Bunks vs no bunks w/ Teens

[Dropnaduece]

Hello All - thought I would get some feedback as we are unexpectedly buying a new trailer. Recently our trailer was in an accident and is now totaled. We bought it 2 years ago with bunks since this was our first trailer and our kids were 11 & 15. We thought we would have the trailer till our youngest was off to college and then we would buy more of a couples trailer. But now things have changed and we’re crossed between getting a rear bath or rear dinette model that has the tri-fold couch and large dinette. Our oldest will not camp with us much but our 13 yo likes to a bring a friend so we thought they could make the bed every night or tent it outside.

Is there anyone out there that owns a non bunk trailer with teenagers? Can you give me any insight as we are putting money down on a rear dinette model soon. Also our kids don’t think the bunks are cool anymore anyways but they will have no place to throw there stuff.

[Midnightmoon]

I am a real bunkhouse fan if you are camping on a regular basis with more than 2 people regardless of their age. There is something to be said for having a dedicated bed to sleep in without having to convert something every night.

[jaycojay]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

I am a real bunkhouse fan if you are camping on a regular basis with more than 2 people regardless of their age. There is something to be said for having a dedicated bed to sleep in without having to convert something every night.

Ya, i'm agreeing with this too. We just went back to a 26BH, from a 212QBW, and 99.9% of the time it will only be the wife n i. Yes, the 212QBW is an awesome "couples" layout, but if there is ever the need for extra sleeping, it's not that good. The Sofa is great for sitting n watching TV, or better still, sitting there in the morning with a coffee, and enjoying the view out the large side window, but unless you are under 4 feet tall, don't expect a comfortable nights sleep on it, and who actually wants to take the dinette down and make into a bed on a nightly basis? Been years since i have slept on one, can't see it being the Hilton either! My darling wife enjoys her space at night, and there were some nights she was forcing me out of the bed ( she says she was sleeping....hmmmmm), and i tried the sofa...ahhhhhhhhh! So, with the Bunkhouse, if she gets that urge to spread out, one of us can hop in the lower bunk. If not, they sure do make great storage areas!

[SkyBound]

When I was in my mid teens, I was ready to get out of my parents' trailer and be in my own tent. It was mostly because of their unbearable snoring but also the sense of independence that comes with that age. That being said, I do love a good bunk house trailer. If you're the type that likes to sit and live inside the trailer when out camping, then floor space and rear living are probably better. But if you're the stay outside all day and go inside to sleep type, then a bunk house is better. Bunks also serve as great storage when not being used.

[Crabman]

We went from bunkhouse to a rear kitchen unit to have more living space. So far not an issue with twin 15 yr old boys. Our soon to be18 yr old does not go much and is going in the military. We have the trifold sofa/bed, not the jacknife sofa, and that helps. If I had young kids a bunkhouse would be the way to go but mid to late teens seem to lose the camping bug and we wanted this floor plan which sacrifices sleeping space for the larger living room and bathroom. We told the boys our plan before we purchased the trailer and they were good with it. We even had one sleep on the floor a couple times when a friend came along. So far I have heard no complaints......

[DocBrown]

Get the trailer that you will want to use well after the kids are out of the house. Get the kids a tent. They get to be "on their own" at night with modern facilities only a few feet away. You get privacy. In a few years they will not always be camping with you and you will not have wasted space.

We did this with our daughter. Actually she's the one who bought the tent well before we would have thought of it. She's married now and they do camp with us but in their own tent. Everyone is happy.

[jaycojay]

( quote ) If you're the type that likes to sit and live inside the trailer when out camping, then floor space and rear living are probably better. But if you're the stay outside all day and go inside to sleep type, then a bunk house is better. Bunks also serve as great storage when not being used.

Exactly ..... and us being the stay outside all day people, the bunkhouse is actually ideal. Also, keep in mind, a bunkhouse with a slide gives you the best of both worlds!

[Vasquez Kid]

We bought our bunkhouse model when our twin boys were 15 two years ago.
The boys are certainly getting much bigger now but still fit in the smaller beds. I would imagine that they will start complaining about being too cramped and not want to be back there before too long.

You do have a bit of a Dilemma. In my opinion I think that you'll still get several more years out of a bunkhouse for the 13 yo and friends. They can pitch a tent, too, if they want or go into the bunkhouse if the weather dictates.

I'm starting to think about our next trailer in the next few years and we, too, will probably go smaller. If I were in your situation and were forced into buying right now I think I'd see if my insurance company was going to replace with a comparable trailer without much cost out of my pocket. If so I'd do it and get the bunkhouse again. But I always have to consider $ and if I had to lay out any serious money for the replacement then I'd go for the size of a trailer that would suit the DW and I best.

Good luck and sorry to hear that you've lost the old trailer. Hopefully everyone was ok.

Cheers, Jeff

[Dropnaduece]

Yes it’s a dilemma that I don’t want Thanks for everyone’s input it really helps to hear others thoughts because it gets us thinking about things we didn’t even consider. For my family the “I’m outside not inside camping” only applies in the summer time. This past year we went snow camping as many times we were out in the summer. So with this new camping experience we realized there was not enough room for all of us inside when we’re not skiing or snowshoeing. Now that we have an opportunity to change the floor plan to have more seating and open space it has put us in a bigger dilemma because we don’t want a 32’ plus long trailer. What we have found out is if you want the couch and dinette with bunks the trailer is on average 33-34’ long. Then to get a shorter trailer with the more seating and space we sacrifice the bunks.

I have just purchased a F350 so a bigger trailer is no big deal I just don’t want to pull a long trailer in the snow and being stuck to only long camping spots. Thanks for all your ideas and thoughts. We are going to stick with the couples trailer. This way in a few years we don’t have to trade or sell it for a smaller no bunk when it’s just us and the dog. Plus my son just told me he doesn’t care, he would sleep on an air mattress if had too. I guess he rather have the lounging space during the winter camping months and summer time he can use our old tent with his buddies.

Here is a picture of us in a winter storm at Stevens Pass WA. So much fun camping in the snow if you have thought about it but was apprehensive your missing out. It’s like owning a cabin in the mountains cause you can ski for a couple hours then head in to get warmed up, watch some TV, and head back out again. FYI - The WH 25BHS did well with full water in 12-15 degree weather. The picture of snow on the truck is only an hour after I cleaned it off. It snowed 30” in less than 24hrs. Crazy!

PS - we will get the bunk trailer again when the grand kids start showing up...lol

[Crabman]

I'm right at 32.5 feet and that's as long as I wanted to go also. There are sites in the state parks I like to get into.

[Dropnaduece]

Yup - when you think about it and say a 34’ is only 2 feet bigger doesn’t sound like much but after you said that a few times to each trailer you like it becomes 5-6 feet total which is huge. My WH is 29’5” tip to tip and the couples trailer we found is 31’8” just a hair over 2 feet. The 27BHS we were looking at is 33’11” only 2’ more but that is a total of 4’3” longer than our WH which was a perfect length both for parking next to my house and most of our favorite camping destinations. I really liked buying our first trailer cause we were completely new and didn’t know what we wanted so we bought the first one we really liked without hesitation. Now we nitpick everything down to where does the garbage can go...? Lol

The only bummer is it’s not a Jayco we looked at all the WH’s but they changed so much especially that color blue I’m not a fan of too much. The floor plans are real nice but they really pushed the weights and length. The rear bath model is almost 7000lbs dry and around 34’. Anywho take care all!

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

Get the trailer that you will want to use well after the kids are out of the house. Get the kids a tent. They get to be "on their own" at night with modern facilities only a few feet away. You get privacy. In a few years they will not always be camping with you and you will not have wasted space.

We did this with our daughter. Actually she's the one who bought the tent well before we would have thought of it. She's married now and they do camp with us but in their own tent. Everyone is happy.

Absolutly agree! When we began hunting for a TT many years ago, the first Do/Don't want was a NO on bunks. Yes we were retired and there were just the two of us, but bunks are bunks forever. They convert from beds [when the kids are there for a year or so] to open storage and junk collection bins almost immediately. Very little kids might be a different story since they will be with you for several camping years, but teens and tents are pretty much universal.

[Octopus Prime]

One reason we bought a bunk model (26bh) was because we wanted dedicated beds for our kids.

[33 RLDS]

Our 33RLDS has 2 sofas on the 2 rear opposing slides that open to 2 queen size beds. Plenty of room for kids and their friends .