Finding what works for you and your family, can feel daunting, there are so many sizes, prices and options how do you find what you need for camping. I have been through this process and I am here to give you the process that my family used to help us find what worked and what didn’t work for our camping trips.
We decided (or were forced into) to start looking for a camper following an experience of our burning down after a weekend camping trip! (More on that in another article) We have been a camping family for about 5 years and have been through 3 different campers (only one burning down and the other two being sold to upgrade) with three drastically different floor plans and so I feel our fourth choice for a camper could be thought through more carefully, by looking at what we had used and what worked and didn’t work for us.
First, the main decision that needs to be made is what kind of camping do you enjoy doing, ie: the type of camping (campsite, dry camping, etc), the activities done while camping (hiking, ATVs, lounging, swimming, games, etc), the location of camping (mountains, beach, sand dunes, etc.) Coming up with these options will lead to creating a list of all the items you feel are necessary for each camping trip. Write this list down, we did, and it helped tremendously in our search. Lastly, we took that list when we started searching local ads, RV stores and just simply driving around looking at “for sale” campers in people’s yards.
This article is how we went about deciding what camping we enjoy, what items we want in a camper and how we found the perfect camper for us.
What kind of Camping do you like?
This is the most important aspect of how to choose your camper. Here you want to consider locations you like to go, what kind of hookups are in those locations, what activities you enjoy doing while camping in those locations and the kind of other campers that come with you. For example, with the 3 different campers we have owned, we learned that the big 5th wheel was very difficult to get up into the mountains to camp with friends that with who we liked to ride ATV’s, but the small camper we owned, was not built have toys that we had accumulated. That is how we ended up with our third camper which was a medium sized toy hauler. We also like to camp next to a body of water (stream, creek, pond, lake) because our children spend a lot of time in the water. This also allows our children to “self-clean” and so a shower inside the camper seemed to just take up space and in our campers ended up becoming a storage unit for garbage or dirty clothes. However, our last camper had an outdoor shower, which is basically a shower head on the outside of the camper that you can shower off with, which worked well in the afternoon/evening to just get clean before sitting by the fire. Lastly, when we are camping, we spend nearly every waking hour outside of our camper and so extra space is wasted space, and again, our 5th wheel ended up feeling more like a second home that cost a lot of money and gas to move around to just sit there waiting for us to climb in at night time and sleep. So we have decided that a smaller camper works better for us because we don’t need space to live, but just enough that we can lay down and be comfortable in a bed at night time. Basically we are mostly interested in campers that allow us to climb into less traveled terrain with our truck, but also allow us the 4 walls and a ceiling needed to provide some safety at night time to sleep well.
What items do you feel are unnecessary for your camping trip?
Now that you better understand what kind of camping you want, you can start to make a list of what items you feel you need inside of a camper to enjoy the trip. Examples of these include appliances, furniture, plumbing, electrical, water supply, and other storage. For example, when I think of camping, I think of being outside, playing, hiking, riding ATV’s, swimming, shooting guns and almost any other outdoor activity you can think of, including cooking meals, so time spent inside the camper is minimal for us. Thus we have decided, (now hear me out here), a kitchen stove, an oven and a microwave are not essential for our camper. One thing you have to know about me and my family is that we are fair weather campers, meaning, we don’t go camping unless the weather is going to be nice for us and thus we do not really camp outside of the months June through September, so we don’t ever really have a reason to be inside when we eat. What we have done for eating is created an outdoor type kitchen that we pack with us and then put out by the campfire when we arrive and then it is ready for all meals. So a question that you can ask is what kind of cooking do you want to do when camping. My family and I prefer to eat outdoors and so we never really used the stove (and definitely not the oven) for cooking purposes. This frees up more space in the camper for what we do find necessary. However, one note here on the meal prep is that we do like to wash our fruits and vegetables prior to eating and so counter space and a sink with running water is essential inside the camper. Now, if you prefer to do the cooking indoors and do not want to try and cook on the fire or want a place to cook if the weather gets bad, then all those appliances may be needed. Just decide what kind of cooking you and your campers need.
We also have 3 daughters, who do know how to go #2 in a hole, but in the middle of the night, I prefer not to go tramping around in the cold and the dark, trying to use that hole. Thus, a toilet for those middle of the night go’s, is essential for us, but again, we tend to just “self-clean” in the body of water we are camping next to and so a shower unit is something we are ok passing on. So know that, our bathroom can be smaller to save space without the shower. We also have found that 2 sinks inside a camper in a matter of five feet from each other (bathroom and kitchen) is not needed and that we can simply wash our hands and our veggies in the same sink, giving us a little more space. I would like to say here, that if being able to have a space to shower and clean up is important for you, then a full shower may be the way to go for your camping trips.
The last thing that we feel is not needed in a camper was an AC unit. Now again, when we camp, we like to be by water and thus there tends to be a lot of foliage as well, so we always park our camper under a group of trees to allow it to be in the shade most of the day and thus keep the inside of the camper cool throughout the day. Some people love to camp in the desert or by sand dunes to play on toys most of the day and you will have a harder time finding shade in those areas and an AC unit may be a must for you, but for us, no.
What items do you feel are necessary for your camping trip?
Now, I have spent most of the time talking about what we don’t feel we need in our camper and hopefully this has given you some great ideas of things you feel are unnecessary for your camping trips. Now I would like to turn and tell you about what I find to be a must for our camper. My wife and I have 4 kids, and they are all younger (at the time of me writing this article) and as you can imagine, sleep is very important to our family, quantity and quality. So sleeping arrangements and comfort levels while sleeping are high on our priority list for our camper. We need enough space so that each kid can sleep the night away after a long day of running and playing without being awoken multiple times by being cold or heaven forbid someone else kicking or slapping them. So bedding is the first and foremost important thing for us. The good news here is that since we have decided that a shower and a larger kitchen area is not needed for us that frees up mores space for sleeping arrangements and storage for extra blankets for the really cold nights. We need a bed for my wife and I and space for a bed for 4 more bodies, again, because touching each other at night time is very upsetting to our kids. We have found the hard thing is finding a camper that can sleep six people and not be huge and heavy. So this was the first snag we ran into when looking. Each time I found a camper that could sleep six people it seemed to be longer or heavier than what we wanted due to our above desires of being able to camp up in the mountains, away from people.
The other necessity that we wanted, which also goes along with the sleeping arrangements, is a heater. One of the worst things for our family is having a small child wake up in the middle of night because they are cold and can’t go back to sleep, thus a heater or furnace that can run off of propane is a must for us. Now you may not want to use up the storage space with a heater because sleeping in the cold is not bothersome as you are all adults or only camp with adults and you are able to just get under more covers. However, for us, little kids are notorious for kicking off the covers and then not putting them back on in the middle of the night and then coming to me to complain about being cold and these events do not help me feel refreshed in the morning.
The next thing on our list of necessities, is a toilet. Again this goes with the little kids as well. Our kids do know how and most often do during the day, go to the bathroom outside in the woods. But this tends to be a problem in the middle of the night when it is cold and I don’t want to go out in it to help my 3 year old find a spot to pee. So we need a toilet for those middle of the night go’s. You may not feel you need to have space for a toilet because going in the woods at 2 am is a fun excursion, but for my sake, I want a toilet.
The last thing that we feel is necessary for our camping trips is an outdoor shower (ok, maybe not a must, but an awesome convenience that allows us to get clean in the outdoors but doesn’t take up space in the camper). This outdoor shower allows us to get cleaner than a creek or lake in the afternoon, if we feel we need to, but does not take up any of the indoor camping space. We do sacrifice some privacy here, since we are outdoors, but for the most part we are away from any other campers and don’t really need to worry about that. What our kids have found, is that they just wear their swimsuits to shower anyway and it makes it fun for them. The outdoor shower idea is great for anyone who does not feel they need to shower everyday and don’t worry too much about privacy. However, if you feel that getting clean each night before crawling into bed or in the morning before starting your daily activities is a must, then you may need to sacrifice space somewhere else to have that shower brought indoors.
Conclusion…
All in all, there are so many different choices of campers out there it is beneficial to sit down with whoever is going to make the decision with you and go through these different options I have mentioned here to help you understand what you are really looking for in a camper before you step onto the buyers scene. I hope this article has helped you see what there is out there to help. Oh, and one more thing, I know you want to see it, here is a picture of what we felt was going to be perfect for our family.
If you would like to follow my journey of taking this little, old camper and turning into what our family finds to be the perfect weekend getaway, look for my other articles on this site, TheDIYCamper.com.
