Can we just take a second to thank Josh for the amount of work and consistency in these videos. No one else on RUclips even comes close to his detail and experience. Great video as always Josh, we’re still saving up for an Arctic Fox we’ll most definitely be making the trip to get from you.
For such a small (length & width) Palomino did a great job with this floor plan. I have the TST monitor on a suction mount easily seen at all times while driving.
like this one, i had a thought, being a single man.. that may work well for this... what you do is take out all of the wardrobe either side of bed.. can move it, or put some in a slightly different place, might still have room for a small one on one side or the other still,.... take out foldable queen, put in a normal home size twin XL (such as i use at home) longways in that spot behind the couch where it is... and that is your bed, couch just stays where it is, no unfolding or anything required, just climb over couch in to bed.... plus doing that would make it able to increase outside storage size by a a little bit up front as well
The wood is gorgeous! I'm tempted for that reason alone. Cargo, water, most features are great too but not going with convection oven and missing that inch for travel mode are deal breakers. Thanks Josh!
My wife and I bought the Badlands Edition last year. We did make some mods since we didn’t like the fold up bed. We put a regular queen mattress in and removed the couch. I built a platform to support the Queen size mattress so we don’t have to flip up the bed. The platform also has storage. The main advantage is that we can use the bed with the slide in travel mode. We took out the dinette and put the couch where the dinette used to be. We plan on replacing the original couch with a recliner couch in the near future.
Josh, I always appreciate your inclusion of "road mode" testing. No one else does this (or much else) as well as you do. It is incredibly helpful; otherwise we're just guessing from the floorplan. I'll try to thank you more often :-).
I like this! We use a mattress topper in our current camper, so that wouldn’t be a problem with the bed. I love all the storage (including a pantry, and bathroom storage! Wow!), and I looooove the look of those cabinets! Like, ash, I think? Nice! I will say, with as small as the kitchen is, I wish it had sink topper cutting boards, and a counter top extension (I do love the sink!). I also wish the microwave was convection since there’s no oven. In road mode, I do wish they’d given it one more inch so that you could use the bed with the slide in….. 🤷🏻♀️
I really like the ottoman storage under the Murphy Bed. If someone were to offer that with a jackknife or foldout sofa I would definitely go with those over theatre seats.
I like your use of "off-pavement." I'd love to see a top 5 or 10 off-pavement brands and models. But not just the really cool and really small overlanding models, but a couples model with bedroom wall in the 28' range that can boondock would be much appreciated.
That was another viewer-submitted phrasing. I think it was Samuel J Martin III actually. I think it nicely paints the picture of something on gravel or dirt roads, maybe in a reasonable field, but not OFF ROAD THRU THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN TRAILS or anything like that
I really like the side mc4 connectors. I've actually seen someone mount solar panels on their tow vehicle and they will park the camper in the shade and their tow vehicle out in the sun. That minimizes there setup time for the solar deployment and makes sure their panels won't go wandering off due to inclement weather or nerdowells.
TST has worked well for me with my NuCamp T@B 320S Boondock. Nice to mount the monitor and leave in sight while driving. I use my phone to navigate, so a monitoring app would be cumbersome.
I like this camper. I enjoy the wood tones, almost hickory look. Like the windows and decent storage for sure. Bathroom is fine, especially the porcelain toilet. Only "must-have" would be a counter extension.
Very cool compact couples camper. I'm fine with the radius shower, but would prefer it be a shlub to keep the curtain and water inside it. Love the wood tones. I, too, prefer the farm sink. That allows me to actual fit plates and pans in the sink.
I like it, but wish road mode was better. I also want solar included. I rather not have the window in the front. I wish the slide was a recliner. I wish the fans were bigger for off grid. I do like the bathroom except the no shower miser.
Like the “totes” on the jack kife. I would through a pillow on it and use it as a stool. Not sure I like the kitchen sink faucet. Its low, would probably work better for me with a taller faucet. Is the bathroom sink porcelain or plastic?
I normally don't like those radius showers but this type with a curtain I can live with. If you drop anything or gotta wash your feet or something you gotta get creative if there's a physical barrier. With the curtain I can just let my big butt move it and not struggle
What I’ve taken away from this video is, it’s really hard for manufactures to take a given length and make a camper different than the next manufacturer. Great video JTRVN.
Facts. Especially true in a smaller RV. There's only so much space and there are certain things you NEED To include. There are also some ways that are just better than others. So they end up looking fairly similar in layout
GeoPros do offer more standard features like solar, an attached ladder, TV, and an oven on some models, but I love the murphy bed and porcelain toilet👍It is just baffling to me why this nice little off grid camper is totally incapable of boondocking as equipped☹️
Yeah I'm not sure how they stack up price-wise. I agree Geos have more equipment. Some things like the body/bed sizing might be a major factor for some folks, though And obviously comparing the pricing between them
Good afternoon uncle Josh. Not going to pick on you about skittles and Mountain Dew. However I do have a serious honest question. WHY does the industry across the board still offer the gas/electric refrigerator when they alone were known to cause quite a few Rv fires? Yes I know there are a huge range of reasons why they did anything from bad parts to bad or no maintenance or non level operations. So why not just get away from them totally and go to the 12 volt standard? It will operate while hooked to your tow vehicle or solar and on shore power. So as a safety improvement why not just do away with the gas electric fridge?
I agree with the fridge comments! My Thor Outlaw has a 2-way, and I will NEVER use gas in it due to the fires I've heard about and my overall desire to live. RV manufacturers, are you listening?
The #1 reason a MFG does or doesn't do _anything_ is simple: It does or doesn't sell RVs. I don't like that line of logic, but it's a pretty cut and dry fact. There are areas in the country where many clients are still very resistant to the idea of 12v fridges. But.. they're coming. More and more every year we're seeing more 12v systems
Yep! I think that was Hayden's RV if I recall correctly (though You'd likely know better than me). I met Mark who is helping operate that location and liked him a lot. He goes by "Taz" due to his last name. If you stop in, then tell him Josh from Michigan says Hi! :)
We have a very similar Palomino, but without the slide, but it’s called a Palomini. It’s pretty good, a 2021 model, but we find there’s some quality issues with the plumbing, microwave mount, loose screws.
Yeah I am a little new to the palomino lineup and won't pretend to be an expert on their history but I think those became this real lite series -- or rather this is an offshoot of that since they now have the same floor plans and nearly identical otherwise
I like the rectangular sinks. I do wish Thorest River would consolidate their lineups as color / options packages instead of slapping different brands on the outside.
There are some tricky legal waters for them to navigate in doing that due to how MFG/Dealer agreements are written. That's why we always end up with so many "copies" of things - it's easier for them to just make more sticker vs. pay a lawyer to deal with it lol
Josh, dearly love your videos! Keep them coming. I have a request: what are the best selling RV floor plans of all time? And best-selling RV models, specific models of all time? And are any of these still manufactured? I think that would make a great video subject.
A generic "26ft no slide bunkhouse" basically. Like this bit.ly/3i8zBPq Pretty sure that's the single best selling model by volume during its tenure in the business today
Small campers don't need wide kitchen sinks! Counter top space is more important. That said, they could have added a flip up counter. I like the look of the interior otherwise.
Yep always appreciate seeing it in travel mode if you want a jimmy riddle a nap or make a phone call .The dinette table looks good but no tv 📺 no solar and the omission of a ladder poor.The placement of spare tire always baffles me it obstructs the use of rear hitch receiver as a bike carrier etc
Good review as usual, Josh! Unfortunately, we bought the first year of a Real Lite without the slide. The overall quality was poor and the refrigerator, gas/electric, didn't work from day 1. Out of a year and a half of ownership, the unit was in the service dept for at least 8 months. The service dept did their best and changed the fridge a few times, but could never get it to stay cold. The remainder of our ownership was dealing with Real Lite while they were fighting with Dometic, who manufactured the fridge, trying to figure out what the issue was. I even talked to someone at the Real Lite factory, who said he had been with the company for years, but in no simple terms told me there was nothing they could do and go pound sand. Hope they have improved their product quality!!
@@jimcramer9656 for what it's worth I value insights like this. I only get a glimpse of a camper sitting on the dealership grounds. Understanding how different brands/features/etc hold up "in the field" is something I look for whenever possible
I used to have a palomino pop up trailer with a dinette on a slide out. We really liked it but we got tired of dealing with canvas material and upgraded to a regular travel trailer. But overall that palomino never gave us one bit of trouble during the 6 seasons we used it. This is pretty nice for a small trailer and if the build quality is as good as the pop up we had someone is gonna really like this brand. I have a request for a future review if you can . And my request is a 2022 Keystone Bullet Premier 25 RKPR travel trailer. Me and my wife are considering a purchase but would love to see a review by you before we buy.
I like....I've seen a lot of these, and think the mod I would do is, instead of a Murphy bed - I would just leave it a solid bed - then change out the dinette for a loveseat with those tables that 'attach' to the kickplate. Does that make sense? Lol - and I for sure would have to have a convection oven
Check out the Mini Lite 2205S with theater seating, an oven, TV, fireplace, radius shower etc. It is only 24 ft long from hitch to bumper but it is built like a tank at 5,000 pounds?
Was wondering what is the measurements of the dinner in bed mode? And maybe a example of you trying it in future reviews. Enjoy all your reviews. Never disappoints
I truly appreciate the constructive idea. Most mfgs do not provide specs for all seating/sleeping and my videos already run long enough as it is & I am not able to hand-measure everything with the volume of content I create I have to rely on our local team members to fill in specific blanks for individual clients as they're interested
What would manufacturers need to do to reduce hitch weight? Many SUV have a 5000lbs towing limit, 500lbs limit on the tongue. In this case, the weight is perfectly within the limit but the hitch weight puts the trailer out of reach of many potential buyers. Can manufacturers shuffle the postion of the wheels, redistribute water tanks or put heavy stuff towards the back? Thanks!
Too much weight in the back will cause instability when towing Short of reducing structural items they would have to significantly reduce the stuff in the rv or it’s size
Sink is massive .. what the heck are people doing in these big sinks? Anyway, like the big fridge and the microwave in lieu of oven. Don’t like carpet and lack of counter space and solar. Why is the shower not a square? Weird
Another great video Josh, 10 pounds of sugar in a 5 pound sack! Does the Real Lite line have interior and exterior azdel like the Apex Nano's? What about an aluminum frame? Thanks Josh!
They're laminated so aluminum framework is a given. I cannot recall offhand if they're dual azdel or exterior-only. Apologies. A team member may be able to dive in and clarify that for you
Can we just take a second to thank Josh for the amount of work and consistency in these videos. No one else on RUclips even comes close to his detail and experience. Great video as always Josh, we’re still saving up for an Arctic Fox we’ll most definitely be making the trip to get from you.
Wow ty 😊
I would absolutely use the bendy bed unbended and leave the sofa as is. I like this one a lot! 👍
For such a small (length & width) Palomino did a great job with this floor plan.
I have the TST monitor on a suction mount easily seen at all times while driving.
Thanks for sharing
like this one, i had a thought, being a single man.. that may work well for this... what you do is take out all of the wardrobe either side of bed.. can move it, or put some in a slightly different place, might still have room for a small one on one side or the other still,.... take out foldable queen, put in a normal home size twin XL (such as i use at home) longways in that spot behind the couch where it is... and that is your bed, couch just stays where it is, no unfolding or anything required, just climb over couch in to bed.... plus doing that would make it able to increase outside storage size by a a little bit up front as well
I can see it. That's a cool idea.
The wood is gorgeous! I'm tempted for that reason alone. Cargo, water, most features are great too but not going with convection oven and missing that inch for travel mode are deal breakers. Thanks Josh!
Yeah this is an interesting mix of SOME "off pavement" features, but didn't quite go whole hog
My wife and I bought the Badlands Edition last year. We did make some mods since we didn’t like the fold up bed. We put a regular queen mattress in and removed the couch. I built a platform to support the Queen size mattress so we don’t have to flip up the bed. The platform also has storage. The main advantage is that we can use the bed with the slide in travel mode. We took out the dinette and put the couch where the dinette used to be. We plan on replacing the original couch with a recliner couch in the near future.
Sounds cool!
Josh, I always appreciate your inclusion of "road mode" testing. No one else does this (or much else) as well as you do. It is incredibly helpful; otherwise we're just guessing from the floorplan. I'll try to thank you more often :-).
I like this! We use a mattress topper in our current camper, so that wouldn’t be a problem with the bed. I love all the storage (including a pantry, and bathroom storage! Wow!), and I looooove the look of those cabinets! Like, ash, I think? Nice! I will say, with as small as the kitchen is, I wish it had sink topper cutting boards, and a counter top extension (I do love the sink!). I also wish the microwave was convection since there’s no oven. In road mode, I do wish they’d given it one more inch so that you could use the bed with the slide in….. 🤷🏻♀️
Yeah it's SOOOO close! It's those little design elements that sometimes define/separate brands
I really like the ottoman storage under the Murphy Bed. If someone were to offer that with a jackknife or foldout sofa I would definitely go with those over theatre seats.
I am a sucker for those little floating storage cube/stool/bench things
It is a very nice getaway unit for our small family.
I like your use of "off-pavement." I'd love to see a top 5 or 10 off-pavement brands and models. But not just the really cool and really small overlanding models, but a couples model with bedroom wall in the 28' range that can boondock would be much appreciated.
That was another viewer-submitted phrasing. I think it was Samuel J Martin III actually. I think it nicely paints the picture of something on gravel or dirt roads, maybe in a reasonable field, but not OFF ROAD THRU THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN TRAILS or anything like that
I really like the side mc4 connectors. I've actually seen someone mount solar panels on their tow vehicle and they will park the camper in the shade and their tow vehicle out in the sun. That minimizes there setup time for the solar deployment and makes sure their panels won't go wandering off due to inclement weather or nerdowells.
That's kinda cool actuallY!
TST has worked well for me with my NuCamp T@B 320S Boondock. Nice to mount the monitor and leave in sight while driving. I use my phone to navigate, so a monitoring app would be cumbersome.
Agree! I don't need more notifications popping up on my phone while navigating
We have the Palomini 186RBS which is identical to this one and love it. It’s functional and suits us well. Great camper
Great to hear!
I like this camper. I enjoy the wood tones, almost hickory look. Like the windows and decent storage for sure. Bathroom is fine, especially the porcelain toilet. Only "must-have" would be a counter extension.
I do believe an extension could be added as well!
Very cool compact couples camper. I'm fine with the radius shower, but would prefer it be a shlub to keep the curtain and water inside it. Love the wood tones. I, too, prefer the farm sink. That allows me to actual fit plates and pans in the sink.
Good point!
I like it, but wish road mode was better. I also want solar included. I rather not have the window in the front. I wish the slide was a recliner. I wish the fans were bigger for off grid. I do like the bathroom except the no shower miser.
The interior decor is 👍👍👍👍, I believe people that this one would be better than their truck bed campers. The ending was🤣🤣
I love that rear bathroom maybe there should be a strap or something to lock the seat down for travel mode
Thanks Josh, I'm in the process of buying a small trailer and this one is fitting the bill.
My pleasure
Like the “totes” on the jack kife. I would through a pillow on it and use it as a stool. Not sure I like the kitchen sink faucet. Its low, would probably work better for me with a taller faucet. Is the bathroom sink porcelain or plastic?
that pillow on the tote idea is BRILLIANT for small camping! Thank you for this
Bath sink was plastic
Decent RV for someone 😊😊👍👍👍👍👍 Thank you Josh for all your Hard work! 😊😊👍👍👍👍👍
I miss not having an oven.
I'm not a fan of the dizziness floor.
I LOVE the seat in the shower 😍😍😍.
I don't like a Murphy bed.
I normally don't like those radius showers but this type with a curtain I can live with. If you drop anything or gotta wash your feet or something you gotta get creative if there's a physical barrier. With the curtain I can just let my big butt move it and not struggle
I am fortune to have borderline monkey toes and can pick stuff up thankfully
But I get you :)
Thanks for the visual David 💦
We would nap on the the folded up mattress when we had our 16FQBL
Propanus
👍
I like the larger sink.
TY!
What I’ve taken away from this video is, it’s really hard for manufactures to take a given length and make a camper different than the next manufacturer. Great video JTRVN.
Facts. Especially true in a smaller RV. There's only so much space and there are certain things you NEED To include. There are also some ways that are just better than others. So they end up looking fairly similar in layout
GeoPros do offer more standard features like solar, an attached ladder, TV, and an oven on some models, but I love the murphy bed and porcelain toilet👍It is just baffling to me why this nice little off grid camper is totally incapable of boondocking as equipped☹️
Yeah I'm not sure how they stack up price-wise. I agree Geos have more equipment. Some things like the body/bed sizing might be a major factor for some folks, though
And obviously comparing the pricing between them
Good afternoon uncle Josh. Not going to pick on you about skittles and Mountain Dew. However I do have a serious honest question. WHY does the industry across the board still offer the gas/electric refrigerator when they alone were known to cause quite a few Rv fires? Yes I know there are a huge range of reasons why they did anything from bad parts to bad or no maintenance or non level operations. So why not just get away from them totally and go to the 12 volt standard? It will operate while hooked to your tow vehicle or solar and on shore power. So as a safety improvement why not just do away with the gas electric fridge?
I agree with the fridge comments! My Thor Outlaw has a 2-way, and I will NEVER use gas in it due to the fires I've heard about and my overall desire to live. RV manufacturers, are you listening?
The #1 reason a MFG does or doesn't do _anything_ is simple: It does or doesn't sell RVs.
I don't like that line of logic, but it's a pretty cut and dry fact. There are areas in the country where many clients are still very resistant to the idea of 12v fridges. But.. they're coming. More and more every year we're seeing more 12v systems
After having our camper totaled last week our family is planning on coming by next fri to look at a slx264bh. Hope to see you there
Look me up before you leave!
I have a little window I have to be out of the office, but I'll be around most of the day
Always enjoy the videos we have a Palomini 189 BHS which is similar to that real lite. really like to see a video on the 189 keep up the good work
189 real lite video? I can do that. Give me a little time and stay tuned!
Love your reviews...I did notice a large gap between the shower and wall time stamp 1:32
I have a 2022 Real Lite 188bh, and it does have a ladder.
Bish’s RV just opened up right down the road from me! Richmond, Va.
Yep! I think that was Hayden's RV if I recall correctly (though You'd likely know better than me). I met Mark who is helping operate that location and liked him a lot. He goes by "Taz" due to his last name. If you stop in, then tell him Josh from Michigan says Hi! :)
It is Identical to my Rockwood Mini Lite 2104s
Thank man👍
We have a very similar Palomino, but without the slide, but it’s called a Palomini. It’s pretty good, a 2021 model, but we find there’s some quality issues with the plumbing, microwave mount, loose screws.
Yeah I am a little new to the palomino lineup and won't pretend to be an expert on their history but I think those became this real lite series -- or rather this is an offshoot of that since they now have the same floor plans and nearly identical otherwise
I like the rectangular sinks. I do wish Thorest River would consolidate their lineups as color / options packages instead of slapping different brands on the outside.
There are some tricky legal waters for them to navigate in doing that due to how MFG/Dealer agreements are written. That's why we always end up with so many "copies" of things - it's easier for them to just make more sticker vs. pay a lawyer to deal with it lol
Very cool. Can't believe I am the first comment. I feel cool. LOL!!
Nice!
Josh, dearly love your videos! Keep them coming.
I have a request: what are the best selling RV floor plans of all time? And best-selling RV models, specific models of all time? And are any of these still manufactured?
I think that would make a great video subject.
A generic "26ft no slide bunkhouse" basically. Like this bit.ly/3i8zBPq
Pretty sure that's the single best selling model by volume during its tenure in the business today
Small campers don't need wide kitchen sinks! Counter top space is more important. That said, they could have added a flip up counter. I like the look of the interior otherwise.
Counter extensions are something I always like to see and I'm surprised how uncommon they are in small campers where they'd be MOST useful
Yep always appreciate seeing it in travel mode if you want a jimmy riddle a nap or make a phone call .The dinette table looks good but no tv 📺 no solar and the omission of a ladder poor.The placement of spare tire always baffles me it obstructs the use of rear hitch receiver as a bike carrier etc
Spares can be moved thankfully - or removed entirely and towed elsewhere. but I 100% get what you're saying
I’d like to see more “off pavement” couples campers! 30 foot or less! Need a bedroom! Do not want to sleep in the living room/kitchen.
Good review as usual, Josh! Unfortunately, we bought the first year of a Real Lite without the slide. The overall quality was poor and the refrigerator, gas/electric, didn't work from day 1. Out of a year and a half of ownership, the unit was in the service dept for at least 8 months. The service dept did their best and changed the fridge a few times, but could never get it to stay cold. The remainder of our ownership was dealing with Real Lite while they were fighting with Dometic, who manufactured the fridge, trying to figure out what the issue was. I even talked to someone at the Real Lite factory, who said he had been with the company for years, but in no simple terms told me there was nothing they could do and go pound sand. Hope they have improved their product quality!!
Hope so too. I don’t have a lot of personal history with them so can’t really comment on their current QC
What a long winded response. McGee still salty 😂
@@jimcramer9656 for what it's worth I value insights like this. I only get a glimpse of a camper sitting on the dealership grounds. Understanding how different brands/features/etc hold up "in the field" is something I look for whenever possible
@@JoshtheRVNerd I think if he had bought from you your company would have made this right. Tell me I’m wrong 😂
@@jimcramer9656 man I won't ever claim to be perfect either and I won't throw darts just when it suits me.
I used to have a palomino pop up trailer with a dinette on a slide out. We really liked it but we got tired of dealing with canvas material and upgraded to a regular travel trailer. But overall that palomino never gave us one bit of trouble during the 6 seasons we used it. This is pretty nice for a small trailer and if the build quality is as good as the pop up we had someone is gonna really like this brand. I have a request for a future review if you can . And my request is a 2022 Keystone Bullet Premier 25 RKPR travel trailer. Me and my wife are considering a purchase but would love to see a review by you before we buy.
Hopefully I can get my hands on one this year!!
Reminds me of the single axel apex nanos
I had a similar feeling. They're definitely hitting some similar notes
I like....I've seen a lot of these, and think the mod I would do is, instead of a Murphy bed - I would just leave it a solid bed - then change out the dinette for a loveseat with those tables that 'attach' to the kickplate. Does that make sense? Lol - and I for sure would have to have a convection oven
Check out the Mini Lite 2205S with theater seating, an oven, TV, fireplace, radius shower etc. It is only 24 ft long from hitch to bumper but it is built like a tank at 5,000 pounds?
No I totally follow you. Can't pull off a true reclining sofa in that type of slide but I think you could figure out a work around
@@stevez340 oh i love!!! thanks
Was wondering what is the measurements of the dinner in bed mode? And maybe a example of you trying it in future reviews. Enjoy all your reviews. Never disappoints
I truly appreciate the constructive idea. Most mfgs do not provide specs for all seating/sleeping and my videos already run long enough as it is & I am not able to hand-measure everything with the volume of content I create
I have to rely on our local team members to fill in specific blanks for individual clients as they're interested
What would manufacturers need to do to reduce hitch weight? Many SUV have a 5000lbs towing limit, 500lbs limit on the tongue. In this case, the weight is perfectly within the limit but the hitch weight puts the trailer out of reach of many potential buyers. Can manufacturers shuffle the postion of the wheels, redistribute water tanks or put heavy stuff towards the back? Thanks!
Too much weight in the back will cause instability when towing
Short of reducing structural items they would have to significantly reduce the stuff in the rv or it’s size
Sink is massive .. what the heck are people doing in these big sinks? Anyway, like the big fridge and the microwave in lieu of oven. Don’t like carpet and lack of counter space and solar. Why is the shower not a square? Weird
Another great video Josh, 10 pounds of sugar in a 5 pound sack! Does the Real Lite line have interior and exterior azdel like the Apex Nano's? What about an aluminum frame? Thanks Josh!
They're laminated so aluminum framework is a given. I cannot recall offhand if they're dual azdel or exterior-only. Apologies. A team member may be able to dive in and clarify that for you
When are you reviewing their all electric trailer??
I'm not sure we have the Revolve models in our lineup currently. But if I run into one sometime, then I'll get it recorded!
something I can afford!
Why is there never a true queen Murphy bed in a private bedroom? Would love to convert the bedroom into a private sitting/ tv/ living room
Funny you mention that.. just wait until you see what Ember has in store for you :)
Do they have one w a walkaround QB?
Not currently. This brand only makes two of these little models - one with bunks and this one without
Anyone know of a face book group for these?
I’m not aware of one myself
Propanus on the palomino... unreal.
Palopanus!
SQUIRREL
LOVE THE WOOD LOOK. 🪵 👌
TY Sue