Questions on Escape 17B

[yardsale]

We keep our bed set up in the rear and use the front dinette. If you are taller than, say, 5' 11" or weigh more than 180 lbs you will have trouble using the bathroom or getting in and out of the front dinette even though it slides back and forth ( a nice feature). Also, storage is more limited than on the 19. I like to cook, and find the lack of storage around the kitchen and limited food prep area to be frustrating. We have fabricated a cutting board which fits over the sink creating a nice little food prep area. It is sized to be stored in the cabinet below the sink. Speaking of that cabinet, the sink drain descends right in the middle of that cabinet thus limiting the usefulness of that space. Also consider maneuverability issues (see the thread discussing this) The single axle 17' will fit in tighter places than the larger trailer. We stick with the 17 as it s easier to heat in the winter than a larger trailer but that may not be relevant to you. Lastly what is your tow vehicle? 17 requires a 3500 lb tow capacity while the 19 requires 5000, I think.

FYI, several folks on this forum have contracted "two foot itis" and traded up to the 19 after a few years.

 

[Chris & Patricia]

We keep our bed set up in the rear and use the front dinette. If you are taller than, say, 5' 11" or weigh more than 180 lbs you will have trouble using the bathroom or getting in and out of the front dinette even though it slides back and forth ( a nice feature). Also, storage is more limited than on the 19. I like to cook, and find the lack of storage around the kitchen and limited food prep area to be frustrating. We have fabricated a cutting board which fits over the sink creating a nice little food prep area. It is sized to be stored in the cabinet below the sink. Speaking of that cabinet, the sink drain descends right in the middle of that cabinet thus limiting the usefulness of that space. Also consider maneuverability issues (see the thread discussing this) The single axle 17' will fit in tighter places than the larger trailer. We stick with the 17 as it s easier to heat in the winter than a larger trailer but that may not be relevant to you. Lastly what is your tow vehicle? 17 requires a 3500 lb tow capacity while the 19 requires 5000, I think.

FYI, several folks on this forum have contracted "two foot itis" and traded up to the 19 after a few years.

Following this thread as we have a new 17B. Bathroom discussion interesting, we don't have a window, sometimes it would be nice to get more light, but its not essential; the fan works very well moving a lot of air. However, want to pick up on Yardsale's posting here as I am bigger than 5ft 11ins and 180 lbs. Firstly, I don't have a problem getting into the right hand side of the front dinette with the table slid to the left. I can get into the left hand side, but its slightly more of a squeeze for me, but not a problem, for my wife.

As to getting into the bathroom, yes its a bit tight, but not unmanageable and beats not having a bathroom. I have showered in the bathroom too and once you get use to the tight space it works fine and beats using a grungy shower if those at the campsite are less than satisfactory. We keep the rear bed permanently made up as there are just two of us.

We would have liked a 19 (and indeed are showing a slight two-foot-itis tendency - well known according to Sarah at ETI when I recently asked for a 19 build sheet). However, our existing tow vehicle wouldn't handle a 19 and we couldn't afford a new vehicle and a new trailer so a 17B it was and we are VERY happy with it, even after our first trip which was five weeks.