bathroom while slide out is in (travel position). It really comes in handy during the longer trips especially with children.

We too did not see the 26RLS because it was a new floor plan and no one local had one. We did see pictures but that was it when we ordered.

We did not lose anything when we did the trade. We actually made a little. Have fun in the search. Good Luck.

[Camper_bob]

We looked really hard at the 25BHS as well. We ended up with the Flight 28BHBE, reference above post "Happy wife = Happy life" (Very similar floor plan to the WH 28DSBH).

We chose this model for a couple reasons, not the least of which is the cavernous space provided by the long and deep slide. The bathroom in the Flight was another deciding factor (HUGE shower stall in the Flight). Also, there's a couch to sit on, so you're not always in the dinette if you're inside or cooking dinner. But we discovered that if you take the table out of the dinette, it makes a very nice seating area/lounge type spot when you don't need it for meals. Also, we have a bambino on the way, so we wanted plenty of space for him and his cousins, hence the huge bunks.

Sometimes I wish I had put the weight in a higher priority in the decision matrix. That being said, your Silverado (properly equipped) should handle either trailer fine, of course the advantage goes to the 25BHS... And I wouldn't imagine length difference between the two being a big deal.

With all that, honestly, if it were me and I were purchasing today, I would choose the 25BHS. It has big bunks, it's a good length, it has most of the basic features of the larger trailer, and it's lighter. Yes, you sacrifice a little space because of the smaller slide, but there's still pretty good space, and hopefully you'll be outside most of the time anyway.

[dmward]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

With all that, honestly, if it were me and I were purchasing today, I would choose the 25BHS. It has big bunks, it's a good length, it has most of the basic features of the larger trailer, and it's lighter. Yes, you sacrifice a little space because of the smaller slide, but there's still pretty good space, and hopefully you'll be outside most of the time anyway.

I would highly recommend that the OP checks out the bunk beds on the 25 first though. Those were a big negative when we looked at the trailer.

Everything else was great though. They should get rid of the outdoor kitchen (that's under the bunks) and just make the bunks larger/higher.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by dmward

I would highly recommend that the OP checks out the bunk beds on the 25 first though. Those were a big negative when we looked at the trailer.

Everything else was great though. They should get rid of the outdoor kitchen (that's under the bunks) and just make the bunks larger/higher.

My brother, his wife and my niece all slept in our bunks last winter, they said it was fine. I take naps in there often, and the only thing I don't like is the bottom one gets a little stuffy (planning to get a clip-on fan to combat that). I think they're a little better than most because they're wider. The bunks that are small twin size and stuffed back into the corner with only a 2 ft opening at the end are VERY much like coffins. Granted, with the kitchen under there in the WH, the bottom bunk could be a bit closer to the top bunk than ours, thus creating a bit more claustrophobic environment. I climbed into all the bunks of all the trailers we looked at, and I would highly recommend this to the OP (or anyone for that matter). Get in there yourself, and lay down for 15 or 20 minutes and see how it is.

I forgot to mention that the outside kitchens and the extra fridges are some of the reasons we steered away from the WH line; we just didn't see the need, and we already have everything we need to create our own outdoor kitchen if we decide we want one. I agree, IMHO that space under the bottom bunk would be much better suited to storage.

[RJC1024]

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback. This forum is really a great resource!

I'm looking forward to actually getting to see the 25BHS in person. I will definitely look a the bunks though from the specs they don't look much smaller than the 28DSBH (51X74 vs 54X74). I'm curious to see if they feel tighter due to the interior height on the 25 being 3" less than the 28.

I can't wait until I can put up a post of our new TT! Thanks again for the feedback.

[Penryn]

So, I'm also looking hard at the 25BHS. This is my first trailer. We keep getting advice to scale up, but then we also hear from people that they have trouble getting into campgrounds because they are > 30ft in total length. All on the West Coast.

Is this not a problem for most? I'm surprised everyone pushes larger, because of this issue. I feel like I'm missing something.

[livelylittlecampers]

1. Love, love our White Hawk. We have the discontinued 29SQB with quad bunks. We have used it for over 100 nights. Minimal to no problems.

2. Go bigger. Imagine all of your family stuff in the camper! Fills up fast.

3. We are on the East Coast but have never really encountered the 30+ problem that you mentioned. But we stay mostly at private campgrounds. I imagine most state parks were built at a time when most RV's were much smaller.

4. No matter what unit you choose--you will have a blast. We have never had a bad camping trip!

[RJC1024]

Originally Posted by Penryn

So, I'm also looking hard at the 25BHS. This is my first trailer. We keep getting advice to scale up, but then we also hear from people that they have trouble getting into campgrounds because they are > 30ft in total length. All on the West Coast.

Is this not a problem for most? I'm surprised everyone pushes larger, because of this issue. I feel like I'm missing something.

My personal experience has been that most campgrounds can accommodate some pretty big campers. I live in Illinois and we do a lot of state park camping. When we reserve sites they display a max equipment length. If you know some campgrounds you'd like to frequent maybe look into the reservation process and see if they have similar information.

So we have been looking at campers for a long time. For us it came down to finding the right balance. I'm on the conservative side when it comes to weight so that was a big factor for me. When we looked at campers we always had the kids with us, we would picture where the dog's bed would go, how much storage was available, how do we all fit if we have a couple rainy days, things like that. We also wanted more of an open feel. We really liked the White Hawk line but for us, the 25BHS rear bunks were too closed off. The 28DSBH was pushing my personal limits being comfortable with a half-ton truck (packing for longer trips with 4 of us). In the end the Coachmen Apex 259BHSS seemed to be the perfect balance for us. We bought it a week and a half ago and pick it up tomorrow! We'll be able to get in at least one trip with the new camper and can't wait.

[tkhollywood]

We recently purchased the 33bhbs and love it. We went from a 27 bh with the same coffin type bunks and as our 2 girls grew the bunks became a pita for them to get in and out of. We looked at the 28 and fell in love with the layout of the 33 and couldn't be happier.

[Penryn]

like that. We also wanted more of an open feel. We really liked the White Hawk line but for us, the 25BHS rear bunks were too closed off. The 28DSBH was pushing my personal limits being comfortable with a half-ton truck (packing for longer trips with 4 of us). In the end the Coachmen Apex 259BHSS seemed to be the perfect balance for us. We bought it a week and a half ago and pick it up tomorrow! We'll be able to get in at least one trip with the new camper and can't wait.

So, we're looking at the same models, or the Kodiak, or the Bullet. Similar plans. The tipping point for us has been the quality differences reported between them, with the Jayco coming out higher, even though the plan is a bit tighter.

[Nighthawk 96]

28DSBH is about #500 heavier, 3 ft longer. Has lot more interior room. Couch to sit on which the 25BHS doesn't have. Larger grey water capacity for 4 people. Be careful with that if there are two tanks involved. Lot more water goes down the shower than the kitchen sink.

I was very conservative about weight when we got the 26BH, however our current White Hawk weighs about #1000 more and I really don't notice the difference.

If your truck is up to it with proper WDH setup, you will probably ultimately be better off with the larger trailer, especially as your kids get bigger.

[clubhouse]

Originally Posted by Penryn

...but then we also hear from people that they have trouble getting into campgrounds because they are > 30ft in total length. All on the West Coast.

Is this not a problem for most? I'm surprised everyone pushes larger, because of this issue. I feel like I'm missing something.

I'm in CA and have a 29QBH, 33' coupler to bumper. We camp mainly is CA state parks and Nat'l parks. It certainly requires some planning to get sites in the SP as well as Yosemite and Sequoia NP to accommodate us -- but they exist.

If you are more interested in full hookup camping there are always lots of private CG that can accommodate the largest of trailers.

If you get caught in the "too big to use" conundrum where do draw the line. There will always be more sites available for tents vs RV, and there will be more sites to accommodate 25' vs 30' vs 35'. I did a lot of research into this and determined that you would have to have a TT with an over length <=24' to have most sites available. There wasn't floor plans that worked for us in this size, so then I realized once you exceed 25' you basically have the same options avail as <35' so we settled at 33'.

[utbgcamper mom]

We just bought a 25bhs after nearly 10 years with a jayco 21J hybrid. We have grown children and a grandchild, so the 600 pound weight limit on the bunks was important. I had wanted a couch as well as the dinette, but the u-shaped dinette with the removable table should work perfectly without adding more length for my husband to maneuver. I also do most of my cooking outside on a camp stove, so the outdoor kitchen was a high priority for me.

[fielro]

Good luck with the decision....