Deciding which one.

[Octopus Prime]

We plan to purchase within the next six weeks.
We are going back and forth on the 22BHM and the 26BH.

22BHM:
It's smaller and more narrow, which appeals to us as first timers.
We like that we can fold that queen bed into the wall and have floor space for kids to play if we need to stay in for whatever reason.
I like the pantry/cabinet next to the bunks.
What I don't like is the lack of storage space, especially on the model near us that has an outdoor kitchen under the bunks.
As much as I love the Murphy design, a post on a Facebook travel group warned of an incident where an owner and her dog were trapped when the Murphy flipped up on them.
It also costs more.



26BH
I like the storage space. It will be us and our two children, so I think the two wardrobes, space under the queen bed, and space under the bottom bunk should be sufficient.
I like the two door refrigerator.
I really like the price tag, and suspect I can get a better deal since there is one to be found on every Jayco dealer's lot.
I don't like the larger size, and it does feel crowded in there since it does not have the Murphy bed, but a separate sofa and queen bed.

Right now, I'm leaning more toward the 26 BH, and Dh is leaning more toward the 22BHM.

What are your thoughts?

As for our traveling style, we will take various vacations. It will be a mix of RV resorts and state parks. Likely no Boon docking.
We are educators, so we will do our traveling on breaks for anywhere from 2 to 21 days at a time. Likely two or three trips in he summer and a some during breaks in the year.

ETA:
We would not intend to spend a great deal of time in it.
We would sleep, shower, get dressed, and have a crock pot going inside while out and about, and would likely only eat inside if the weather prevented us from being outside.

[nighthawk87]

If you have kids then get a slide. We have the 26bhs, which is basically the same as 26bh but with a slide. The room makes it so much better.

Never by one without a slide if you have kids.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SOMBATFAMILY]

We moved up from popup camper to travel trailer for the convenience. I don't want to have to make the bed to make more room inside the trailer. In our camper the kids have their space and we have our room. A slide is a must for more that 2 people in the trailer at the same time.

[RichP]

Go with the 26 you will love the extra room and as long as your tow vehicle is up for it the difference pulling the bigger will be minimal. If you end up buying the 22 And you end up loving camping you would most likely be trading it in for bigger fairly quickly especially with two kids

[Midnightmoon]

I am completely biased since I own one, but 22BHM hands down. We have used this trailer more in the 7 months we have owned it than our last 2 trailers combined I believe. It is small, light, easy to handle, the Murphy Bed takes exactly 30 second to put up or take down (by the way, there are safety tethers that keep the bed from flipping up as you described ).

After 2 big heavy trailers in our past, an Airstream and a Nash, this little thing is the ticket to actually get out and use it. Yes, slides are nice and the extra room is great. But equally as nice is the simplicity of a non-slide trailer that is easy to hook up and go. We've managed well over 50 nights in ours since purchase with 2 kids and love it more each time we go out.

[rodro123]

With kids go as big as you can afford Maybe the whitehawk 32BHS. On Rain day's you will glad you did.

[Iraqvet05]

What are you planning to tow with? If I had to do it again, I'd buy a TT with a slide but you have to consider just one slide can add several hundred lbs to a camper so that would quickly eliminate most of SUVs and 1/2 tons as TVs. I agree with rodro123 that you should get something large enough to be comfortable in on rainy days.

We (family of 4) love our 26BH and I cannot imagine having any less storage space or living space. The 22BHM does look nice but there seems to be no privacy for the adults and no option for a second TV if you don't want to watch what the kids are watching.

The 26BH seems big but after a season of towing it and backing it in, you get very comfortable wit it.

[Octopus Prime]

Slides are nearly out of the question. We are towing with a half ton and cannot feasibly trade up.
It's either slideless or no trailer.

Whichever one we get, we would only install one tv, and we would likely only watch if we were rained in and there were no indoor activities available.

Midnight, do you find that you have to pack clothing super light for your family of 4?
It's somewhat of a concern since I would be packing a week's worth of clothes per person.

With the longer unit, how long does it take to get comfortable with the longer unit as far as the drive and backing in?

Our truck can safely tow either with some.margin.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[KillerIsMe]

Well, I have two cents I'll toss in.

We have a Jay Feather 23BHM. It's the same length as a 22BHM but it's 8' wide (as opposed to the 7' of the 22) and has a slide. It's also about 700 lbs. heavier and has an MSRP that's $3000 higher but those are sacrifices you might want to consider for the additional space.

The layout of the 23 makes it feel bigger than it is. With the slide out and the Murphy folded away you actually have room to move around. The "entertainment center" is on a short wall by itself which puts the TV at eye level. In the bathroom the shower and toilet are on either side of the doorway so you don't have to step around the toilet getting in and out of the shower, and you can put down a bath mat. There is no cabinet over the dinette, which will significantly delay the onset of CTE. There are two doors - TWO DOORS! You'd be surprised how handy it is to have that back door with the vanity sink right inside, especially if you need to use the facility while traveling. The trade-off for the back door is single bunks though, so that may be a deal-killer for you. I could go on (but I won't), but honestly my Friend if our trailer was narrower and had no slide it wouldn't be our trailer.

As far as the Murphy bed goes it takes literally 30 seconds to put it up and then you have a nice little sofa in its place, and you won't get rolled up in it. It's not the most comfortable piece of furniture you'll ever own but it does the job.

Anyways, you probably want to take a look at your weights before deciding anything. We pull the 23 with an f150 Coyote - it pulls pretty easily and the trailer isn't overly long so it always feels stable.

Good luck with your decision whatever it may be.

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Octopus Prime

Slides are nearly out of the question. We are towing with a half ton and cannot feasibly trade up.
It's either slideless or no trailer.

Whichever one we get, we would only install one tv, and we would likely only watch if we were rained in and there were no indoor activities available.

Midnight, do you find that you have to pack clothing super light for your family of 4?
It's somewhat of a concern since I would be packing a week's worth of clothes per person.

With the longer unit, how long does it take to get comfortable with the longer unit as far as the drive and backing in?

Our truck can safely tow either with some.margin.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

No, we bring clothing for all the days that we are there. We've found no need to skimp on what we bring with us. Longest trip we have taken so far with this trailer was 10 total days and didn't have any issue.

I purchased my trailers in reverse order from most other people. I had a 31' first, 26' second, and now this 22'. None of them were difficult to back up necessarily. What I've noticed going smaller is just how easy it is to fit it in to spots. There's simply a lot more margin for error than what there used to be with the larger units.

I pull my 22BHM with my 3/4 ton Ram Diesel that is left over from my large trailer days. But, we have also pulled it with my wife's Ram 1500 and it is perfectly manageable.

One other comment about storage and having enough space to take everything with you. My experience is that you will end up using approximately 1/2 of all the things that you think you are going to need when you set up your trailer the first time. Right now (not counting our leveling blocks and hoses) we carry a toaster, coffee pot, small set of dishes, small set of pots and pans, 4 lawn chairs that go in the bed of the truck, and a bucket and dish pan that goes under the sink. The rest is our clothes and food. We went through a phase when our oldest daughter was young that we would bring all these games and activities with us. Now, the kids both bring an ipad and my youngest brings a coloring book and crayons. That is enough to get us through a rainy day and the rest of the time we are out doing things.

[Siamese]

I guess the owners/proponents of each design will weigh in. What you're looking for is that one feature that will push you one way or another, easing the decision.

We studied floorpans for several years as we neared the time both of us would be retired. Then, the clear winner was the 26BH, based on our own, unique criteria.

Point one, is that my wife snores loudly, and I want her as far away from me as possible. Plus, we go to bed at different times and wake up at different times. As it turns out, I sleep on the queen, and she likes the rear bunk, where we removed the upper bunk and put in some shelving, converting it to a great sleeping space and sort of a daytime getaway den.

Also, we travel with two cats, and they prefer a longer trailer to a shorter one with a slide (same square feet) because a couple times a day they get revved up and want to run. The 26 gives them more space to unwind (just stay out of their way!).

Also, the pass through area is the perfect place for their litter box. We put a pet door on the front surface of one of the nightstands. Plenty of room for their "bathroom", and it separates it from the rest of the trailer.

Oh, and if you can back a 22, you can back a 26. Our first trailer was a 30 seventeen years ago, so 26 seems compact to us.

Is there a better bang for the buck than the 26BH? Nah.

[Iraqvet05]

Backing was the hardest thing for me to get used to but practice with a spotter (DW) in an empty lot and it will get easier in time. You will find a long trailer is much easier than backing PUP, it just responds slower.

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Siamese

I

Point one, is that my wife snores loudly, and I want her as far away from me as possible.

Anyone married more than 15 minutes or so has had this thought at least once. Mine snores like 25 pigs in a barn but you can't tell her that. The only difference is that I end up in the rear bunk and she stays on the bed. For the record, I'm 250# and I fit just fine in the double bunk in our trailer.

In all seriousness, this 22BHM is our first bunkhouse trailer. Now that we have one, I really appreciate the ability to go and sleep somewhere else on occasion. And before any of you honeymooners reply that you can't imagine sleeping apart from your spouse.......just give it a little more time. I guarantee you that you will be just like us someday.

[bluegill1]

May I suggest what we did. Head to your dealer that has the trailers, kids in tow. Tell the dealer your undecided and need some real time in it. Tell the salesman to get lost and leave you alone for half hour or better yet an hour. Go ahead and play a game of unno, pretend your cooking a pot of Mac n cheese, get the plates out set the table, tired? Go ahead and lay down, kids tired? Have them lay down. Turn the TV on, is it compforable to watch r is your neck sore from twisting your head? Do as much (or pretend) to get the “real feel” to see which is best for you.
Wife and I wanted to stop tenting so we went looking at the expandables, tried the huge triple bump one, looked and felt great until I said ok let’s pretend. I layed down and she followed onto a sleeping end, we got all comply, then I said, “hey , I gotta pee”.
Now she had to either get off and out of the way or I had to crawl over her, needless to say at our age that was the end of our looking at anything less than a real bed. It was the “Lets pretend” that saved us from choosing the wrong camper for us.
Keep us posted on what you decide.
Price wise 25% off MSRP is a minimum, closer to 30 is good. Don’t let um tell ya different. Be informed on prices before you go in, it could save you thousands.

[Octopus Prime]

Thanks, everyone.
We are still undecided. It's a big deal for us. We have been saving our money, shopping, and researching for quite some time now. We got off the trail when Hurricane Harvey flooded our house, and now that we see some light at the end of the tunnel, we are dreaming of happy trails again. (On a positive note, the truck we bought to pull our prospective camper was the truck that got us out of the rising waters.)
I appreciate everyone's response so much. I've read over each one a few times, and appreciate everyone's perspective. Everyone travels differently. What works so well for one family might be an annoyance for others, so I appreciate you also sharing a bit about your family dynamic and how you travel.
As we narrow down our decision, I'll likely come back and re-read the thread a few times, and I'll keep reading on the board. We've learned so much just reading, and everyone on this forum has been so helpful and knowledgeable.
I'll definitely let you know what we end up getting.

[dkos]

My wife and I are also teachers with two kids and spend a month living in the trailer during the summer. I thought I wanted a murphy bead but my wife convinced me to go with the separate bedroom that way if someone wanted to lay down they would have a place to do it. Also, if we go camping with kids friends its nice to be separate.
As to packing, our kids are still small so we pack a medium suitcase and stick it at the foot of their beds. It works now and for the next few years at least.
I second the thought of picking out a few models and take the kids to play in them for a while, it helps to see how much living space you really have.
When we were looking we saw the murphy which was vetoed, the 26bh which seemed to us a little small too live out of for a month, and the 27bhs and 28bhbe which I was not comfortable pulling across country with my current truck. We then found a used 2015 28BHS, the floor plan no longer made, and it fits us perfectly.
Good luck with your search and happy camping!