4 Bambi Models-feature differences

[GinMame]

Originally Posted by CampingDogs

Can somebody recommend a good dealer near Jacksonville? I am willing to travel for a good deal, but would like to know if y'all have any input of dealers close to this area. Thx ... I heard of Colonial in NJ and another dealer in Colorado were good....thx

I'm going to add Airstream of Spokane to this quest. Nick and Karyn are the greatest!

[Piggy Bank]

BAAMbi7
Thanks for the enthusiastic endorsement. Glad to hear you like the rolling tambours.

Good idea on the window shade for sleeping in or napping. I will add that to my "bag of tricks"!

Julie

[Rich of SCal]

Originally Posted by BAAMbi7

Hi Piggy!

Where should I start? We love the 16' Sport because:

1. Everything stays in the tambours (I've heard the flip ups can open!) And they hold a lot.

2. I like that the "bedroom" does NOT have the pano! No morning light to wake us when we want to sleep in. (I keep a room darkening shade behind the curtain, too)

3. The bathroom door facing the main door works for us, but others like the newer design.

4. I DO NOT need an oven. We have never, ever said "Boy, I wished we had an oven right now. We do use the microwave on occasion. But generally it's the place for chips, cereal etc.

5. We make the one sink work just fine - even with contact lenses.

6. We can pull in anywhere.

7. We didn't need to get a new car.

8. Lately, we didn't put up the dinette. We've been leaving it down, covering the bottom with a grey sheet, added a bunch of throw pillows and it's a nice lounge. A legged tray is easy to pop up to eat on if we can't eat outside.

9. Perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT: The storage under the bed! Not one other AS has the amount of storage as the 16'. We keep everything in there!!! No clothes but all the service items, hoses, bbq, tools, chairs, table, step stool, all the storage boxes and them some!

10. The shower is fine. We use it all the time. We have never used the "outdoor" shower. Just because we think it would be a muddy mess until I figure something to drain the water away from the rig.

The longest we have been out has been 12 days. The longest without any hook up was 5 days. The clean tank vs dirty tank is easy.

This was our first venture into RVing and we made the absolute perfect decision with the 16'. We will never let it go!

Good Luck!

I agree with everything said, except maybe #4. I didn't NEED an oven, but I worked out a solution for that and now I wouldn't trade it, even for a microwave. I bought mine without the microwave option (the dealer had not installed the $500+ microwave option). I used it for more than a year without the mw, and was just fine. But then I started missing it, and looked for a rack to mount a cheaper mw. I never did find an available rack, so I built my own and put in a Cuisinart digital convection, pizza, toaster, bagel, chicken roasting, preheating, auto-shut off, etc. etc....oven. This thing is amazing and cooks everything. Plus food I used to cook in my home microwave tastes twice as good baked (frozen lasagna, for instance).

I didn't expect a $99 "toaster" oven from Costco to work this well, but it does. In fact, I ignore the warnings on frozen food that say "do not cook in a toaster oven" because this is really just a slightly small real oven.

Thinking that it might one day go out and need replacing, I built a shelf-type mount so that I could easily put in another one later (or even use it for more storage). All the "shelf" materials are aluminum pieces I bought at Lowes.

I ran the cord into the rear of the upper storage and put in a electrical socket. The wiring was already there, with a blank faceplate. This circuit already has it's own breaker (for the optional microwave). Also the side handles on my oven make it impossible to slide of jump out. I used wing nuts on one of the straps to make removal easier. When I travel I have some flexible white foam inserts I slide in on the top edges and sides to minimize bouncing and swinging. But you would surprised how sturdy those aluminum straps are. I also used them as plates above and inside the storage bin for extra support. The whole package is much lighter than a microwave would be.

It takes longer, but I am not in a hurry when I'm streaming'. Beside, you can't make chocolate chip cookies in a microwave!

Re #2: I agree about not having a rear pano window. I don't miss it. In fact, I love looking at all that beautiful interior aluminum before I go sleep, and waking up to it. The window that is there gives plenty of light. I just spent a week in Palm Springs, and the sun woke me early every day! I may have to put something in like you did. The front pano is nice, but that curtain is a pain in the butt (those goofy stretch hangers are alway catching on the window lock hardware, or just binding in the track). I am considering installing blinds in the center section, then I would only have to open the two curved curtain sections. Also they never quite close well (for privacy). I even added extra velcro, but it's far from perfect.

[Piggy Bank]

Rich,
That is FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And how did you know that chocolate chip cookies and pie are what I want to eat on vacation???

I would like that better than an oven or MW. Guess I will have to put that on the list in favor on the 16 side.

I didn't know you could get one without the microwave. That is good to know. What you have is so much better.

[TBRich]

Nice job, Rich...and a great solution. We have a 19' and we do have an oven. Some folks don't miss an over, but I don't think we'd want to be without one...we use it fairly often, and have even cooked a small bird and a ham in it. ... not to mention things like muffins and cookies. We use a microwave at home mostly for thawing and reheating, and we do not have a micorwave in the Bambi ... BUT we bought an inexpensive one (less that $50) that we take with us when we know we'll have elctricity and set up on a small table outside, protecting it from the elements with a vinyl "cozy"... (or if absolutely necessary we can use a generator with it). When not in use the oven is a perfect bread box. :-)

Small rigs are a lot of fun ... it's both fun and rewarding to figure out how to use the limited space to the max ... and if anything we end up taking more with us than we use... food, clothes, etc... I don't think there's a rig out there that is more space-usage-conscious than a 16' or 19' Bambi.

[Piggy Bank]

Sock it to me!

Went to two dealers on our holiday road trip.

We really liked the 23 D we saw.

Are we crazy? If you had to pick a Flying Cloud 19 or 23D, which would you pick, and why?

We liked the extra window area and light a lot. Also the 2 double beds.
Aside from the cost difference, what do you all see as the differences to consider between these 2 layouts?

Our tow vehicle is not a consideration as it can handle either option.

Thank you for your continued information.
Julie

[tinbender]

PiggyBank, To Quote You:

Are we crazy? If you had to pick a Flying Cloud 19 or 23D, which would you pick, and why?

We really liked the 23 D we saw. We liked the extra window area and light a lot. Also the 2 double beds.
Our tow vehicle is not a consideration as it can handle either option.


What else is there to discuss?? Sounds like you found what you like. If you can afford it, get it, give it a name, go camping, smile, cook out or in, happy hour, room to take a friend, never want to go back home...

Welcome to Airstreaming.

[Piggy Bank]

Thanks Tinbender!

Just have to ask.

[dmlocklair]

We finally did it. We now have a "unused" 2012 20 foot Flying Cloud in our driveway. It is beautiful and we feel we got a great deal on this Airstream. We are looking forward to starting the next phase of our lives and meeting all of you on the road.


Danny and Bobbie


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[Piggy Bank]

Danny and Bobbie,
Congratulations. Have fun! And we all want pictures.

[FCloud9]

Danny & Bobby,
Congratulations on your new Airstream!
Second the request...we all enjoy pictures, so enjoy yourselves & post some pics when you have time. As a "newbie", know only too well the learning curve when you take possession of your very own Airstream.


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[CampingDogs]

How exciting! Congrats😃👍

[Len n Jeanne]

Originally Posted by dmlocklair

We finally did it. We now have a "unused" 2012 20 foot Flying Cloud in our driveway. It is beautiful and we feel we got a great deal on this Airstream. We are looking forward to starting the next phase of our lives and meeting all of you on the road.


Danny and Bobbie


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

Terrific!

Piggybank, I think there will always be things you love/don't like about any model you can choose. RVs are sort of like boats, swimming pools, &c-- there will often be this-or-that wrong with them from time to time. If you've never owned an RV before (as we didn't) the learning curve will be nearly vertical. But 7+ years later, we are so happy we made the decision to buy an Airstream.

[dmlocklair]

Here are pictures of our new Airstream on our driveway. Hope to use it next week to go see our niece play in a tennis tournament.

Danny & Bobbie


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[Piggy Bank]

Well, guess what? After visiting our friends over the weekend, and trying unsuccessfully to sleep in a smaller bed, the hubs is now considering the 25 so we can get the twins. No one climbing over the other and 2 beds always made as beds.

This is like remodeling a kitchen, "as long as we're doing this, might as well....".

Since we have to save up the money still, I guess we can still roll around all of the options.

Anyhow, I will still be doing copious research and weighing of all pros and cons between now and the time we buy.

I guess that good thing is that I feel that we can really pretty much get any of 3 or 4 different models and I would be happy. So that will give us a lot to consider.

Thank you to all who have posted on this thread. And I hope to see many of you one day on the road. I will be sure to keep reading and learning.

[Piggy Bank]

Well, we were thinking bigger, but now we are back to smaller.

Saw a lot of rigs over the weekend on the road, as we did a quick trip to Colorado and back.

We also drove through several campgrounds.

We now think that we DO want a 16, even though we could pull anything up to a 28 with our TV.

We want to get away, not sit on a sofa and watch TV in the air conditioning.
We are now thinking that the 16, which we liked from the start, is really a better fit for us. DH really was taken with the crammed in commercial campgrounds we saw, and it made us realize that we want something closer to tent camping, but with a shower and loo.

I can't thank all of you enough for your tips, tricks, and viewpoints. Now just need to keep putting those pennies away in the piggy bank.

[Len n Jeanne]

And do keep your eyes open for a gently used unit. It will bring down the price considerably.

[Piggy Bank]

Originally Posted by Len n Jeanne

And do keep your eyes open for a gently used unit. It will bring down the price considerably.

We are on the lookout, to be sure. We are a year or two away from having the ca-ching to do this. It's hard to wait, but in the mean time we are reading and learning every day.

[Rich of SCal]

I have been on several more trips since my last post. I will be doing my 20th run in a couple of weeks. This will be another first...a desert trip with a bunch of 4 wheelers. Which will require my propane driven yamaha generator to run the a/c and oven, if needed. Had the AS since Jan 2012. I'm still making payments, but they are low, and I am getting lots of enjoyment out of it. Glad I didn't wait until I had the cash (although I usually do that). I want to use all my remaining AS days. When I get too old to tow, I will still take imaginary trips in it in my backyard.

Count the costs, but don't put it off too long. You won't regret it.

[Piggy Bank]

We are pretty set on the 16. (Although I kinda like the 23D too. DH really only likes the 16', so that is most likely)

Have a daughter in grad school, so our travel time and money is already accounted for this year and next visiting her. So I think we're aiming at 2017 for our 30th anniversary.

I read every day to learn as much as I can

Agree that sometimes you need to take the bull by the horns and just do it.