I'd love to hear the pros/cons of tent vs camper vs pop-up, if you'd care to sum it up! I've read several articles, but everyone's opinion is obviously different.
Thanks for the reserveamerica.com recommendation!!!
Everyone's idea of "camping" is different. So it all varies on your "Required" amenities. Keep in mind what you want to do. Are you trying to live in a mini-house on the road wiht all the normal amenities? Or are you trying to be close to nature and IN the great outdoors?
Tent
Pros: Cheap, light, can go in tight spots/walk up access only. (Don't have to be able to get vehicle in.) Easy to store and transport.
Cons: Dog security. Definitely the less enjoyable option in inclement weather. (Even a waterproofed tent feels damp inside when it's been raining all day and you're in there breathing/playing cards, etc. ) Set up time (More difficult to set up if in the dusk/dark.) Have to set up everything inside you want. No amenities on board. No food prep inside.
Pop-up
Pros: Can find used ones cheap! We got ours for $1200, was about 20 years old, and was serviceable, but getting long in the tooth. THere are often ones out there for a few hundred bucks if you're willing to replace or repair the canvas yourself.
Great to tow, lower profile means better highway MPG. Some old small ones can be towed with smaller vehicles. Can get into places larger campers can't. CAN have amenities... A/C, Fridge, Heater, Lighting, Stove. more comfortable than a tent in cold/bad weather. (Can sit at a table and read / eat/ play games.)
Cons: still a bit of set up. Canvas can tear/leak when aged. (Those A-Frame pop-ups sometimes have leak issues at the seams per reviews I've seen.) Beds/mattresses often sub par compared to hard sided campers. Eventually things in the cover or base start to rot/deteriorate. Complexity of maintaining other systems, (Draining water, keeping batteries charged, trailer lights, greasing axle bearings, spare tire, )
Have to store it somewhere!
Hardsided camper -
Pros: Less setup inside needed. FULL HEIGHT amenities. (pop up often has awkwardly low counters/work spaces to keep height low.) Inside "real" bathroom a possibility. Better separation to outside for dogs or yourselves if wanted. Best in inclement weather.
Cons: Depreciating asset. REALLY aren't built like they used to be (outside of some specific ones), so they deteriorate quickly these days. Leaking roofs, rotted wood, hard to replace/repair that stuff, leaking windows. MORE storage space required. Bigger tow vehicle required, worse road MPG. Often campsites have restrictions on the camper size. You've got to fill and empty those tanks with your fresh water and waste in them.
Our experience: Got tired of the setup time (IN THE DARK all too often for our schedule) in a tent, and trying to wrangle dogs in there, esp in a rainy weekend where we were miserable, damp, and the tent started leaking AGAIN, I'd had enough. And if I brought a bike or something, it got to be a LOT of stuff to pack in the trunk!
Went to a hard-sided 13 ft fiberglass camper (Like a Scamp.) A 1981 Casita. Expensive even used, due to the cult following. But decent little campers! Could store stuff inside, stand up in it, have it more "Ready" to go, and that little thing could go anywhere! Ours was an OLD model, and the frame cracked, and the shell was deteriorating. (Casita didnt' know what they were doing in the first couple years they made them.) Started tearing it apart to rebuild, and got too overwhelmed with the amount of work required to restore ours. But, I'd consider a Scamp if I were to do it again.
Bought a $1200 pop up from 1996. A "small" 8 footer. (Trailer size when folded up.) PRetty decent, easier to tow than the Casita. Easier to store. Leaked a tad, but worked fine for us for a season or 2. Was getting long in the tooth as well, floor starting to show signs of a bit of rot, cap was started to let water in, etc.
Then we ended up buying a piece of land, eventually wanting a spot to return to, where we could keep stuff on site. Also more private than many state park campgrounds. No worries about parties all night long 25 feet from my tent. No towing needed! Bought a 1980s 25 foot hard sided camper for $2K to sit on the site until we can afford to build a small, off grid cabin. (We really enjoy living "simply" at times. ) This camper is definitely at the end of it's life. Appliance problems, multiple leaks, etc. We use this place as a home base for day trip/adventures in the area. Hiking, hunting, biking, canoeing, swimming, foraging. We've grown to enjoy knowing that I'll have firewood there, a decent firepit that's dry, and I can leave junk there! But, I can also forsee in teh future that we may get a small tent again for an occasional trip elsewhere every now and then. So, kinda full circle.