Thoughts on 16'

[Belbein]

OK, so now that my wife and I have been talking about this for a few weeks, we've settled on a 20' ... no, wait, a 22' ... uh, let's buy a 16' ... uh, uh, what were we thinking: gotta be the 20' ...

And now I'm back to the 16'. I'm wondering--from those of y'all who have or had 16's--what your experience has been. Our useage at this point will be to take it to a state or national park for a weekend or a week, park, hook up, and go day-hiking.

We don't spend much time hanging out around the campground, don't sit and watch TV, won't use it (probably) for "boondocking," we don't really invite people over for dinner at the campsites, will not take anyone with us, and there are just the two of us and our dogs. (Wow. This sounds pretty sad looking at it this way. Oh well.)

I know the 16 is really minimal, but I wonder if it's enough. We're coming from a small-medium pop-up, by the way.

Any comments much appreciated.

[DKB_SATX]

No direct comments on the 16', but have you gone to a dealer and spent any time in all the plans you're considering?

For the purposes of towing, I'm thinking if there's an advantage at all between the 16' Sport and 22' Sport it's going to go to the 22' because of the smaller frontal area, though you may notice the extra weight a little going up steep grades if you pack it full. I think you'll notice the difference in width in your mirrors, too. The FC20 will be the heaviest and most expensive, with all the width of the 16' Sport.

Try to find a dealer that has the models you're considering in stock, and spend an hour or so in each of them. Sitting, moving around the bathroom with the door closed, trying out the bed, etc. Pick the one that's most comfortable/useful for the way you plan to use it. You can explain why you want to do that to the salesman and maybe get him to go away and leave you alone to pay attention to the trailers themselves and figure out which one fits you better.

[jcanavera]

The only thing I can say is what I hear from the dealer which is most 16' trailers come back for trade more quickly than larger trailers. The common reason is the owners realizing that the close quarters eventually get to them. Dogs seem to accelerate the dissatisfaction level with the smaller units (of course it depends on the size and number of dogs).

Jack

[TankerIP]

We like our 22'. We looked inside of a 16' at dealer last week. I think the bed is smaller than the one in our 22'. Check it out, it could be an important point to you.

Do you camp in one place for a long time? We are often out for a month or more at a time. The 22' is great for us when we travel place to place with only short stays. It is easy to move. However, if when in we stay in one place for say, a week or more. I could see even having a 25' with couch or recliner. On nice days, under the awning is our living room. In periods of day after day of inclement weather, the 16' might start to get a little tight.

[idroba]

I am not much of a fan of the wet bath in the 16's I have seen, and the generally tiny size of the bath altogether. The kitchen counter space is generally non existent too. I also believe that they only have one combined gray and black water tank which is not to my liking, but if you don't boondock and have hookups that would not be a problem. But the 16', if it has a made up bed, not a convertible sofa to bed, is pretty small, and with two dogs... well, it would not work for me at any rate. But they are mega cute.

[Kingsmen 33]

I bought a 16' a year ago and loved every minute.
Comments:
- If you are larger and taller persons than get the 20' model.
- I pulled my 16' through some small off road areas off the Blue Ridge where a larger model would not work around the sharp turns.
- Stayed in a National Park site where anything bigger then a 16' would not fit. You can stay in small tent areas with the 16'.
- The weight difference is large compared to larger models and provides flexability in which tow vehicle you buy. I did not use a weight distributing hitch and towing was perfect. It towed well with a Lexus RX.
- The 16' is very comfortable. The bed is great and the cushions firm.
- The fridge fan is very annoying and might keep you awake. It never turns off. I cut the wires and put in an on off switch.
- The fridge on the 16' is at floor level and is small.
- I did buy a 25' model a few weeks ago.

[Clar7135]

My wife and I were torn on this issue as well. We spent some time in both, and while the 16 was just enough space to make it work...we opted with just a little more space. It's totally a personal decision and I think the 16s are set up great too, but depending on how big your dogs are,I think you might appreciate the extra few feet. Also, when thinking about it imagine yourselves cooking inside, sleeping, washing a few dishes...actually functioning. The extra space was really appealing to us.

[patnal]

My husband and I have a 16' sport. We aren't fond of the wet bath, never use the shower. The bed is a bit tight and I hate having to climb over the other person to get out. Also the awning is very small, almost useless. Yet, we have a lot of fun with it, we travel a week or 2 at a time and the space is adequate. We can tow easily with our Nissan exterra, turn around in parking lots and tight spaces. Someday when we can afford to we'd like a larger trailer, but for now we are enjoying what we have.

[kpatrick]

My wife and I purchased a 16' sport last fall, 2013 model. We prefer to boondock so we settled on a 2013 4runner (Oh No Not a 4runner!!) and 16' Sport. Bought the AS off Craig's List in MT.

Our motto: Enough is Plenty.

The bed: We sleep on a king at home but at this stage of my life I want to be closer to my wife of 37 years not farther away.

The box: When I go camping with my wife and granddaughters I want it close and cozy! They are 4 and 2 and beautiful!

Wet bath: If you think this is roughing it try try a Colorado river!

Furnace: We turn the thermostat to 50 and use a down comforter. Really good!

We absolutely love our AS! We have taken it out twice, Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas weekend. High of about 25 both times, Colorado winter camping. We store our AS in a climate controlled garage in Colorado. (I wouldn't want our AS exposed to the elements 24/7)

We are very thankful and grateful to all the postings on this forum, we studied it for 2 years before we made our decision and this forum was and still is invaluable.

[Ahab]

We looked at the 16, then 17, and settled on the 22. Couldn't be happier. The thinner profile makes all the difference in the world when towing.

[mutcth]

Belbein, if I remember right, you're towing with a Tacoma. If it's one of the newer Tacos with the V6 engine, that thing will tow around 6,500 pounds.

With a nice long wheelbase and decent torque, it could pull a 23' trailer - and it sounds like a 23FB would give you most of what you want. Decent sized tanks, a front queen bed.

Just throwing out another option for you - although plenty of folks will say that you need a Tundra or some big diesel thing to tow it.

To stay on topic, we like the 16' trailers and came close to getting one, only to find that used ones were disproportionally expensive for their size. Still love the earlier models with the dual panoramic windows; several folks here have 16' Serenity models and adore them.

Tom

[Rjpuckett]

It depends on whether you are looking for something to 'live out of' or something to 'live in'. We have a 16' but it is just us two and the dog. The dog has adopted the space under the table for sleeping or just staying out of the way. I suspect the 16' gets more attention where ever it goes.