Hello

[aama2006]

Hello everyone, my wife and I have our eyes on a future Escape Trailer. I have been doing a lot of research on these forums and its so nice to see everyone's experiences with their Escape.

Our trailer history: Former Casita owners(17' Spirit Deluxe), we loved our Casita. This was a very trouble-free trailer with little or no issues, still looked brand new when we sold it after 4 years. We kept a Calmark cover one it which seemed to give really good protection. The Casita was just too small for us and we really needed the dry bath as we use our trailer for business trips. Former Airstream owners ( 22' Sport FB). This was the perfect trailer for us, but due to environmental factors of the location we live the trailer was showing signs of corrosion. This was unacceptable to us for such an expensive product so we ended up selling it. Airstream claims that such corrosion is "cosmetic" and many people have no problem with it. It was just too much of an investment for us to move on.

Our future trailer: We are going all in hoping to get an Escape 23 next year. Looks like chances might be slim, but for us Escape is the ideal trailer. The 23 would provide the dry bath and we really would live to get back into a molded fiberglass trailer. We do have backup options such as Lance, Northwood, Outdoors RV and the Bigfoot.

I have been so impressed with ETI. The fact that everything is so custom and made to order has impressed us. The videos and website is quite helpful as well. Everyone looks like they are really proud of the product they make.

I am glad to be on this forum. Hopefully I can contribute on some discussions based on my past experiences.

[TahoeJoe]

Hello and welcome! I'm also a new (soon to be) ETI customer, also hoping for a 23. I have only had "stick-built" trailers in the past. My most recent one was a Northwood Arctic Fox, which is arguably the best of the stick-builts on the market. I sold it to go fiberglass, which says a lot. To me, there is only one downside to the eggs, which is less living space because there is no slide-out. That is one reason I'm waiting for the 23; downsizing from a 30ft trailer with a slide-out, anything smaller might be too much of a shock (in part because we have 2 large dogs). Bigfoot and Oliver are the only others with larger floorplans, but they are too pricey for me, so Escape is the clear winner. And the icing on the cake is the customization and customer service!

I would actually consider another Northwood/Outdoors trailer, but unfortunately their options for smaller floorplans are extremely limited and not that great. So that leaves my current backup plan (e.g. if I can't get an Escape until 2022), which is Lance. They've got some great trailers in the 21-24 ft range...

[UncleTim]

Start a list of questions. There are lots of experienced folks here. You can search the past threads too. Lots of good info there.


Yes, I do think we love our trailers.

[cpaharley2008]

Welcome Aaron, from a former Lance owner and on my 4th Escape. Escape keeps making improvements over past 10 years that upgrades are easy to accomplish.

[AmyT]

Looks like the 23 will not be molded fiberglass. Is that a deal breaker for you?

[aama2006]

Based on what I have read so far, the good and the bad, the 23 is top of our list. Honestly I am really impressed with the 21 and 19, but the wet bath is a deal breaker.

[sherminator]

Originally Posted by AmyT

Looks like the 23 will not be molded fiberglass.

I'm curious as to how you came to that conclusion. Escape has talked about the mold for the 23 several times in their livestreams.

[camp4528]

Originally Posted by sherminator

I'm curious as to how you came to that conclusion. Escape has talked about the mold for the 23 several times in their livestreams.

Ditto from me too since the "live" streams talked extensively about getting the Escape 23 moulds ready. I was interested enough to go the Escape trailer site and all the images show a fiberglass trailer.

Perhaps the poster was referring to the switch from a steel frame to aluminium (the bit the fiberglass room sits on)

[Perry Butler]

Of our 15 trailers, some we've owned in order of ownership:

• 2000 Scamp side bath - too small bed and dated design.
  
  .
• 2007 Casita Spirit Basic - no water but a great camper when we were still working. Without water it was just not for the long trips we now take in retirement.
  
  .
• 2006 Airstream 16' Bambi - small fridge, claustrophobic bed, Airstream's famous leaking seams and buried appliances. Bought in April, sold in July. A step down from our Casita. Luckily we'd kept our Casita.
  
  .
• 2003 Bigfoot 25' RQ - AFAIC the best fiberglass made, better than the Oliver we had a chance to buy. Our max tow F150 had no problem pulling or braking. It was awesome and the floor plan blows away the Escape 23. Took two years to find one we could afford. It was older, within our price range, but after a year foolishly sold it for a . . .
  
  .
• 2014 Lance 23 - Big mistake. We purchased ours along with a friend who purchased a 2015 at the same time. Didn't hold a candle to the Bigfoot! Poor fit and finish. Upper cabinet doors hit you in the head when opened (Terry's only 5'4"), a known problem for years that Lance didn't bother to address. Awkward raised dinette that needed to be supported inside if you dared sit on it to eat a sandwich when traveling that can ruin their rack and pinion slide system. Joke for a shower. We got it to 5,500 #'s in a heartbeat with only a 5,700# gross weight. Worse gas mileage we've ever had (same as our friends) at around 9.2 mpg. The Bigfoot got around 11 mpg. We took it on one 6,000 mile trip, and on the way home, in Wyoming, we put money down on an Escape 21 (later changed to a 5.0).
  
  .
• 2018 Escape 5.0 - our current camper. We have made many modifications and love it. We see owning this camper for 8-10 more years.

We've been spoiled with our Escape 5.0 fifth wheel. The u-shaped lounging area works well, so for us, don't need a slide. If we ever decide to get a pull trailer it will be a used Bigfoot 25' RQ.

Enjoy,

Perry

[aama2006]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

Of our 15 trailers, some we've owned in order of ownership:

• 2000 Scamp side bath - too small bed and dated design.
  
  .
• 2007 Casita Spirit Basic - no water but a great camper when we were still working. Without water it was just not for the long trips we now take in retirement.
  
  .
• 2006 Airstream 16' Bambi - small fridge, claustrophobic bed, Airstream's famous leaking seams and buried appliances. Bought in April, sold in July. A step down from our Casita. Luckily we'd kept our Casita.
  
  .
• 2003 Bigfoot 25' RQ - AFAIC the best fiberglass made, better than the Oliver we had a chance to buy. Our max tow F150 had no problem pulling or braking. It was awesome and the floor plan blows away the Escape 23. Took two years to find one we could afford. It was older, within our price range, but after a year foolishly sold it for a . . .
  
  .
• 2014 Lance 23 - Big mistake. We purchased ours along with a friend who purchased a 2015 at the same time. Didn't hold a candle to the Bigfoot! Poor fit and finish. Upper cabinet doors hit you in the head when opened (Terry's only 5'4"), a known problem for years that Lance didn't bother to address. Awkward raised dinette that needed to be supported inside if you dared sit on it to eat a sandwich when traveling that can ruin their rack and pinion slide system. Joke for a shower. We got it to 5,500 #'s in a heartbeat with only a 5,700# gross weight. Worse gas mileage we've ever had (same as our friends) at around 9.2 mpg. The Bigfoot got around 11 mpg. We took it on one 6,000 mile trip, and on the way home, in Wyoming, we put money down on an Escape 21 (later changed to a 5.0).
  
  .
• 2018 Escape 5.0 - our current camper. We have made many modifications and love it. We see owning this camper for 8-10 more years.

We've been spoiled with our Escape 5.0 fifth wheel. The u-shaped lounging area works well, so for us, don't need a slide. If we ever decide to get a pull trailer it will be a used Bigfoot 25' RQ.

Enjoy,

Perry

Thanks for the information. The Bigfoot 25B21FB is also high on our list. The big downsides is the increased weight and price. I do like the mid-bathroom design on the Escape 23. This allows the rear dinette to have a nice view when you back into a campsite. That was one thing I did like about the Casita, having the Bed/Dinette at the rear of the camper.