was thinking about buying a pop up camper so that the wife would be more willing to go with me down to PINS and Matagorda. Just curious how those things hold up over time? are the pop out sections easy to patch / repair when they get tears?

there are low end and real good ones ,the good ones are lightweight and comparable to the hard side in confort but all tend to be not as soundproof because of the canvas,but the fuel savings especially now make up for it, starcraft makes a descent one , i really like the look of the off raod ones, and there are toy hauler models as well

I had a jayco popup camper. I loved the airflow when all the windows were open. Popup campers are easy to tow, have quite a bit of room, and are inexpensive. The only drawbacks I saw were, no bathroom/shower,no room to pack your gear, kind of shakey if you have any wind, and I don't like the time it takes to set one up, and I always dreaded packing up at the end of a trip.

I had a Palamino hard side popup and it was great. It had a hard roof and sides, and canvas ends. Took about 10 minutes to set up or take down. As mentioned above they ain't sound proof. And a night of thunderstorms can be exciting. But overall, I wish I had one now.

I always dreaded packing up too. It meant back to work! LOL

there are models with bathrooms

A popup is a good entry level camper and gets you off the ground I know many people that started in a popup and then moved up to a hardsided camper. I agree with the above poster on the thunderstorms as well.

My uncle had one when I was a kid, he would take me, my brother and 2 cousins for fishing weekends in a lot. Actually us kids would sleep in it and my dad and uncle would sleep in their trucks. My uncle still has it today and his neighbors use it twice a year, it's gotta be 22yrs old!

yeah i mainly want one so the wife would be willing to go camping on the beach with me on my surf fishing trips. The bathroom model would be a must as thats her main complaint of camping. I figure the pop up would be perfect as I tend to drive several miles down the beach and wouldnt want the heavier hardshell campers to bog me down in the sand. I love that jayco offroad model but man its expensive. I think I will buy a cheaper model thats a few years old, and if it turns out that I dont like it I could always sell it and get most of my money back out of it. Thanks for the info guys

look at the off road models they really look cool and when its time to trade up they bring the most re sale, look around and find a good used one , let someone else take the depresiation

you might want to consider renting one for a few days before buying.

I had one for 3-4 years and liked it wish I wouldn't have sold it. It served it's purpose A/C blew cold and even had a small heater in it. It also had a fridge,stove and shower and toilet never used that though. It was a Starcraft model. I think if I were to get another one it would be a regular camper.

I just bought one (used 05 fleetwood) and let me tell you it's an awesome experience after sleeping in tents for the last 15 years. I love the fact that it's not sound proof because you still get to hear the wind the waves and the sound of nature. Once you turn on the AC it kinda drones all that stuff out anyways. I love, even more, the fact that it barely even affects the gas mileage on my truck. My inlaws had a pop up for a couple of years and then they bought a 24ft TT. My FIL asked if I wanted to trade just a few days ago.....I laughed. They are also very easy to store. I built a gate on the side of my house and it fits nicely in my back yard (had to do this after the city complained about it in my driveway). I could go on and on about how much my wife and I love this thing. ONLY THING IS research whatever you buy. Watch out for colemans 2003 and older. Everyone loves the Coleman name....they had roof problems, fleetwood actually bought them out when it comes to pop ups. Be very tedious in buying one and you'll love it. Look around and you'll find a pretty sweet deal...I did.