Originally Posted by
jester_s1
Sounds like you guys have it right. My father in law owns an RV. He bought the biggest one that he could park by his house, because that's how he decides on everything he buys- which one is the most expensive and the most trouble. He mostly owns it so he can fix it. I've never known him to take a trip in it without first needing to replace a battery, or tire, or get the generator fixed, . Watching all the time, aggravation, and resources he's put into his has made me hesitant, but I've always also thought it can't really be that hard for everyone. His boat and house are the same story.
I know a lot of people that are the same way, buy the biggest and most expensive so you can show up everyone else.
The problem with doing that is how practical is it? For the wife and I, our 26 footer is big enough for what we need. It has a place to sleep, a place to cook, a place to eat and a 3/4 bath. To go larger is to add problems that we just don't need to add. Slides can and do leak and add a considerable amount of weight. Large holding tanks add a lot of weight as well, specifically when full. My trailer has a total capacity of 42 gallons(36 in the tank & 6 in the hot water heater) of fresh water, 19 gallons of sink/shower drain(grey) water and 19 gallons of sewer(black) for the toilet. If I had all three tanks full, that would be 668 pounds, if the black tank just had liquid in it. We will be taking our trailer out a couple of times over the next few months, one dry camping(no hook ups) and one with power and water. Both have their own challenges. Dry camping requires you to monitor you propane, water and batteries very carefully. Use too much of any and you will run out. When you have power and water, you can never run out of either one, which creates it's own problems. With the water, you also have to be careful of over-filling your holding tanks. Put too much water down the drain and you will have water backing up into the shower/tub and/or sinks. What I prefer to do is to dump the holding tanks as soon as possible after camping or when the tanks register a specific amount of contents. Many rest areas have dump stations and I prefer to stop at them as they are free. Many camp grounds have free dump sites for those who have stayed there the previous night as well.