Got a pop up camper for national parks trip!

[ahawkchick]

My husband and I have been planning for a 2/3 week trip in 2016 for the last several years. We plan to visit several national parks. Our boys will be 7 and 9.  Originally we had planned for expensive hotel stays with just a little tent camping on a few nights.  Well after reading MMM and actually camping a few times in a tent, we decided to get a pop up camper and use that as our main method of sleeping and eating.  We found a nice small one on craigslist for $900.  I think we'll be able to use it and then sell it for more than 900 next year.  I'm very excited about creating a memorable experience for our boys and us and not having to spend crazy money to do it!

[Irishtache]

Love that idea. Can you post a picture of the camper on here?

[patrickza]

I'd also love to see it. I've been tempted to one day build one, but I think buying used will actually end up cheaper.

[Bob W]

Yes!   Post a picture --- $900 seems like a very low price.   Tell us more about it.  Even cheap as Bob W may want to buy something like that over this winter. 

Edit --- Just after posting I looked on my local Craigs list and saw at least 3 sub $1,000 popups that I would consider.  Sweeet.

The wife is a camping freak and this would appease her.   I could also keep it full of supplies and pretty much ready to go.  And, the big bonus maybe the ability to haul our kayaks and canoes on top the camper. 

Feeling pretty good about this. 

[Jack]

I've noticed that used campers, boats, and similar large recreation equipment gets really cheap because lots of people with overly-ambitious plans buy it new and then let it sit around collecting dust for years on end.

(I'm thinking of maybe buying myself a sub-$1000 Hobie Cat and teaching myself to sail in a few years.)

[401Killer]

My husband and I have been planning for a 2/3 week trip in 2016 for the last several years. We plan to visit several national parks. Our boys will be 7 and 9.  Originally we had planned for expensive hotel stays with just a little tent camping on a few nights.  Well after reading MMM and actually camping a few times in a tent, we decided to get a pop up camper and use that as our main method of sleeping and eating.  We found a nice small one on craigslist for $900.  I think we'll be able to use it and then sell it for more than 900 next year.  I'm very excited about creating a memorable experience for our boys and us and not having to spend crazy money to do it!

We are planning on the exact same thing, we bought a small travel trailer(19 feet) and are planning a 2 week trip next year to Yellow Stone. A quick tip, they do not allow soft wall campers into some parks(Like Yellowstone) as the bears can get at food. Read this online and have had a few people tell us this as well so we bought a full trailer rather than a pop up or hybrid(hard walls but with soft wall beds that come out).

We have used our a dozen times this year and its fantastic. For us its basically a hard walled tent. We don't bring HUGE amount of stuff like so many people we see. We absolutely avoid KOA's and other terrible places that park you a few feet from your neighbor. We avoid any places with electrical and water hookups as well.

[bmiles62]

My husband and I have been planning for a 2/3 week trip in 2016 for the last several years. We plan to visit several national parks. Our boys will be 7 and 9.  Originally we had planned for expensive hotel stays with just a little tent camping on a few nights.  Well after reading MMM and actually camping a few times in a tent, we decided to get a pop up camper and use that as our main method of sleeping and eating.  We found a nice small one on craigslist for $900.  I think we'll be able to use it and then sell it for more than 900 next year.  I'm very excited about creating a memorable experience for our boys and us and not having to spend crazy money to do it!

We are planning on the exact same thing, we bought a small travel trailer(19 feet) and are planning a 2 week trip next year to Yellow Stone. A quick tip, they do not allow soft wall campers into some parks(Like Yellowstone) as the bears can get at food. Read this online and have had a few people tell us this as well so we bought a full trailer rather than a pop up or hybrid(hard walls but with soft wall beds that come out).

We have used our a dozen times this year and its fantastic. For us its basically a hard walled tent. We don't bring HUGE amount of stuff like so many people we see. We absolutely avoid KOA's and other terrible places that park you a few feet from your neighbor. We avoid any places with electrical and water hookups as well.

I think some sites in Alaska need to be hard sided but we camped in Yellowstone and Glacier Park for the last two years in a tent along with a lot of pop up campers. They just tell you to keep your food in your car or in one of their provided bear boxes. We did have a bear circle our tent one night for about 10 minutes which about gave us heart failure but we continued on tent camping.

[Stachetastic]

Great find! We bought our pop up in early 2014 for $900 off of CL. It's old enough to go to college, but it fits our needs just find. Our youngest was not quite 2 when we bought it, so we wanted something cheap enough that we didn't feel too guilty if it took us a few years to really get into the camping groove. (yes, I know some people take their children from fetus to toddler-hood and on up camping with them, but we lost our toddler in the woods once and I still haven't fully recovered from that experience.)

Anyway, Happy Camping!!

[Bob W]

I can't believe I'm actually getting excited about the potential to buy a pop up.  I've been over camped for several years (45+ days a year a couple of years ago).   But that was all tent on ground camping.   

The beauty of the pop up is we can still bring it to some of the primitive camp sites river or lake front that my wife craves.

Looks like we might consider this as a his and hers xmas present. 

Anyone have a recommendation for radiant/catalytic propane heaters?   


Disclaimer -  I used to sell RVs and told wife I would never own one because they didn't pencil out.   I am resharpening my pencil.  Figure if I can buy cheap in the off season (perhaps after deer season),  use it for 3-4 years and sell it for $200 less than we paid that it will end up costing us around $2.50 per night in tent fees.   I won't add all the property taxes, cost of hauling,  maintenance etc. as I assume I will forgo at least 3 hotel rooms per year in this manner.   We may actually be able to buy one in the winter and sell it in the spring in a few years for the same or more than we paid.  Sweeeeet. 

[paddedhat]

I've been through most of what's out there on the RV market, from pop-ups to motorhomes, and currently live in a medium sized motorhome at least 6-8 months a year. Twice over the years, I bought simple used StarCraft brand pop-ups, and paid rough $2K each. I then used them for a season, and resold them for what I had invested. I bought both at a dealer, and offered them a small fraction of their asking price, since it was well in to fall, and there was no way that they were going to sell the thing before next spring, at best.  I then used each one an entire season, and stored them until the next spring, before listing them for sale. They both sold quickly.  I also did the same thing with two travel trailers, but this can be a bit trickier. First, I got screaming deals on both, and I also had a bit of luck in finding the right buyers. As Bob W. can attest, the value of most RVs can really plummet, and buying and selling one without eating a lot of depreciation can be tough, but far from impossible.