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Old 06-15-2012, 05:02 AM   #21
texasAUtiger
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Originally Posted by cdchapman View Post
Just saw your post about TT. By the way, War Eagle. My fam and I are new to the TT scene and have just bought a new Passport 3220BH. We have 2 small children, 7 & 4, and they love having their own "room". It has double slides and weighs dry at 6200 lbs. Once you buy a TT, you will never feel like you have too much storage space or sleeping area. Yes the changing of the sofa and dinette gets tiresome. I know everyone is concerned with weight and amount of room. My advice, get the most room for your budget. Don't go too heavy on the GVWR though. By the time I got my camper home, my wife "accessorized" it with her touch. I added a 2nd television in the rear bunk area, pots/pans, etc. All this weight adds up very quickly. The bullets are very nice. Also check out the bullet 286 QBS. It has quad bunks and some model offer an outdoor kitchen. It's not overkill having too much room if you and your TV can handle it. Anyway, checkout Keystonerv.com and see what floorplan best fits your needs and the weight for your TV. I am towing my TT with an 08' Suburban. If I add anything else inside, I'm going to have to upgrade to a 3/4 ton truck. Anyway, good luck with your decision and War Eagle
Thanks for the info and war eagle! My best friend lives in Sylvester, right in your neck of the woods.
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Old 06-15-2012, 06:34 PM   #22
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I replied to this last night but I guessed I mesed something up.

Of your choices, I'd recommend the 281bhs. I think you'll want a couch, the dinnette would be inconvenient to set up for sleeping and not comfy and an open floor plan is nice for rainy days or night time before everyone goes to bed.

We looked at several TTs before going with the 2590 (which for some reason is now the 2650). We went in several models and kept gravitating to that one or similar plans (I think the openesss when slide out was one of the main things).

Anyway we have a family of 5 - kids are 16, 13 and 3. The bunks are fine for the bigger 2 (oldest is 5-10, 190) for a week or so.


We camped this week and ours was one of the smaller models in the campground and sometimes I think more space would be nice but imagine it would be somewhat overkill.

But here's the deal you do have to figure out what best fits your family. Size/weight and budget may limit choices somewhat but I would mirror what some have said - don't settle too much or you will not be happy and soon be looking to upgrade. That said, you're camping in it, not living in it so it doesn't have to be as big or convenient as your house.

We love our 2590 - it fits what we want in a camper. And with it, we did compromise some because we wanted the lightest camper that had most of what we want, but neither me or my wife have any regrets.
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Old 06-15-2012, 07:32 PM   #23
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As I often say, we love our 2590BH and it’s a perfect fit for the family. Others praise larger bunk houses with extra beds for kids’ friends. So I started looking at the larger models and then I realized that our TV only has one empty seat. So it looks like we have a one-friend limit when the kids get older. When that starts happening, we’ll start using the dinette as the spare bed. I don’t see this situation ever changing since I don’t ever anticipate getting a ¾ ton SUV with three rows of seating.
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Old 06-25-2012, 06:07 PM   #24
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More Beds! Bigger RV!

I would go with the biggest TT you can tow and afford. I would even stretch your budget just A LITTLE BIT to get the bigger one if you have to. We have two kids and our 31SQB has 3 bunks, 2 cub couch thingies, a dinette that converts, and a couch that converts along with our master bed room. I can't say that we have used it all, but we have come mighty close. We tow with a Toyota Tundra double-cab that holds 5 people. So, when the kids invite friends, we usually stay somewhere within 2 hours and drive a separate car. That makes 5 in the truck and 5 in the car if need be. The most we have slept in there so far is 6 kids and 2 adults. Believe it or not, 1 took the table, 1 took the sofa, 4 took the FLOOR of the bunk house, and me and mine took the master room of course. Also, be VERY AWARE that these bunk beds come with weight ratings. Your kids may be skinny as a rail today, but plan ahead. We bought ours with 300LB bunk ratings so even I can sleep on them if I have to.

I didn't look at your floor plans, but if you one has a separate outside door for the bathroom that's a great deal! It keeps the kids from running in and out of the main cabin to use the bathroom. Less dirt and conserves AC.
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Old 07-09-2012, 01:57 AM   #25
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Bunks are great for kids/families. don't have to break down a table or flip a couch to sleep. We started with a hybrid and now have camper with double bunk on bottom and single on top. works well for my family of 4.
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Old 07-09-2012, 06:20 AM   #26
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this thread brings back memories of camping with 5 kids in an overhead camper. I still wonder how we did it!
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Old 10-05-2012, 02:53 PM   #27
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#1 Get the bunks! #2 As was already said get the biggest you can safely haul and this DOES NOT necessarily mean what your truck is rated for. You have two small kids. From what you selected I would go with the 230BH but I also have to ask if you looked at the Passport 2650BH. The 2650 is absolutely as big as I would go with a 1/2 ton.
I totally agree with you. I have a 230BHS which I pull with 1/2 ton extended Sierra pickup. I have sway control and weight dist. hitch. After climbing a couple of mountains, I'm sure glad I didn't get any trailer with more weight. I have two big boys, grandsons (11 years old, look like 13) who love their bunkbeds. Wasn't ready to spend an extra 30 to 40 plus for a new 3/4 ton truck.
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Old 10-05-2012, 04:39 PM   #28
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Originally Posted by texasAUtiger View Post
On the other hand, if we don't go this size now, will we wish we did in a couple of years?[/LIST]
Like I said, I'd love to hear thoughts from experienced, family campers on these three---both positives and negatives of each.

Thanks!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This!!!!!

Someone touched on it in a few post but most people end of going bigger later. We have a 5yr boy and a 3yr girl and there is never enough room! Ofcourse we had a small 24ft sprindale with no slide. Now we have a sprinter 323bhs and theres plenty of room now but id gather when they get a little older and start inviting friends or family we'll have to go bigger. I would suggest going as big as you can safetly. And you will get better at towing with time. Hook it up and drive around some back roads and get the feel for it.
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Old 10-05-2012, 06:19 PM   #29
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What ever you get make sure that if you have to open the sofa for sleeping make sure that it does not interfere with access to the restroom. We loved our front end bathroom VR 1 but quickly realized in the middle of the night you would have to crawl over the poor soul that was sleeping in the sofa bed to go potty.


My three girls accompanied us to Yellowstone this summer and we reserved a tent site for them as they are in their twenties and wanted to tent. After a vicious rain storm that soaked the tent and ripped off our awning the girls needed to sleep in the trailer with us. It was a long night for my hubby who did not want to crawl over the girls to use the restroom nor use the natural facilities outside our bedroom door.

It was a good motivator to upgrade to our new montana this summer and think that the new floorplan will be a major improvement! We also learned not to tempt fate and leave the awning down while away on an excursion.
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Old 10-08-2012, 04:12 PM   #30
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As I often say, we love our 2590BH and it’s a perfect fit for the family. Others praise larger bunk houses with extra beds for kids’ friends. So I started looking at the larger models and then I realized that our TV only has one empty seat. So it looks like we have a one-friend limit when the kids get older. When that starts happening, we’ll start using the dinette as the spare bed. I don’t see this situation ever changing since I don’t ever anticipate getting a ľ ton SUV with three rows of seating.
I agree with you 100 percent. Same situation and I'm sure not going to a bigger truck.
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Old 10-08-2012, 08:28 PM   #31
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Good post, OP.

We were in exactly the same situation until this weekend.
Our thoughts:
-If we get something 'almost' big enough for anything later, we'll lose money selling the unit as secondhand, and start over with something bigger anyway.
-The kids can bring friends along
-With a good WD hitch and common sense a properly putfitted half ton can pull quite a bit.

We pulled our 3220BH for the first time this weekdn for 4 hours in high winds. A little hairy, but with the dual cams added to the WD hitch and some air springs to smooth out the ride, it'll be just fine. And we've never towed a TT before.

Not sure if any of this if going through your heads, hope it helps.
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Old 06-23-2013, 03:42 PM   #32
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Smile Did you select you model yet?

Our family of 4 (boys 11/13 years) have had our Bullet 230bhs for almost a year now. If you still have questions we'd be happy to put our 2 cents in.
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Old 06-23-2013, 03:58 PM   #33
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My advice when people say "I think this size will work for us" is- Figure out what you think will work for you, then ADD 10 feet lol
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Old 06-24-2013, 01:36 AM   #34
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Smile 241 BHS Bullet

We just bought the 2014 Bullet 241 BHS, it has the couch, dinette, queen bed and two bunks.

We brought this since we have grandkids and want to take them some.

Here are some pictures from a previous thread.

http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11726

We love it but haven't time to go yet but will be going in late July, August and September.
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Old 06-24-2013, 07:09 PM   #35
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We purchased the Passport 2920BH. 2 girls and 4 bunks in the back, they have room for all their "stuff" without it cluttering up the rest of the camper. I pull with '08 Ram 1500 Hemi without any issues. It pulls nice and with a GOOD wd hitch it is even better, but if I was pulling hills much, I would upgrade to 3/4 ton oil burner.

Get as large as you are comfortable pulling with your TV. remember, you may be able to pull it with your TV, but maybe not legally or safely.

Worst part is we purchased this in March of this year new, but have only been able to use it 3 times this year due to the rain. I think we are over 24" rain this year. Went this last weekend until we had to packup and get out before the campground flooded. 5" rain in a few hours. That was just Friday night. Similar rain on Saturday night.
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Old 06-24-2013, 08:46 PM   #36
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Don't settle. We have "borrowed" two different style units prior to purchasing our Fuzion. Ours has a queen master, a queen air mattress in the den, and double queen bunks in the garage.
We used a unit that slept 4 that my MIL owns. The DW, two daughters and me. Too small!! The next unit was similar but had a slide and a couple of more feet, ok but gets crowded.
Our Fuzion has the extra room, two slides and plenty of room. Overkill, maybe, but we have used all of the beds on one trip. The kids want to bring a friend, MIL wants to visit when we camp close to home, the dog has to be with us and DW and I have to have our space.
We didn't settle and are glad now. We almost bought a mid size unit and probably would have traded within the first six months. I have head a friend do the trade out for a bigger unit thing. He agreed that he shouldn't have settled either.
Good luck and enjoy the family times ahead!!!
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Old 06-25-2013, 11:40 AM   #37
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We almost settled on a 4 bunk layout but thankfully we had an issue and moved into a bunk house with a slide.. Talk about room for the kids and dog! They essentially have their own space to relax.
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Old 06-25-2013, 12:39 PM   #38
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I have a friend who is an avid boater and is currently out cruising. He once told me that the maximum comfortable sleeping capacity of any boat, regardless of size, is two people. That sounded reasonable to me and I have applied it to RVing as well..
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Old 06-26-2013, 03:25 AM   #39
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It's just DW and I and we started with a Jayco 22FB. Sitting on top of each other and having to constantly get out of the way got old in a hurry. With two more people, it would get twice as old, twice as fast. On the rainy days when everyone is inside, you will really appreciate e little extra space to "get away". It's not like being at home and being able to send the kids to their room to play. The whole trailer is their room.
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Old 06-26-2013, 11:05 AM   #40
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I pull a 298BHS with a Titan.

I didn't see what truck you have, but my Titan is rated 9100, and we are hitting the road around 7100. Mileage sucks, but its a Titan, mileage sucks empty.

I have 3 kids and 2 70lbs dogs, and this is the smallest I would consider. I like that the kids have their own space for playing, keeps them out of the way when cooking or when wife and I are getting ready.
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