Appealing to Women/Wives?

[Rg416]

And Piggy Bank I do love the Sport 22 design. The light wood, grey and white details, frosted partition, so clean light and minimal. Wish they could squeeze in a Queen.

[Boxite]

The 2008 22' Sport has a 60" X 84" Queen bed (made from the dropped dinette). My wife and I will never use the dinette and have permanently placed it in Queen-bed mode, buying a special-order mattress to suit our tastes. The '08 model also has a true lounge/couch very convenient for viewing TV or eating off TV tables.... and much more "walk-about" room, avoiding the close-contact the later FB models have with their side-dinettes.

All other features are shared like that great bathroom, adequate storage and galley. Light at 4,000 lbs (3500 empty), 22 gal fresh, 20 gal grey, and 18 gal black tanks.

Our friends with the 2014 22' Sport wishes they'd had the same floorplan, because all the other important features are the same. If you don't insist upon a brand-new one to depreciate the minute you own it... consider looking for one a few years back and save about $20K IMO

[Jazgrass]

Love my basecamp, just me and my dog. Looked at the sport, but loved the xtra things the basecamp can do. Adore 2 doors, the space; the whole deal.
Gift from my husband...
jaz

[Mollysdad]

After towing cross country numerous times, I'll never have another single axle trailer.
As for small, years ago, I had a cute 4' x 6' enclosed trailer for my telescope, and slept in it after setting up. Now that's compact!
Air mattress, sleeping bag and freezing!

[Rocinante]

Make your wife's first RV experience a good one. I'd go with a 19' or 23' and call it a win. You could always downsize to a BC later, once Airstream camping is in your blood.

[PKI]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

After towing cross country numerous times, I'll never have another single axle trailer.
As for small, years ago, I had a cute 4' x 6' enclosed trailer for my telescope, and slept in it after setting up. Now that's compact!
Air mattress, sleeping bag and freezing!

Thought very seriously about a similar solution for man days at the races. Anything to get off the ground and not have to pitch a tent......but the AS will be much nicer.

Back to Basecamp. Have to yield to the larger bed argument. It was one of the advantages of the T@G teardrop I considered as an alternative to that box, but..... there is the issue of cushions vs a mattress. All the small coaches require a custom rounded corner mattress if you upgrade, but they are available. The BC can't go to a mattress and keep the table. Well an air mattress or those toppers are alternatives. However, sleeping on cushions is not as comfortable as a real mattress. It is camping, but if convincing the wife, it's a foul.

What say you who have a BC. How well do the cushions sleep? Pat

[rpenczek]

I'm a backpacker and the family are car campers. After many National Parks, including Yellowstone in tents, the three oldest kids are off to college. Start looking at travel trailers (I want small, cheap and easy to tow - read no anti-sway or weight distro and tow easily with a 1/2 ton).

Wife looks at various SOBs and says, if I want to stay at Motel 6, I will, where is my tent? But honey, I'm tired of setting tents, camp kitchen, etc... I want to park it and have a beer. Where is my tent she says.

Then, I walked her into a very used, very beat up 34' Excella. She was instantly hooks on AS. We ended up with a 2005 30' Classic with Twin beds. We sleep happy and I'm sure the space will be nice when we take long trips in retirement. One negative is the National Parks we love so much have very limited space for such a long trailer.

I think, for a weekender or even a week or two, a 25 footer with twins would be the sweet spot (for me). If I was alone, the Base Camp would really do the trick, but the wife would not be happy with a Base Camp.

[nwcamper]

We both like the easy towing, and compact overall set up, can fit most campgrounds. We plan on taking it everywhere, as we used to take everything in a car, now it seems like we have cubic miles of space!

So far, the Base Camp fits us just right. We get over 17 mpg towing on the freeway.

[Rg416]

Pat, we definitely went to the Basecamp eyes open knowing it is cushions vs a legit mattress. But with a less than Queen 48" or 54" wide bed, one of us was going to wind up on the dining cushions in a Sport. We'll see how they sleep. Seems like it'll be easier to cushion it up in the practically king sized bed in the Basecamp than add more width where it doesn't exist. Plus we love the vibe of rugged outdoor utility the Basecamp brings.

[Boxite]

Originally Posted by Rg416

Maybe this will help... maybe not. My wife and I are backpackers and tent campers but not getting any younger. Our last tent car camping trip got unexpectedly cold and the ground unexpectedly hard and lumpy for our thin Thermarests. Lots of Advil the next morning. Felt like we crossed an age threshold. I got thicker more luxurious sleeping pads, Exped MegaMat, awesome by the way), but my wife didn't seem as thrilled as in the past. While we both always loved and admired Airstream, I was interested in a move to a more glamorous tent like the SylvanSport, but out of the blue my wife saw the Basecamp and fell in love with the idea of it. I repeat, the Basecamp was HER idea! Then we did some due diligence research, looking also at the Sport 16 and 22. Loved the 22 Sport but it seemed big for first time tow people. Went to see them all at Colonial, but after both laying on the 48" wide bed in the Sports, we were out on those. 48"?? Not sure how you all do it. We're not big, and while we like to cuddle, when it comes down to actual sleeping, get out of our way! The 48" bed is what, a Full? Double? Tiny? Needless to say, we have a king at home. The Basecamp bed is 76" x 76"! That's more like it! And somehow the interior does feel roomier to us than the 16' Sport. My wife felt a little claustrophobic in the 16 Sport. (She also loved the 22, but not that tiny bed). And there's more counter space in the Basecamp kitchen area. More or less the same nice wet bath. Storage is different than the trailers, not drawers and closets, but it is there. Again, with a sporty sensibility. Overhead racks, etc. And the Basecamp does have a cool fun adventure look to it. And the tent will be a fun bug free addition. We are eagerly waiting for delivery in April.
That's the part that might help you with your wife and your decision.
Maybe the part that won't is that my wife and I fully know that the Basecamp won't be our final trailer! We're both obsessed with Airstream now! We are already in love with the 23FB International! It's the smallest size that has a Queen. We can do Queen. And they are beautiful! Problem there is she loves the Serenity, and I prefer the cool modern look of the Signature. So, needless to say, we will be getting a Serenity in the future. Haha. After we get used to towing, and the RV thing in general, and wrap our heads around a bigger tow vehicle. Just not yet. For now, it's cool fun camping adventures in the outdoorsy Basecamp. And it was HER idea!

The current model 22' Sport has a Queen bed measuring 54 X 84. (The earlier models like my 08 model has a true 60" X 84' bed made by collapsing the front dinette. My wife and I never plan to use a dinette and have made it permanently into a Queen bed 60X84 by ordering a special built mattress. We eat off TV tables sitting on the full-sized lounge the '08 model has. That lounge has also served well as a bed for our 8 year old granddaughter when she vacationed with us last year.)

[interstateflyer]

The Basecamp is a great starter Airstream, albeit a bit pricey. They work well for average size or smaller people with a modest tow vehicle.

That being said....my wife was the driving force behind us going from a single axel (Bambi) Airstream to a 25FB. We were willing to slog it out in a smaller trailer until we started leaving for 4 to 12 weeks. The 25 is the most popular size for a reason.....comfort. They can be towed with HD 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton trucks.

In the end....if you stick to the lifestyle....you'll find it more economical in the end to buy larger in the beginning.

[gwolson50]

My wife Trish and I were very interested in you post. After many years of not camping we are approaching the date to take delivery of our basecamp.

We are newly retired and share the same reasoning you have. We feel we will have many more camping options and a lot less stress. Our kids and grand kids do a lot of primitive camping and we will be able to be with them.

We were also pleased to see you are using the same tow vehicle we will be using

[gwolson50]

Originally Posted by nwcamper

We both like the easy towing, and compact overall set up, can fit most campgrounds. We plan on taking it everywhere, as we used to take everything in a car, now it seems like we have cubic miles of space!



So far, the Base Camp fits us just right. We get over 17 mpg towing on the freeway.

We were very excited to see your post. We ordered a basecamp that is to come off the line 3/20. We are recently resized and plan to use it to see the country. We have the same concerns on the size of large units. We were also concerned if our tow vehicle would be good enough. Now we are feeling pretty good since you have a Sorento as well

[basecamp516]

My wife and I finished a five day backpack trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness and decided that maybe a more comfortable camping would be in order. We aren't getting any younger, so the Basecamp was quite appealing. My wife wanted something with a bathroom, I wanted something small and easy to tow with my 4Runner. The Basecamp has so far fit our needs well. The bed is roomy though we are going to put some memory foam on the cushions when we make up the bed. Cooking is easy and the furnace kept us warm on a cold night in the Arizona mountains. We're still getting used to it, but so far it has made camping easier and more comfortable. We'll be testing out the high clearance in a couple weeks as we take it down some dirt roads.