Chinook RV

The wife and I would like to full time in a Concourse or Destiny soon.

I would like to be able to park in most parking spaces in the city. But no parallel parking for me in any RV!

At first I was thinking of going with the Concourse even if the bathroom is smaller. The Concourse is compact and can go many places. It is 21 feet, 4 inches long.

Then I realized that the Destiny is only 24 feet long which is only 2 feet, 8 inches longer than the Concourse. Plus it has a larger bathroom.

I will primarily be doing urban (city) stealth camping not BLM stuff on vacant land. I'm primarily doing in the city activities.


1-Which do you prefer for full timing?
2-What is the width of the Concourse vs width of Destiny?
3-How hard is the Concourse to park? Destiny?
4-How comfortable are the beds?
5-What is storage like in both RVs?
6-Is the bathroom big enough on the Concourse? On the Destiny?
7-Which do you recommend and why?

Thanks!
John

If your planning to fulltime with two people in a concourse forget about it unless you plan to spend a bunch of cash upgrading and changing items. Storage is barely sufficient for one person, there is no way two people can fulltime in a concourse. The black tank is way to small even for one person, in fact all of the tanks are to small even the fresh water tank under the couch. With two people fulltime figure you will be dumping the holding tanks at least twice a week if you both shower daily. figure on filling the fresh water tank 2 or 3 times a week.

The beds are not sufficient for full time living. Extra storage on the outside is almost non existant aside from the trunk area which you will have full of hoses, cords, and maintenance type items. Then there is the battery compartment on the drivers side which contains the house batteries with a small area behind the batteries for storage, usually contains a tire iron, and a bottle jack so there is minimal space in that area.

Dont get me wrong, i love my concourse, but its just my Dog and myself using it. You can certainly remodel the interior to free up space by eliminating the dinette and installing a fold up bed on that side. You can add a slightly larger fresh water tank under the couch if you wanted, possibly gain 5 gallons or so, certainly could add a larger tank if you remodel the couch side.
I just dont think two people in a concourse fulltime is realistic without spending some money and doing some major renovations inside.

Parking the concourse is easy peasy but you can still hang out into roadways in short stalls, so you gotta be aware of that. The bathroom on the concourse is barely adequete, i am 53 years old
with some bodily injuries that cause me some pain and discomfort as well as stiffness so its not fun showering in the concourse, one foot goes on the toilet seat and one foot goes on the floor to wash your legs.
Be sure to flush the toilet when you are finished because the bowl will fill up halfway with shower water when you are done. I have gone to dump my tanks and forgot to flush that water down only to get home and find the toilet was still full of water.

I've "fulltimed" for a while now. I do spend time in hotels for work too though. The tanks and storage is fine for me (about 5 days between refill/dump when not at a campground with hookups). It would be very difficult to store enough clothes/food for 2. Anything is doable, but I question how comfortable you'll be. I know I want more space now..

Although, we are not full timers and I know there is a difference between traveling and staying full time, I feel a lot depends on your life style and how much your willing to adapt. We spend 6 weeks this past spring traveling from New Hampshire to California. We have a Concourse with the lounge chairs and found it very accommodating. We have traveled in truck campers, Roadtrek and have done a lot of backpacking so we are used to small spaces.
As for sleeping, we have a golden retriever which sleeps on the floor or front seats and a carain terrior which takes a big portion of the bed (and takes an attitude if you move it). We use a memory foam pad that helps eliminate the crack and folds back into place when we put the couch back.
We also start looking for places to fill up and dump every third day. We found a lot of free places to do that, gas stations, county fair grounds, wayside areas, etc.
Other that the check engine light coming on (will try to resolve next spring), we have not had any problems with our Ford 350. Other than the asshole divers that want you to go 80mph and windy mountain roads.
It has always been our philosophy to keep life simple, if things started to get a little crazy(work, family or life in general) we would go backpacking. It helped us realize that everything that you really need is on your back.

I'll start by saying that my usage pattern sounds pretty opposite of yours, so that will also hold true in my answers. I mostly boondock, and rarely spend time in cities.

Billyidol wrote: 1-Which do you prefer for full timing?

I have the Concourse and would also have been happy with the Premier. I considered the Destiny but three things kept it off my list. One is that there is less "room" between the basic weight of the rig and the maximum allowable weight (in other words the Destiny itself sits closer to the GVWR before you put anything in it), and the other is that I prefer a narrower rig for getting into backwoods type of places (although, don't get me wrong, even the Concourse is not really suited for that being wider and taller than ideal). Lastly, and obviously this is just personal preference, to me the Concourse looks "right," while the Destiny looks a bit bloated (top vs. chassis). So if I wanted more space I'd likely go with something different altogether.

Billyidol wrote:2-What is the width of the Concourse vs width of Destiny?

I can't remember offhand, but it's likely in the manuals. For some reason 8" or so wider on the Destiny comes to mind.

Billyidol wrote:3-How hard is the Concourse to park? Destiny?

I'm not sure anyone can answer this, really, as easy to one driver is hard to another. I've driven much larger vehicles (and enjoy it) so the Concourse is fine to park for me. Give me good side mirrors (which they do) and I'm happy. But then the Destiny probably would be too. I would be more nervous leaving the Destiny in a typical street parking spot due to the width. The Concourse is narrow enough that I'm comfortable in a parking spot, width-wise. But if I can take two spots lengthwise, I will (like in a typical mall where there are two spots nose-to-tail, I'll park further out and take the length of both). In my previous camper van (17' long and van width) I'd park anywhere, in any single spot, just like a car.

Billyidol wrote:4-How comfortable are the beds?

My Concourse came with the typical-for-many-Chinooks Flexsteel flip-open couch. I knew before I ever bought it that it would be intolerably uncomfortable for me (had a similar setup in another rig). I changed it and now it's as comfortable as any bed - for me - since I made it how I like beds. Some 21-ers came with a "box couch" (typically the two twin bed models) which is just a wooden box frame with a mattress on top. Then of course it could be any mattress. Quite a few folks have re-made the beds. With two, oftentimes they go to twin beds/couches with a ~24" aisle in between, and some sort of stowable table for daytime.

Just a note that for sure in the Concourse and maybe also in the Destiny, all three layouts (given its a rear door model) have basically everything the same except for the passenger side ahead of the stove. That one area either gets another couch/bed, two club chairs, or a dinette. It's not too terribly hard to make that area into what you want, especially if you plan to take out carpeting and replace it anyway (many do).

Billyidol wrote:5-What is storage like in both RVs?

Speaking for the Concourse. There is not much more inside storage than in my old camper van. BUT, the camper van was basically all cabinets with a tiny "aisle" and a couch, and then the chair was the passenger seat. The "bathroom" was a pull out porta potti used in the hallway. The Concourse is a living room, with space to walk around, has a larger kitchen, plus a bathroom (even if tiny). Since you don't use the passenger seat/cab as part of the living room, things can be stored there when not underway. I'd say with any of these small rigs, plan on "backpacking with luxuries" and then they will feel like spacious, airy rigs. Vs. trying to live like in a house and then being crammed with stuff. But that's just my opinion.

The Concourse has more exterior storage than my camper van did, which I appreciate. And I have made more (and will make even more this winter). I moved the spare to the front. This didn't make more storage, exactly, but did make the locker just ahead of where it used to be much more accessible. OTOH it makes the rig a touch longer, so maybe not the way to go for urban parking. I also moved the battery bank inside (AGM), and removed the sliding battery tray from the outside locker. Now that whole locker is storage, and the section that used to be for the batteries is vented and not attached to the living space. This is where I stow smelly rubber wheel chocks, solvents, etc.

I don't use the generator, so will be removing it and the space will make a nice, large exterior storage locker. Obviously this is personal taste and reflects my usage pattern, not that of everyone's.

This isn't exactly "storage," but I'm quite happy with the tankage on the Chinook. My previous camper van had a 10 gallon water tank, a 10 gallon grey tank, and no black tank, plus something like a 5 gallon propane tank. I got by with that, but the ~30 gallons of fresh water, 15 gallons of black water, and ~35 gallons of grey water tankage in the Chinook - plus an 18+ gallon propane tank is princely in comparison. I have a friend with a 27' Class C (but box shaped, so actually larger than it sounds), and even though it has "good" tankage, my Chinook has a larger propane tank by 1 gallon, and a slightly larger grey water tank (OTOH he has 50 gallons of fresh water and 28 of black, but his rig is gigantic compared to my tidy little Chinook).

Billyidol wrote:6-Is the bathroom big enough on the Concourse?

If I were designing the Concourse just for me, I'd have a porta potti that pulled out into the hallway and then a huge closet above it, vs. a small room that is actually a large amount of space that sits empty 99% of the time in such a small rig. On the other hand, it's fine as a toilet room, for me. I don't use the sink (use kitchen sink) except to put things in. I also don't use the shower (sponge bath out in the main room or shower elsewhere and revel in the glory of endless hot water). But I'm used to this type of thing from boats, so it seems normal to me, and is fine (so I'm not "roughing it" for me, if that makes sense). I could use the shower if I wanted to (it's large enough, but I'm not huge).

Billyidol wrote:7-Which do you recommend and why?

It's so hard to recommend a rig. Because everyone uses them so differently and has such different preferences. I can certainly recommend the Concourse/Premier on basic construction. Not that it's without any issues, but as compared with other RV's they did a good job. On the other hand, sometimes I miss my camper van. Easier to park (truly fit into any parking space with room to spare) and I liked the side door. But, no outside storage space and not a "living room" for rainy days. And then sometimes I think of a Class A and a toad. Oodles of storage (those under bins!!), and then park someplace as a base and explore by car/Jeep/etc.

I guess I'd say that the Concourse is, for me, "the best mix of shortcomings" in the way that every RV is basically that, in some way, for the folks that own it. You could also say it's the best mix of advantages. With a magic wand I'd have the layout and 4WD of a Tiger, the construction and towing ability of the Chinook, the underbins and tankage of a Class A, the exterior size of a van, the price of a 1985 Pinto, and on and on with "cut and paste." If you poke around various blogs, you'll find couples happily full timing in VW busses with dogs and children, and single people in Class A's who feel there is not enough space, so it's totally subjective.

Will be interesting to hear what you go with!

BG

PS: Tim posted his comment above while I was typing, but I'd say he summed it up really well.

I have been full timing for a year in San Francisco in my 2000 Concourse. Not sure I would want to do it with another person though. Easy to park pretty much anywhere in the city. Fits in metered spaces.

JP
2000 Concourse 4x4