Recreational vehicle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In North American English the term recreational vehicle and its derived acronym, RV, are generally used to refer to an enclosed piece of equipment dually used as both a vehicle, a temporary travel home or a full time home.
RVs are intended for everything from brief leisure activities such as vacations and camping, to full time living, for which they are often parked in special trailer parks (however, many trailer parks are reserved just for Mobile Homes, not to be confused with Motorhomes). RVs can also be rented in most major cities and tourist areas.
Perhaps the most widely known brand of recreational vehicle is Winnebago, a product of Winnebago Industries, Inc., of Forest City, Iowa. In fact, many people still refer to recreational vehicles -- especially motorhomes -- using the generic term, "Winnebago." The company, under a group of Midwestern investors, was a pioneer of the RV industry in the early 1960s. Other major RV manufacturers include Roadtrek of Kitchener, Ontario; Fleetwood Enterprises of Riverside, Calif.; Thor Industries, Inc., of Jackson Center, Ohio; Newmar Corporation of Nappanee, Indiana; Monaco Coach Corp., of Coburg, Oregon; Coachmen Industries, Inc., of Elkhart, Indiana; and Starcraft RV, Inc., of Topeka, Indiana.
Historial manufacturers include Avion Coach Corporation and Cayo RV Corporation of Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Nearly 8 million households own a recreational vehicle, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. [1]
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[edit] Etymology
In British English the term recreational vehicle is little used; terms covering some of the vehicles classified as RVs in North America are camper van and caravan, the term motorhome (see below) is also used. In other parts of the world, particularly Australia, the term may be used to refer to a sport utility vehicle (SUV or 4x4).
In France, the French-made English term "Camping-car" is used, and term has also spread to Japan.
The word 'caravanning' is also (albeit rarely) used to mean 'travelling together as a group' in British English, leading to a different meaning.
[edit] Categories
There are different classes of vehicles generally labelled as RVs:
- Truck camper
- a camper shell unit that is affixed to the bed or chassis of a pickup truck.
- Folding trailer
- also known as a pop-up, a light-weight unit with sides that collapse for towing and storage. Suitable for towing by many vehicles.
- Travel trailer
- also known as a caravan, a unit with rigid sides designed to be towed by some larger vehicles with a bumper or frame hitch.
- Teardrop trailer
- a compact, lightweight travel trailer that resembles a teardrop
- Hybrid trailer
- a blend between a travel trailer and a folding (tent) trailer. One type has rigid sides and pull-out tent sections (usually beds) while another type's top section of walls and its roof can be lowered over its bottom section to reduce its height for towing.
- 5th wheel trailer
- designed to be towed by a pickup or medium duty truck equipped with a special hitch called a fifth wheel coupling.
- Park model
- This is a standard travel trailer that is not self contained. It is designed for park camping only, and while it is easily moved from site to site, as a normal trailer is (this is NOT a "mobile home") it is not capable of "dry camping" as it does not have any water storage tanks, it must be used with hookups.
- Toterhome
- an uncommon term indicating a motorhome built around a semi truck chassis (such as a Freightliner). This type of motor home allows the pulling of large and heavy trailers.
- Toy hauler
- a motor home, 5th wheel or travel trailer, it is designed to be part living space, and part garage for storing things such as motorcycles and ATV's.
Another set of mainly North American-usage definitions:[2]
- Motorhome
-
- Class A Motorcoach
- constructed on either a commercial truck chassis, a specially designed motor vehicle chassis, or a commercial bus chassis.
- Class B Campervan
- built using a conventional van, to which either a raised roof has been added or had the back replaced by a low-profile body (compared to a Class C).
- Class C Motorhome
- built on a truck chassis with an attached cab section, which is usually van based, but may also be pickup truck based or even large truck(freightliner) based. They are characterized by a distinctive cab-over bunk. Also referred to as "mini-Motorhomes." The term "Minnie Winnie" sometimes is used in references to Class C motorhomes, originally coined by one of the founders of Winnebago Industries, Inc.[citation needed]
[edit] Features
A minimal RV typically contains beds, a table, food preparation and storage areas. Larger models add full bathrooms, refrigerators, living areas, master bedrooms, etc. Some RVs are very elaborate, with satellite TV and internet access, slide-out sections, and awnings, and either storing a small car inside it or providing the option of towing it behind the RV. RVs can cost (new) from less than US$10,000 to $50,000, with some costing over that. Very high-end Class A motorhomes, for example, can cost between US$100,000 to $300,000 new.
Many RVers stay at RV parks, most of which feature electrical, water and sewer service (full hookups), as well as cable television and wireless Internet. Amenities often include swimming pools, gamerooms and even destination-resort activities such as horseback riding. Others prefer staying at locations in remote rural areas (called boondocking), and still others at public campgrounds with minimal facilities.
Also many RVers stay at city parks, county parks, state parks,[3] and national parks.[4] The United States Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) also offer camping, often at no cost to the camper.
Advantages of RVs include not having to move ones things in and out of motel rooms, not having to rent multiple motel rooms, sleeping in a bed one is comfortable with and the fact that preparing food saves money compared to eating in restaurants. At the same time, an RV provides more organized living space and better protection from the weather than a tent.
Disadvantages of RVs include low fuel economy for the motorized RV or tow vehicle, lack of maid service as experienced in motels (maid service is available at a few high-end resorts), and larger RV models can be hard for the novice to drive or tow.
There is a stereotype that people who live in RVs full-time do so because they are poor and cannot afford more conventional housing. However, an increasing number of people are opting to sell their homes and live in their RVs. Some return to home ownership after several years while some few bounce back and forth between owning a home and going RVing full time. For these, mostly retirees, RVing is a life style choice not a financial decision.
Similarly, RVs – specifically, trailers which strongly resemble travel trailers, but usually with fewer amenities – have been used to temporarily house victims of natural disasters. A notable example is Hurricane Katrina; the federal disaster relief agency FEMA has ordered large numbers of such trailers to house victims of the storm in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Some people craft their own RVs out of cars, vans, schoolbuses, and buses.
[edit] Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart, Indiana, is known as the "RV Capital of the World" because it is home to many RV manufacturers, including Berkshire Hathaway's Forest River, Heartland RV, the Damon Corporation, Four Winds, Hy-Line, Keystone, Monaco, Sun Valley, and Travel Supreme. Many other manufacturers, including Newmar, Dutchmen, Gulf Stream, and Jayco, can be found in the nearby towns of Goshen, Middlebury, Nappanee, and Wakarusa. In 2005, these locales experienced a boom because of the large number of trailers ordered to house Hurricane Katrina victims.
[edit] References
- ^ New U-Mich Study: RV Ownership Reaches All-Time High
- ^ Motorhome Classes (from the Canadian RV association website)
- ^ List of State RV Parks. Retrieved on 2006-07-26.
- ^ National RV Parks. Retrieved on 2006-07-26.
[edit] External links
- Go RVing website More information on RVs and the RV lifestyle)
- RV Dealers Association (a national directory of U.S. RV dealers)
- RV Links RV parks, shows and services for RV owners
- RV Resources (a RV resources directory)
- RV Basics ( a RV resources directory)
- RV Trends,Traveler, Ownership and Rental Demographics ( Statistics and Demographics data on RV industry)
- RV and Caravan Park resources (Australia) (from GoSeeAustralia.com.au)
- A Room With A View (short private website about living in an RV)
- Silver Avion (Preserving and documenting Avion and Cayo history)
