Triple Bunk Caravans
I'm trying to get hold of a triple bunk caravan. We have 3 young children and want fixed beds for them to save making the beds each night.
As as far as I can see most manufacturers stopped making triple bunk vans in about 2011. Does anyone know why? Or whether there are any manufacturers still making vans with triple bunks?
Do any family's of 5 have any recomendations on what they do or if any vans are worth looking at.
Thanks
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Hi Kombo, our first van was an Avante 556. It had 2 fixed bunks at the back, a front lounge ( double bed ) and a side dinette in the middle. We are a family of 4, but when our nieces canes with us, the side dinette made up into 2 additional bunks.
I have definitely seen side dinettes in new vans, but sorry, don't know if there is a similar layout on the market just now. But I think it's very likely.
Good luck, Alex.
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There is a Lunar Quasar 586 which is 6 berth. Two fixed bunks at the back and a side dinnete which makes into a bed with option of a fold up bunk above. The problem with many fixed bunks is enough seating for the family. This one has two 6' 1'' front seats and a side dinnette is useful for kids to sit at and draw. No idea on the age of your children.
http://www.lunarcaravans.com/brands/lunar/ariva-quasar/quasar-586
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I'm trying to get hold of a triple bunk caravan. We have 3 young children and want fixed beds for them to save making the beds each night.
As as far as I can see most manufacturers stopped making triple bunk vans in about 2011. Does anyone know why? Or whether there are any manufacturers still making vans with triple bunks?
Do any family's of 5 have any recomendations on what they do or if any vans are worth looking at.
Thanks
We are a family of 5 , we have a Bailey 646 Pegasus.
We chose it for the triple bunks in the rear bedroom and the solid bedroom door, we looked at the later 546 Anacona but that had a folding partition, we preferred the solid door and bigger rear bedroom, it also has an extra bunk that can be made up but we
keep it as a table and seats so the kids can have their breakfast and play games etc,The blown air heating was poor in the rear bedroom until I insulated the pipes under the floor which improved it massively.
We considered a 546 Pegasus single axle but chose the twin axle 646 and find the extra room and seperate shower come in very handy,
With five of us especially when using the shower it is a constant job of filling the aqua roll and emptying the waste master so serviced pitches are handy,
Apparently it is Dad's job to empty the toilet cassette.
I thought about making them eat cream crackers with no drinks.
a 390 awning fits just right without blocking the windows,
it likes a lot of nose weight when being towed but that may be down to my tow motor,
the 646 is a big bus so likes a big tow motor,
It has a mover fitted to the front axle it is hopeless I have only used it once , a four wheel one may be better , I just shunt about a bit when positioning it , and automatic gearbox helps.
I have the Bailey weight upgrade as the payload is swallowed up quickly with gear for five, mainly kids gear to be honest.
A karcher window vac comes in handy when the heating is on all night in very cold weather due to condensation on the windows in the morning.
I believe the 546 Olympus didn't have blown air heating to the rear bedroom as standard but the 546 pegasus did and the Olympus was slightly narrower.
We have looked for a more modern van but have drawn a blank, ours has everything in it but looks a little dated next to brand new vans.
Also kids can be a bit rough in flimsy caravans ours has picked up a few marks , I would love a new van but would be pulling my hair out if the kids accidentally damaged it.
Making up and putting our bed away is a bind but the kids going to bed is more important.
Hope you find the van you are looking for , if you find a new rear bedroomed triple bunk with a solid bedroom door , let me know we would be interested ourselves
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I'm trying to get hold of a triple bunk caravan. We have 3 young children and want fixed beds for them to save making the beds each night.
As as far as I can see most manufacturers stopped making triple bunk vans in about 2011. Does anyone know why? Or whether there are any manufacturers still making vans with triple bunks?
Do any family's of 5 have any recomendations on what they do or if any vans are worth looking at.
Thanks
We are a family of 5 , we have a Bailey 646 Pegasus.
We chose it for the triple bunks in the rear bedroom and the solid bedroom door, we looked at the later 546 Anacona but that had a folding partition, we preferred the solid door and bigger rear bedroom, it also has an extra bunk that can be made up but we
keep it as a table and seats so the kids can have their breakfast and play games etc,The blown air heating was poor in the rear bedroom until I insulated the pipes under the floor which improved it massively.
We considered a 546 Pegasus single axle but chose the twin axle 646 and find the extra room and seperate shower come in very handy,
With five of us especially when using the shower it is a constant job of filling the aqua roll and emptying the waste master so serviced pitches are handy,
Apparently it is Dad's job to empty the toilet cassette.
I thought about making them eat cream crackers with no drinks.
a 390 awning fits just right without blocking the windows,
it likes a lot of nose weight when being towed but that may be down to my tow motor,
the 646 is a big bus so likes a big tow motor,
It has a mover fitted to the front axle it is hopeless I have only used it once , a four wheel one may be better , I just shunt about a bit when positioning it , and automatic gearbox helps.
I have the Bailey weight upgrade as the payload is swallowed up quickly with gear for five, mainly kids gear to be honest.
A karcher window vac comes in handy when the heating is on all night in very cold weather due to condensation on the windows in the morning.
I believe the 546 Olympus didn't have blown air heating to the rear bedroom as standard but the 546 pegasus did and the Olympus was slightly narrower.
We have looked for a more modern van but have drawn a blank, ours has everything in it but looks a little dated next to brand new vans.
Also kids can be a bit rough in flimsy caravans ours has picked up a few marks , I would love a new van but would be pulling my hair out if the kids accidentally damaged it.
Making up and putting our bed away is a bind but the kids going to bed is more important.
Hope you find the van you are looking for , if you find a new rear bedroomed triple bunk with a solid bedroom door , let me know we would be interested ourselves
thanks
This is really useful! And how do you find the triple bunks? I've had people say they don't make them anymore a the bottom bunk can be cold?
How did your kids fund them
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We had an Elddis 566 with triple bunks from 2012 to July this year. Kids were fine in bunks - were 12 (twins) and 10
could close their end of and leave them to it!
Changed caravan this year as at 16 and 14 they're too big for bunks.
Variously heard they stopped making triple bunks as a) no demand or b) caused too much condensation for bunk near ceiling
Our old one up for sale at Venture Caravans
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The bottom bunk can be cold as there is a vent in the bottom of the rear seat next to the bottom bunk , it can blow quite a gail, we place a cushion or a towel over it when it is cold and that solves the problem, We haven't had a problem with condensation
on the ceiling of the top bunk though,We did buy matress covers from www.jonic-uk.co.uk
We use standard single duvets and pillows.
The one problem we did have was the shower tray cracked , I read up a few other people had had the same trouble in the 646 at around 5 - 6 years old, I got a firm to come replace the shower tray and beef up the support under it
www.pssshowers.co.uk they did a really good job,We use the shower so it was worth doing it.
There isn't much room to hang towels in the bathroom I need to get around to fitting an electric towel rail, A job for next season , we have a freestanding heated towel rail from B&Q which we place in the awning , as there is an external 13A socket next
to the door.The kids like the bunks , The eldest doesn't like the bottom bunk , We have persuaded the youngest that the bottom one is a den , they also like it when we hang a blanket over the bunk above to act like a curtain so they have a den.
I did think about fitting curtains to each bunk .
If it comes with standard bulb in the inside lights they get hot in the fittings I have replaced them with LEDs which run cooler, I have replaced the bulbs in the little bunk lamps with LEDs which has had the added bonus as they aren't as bright so the
youngest can use theirs as a night light without disturbing the others.The only other inconveiniance is a lack of 13A sockets, So I have fitted some more and run cable for satellite TV , The covers for the Alutec body clamps act as a trunking so make it easy to route cables.
Also the front end of the Bailey is quite steep and the A frame is short compared to most other caravans so I use a Maxxraxx with a height extension to carry the push bikes and put the smallest bike closest the caravan and the largest nearest the motor to
prevent the bikes damaging the front of the van when doing tight turns or backing the caravan into place.When we were looking for ours all the dealers said they were like Hens teeth and as soon as they came in they were sold , We bought ours privately,
As you will know nothing much is geared for a family larger than 4 .So the caravan is Ideal for us,
We had never caravanned before so it was an expensive experiment but it worked .
So my advice if you have a big enough motor and storage space would to be go for the larger model as when you tow it a long caravn will fit through the same width gap as a sort one , and once your pitched it isn't a problem anymore.
You need space for a family of five especially if the weather is wet.
Hope this helps you make up your mind.
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+1 for the 646 - we love ours.
....massive van though, blessing and a burdon - need a good tow car!
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We have an Eldis Xplore 586 it has one set fixed double bunks a side dinnete which makes up to anlther set of bu k beds and the lounge (doubke bed)
We have been away with our four adult kids using the bunks no prob.
Anlther option is an awning many awning's seem to have inner tent additio s which ca be used fir a bedroom. We have the vango air awning which you can buy an inner tent for use for a bedroom. We were considering getting it instead of having to make up the side dinnete each night and morning, however looking at the awning we have which we had wanted to have for several years, we dont think it will last many more perhaps this coming season only sadly, so wont be buying the inner tent for it.
However just because we havent had much luck with the awning and decided not to buy the inner tent doesnt mean you wont have much luck. It's definstely something worth looking into for your own use.
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I would advise caution about going for the triple layout unless you are only likely to keep it a relatively short time. I have a two bunk layout currently and am just changing it to move away from bunks but it has lasted until our children are 15 and 12. The issue isn't the 15 year old but the 12 year old as she strugggles to climb into the top bunk and there is more space for her than the three bunk layout which would have been obsolete for for us four years ago. Ours has the side dinette layout for bunks theee and four which worked great as the bottom of the fixed bunk was a full size single bed effectively and meant as well that we had loads of space at the rear of the van under the lower bunk, or even when going abroad lifting the bunk up and using the space...although not putting heavy stuff in it. We are sad to see it go but it has been snapped up by friends who are a family of theee kids
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