16 vs 19 foot

[Roscinante]

We opted for the 19' Bambi Safari. We like to play cards camping and last time it was rainy/cold. We brought one of the folding chairs in, sat it at the head of the dinette. The rest of us squeezed in around the table and we ended up playing till really late (or was it really early?).

We liked the storage (just my wife and I but we seem to be able to fill all the cabinets, drawers, and under the bed just fine.

For us, it is a "grab and go" trailer and that encourages us to camp more often.

[dieterdog]

Hi ,, as an owner of both a 16 foot Bambi CCD and a 25 foot Safari,, i can honestly say that the Bambi is great for minimalistic needs,, ie,, bed,, bath,, basics,, spent 3 weeks in it and traveled to the International in it,, but ,, for a living in trailer,, larger is better,,, you might look at the Argosy trailers,, 24,,1976 through 1978. large windows,, good tank capacities,, light in weight and does not have a peeling clear coat,,, think it is a wonderful trailer ,,would serve many purposes and is very unique,, and you could paint it any color! my 2 cents,, donna

[SilverRanger]

Originally Posted by smccollister

The trick with the 16 (and I expect the 19 as well) is for one person to do a task at a time. After a while you get your rhythm and it works great.

Scott

Excellent observation, and very true. The 19 ft. is perfect for the wife and I on both short and extended trips, and is fully self contained. Of course, our 24 ft. is roomier, but has less features and takes more prep and maintenance because of its age.

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by classic67

3 feet less is alot of space to give up for where a bed is placed. I'd have to review the floorplan to say which i liked better, more importantly which is more to your liking? But I will say the one extra foot we compared from a 30' to our 31' was the difference in a bigger bathroom and storage.

Dennis ,are you aware that a 30' & 31' are exactly the same length ?--different floor plan yes--different length, no.----pieman

[classic67]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

Dennis ,are you aware that a 30' & 31' are exactly the same length ?--different floor plan yes--different length, no.----pieman

I stand corrected. The floorplan indeed is what made the difference in perception.

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by smccollister

I must say that the 16ft probably gets more "aww, that's so cuuuute"

I use to think the same thing when it came to the 19'. When I went to the 25', folks struck up conversations at stoplights, pulled over while I was on the side of the road to talk about it, etc. Most of the neighborhood came by once the 25' showed up.

[ren walker]

paula - you've given me some great advice and not a little bit of courage
you are right, and i do want to be a woman who can tow! i've just started to master chopping wood, and it is quite the good feeling.

also good info re: winter living. i definitely don't think i could live in it in november, december, jan, feb. which means i would still need to find a place to stop. but as far as pipes freezing, etc. a woman i spoke with said there are heaters around all the water tanks, including grey and black water and that all she had to do was to unhook the outside line to stop it from freezing. hmmm.

thanks to everyone for all the great ideas.

ren

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by ren walker

also good info re: winter living. i definitely don't think i could live in it in november, december, jan, feb. which means i would still need to find a place to stop. but as far as pipes freezing, etc. a woman i spoke with said there are heaters around all the water tanks, including grey and black water and that all she had to do was to unhook the outside line to stop it from freezing. hmmm.

ren

Ren, hmmmm is exactly what you need to be saying. To my knowledge there are no heaters or heat strips around the tanks per se. On the 19' and larger, the furnace is ducted into the floor around the tanks to keep them warmer than ambient air temps, and it does an OK job in sub-freezing temps down to about 20* for short periods, like overnight. Below that or in sub-freezing temps of longer duration, you have to remember that you've only got a couple of inches of fiberglass batting as insulation, and the furnace is having all it can do to try to keep up a living temp above the floor. When it gets really cold, you're going to go through a TON of propane and still not be warm, and while most of your plumbing is in the heated cabin (and if you open all of your cupboard access doors so the air will circulate) most of it will be ok when it gets really cold and you have your furnace on, but your tanks may still freeze. And, of course, heaven help you if you run out of propane for even a couple of hours.

I full-timed in a 23' Safari in the foothills of southern California twenty years ago, and even though the nights seldom fell much below freezing, and the days were in the mid-50s, I'd still go through about 45 lbs of propane a week in the winter (about 10 gals). That's about one and a half standard 30 lb bottles. On those few occasions where it got really cold, 20* highs for a few days, I'd go through a 30 lb bottle of propane about every other day, and the furnace seldom shut off. I also used an electric heater as auxilliary heat just to help the furnace out.

If you were to try to winter over in one, you'd certainly want to skirt it with something, and keep some kind of external heat source going under the trailer to try to keep it warmer.

Although Airstream does a better job than many stickies at insulating their tanks and walls, they are really a three-season trailer. I don't believe that the 16' even has a belly pan or any insulation around it's combined gray/black tank. Although there are folks who have successfully wintered over in an Airstream in cold climes, I don't know of anyone who'd recommend it.

Roger