Cover or not

[eagleguy]

I live in Florida. Is there a benefit in buying an off road cover when stored? Seems nobody does it here like the did when I was in NY.

 

[ColinB-KEY]

I bought one $350 for our first rig Jayco 24ft. in MN. Took an hour putting on and taking off. Try folding it back to fit the sack. LOL. I do not plan to buy one for our new Cougar 30ft. It can hail here, but you normally wouldn’t have the cover on when that happens. So I plan to garbage bag the AC, take off rear camera, etc. I’ll put a sheet of plywood over solar panel then tarp. Good luck.

 

[NH_Bulldog]

The covers are a real pain to put on and take off, so unless you are thinking longer term storage, a cover is not a great option, especially if you are going to use the RV every couple of weeks. A pole barn or RV carport is much better if you can do it.

I have owned various campers over the past 30 years, and have only covered my camper twice in recent years. We average about 68" of snowfall per year where I am located. The first 3 years we owned our Passport, it wintered at a storage lot in a steel pole barn. The nice thing was that it was protected from sun, wind, snow and ice, the downside was that it was layered in dust, dirt and covered in bird droppings (I should have put a cover on it while in the pole barn). The last two years we owned it, we kept it in the driveway over the winter and bought a 7-layer breathable and vented cover for protection. It takes a bit of time and more than one person to put it on and take it off, and will never fit back in the storage bag. It was a nice cover that fit snugly and had wind straps that kept it from flapping around and causing damage to the finish.

This winter is our first with the new 5th wheel and I didn't bother with the cover this time around. We had an RV parking pad put in before winter and the camper is protected from the sun and wind, but we do get some snow accumulation on top. I have seen no difference yet between covering and not covering, other than the time and expensive involved. I like being able to access everything on the camper for off-season projects without having to loosen or partially remove a cover.

 

[DutchmenSport]

NH_Bulldog stated it very well. It all depends upon how often you put the cover on and take it off and put it back on. After you've done it once, ... you really do not want to do it ever again .... but you do it anyway because you feel obligated to do use it, since you bought it and paid for it. So, you put it on the second time, and then .... that's probably the last time.

(I'm speaking from experience here.... except it took me 3 years covering and uncovering Fall and Spring, and even that was too much of a pain in the neck ... or should I say "back"!)

 

[JRTJH]

Keep in mind that there's a significant difference in what "climate" you create under the cover depending on where you're located... It makes sense to try to cover for the winter in the northeast or midwest and in the southwest. On the other hand, the camping season in Florida is the winter months, so covering in Florida during the summer means the cover will "stay wet underneath it" caused by those daily torrential 1PM rainstorms. That dampness sets up a perfect environment for mold, mildew and rot to occur in that same "couple of weeks between trips"....

 

[Firstime RVer]

We put our cover on every winter. My son and I use a couple of ten ft long poles to work it over the top from front to back and it only takes about 15 to 20 minutes or so to fasten it down. Blocks a lot of high intensity winter sun damage to the graphics and has kept our baby looking good.
Its worked for us in the North east for the last 8 years and as far as I'm concerned worth the effort.

Safe travels and all the best.