How do you like 16' ?

[Ron Edwords]

We are considering a 16' CCD possibly used. This will be our first. Two
50 + somethings. Not retired. Please share with us why you upsized from
a 16' or downsized to 16'. Thankyou

[Silvertwinkie]

We had a 19' Bambi for the two of us (30 somethings) and it was a bit tight, but it depends on the couple. Trying to picture myself 20 years from now, I'm still not sure I could go smaller than the 19' Bambi, but thats just me. Others have and do continue to use 16' and are happy with it, I'm just not sure I/we could, and we pack somewhat light. We upgraded from 19' to 25'.

[Ron Edwords]

We like some aspects of the 16 and 19'. Trying to avoid making
the mistake of buying the wrong size. And switching because we
didn't think this all out. Any thoughts appreciated.

[65glbtrotter]

I have had 16' SOBs and they were always to small, felt to boxed in. Our 20' is just right easy to tow and not so closed in. We would only sell it if a 22' vintage came our way (my wife would like a little more room) not holdin my breath though I am tottaly happy with our GT.

[geosouth]

40 something with a 19'. I mostly camp with my 4 something daughter. On rare occassions my wife will join. I still set up a full camp kitchen, barbeque and fire ring, so we spend alot of time outside. Sometimes we sleep under the stars. I like the smaller AS so I can go more frequently and I do. We also get some pretty neat spots larger rigs might no be able to make it into. We have nice campgrounds near so I can go on a whim. My father has a larger SOB and it's such a production to get ready and going. My wife says when my daughter's camping days are over she wants me to go larger.

[spinyman]

I am about to take possession this week of our first trailer,a 19ft. Bambi ccd.While I am looking forward to the occasional 2-3 day trip,I'm now wondering where people put their clothes in these things.There is the very small closet,the very small under bed bin, the small,for two, overhead compartment.Winnicks nifty limited version created for Airstream shows a bank of drawers in place of the redundent small bathroom sink.I'm thinking of a remodel before I even take delivery!Anyone out there got any packing plans for a 19?

[Van]

I suppose if your the type who camps light a 16' would work great. for my part, with my wife and our dog, our 20' is too small. It gets too small when one is trying to move around while the other is still in bed or both are trying to move about in the trailer at the same time. Just seems that with all our gear we are on the verge of busting at the seems in a 20'.

Originally Posted by spinyman

I am about to take possession this week of our first trailer,a 19ft. Bambi ccd.While I am looking forward to the occasional 2-3 day trip,I'm now wondering where people put their clothes in these things.There is the very small closet,the very small under bed bin, the small,for two, overhead compartment.Winnicks nifty limited version created for Airstream shows a bank of drawers in place of the redundent small bathroom sink.I'm thinking of a remodel before I even take delivery!Anyone out there got any packing plans for a 19?

Lots of rearrainging of gear all the time. Our trailer has basically the same closet/bin set up as yours. Basically we have the one closet at the rear of the couch/bed for our cloths. By the time you get two duffle bags of clean cloths, then a bag of dirty stuff its on the full side.

[rseagle]

The 16' was designed for 1-2 people for short weekend outings. It would also provide adequate quarters if travelling regularly. It is light weight and easy to tow. For two 50 somethings like yourselves, this would be a nice way to travel or easily "Bug Out" for a weekend at the campground. I'd say "Go For It"!

[LuminumTraila]

Originally Posted by Ron Edwords

We are considering a 16' CCD possibly used. This will be our first. Two
50 + somethings. Not retired. Please share with us why you upsized from
a 16' or downsized to 16'. Thankyou

Ron -- We sold our 23' Safari this year and we've been debating the 16 v. 19 for many months now. We finally decided on the 19. We are a family of four, not retired yet, children still small. We'll use the trailer for weekends around New England and occasional longer trips for vacation. When we're out with the trailer we prefer to cook outside, and be outdoors as much as we can. Our biggest concern was how comfortable we all might be if we were stuck in the trailer for a day of rain. With the kids, we'd need the 19 (or more, but we're not goin' there). If it were just the two adults, we would have stuck with the 16.

We like the compactness and efficient layout of the 16 better than the 19, with the bed across the back, and the bed a little bigger lengthwise. And we liked that you could get a panoramic window front and back on the 16. It seemed like there was as much storage room in the 16 as in the 19, and we don't mind the wet bath for the amount we would use the trailer. We also like the outdoor shower hose (from the wet bath) on the 16. This would be really handy for rinsing sand off when at the beach. And, of course, the 16 is lighter for towing.

The benefits of the 19 over the 16 are a slightly larger refrigerator, separate gray and black tanks for more waste capacity (more important if you have more people), extra sink for kids to wash up at, more living space in case of bad weather.

If it were just two of us, we would have gone with the 16 for now and upgraded to a little larger model at retirement. But I think either 16 or 19 would be a good size for two people.

[bradk]

Family of two that will be growing to three sometime this year. We spent a heap of time in both the 16' and 19' CCD's, Safari, etc. In terms of use of space, we really liked the 16' layout, with the bed, panoramics etc.

We went with the 19' for the extra features mentioned in this thread. We went with the overhead bunk option to enable increased "stuff" space. If there's some bad weather, the 19' is not as cramped with a couple people inside. Our final reason was that I really disliked the wet bath design of the 16'. Others seem to "not mind it", but I'm a fan of having a shower that is not the same as my toilet.

b. (picking up trailer the weekend of April 15th)

[DEO]

We went from a 19' to a 25' after about 6 months. We do both longer (2 - 3 weeks) trips and shorter trips (2 day)and feel the 25' is just as easy to hook up and go as the 19' was. The space in a 25' over a 19' is great there are only 2 of us if you don't count 2 guinea pigs) but if you are camping for more than a few days and it is raining 19' feels small. We do miss the cuteness of the Bambi but the larger fridge and added couch sure make a diffrence.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by Ron Edwords

We are considering a 16' CCD possibly used. This will be our first. Two
50 + somethings. Not retired. Please share with us why you upsized from
a 16' or downsized to 16'. Thankyou

Picked up my 19CCD in Dec. Haven't really 'used' it yet as I'm still slammed at work, but I'm planning to full-time in it for about 6 months starting in May. I have a couple of friends with the 16's and spent some time in them. I prefer the 19 for several reasons: more fridge space, more interior room, separate black & grey tanks, 2 batteries, larger LP tanks, and the primary reason.....FULL SHOWER. I really like my showers and just changed the 6 gal. water heater to a tankless, on-demand type (RV-500 by Precision Temp). This is only beneficial when hooked up to shore water, but that is how I'll be mostly using it. It lets me take as long a shower as I like!

IN fact, I think that the new 75th edition 19 that David Winnick designed is about my perfect idea of what a small A/S should be, and if I don't trade mine in for one of those I'll probably do an interior remodel in that style!!!

[frozen chosen]

Originally Posted by Ron Edwords

We are considering a 16' CCD possibly used. This will be our first. Two
50 + somethings. Not retired. Please share with us why you upsized from
a 16' or downsized to 16'. Thankyou

Ron, I figured someone who actually owns a 16 should respond to you(!). My wife, 12 year old, and I use ours for trips up to one week and find it perfect. We are not looking to recreate our house somewhere on the road, but rather want a glorified tent which has a bathroom and is bear-proof. With a small genset, we can camp for days. The holding tank is an issue, but relieved by limiting showers an using available campground facilities. We go places to be places, not ist in the TT, so being confined is not a big problem, but we find the thing real cozy when we are in it. Actually lots of storage in the unit, esp. under the bed. This takes some organizational skills, is all. As for features, we do not miss an oven at all - probably wouldn't use it if we had one. The refer is small, but we always take an ice chest in the p/u. If you buy any AS, please read about the QC issues and go in with your eyes open. Pre-nups, baby.

[RDM16CCD]

Hi Ron:
We are also 50 + and not retired, and bought the 2005 16' CCD. Here are some more thoughts:

1) Our primary use now is camping (without hook ups). The small size is ideal for the NFS campgrounds we usually go to. The 19' would work, too - just not in as many camp sites. We can go comfortably as much as 9 days, but needed to learn to manage water & holding tanks, battery, refrigerator size etc. The 19' has more capacity in all of these things, but the 16' is OK. Either size has its limits.

2) We bought the 16' to travel fast & light - our typical trip is to leave Thu or Fri after work, drive 225 miles up to the mountains, and drive home Sun afternoon. We climb from about 5,000' to 10,000' elevation, and a good ratio of tow vehicle power/trailer weight is necessary for a 'fun' drive. Not that we speed (usually about 63 mph, works well with the rpms on our truck), but it's not a fun trip if you're dealing with the feeling of struggling under a heavy load.

3) When we retire, and want to go for longer periods, we will probably want a larger unit. To 'live in', I think you need to get large enough to have a separate shower/bath, both the dinette and the lounge, a larger (or twin) bed, larger refrig, and so on. In an Airstream this means going with a 25' or larger (although they are starting to come out with some new floor plans in the 23' foot range). Even a 25' would be too big for us to travel fast & light for a short trip, or to fit into our forest service camp sites. I suspect we might eventually end up with two trailers - keep the 16' for camping (no hook ups), and a 28' or 30' for extended stays in established campgrounds.

4) We (obviously) decided that we'd get a size that works best for us now, and worry about upgrading later on if life permits. Had we gone for a bigger size now ( >25'), I think it would mostly just sit, waiting for us to retire.

5) In deciding on the 16' vs 19', and towing with your Envoy, there are not huge differences in towing, and it might just be a matter of deciding which size speaks to you. If your dealer has both sizes, ask for a several hour period to 'try them out'. Spend time in each one, and kind of play act a day's worth of activities (sleeping, sitting for TV/reading, food prep, showers, dressing, general moving around, where does each person put their things, etc). This may help you decide which one fits you better.

6) Think about the kind of vehicles you'll have in the future. The weight difference isn't maybe very signficant with your Envoy now, but you kind of commit to needing a vehicle to pull whatever trailer you get. Towing comfort is a personal thing, and you'll read posts here from people who pull bigger trailers with smaller vehicles than I'd personally be comfortable with. The trick is to find what works OK for you!

Good luck -
Bob

[Foiled Again]

I'm fulltiming. Just decided to upgrade to the 25 FB SE from the 22 CCD. If you're a weekender camper the 16 or 19 is great, but if you're going to spend a lot of time in it, you'll want to go bigger.

My only reasons for going to a 25 were

1) I've made my bed every day for a solid year. Just cannot leave it unmade because the "bedroom" isn't separate from the living area.

2) I've saved a LOT of money full timing, and want to continue to for the next 5 - 7 years at least.

3) I CAN afford it without pinching elsewhere.

I know lots of folks who are delighted with their smaller units, especially ones who are primarily weekend campers.

...however if you WANT a 22fter see mine on the classifieds almost new and less than a new 16....

Tin Lizzie

[Stefrobrts]

We've been happy for three years with our 17' vintage, but it's a very different layout than the new trailers. I wouldn't trade it for a newer one, it feels more open to me, and I feel like there's more storage. There's enough storage I don't use it all. We enjoy squeezing into sites other trailers can't get into, parking the whole rig across two parking spaces in a regular parking lot while stopping places along the way, and the way it follows the van without having to worry about swinging wide to miss stuff.

And I think it easier to just get out and go because you can't fit much in it, so you don't have much to pack up. We love having a little trailer! I hope you guys enjoy your 16!

[Bettymsb]

We are heading out Wed. for two weeks in our new AS. We also travel
with two Kerry Blue Terriers (40) lbs. We also like NFS camps and like
to travel light.We are back packers so know that you don't need to take
the house to have a great experince. Also outside most of the time for
cooking etc. Good luck and Happy Trails John & Betty

[juel]

My husband and I have a restored 24ft Argosy that we dearly love. We only use it on week-ends since we both still work; however, I would not consider anything smaller. I really wouldn't mind having a coupel of more feet on this one when you get all your "stuff" in it. You really can't leave much sitting around in the way of drinks, clothes, snacks, papers, magazines, ect. Well, you get the idea. I would recommend you go for a larger coach if you can afford it and pull it. We've never had any trouble pulling this 24ft or parking it. It's a nice size.

[azflycaster]

I agree with juel. My wife and I upgraded from a SOB popup and find the 25' of our 75 Trade Wind a perfect fit. We really like the seperate sleeping area that we have with the double bed which we keep as a bed all the time. When we got our 3rd dog (Gracie a 85 lb yellow lab) it was time to get out of the popup

[Turtle]

I ditto what Frozen, RDM, and Betty said. My wife and I have had our 16' CCD for 3 years now. We've taken five 2 weeks+ trips, plus other shorter trips and hated coming home. We tow with a 4 liter Ford Ranger. No problems. There really is an amazing amount of storage inside. We've fit into some amazing campsites that I wonder if a 19' could have fit. In campgrounds with a fixed dump station, it's a 30 minute turnaround to hook up, dump and fill with water and return. We went from backpacking and tent camping to this. Deluxe! Can't go wrong either way. I have a question for 19' owners. Where is the counter space for food prep? Jamie