dadmomh
Jackson, TN
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Joined: 01/21/2007
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It's just the two of us and it takes about 30 - 45 minutes from backing into the site, dropping and making the beds (we use real sheets), putting out the slide, awning and chairs, etc. We usually just take it easy and take our time. Normally we pack up slowly on Sunday morning and just do a little here and there until we're finished. Two weeks ago DH got to feeling really puny and decided we should probably head for home on Saturday afternoon - we had everything stowed as it should be, folded up and out of the site within about 20 - 30 minutes. You can make it as simple or as complicated as you want to, but it's really no big deal. Enjoy!
PS Forgot about the gizmos - that'll add maybe 5 - 10 minutes including getting the folding ladder out of the truck and also hooking up the "high wind" bungees.
2006 ROO 23SS
2003 F-150 Super Crew with stabilizers and Prodigy
Sam, World's Best Yellow Camping Lab
7 "stay-at-home" K-9s
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
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DarylSue
Waterloo,New York/Fingerlakes
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Joined: 10/09/2007
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30 minutes here..............Daryl.
Daryl and Sue, Andrew(12) and Max the dog.
2008 days camped........25
2009 days planned.......8(and counting)
2006 Jayco Jay Feather 25E
2005 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer
Voyager BC
Reese Dual Cam WD/Sway
TomTom GPS.2008 Camping
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jtbeck
Kentucky
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Joined: 04/23/2008
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Nobody here seems to have some crazy set up time. I don't know what those other guys were griping about.
I don't really count backing into the site, since that's pretty well a universal PITA. Same goes for unhitching, I guess.
They were making it sound like they had 45 minutes or so of just hard-core manual labor getting their HTT's set up. There were a few that said they moved to a TT because they didn't want to fool with wet canvas and they thought their TT's were quieter. I guess those might be valid, but the setup time doesn't look so bad to me. Looks like it might take about 10 or 15 minutes more than a TT. Big deal.
I think we'll be moving to an HTT when the time is right.
Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.
Me (69), DW (69), DD (95), DS (00), DS (01) and 1 camping toy fox terrier (08)
95 Fleetwood Utah, 02 Ford Explorer Limited (V8)
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trnfla
Tampa
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Joined: 06/17/2006
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It would take me 30 minutes to set-up... However, the breakdown was about an hour.
Have a great time camping,
Terry
Please say a Prayer for my 12 month old Granddaughter VisitBella.com
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Now 2004 Winnie 31C
Had
2007 Zeppelin EZ190, 2007 Expy
1999 30' Dutchman Classic 5th wheel, 2005 F250
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kknowlton
Wisconsin Border Country, IL
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Joined: 05/27/2005
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What takes more time with the TT (and also did with the HTT) over the PUP was hitching & unhitching, as the hitches are more complicated, what with sway bars, etc. The HTT would take much less time for us to set up than our PUP did, as most everything was already stored in the trailer. It was so nice NOT to have to tote & carry a whole bunch of stuff between TV and trailer anymore. Still is (now that we have a TT)! 
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Merrykalia
SW Virginia
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Joined: 04/18/2005
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We moved from a tent (too much to carry in the car/truck) to a pup (couldn't get to anything easily unless it was up) to a HTT (easier to load, but still a pain to open everything) to a TT. I guess in a few years, we will upgrade to a 5'er or more likely, a Class A.
We moved to the HTT because it was a real pain to have to open the pup to pull out the dirty clothes, whatever needed to go into the house. The HTT was great for that, but it would only sleep 6 really "close" persons. We now have 2 small children and the grandparents seemed to like to come along wherever we went, so we got a bigger camper (33' bunkhouse).
PROS
When we bought the HTT, we loved the fact that it was small, but "grew" to be a good size camper once you were where you were going. It could be packed with no raising of the roof or sliding the beds.
Weight is low - Towing of a HTT was easy and could be done with most any truck or larger 6 cyl vehicle.
It had it's own bathroom - granted, it wasn't much, but it had a pot and a shower.
Tent ends - you can open them up and you are out in the open air
Full kitchen with large ref, micro, stove top and sink
Most are smaller, so they fit in almost any campsite space anywhere.
CONS
Put out beds, attempt to make them up while sitting on them or go outside and make them up before enclosing them. If you are traveling, you have to do this each and every time.
Most HTT's don't have slide-outs and they give you soooo much room inside.
Tent ends (yeah, it appears both places) can cause the HTT to heat up really quickly or cool down really quickly, therefore, you must have some type of heat shield (popup gizmos)
That's all I can think of - I loved my HTT, but we just outgrew it.
Setup - i.e. levelling and hooking up water/electric, sewer, cable, etc. has to be done on any type of camper, so that isn't a pro or con and it's according to what type of site we are on, how long it takes. We (DH and myself, plus a 4 year old and a 13 mo old) can have our TT set up in less than 20 minutes and it took DH and I about 30 minutes on the HTT and about 45 minutes on the pup.
That's all I can think of
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Rookiecamper
Northeastern, PA
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Joined: 04/01/2005
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To me the big time saver is the fact that everything is pretty much in its place as far as the inside it concerned. With the pup, we always had to slide out totes and unpack stuff to set up the inside. As most others have said, backing, leveling, opening the beds, setting up outside stuff is still the same, but we save time and work with the HTT. Also, the awning is much easier to deal with on the HTT...that saves time also.
Me~Jim, 44
DW~Patty, no comment
DS~Dave,19
DD~Megan,17
DD~Emily,11
200lb. English Mastiff~Gulliver,8
2005 Expedition Eddie Bauer
2002 Palomino Stampede 235 SL
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chilipyro
CT
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Joined: 01/12/2008
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I find, as stated earlier, that the urgency of getting the interior and exterior extras set up (i.e., the camp) is much less with an HTT than with a pup. With the pup, all the storage was under the dinette seats and in the aisles. There was no way to pull in late and fix a quick supper for the kids right away - we had to haul everything out of the storage benches and out of the aisles. That made the arrival time very stressful for me. It is much, MUCH better now with the HTT. We pull in, level, unhitch, stabilize, and that's really all we need to do before a beer and a meal.
However, for us there is one issue with the tent bed setup that I find annoying (and reminiscent of the pup hassles). Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with rain. Because DW and I find the split mattress in our camper uncomfortable by itself, we have a memory foam mattress topper. This topper has to go somewhere while traveling. In our case, it goes on a spare bunk. The spare bunk is also where we keep our duffel bags while camping. While traveling though, the duffel bags are on the kids mattresses. The result of all this is that, when we arrive late and want to get the kids right into bed, there is a mad rush to get our bed set up so that we can clear all the junk off the kids beds. With a TT, our bed would be all made and ready to go, and the clothes would probably be in drawers rather than duffel bags too. That is the only aspect I find dissatisfying with our HTT setup process. I don't mind at all pulling down or putting up the tenting in the rain. It takes all of a couple of minutes - and I am already wet from hitching/unhitching, etc. We throw towels inside under the tenting, and keep the mattress in the bunk area, if it gets folded up wet. It is really no problem at all, compared with the pup.
I suppose that noise could be an issue (as compared with a TT) when you are near rowdy campers. But I find that to be rare (fortunately), and enjoy all the other times where the night time forest noises are heard loud and clear. I also find that the noise of rain in the tent area is far more quiet than under the hard roof in the rest of the trailer. Even in a light rain, the bunk area of our 26L sounds like the grand finale of a fireworks show!
* This post was
edited 08/27/08 11:21pm by an administrator/moderator *
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risingsun
Prescott, AZ
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Joined: 07/23/2007
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trnfla wrote:It would take me 30 minutes to set-up... However, the breakdown was about an hour.
I totally agree with this one. After spending a few days at one spot, the kiddos and us parents have spread stuff around everywhere!
2006 Rockwood Roo 23SS
2001 GMC Yukon SLT
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Dick_B
Palos Heights, IL USA
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Joined: 07/10/2002
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If it's a Trail Manor it should take less than five minutes either way.
Dick_B
2003 SunnyBrook 27FKS
2003 3/4 T Chevrolet Suburban
Equal-i-zer Hitch
One wife, two bikes (both Electric Schwinn's with motor assist)
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