RVs have seen a massive boom during the pandemic. Many vacation destinations shuttered while other popular methods of relaxation like cruise ships prove to be petri dishes. In spite of the challenges, Americans still want to get out and have fun, so an incredible amount of people turned to hitting the road and camping. And a ton of those people decided to do it with a travel trailer or motorhome. In 2021, the American RV industry set a new record, shipping 600,240 units. The previous record was 504,599 units, which was set in 2017. And this year, the industry believes that it could set another record. Clearly, a lot of people love hotel rooms on wheels. Our own data shows that you dear readers love them, too. That’s great, because we’re right there with you. I love a good, innovative RV. And we especially like to highlight trailers and motorhomes with an attractive price, good quality, or that are just plain absurd. We’re not afraid to show you the dark side of some RVs, either. And thanks to the folks of Go RVing, the consumer-facing voice of the RV manufacturers, I will have access to the nation’s largest RV dealership trade show and only OEM-driven trade show. The Open House is not the largest overall RV show–that distinction goes to the Pennsylvania Recreation Vehicle And Camping Association’s Hershey Show–but it is considered one of the most important as it’s the one that dealerships attend to fill out their inventories with the latest rigs. The show went on a two-year hiatus for the pandemic, but it’s back on this week, 55 years after it first started. And since it is dealer-focused, the manufacturers will be there for demonstrations and to answer questions. America’s two largest RV conglomerates, Forest River and Thor Industries will be there. The list of manufacturers is huge and includes everyone from Black Series off-road campers, nüCamp European campers, Little Guy lightweight campers, Lance truck campers, and so many more. And remember, Forest River and Thor own countless brands. Coachmen is a Forest River brand while Airstream is under Thor. Put another way, Thor is expecting to bring 500 units to the show from its number of brands. I’m also excited by the map. This show isn’t just held in a single place, but all over Elkhart, Indiana, where most of these rigs get made each and every year.
I plan to find the latest in RV tech at the show, from Airstream’s developments like trailers that can park themselves to electrified coaches for the modern era. RV suppliers and the aftermarket will be having their own show in the RV Hall Of Fame, another destination that I cannot wait to visit. There will also be some lightweight and inexpensive campers there, and you bet I’ll be looking them over. While I do all of this, are there any RVs that you want to see or technology that you’re hoping to make an appearance? I’m going to try to get everything that I can for a stream of articles of excited-me poring over RV details, history, and tech. What I am interested in is those not using propane and rather induction cook tops along with non-propane water heaters and furnaces. I am thinking one less tank to fill. If he is there, look up Josh the RV Nerd. He has a great sense of humor and much knowledge of RVs that could fit with this site. I’d love to see if there are any EV friendly trailers out there. On paper having a giant house battery parked outside is awesome. But that range hit to get the camper to the site, oof! Not sure if possible, but I’d love to see your picks for “best made” and “worst made” campers/RVs you see. My personal experience with campers sounds like yours (Like a House, But Worse); newer ones seem to be basically made of cardboard and hot glue. Dealers even tell you that you will likely have to bring it back several times in the first year to get repairs completed, but also warn you that parts are scarce so you’ll likely be without your huge new investment for months out of the season. Similarly, “best/worst new ideas,” etc might be an interesting feature. “Best/worst graphics” category… I ended up retrofitting an enclosed trailer with insulation, fan, bed, flooring, kitchen, etc to meet my needs. The whole thing weighs 1800lb, and cost $3500 to build. You could do something similar, but leave out the rear wall to pull in dirtbikes. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQTzd_9h9H3/ TotalComposites makes insulated sandwich panels and now a flat-pack truck camper. One of my latest designs utilizes these panels for the box. Considering an independent box that can be lifted off a flatbed trailer (like a truck bed camper) so the trailer can be more useful. Time or money; I seem to only ever have one or the other. Worst: N-way tie among basically everything from Thor and Forest River, but probably the Thor Ace motor homes. I’d also like to see more on lightweight half-ton towable 5th wheels. Essentially, the root of this is that I’d like to start camping with my family but I want to be able to take either my small fishing boat or a light trailer with 1-2 atvs/motorcycles, and I really don’t want the added expense or worse livability of a HD truck. There’s two ways to accomplish this, either a pickup bed camper with trailer behind, or double tow with a 5th wheel followed by the boat. I’ve found some options, but they’re either so small it’s only good for 1-2 people, or heavy enough that you’re buying groceries there because that 12 pack is gonna put you over GVWR. I’m probably asking for a lot but with the capability of modern half tons I’m surprised to not see more “combo” options. The only real exceptions I know of are the Escape 5.0TA and the Scamp 19. All my other questions center around value-for-money also. What’s the cheapest thing that seems reasonably well built and sturdy? What’s the cheapest thing that one could reasonably take off-road? What’s the most cost-effective alternative to just buying a used van and going full DIY with the build-out? Oh, and this one is more just curiosity, but I’d love to hear about any innovative safety features for RVs. My general impression is that for all their wonderful points as something you can drive around and also live in, RVs are kinda deathtraps should one be so unfortunate as to get into a serious accident in one. Is anybody working on that problem? Have fun at the RV show, it sounds like a blast! I would like to know what the RV industry is going to do to address the banning of the sale of Non-Road engines in California. I have a Class A RV and it has a ICE engine that powers the generator, what are the RV industries plans to provide/generate electricity without the use of an ICE engine in the future? Thanks! I too liked the idea of the A-frame and still think it is superior to the tent-side pop-ups for a couple or solo traveler. However the front wall of mine separated from the floor at 2 years old and less than 8 trips. Floor had a lot of extra penetrations from the factory when we got it, too. Cabinets weren’t fully attached. Nests of wiring piled behind panels (I removed over 15 feet of extra wire when chasing down a solar issue). Mine still has a bunch of factory installed jankiness. But nothing like what other campers have based on reading around. Probably since there’s not much to go wrong. Overall I’m quite happy with it in the 3 summers I’ve used it. It’s not perfect but no camper ever is. I unfortunately bought a ’22 Winnebago Micro Minnie, and it’s shocking the amount of crap I’ve had to do it clean and fix it. Sawdust everywhere, wires entangled with water lines, leaky baggage doors. I knew it wouldn’t be great but it’s shocking how bad it is. I got a Bigfoot pre-pandemic, known for better quality and a price that reflects it. While there’s nothing on that level of terrible and it’s solid structurally with no leaks, I’m still pretty disappointed in the quality for the price. Especially the electrical wiring. Cheap connectors, sloppy crimps, and a wire nut where the third wire wasn’t far enough in to make contact at all. I’d like to see ones that don’t charge »> bespoke prices for hardware from a Home Depot scrap pile and construction quality that even a homeless tent dweller would find appalling. Obviously they really don’t care because they’re raking in money faster than they would if they owned a printing press, and there’s absolutely no regulations forcing them to do anything. We have regs that require certain things in the construction of cars, and regs that require certain things on the construction of houses, but if you put the two together then do whatever the hell you want!
