Finally has come time to move on from our beloved Jayco sportster 7 and upgrade to something bigger and newer. Have a young son and another on the way, so main thing we’re after is more/better sleeping space. Where narrowed it down to either an Outfitter or Hallmark. Want some experience feedback on those.
So far the non-negotiable are: north/south bed, outside shower, solar, a third bed in addition to the cab over and dinette (ie the tent room of the Juno or a pull out bunk over the dinette).
We’re specifically looking at Apex/Juno/8ft Caribou or the Hallmark Guanella.
Main questions are:
1) is the wet bath worth it?
Currently our jayco doesn’t have a permanent stove as we usually cook outside or set the Coleman on the counter. We don’t have a water tank either and just use some reliance water jugs. Both of these work fine and I honestly imagine we will continue to largely cook outside and having the water jugs on the camp table will continue. All that to say a wet bath would be a huge upgrade for us. Definitely want the outside shower, but not sold on the toilet or inside shower.
On one hand, the shower and toilet would be nice for the late season elk hunts my dad and I do here in colorado and we could start using the camper instead of renting a cabin every year.
On the other, do the toilets stink? I grew up on a houseboat and the holding tanks always smelled. It was a constant battle keeping the poo stink down.
I imagine that snagging either an Apex or Juno without the wet bath would bring weight down a few hundred pounds, which is appealing.
2) is hallmark worth the price? It looks like $10-15l more for a comparable Hallmark. The construction seems very similar, so what sets Hallmark that much higher? Either are in my budget, but still, $15k is $15k…
3) can the weight of the significantly heavier Juno/apex really be “felt” on a 2500 cummins?
Previous truck was an 05 cummins 2500, and recently upgraded to a 22 cummins 2500. My jayco only weighs about 1,400lbs but the new truck handles it much better stock than my 05 did with full Thuren kit and Timbrens.
I have no issue using the Timbrens again or even airbags, and certainly don’t want to start a GVWR debate, just want to know how the heavier ones “feel”. Not going to take it on trails at Moab, but we do hit the forest service roads frequently.
Thanks in advance!
So far the non-negotiable are: north/south bed, outside shower, solar, a third bed in addition to the cab over and dinette (ie the tent room of the Juno or a pull out bunk over the dinette).
We’re specifically looking at Apex/Juno/8ft Caribou or the Hallmark Guanella.
Main questions are:
1) is the wet bath worth it?
Currently our jayco doesn’t have a permanent stove as we usually cook outside or set the Coleman on the counter. We don’t have a water tank either and just use some reliance water jugs. Both of these work fine and I honestly imagine we will continue to largely cook outside and having the water jugs on the camp table will continue. All that to say a wet bath would be a huge upgrade for us. Definitely want the outside shower, but not sold on the toilet or inside shower.
On one hand, the shower and toilet would be nice for the late season elk hunts my dad and I do here in colorado and we could start using the camper instead of renting a cabin every year.
On the other, do the toilets stink? I grew up on a houseboat and the holding tanks always smelled. It was a constant battle keeping the poo stink down.
I imagine that snagging either an Apex or Juno without the wet bath would bring weight down a few hundred pounds, which is appealing.
2) is hallmark worth the price? It looks like $10-15l more for a comparable Hallmark. The construction seems very similar, so what sets Hallmark that much higher? Either are in my budget, but still, $15k is $15k…
3) can the weight of the significantly heavier Juno/apex really be “felt” on a 2500 cummins?
Previous truck was an 05 cummins 2500, and recently upgraded to a 22 cummins 2500. My jayco only weighs about 1,400lbs but the new truck handles it much better stock than my 05 did with full Thuren kit and Timbrens.
I have no issue using the Timbrens again or even airbags, and certainly don’t want to start a GVWR debate, just want to know how the heavier ones “feel”. Not going to take it on trails at Moab, but we do hit the forest service roads frequently.
Thanks in advance!
Congrats.
