What happened to good ol Floorplans?

[DutchmenSport]

Well, based on the comments here, unless someone special customizes a floor plan and designs every detail, there is no "perfect" floor plan anywhere. (which is absolutely true).

There are always trade off's when purchasing a camper of any brand. That doesn't mean anyone has to settle on something they absolutely do not like or a detail that will irritate them more then the rest of the camper will bring enjoyment though. We looked at fifth wheels for 20 years because none fit what we were looking for either. We settled for travel trailers that fit the bill, but never gave up on searching for that "perfect" fifth wheel. And then one day, "it" happened! Just like Clark Grisswald's Christmas Tree epiphany at the beginning of the movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", when we "saw it" we just know it! Everything was right and now, there are absolutely no regrets we waited for years for the "right" one to come along. Because, it is our plan that this camper is the last one we'll ever purchase again.

Keep looking, don't give up, and someday, your perfect match will just be there!

[JDDilly]

Originally Posted by DutchmenSport

Well, based on the comments here, unless someone special customizes a floor plan and designs every detail, there is no "perfect" floor plan anywhere. (which is absolutely true).

There are always trade off's when purchasing a camper of any brand. That doesn't mean anyone has to settle on something they absolutely do not like or a detail that will irritate them more then the rest of the camper will bring enjoyment though. We looked at fifth wheels for 20 years because none fit what we were looking for either. We settled for travel trailers that fit the bill, but never gave up on searching for that "perfect" fifth wheel. And then one day, "it" happened! Just like Clark Grisswald's Christmas Tree epiphany at the beginning of the movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", when we "saw it" we just know it! Everything was right and now, there are absolutely no regrets we waited for years for the "right" one to come along. Because, it is our plan that this camper is the last one we'll ever purchase again.

Keep looking, don't give up, and someday, your perfect match will just be there!

Exactly, there is no perfect rig. When we have been looking, we make a list of must haves and those that would be nice to have. Many times, even the must haves can not be fully met. We take our list and rank each camper on how they meet our requirements. Many times we have just walked away because there was nothing better then what we had, other times, we found something that would better fit our family needs. Now that we are retired, our needs have changed a lot, we only sleep 2 adults and a couple grandkids, our childern are on their own!

[jeririgged223]

No offense but every time I look I always walk away thinking........... MEN, still designed by men because no woman would ever do that.

[JDDilly]

Originally Posted by jeririgged223

No offense but every time I look I always walk away thinking........... MEN, still designed by men because no woman would ever do that.

That is exactly what my wife says.

[DutchmenSport]

Ha! Way too funny about the men designers! I truly believe my current Montana was designed by a left handed person. Everything, and I mean everything in the camper seems completely backwards to me. It doesn't matter, even something a simple as screwing in a loose screw, reaching it is backwards on this camper!

I suppose that's the trade off though for having a camper with a second door on the opposite side of the camper.

However, it is a "perfect" camper for my wife because she IS left-handed! And you all know the drill: .... Happy wife, happy life! Still, it's the best floor plan we've ever had.

[mlh]

Originally Posted by DutchmenSport

Ha! Way too funny about the men designers! I truly believe my current Montana was designed by a left handed person. Everything, and I mean everything in the camper seems completely backwards to me. It doesn't matter, even something a simple as screwing in a loose screw, reaching it is backwards on this camper!

I suppose that's the trade off though for having a camper with a second door on the opposite side of the camper.

However, it is a "perfect" camper for my wife because she IS left-handed! And you all know the drill: .... Happy wife, happy life! Still, it's the best floor plan we've ever had.

Almost every thing is designed for right hand people. Try using a pair of sizzlers left handed. Skil saws were designed for us lefties. When the new battery skil saws were designed they corrected the problem and they are designed for right hand use.
Lynwood

[EllsworthToohey]

Speaking of floorplans, I found a cool home design program that's pretty easy to learn & use. I made a model of my Montana and approximated the built-in's with drag and drop cabinets, sofa, chairs tables etc. This has helped me test ideas without the heavy lifting of moving furniture only to find it impossible or ridiculous. I'm posting a screen shot of my model. the top is the 2D design window, and the bottom is the 3D visual based on the 2D. To the left is things to drag and drop, and data on all objects (so you can resize anything to match your pieces. Its fun & useful.

https://www.sweethome3d.com

[TGT]

It amazes me how the floor plans constantly change but in some form they stay the same. Some are obviously better at utilizing the available space than others do. We are new to 5R's and definitely not your traditional RV'r. Ours sits on our future retirement home property in Louisiana, 8.5 acres of timber, far inland, and outside the 500 yr floodplain. Our first 5R was a 1997 31' Jayco Designer Series, a basic layout that made very good use of the space with only one Superslide. We used it for about 9 months and decided to upgrade to a larger unit last November. We just happened on our 2005 3380RL Monty, and from all the various floorplans we have seen since, we have found nothing with a better layout until going up from our 37' to a 40'. The 3380RL was only built for about 18 months before being dropped. Don't understand why as it is a unique floor plan, but apparently only a few were ever built. Ours is a 2005 and probably one of the last units built as it was dropped early in 2005. It has an L shaped narrow island, a decent size desk area far away from the entertainment area, which is directly across from the main sofa at the rear of the unit. The only other floor plan that I like in an under 40' 5R is a mid kitchen, rear living room that is actually separated with sliding pocket doors and with 5 slides. I never understood the layouts with the entertainment center as an add on at the end of kitchen area on the opposite end from the actual living area. Here is the layout of our 3380RL.