Retiring to a cab over bed?

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MJBear

Retiring to a cab over bed?

Post by MJBear »

Does anyone sleep in the cabover king size bed? We are about one year away from retiring, traveling up to 6 months of the year and we are deciding which Born free to purchase. We've been researching and a Born free appears to be the best choice for quality, driving comfort and safety as well as cost. We plan to travel lots of miles and even do some western ski trips. I've read a lot on the forum but not much input about sleeping above the cab. We like the 26' but are concerned about not only climbing up a ladder every night but it doesn't seem to have enough room to sit up in the bed. Does anyone use it regularly? If we feel discouraged from that we will probably consider the 32', which means towing all the time. Also have read about some folks who use their born free in the cold temperatures so I'm guessing that will work with some heat added to holding tanks? What about added insulation under the tanks? My last question is gas mileage on the 26' and the 32'. Thanks in advance for any input.
Larry Nordby

Cabover sleeping

Post by Larry Nordby »

MJBEAR

We just bought a 26 cabover (26 RB) and have one trip of about 10 days under our belt. I sleep in the cabover and my wife uses the foldout couch. I'm 65, in reasonable shape, and don't consider the climb in and out of the compartment to be daunting. Be advised however that 'sitting up in bed' is not going to happen, not enough headroom, and the bed is more queen than king. I really don't know how I would feel taveling 6 months in this arrangement. I will say however, we are happy with the cabover as opposed to the rear side bed. We felt that space, dedicated only to sleeping, could be used better. I know the RSB is a very popular model so I'm sure you will hear the other side as well.

Even though we're from Minnesota, we have not spent time using it in the winter so I can't answer the cold weather question.

I'm guessing my milage to be about 9.5. Hope this helps-good luck!!
mi99amigo

Post by mi99amigo »

My wife and I are in our late 40s and the Cab over bed is where I sleep. She gets the rear side bed. Even though I prefer a hard mattress, the cab over bed is HARD. I am thiking of getting a memoery foam topper, but not quite sure how it might work, when the bed is folded up during travel.

Climbing up is MUCH easier than climbing down. Often it is a combination of climbing and falling down at the same time.

Still, it is very cozy, with reading lamps and the side window :wink:
knreed

Using the cab-over bed

Post by knreed »

We have a 22.5 ft RD with the cab-over bed. I generally sleep there and my wife uses the fold out couch. I purchased some 1" no slip strips from Home Depot or Lowes and applied 2 strips on each step. Sure feels safer especially climbing down. I also come down like I would on a regular latter rather than walking down stairs.
Brent
Posts: 314
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 4:53 pm

Post by Brent »

I often use the cab over bed. It is minimally inconvenient with the ladder for one, if two it is much more of a challenge if the one sleeping next to the front of the cab needs to get up during the night.

Cold weather - I know heat rises, but the overhead is much colder in really cold weather.
Bornfree (1999 Rear Kitchen)
Traveling with Chester (The Boxer) - at least in spirit
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Mel Wilbur
Posts: 617
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:39 pm

over cab bed

Post by Mel Wilbur »

To make it more convenient for two sleeping in the overhead bed, I have a friend that had their 24RB constructed with a twin bed arrangement. This has the beds running front to back with an open area between them. With this arrangement either person can get up at night without disturbing the other one. I would guess that if ordering a new coach that Born Free would make that modification during construction. As for mileage we have a 26RB and have averaged 9.2 mpg over 65K miles, much of the time towing a car. Not towing and depending on speed and terrain have recorded 9.5 to 10.5 mpg.
Mel & Connie
RVN4US

Cabover Bed

Post by RVN4US »

I also doing the climbing and my wife sleeps on the flip out couch. This arrangement works real well for us. I agree with Larry, not much head room when trying to sit up. We leave the bed made up most of the time as it makes it easier at night. We use the heat strip alot at night so I haven't found it cold. We have a 23' RK with the E450/V10 and average between 9.5 & 11 at 60 mph. We do not tow. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.
MJBear

Post by MJBear »

Thanks for responses. It doesn't sound like too many people sleep 2 in the cabover. We'll have to give it a great deal of thought. The hardness of the mattress can be fixed with a good topper. We had a Casita trailer before and used a 1" memory foam topper that we rolled up every morning. It was perfect and masked all the cracks and seams of the cushions. Big decisions!
springerbill

cabover bed

Post by springerbill »

We have a 26 RB. My wife and I both sleep in the cabover bed. We find it very comfortable, easy to get into and out of. We sleep feet forward and heads to the rear, somewhat in a "V" formation. Not too much of a hassle for one to get out of bed without bothering the other. We are considering selling this coach and will be looking for the same floor plan. Mileage on the 26 is 9 to 10, depending on driving habits. Hope this helps.
Linda Giuliani

Post by Linda Giuliani »

Greg gets the rear side bed and I climb the ladder. He doesn't do well with "heights" and is afraid he might roll out of bed. I enjoy the upper birth and many evenings watch tv from my bunk without disturbing Greg in the back. No sitting up up there, as has been mentioned in previous posts. We had 3 inch memory foam toppers cut to fit the back bed, and I use the same thickness in a twin size in the cabover. I simply roll it up with my sleep-sack in the morning.

We chose this floor plan in part because of the extra gray water tank capacity compared to the 26 rear bath model. In addition neither one of us wanted to sleep on a pull out sofa. The rear side bed is small - but conceivably we could sleep there together. Many people do. The upper bunk would sleep two also, but not much headroom for the person sleeping at the front of the cab. We have seen a twin bed in the cabover setup and that might be a consideration for us if we were in the market for a new coach. However, we most likely would buy this one all over again. Each floor plan has it's advantages.

You mention you don't plan on towing with the 26' coach. That was why Greg initially wanted the 24' - thinking we wouldn't need to tow a dingy because the 24' would be pretty nimble and easy to park. I convinced him that we wouldn't want to break camp, put the grill and lawn chairs away, unhook everything and go through the entire checklist (including putting everything in the cabin away so it wouldn't move around) just to go to town to get that loaf of bread. So we tow. We found that we enjoy setting up a base camp and taking day trips in the car - sometimes covering 200+ miles a day. When we get back home at night there's nothing to do except collapse in that lawn chair with an adult beverage. For us, we found it really wasn't that much of a hassle to tow compared to the hassle of not having the car.

There are so many choices it can be overwhelming! Good luck!
Ralph Strauch

Post by Ralph Strauch »

We have a 2000 24'RSB (a model they don't make any more in that length). Our adult daughter often travels with us and when she does, the RSB is hers and we sleep in the cabover. Sitting up isn't possible and you have to learn how to best manage what happens when the person on the inside wants to get up in the middle of the night, but we've always found it comfortable. When our daughter isn't with us, we often sleep in the RSB just because it's simpler and we don't have to bother making up the cabover. I sleep on the outside because I'm taller and that allows me to stick my feet off the end of the bed.

Before the BF, we had another mini for 24 years and always slept in the cabover.

Ralph
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Mike Jean Bandfield
Posts: 513
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2005 3:43 pm

Post by Mike Jean Bandfield »

We both sleep in the cabover. If it were a little deeper (or we were shorter) we could lay in line with the coach instead of across the coach. That would be much more ergonomic (i.e., each with their own access path, reading light, storage tray and window.)

We don't find the current situation that unworkable but we're both still quite agile - thank God. Jean sleeps in the nose and closest to the ladder. She's afraid of falling out if she were on the outside. So she does the climbing over. We had the factory configure 2 folding sofas instead of the rear side bed and salon sofa. By sleeping in the cabover we feel like we've gained a bedroom and more living space.

We have the diesel and get 9-12.5 mpg in mountain driving. On our current trip we got 13.9 mpg thru N. CA and Nevada. Right now we're in Tempe and get 8-9 mpg around town.

Mike
Mike & Jean
2005 26' RSS Diesel
robert newby

Post by robert newby »

another option would be to do as we have -- we ordered our 26' with twin couches but found out that the couches were not satisfactory and I had twin beds made that fit right in where the couches were -- works great -- Born Free might also install there twin beds with hospital type electrical raising ends for reading in bed -- we will have our coach at the Paso Robles , California Rally if anyone wants to see what we have done -- we also have a re-arranged clothes closet -- Bob Newby
Steve W
Posts: 147
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:00 pm

Post by Steve W »

Another two cents worth of info. We have our BFT on the market and have ordered a 24 rear bath. During our travels with the BFT, we discovered the twin inclining beds to be extremely comfortable, so comfortable that when ordering the 24, we asked for the same sleeping arrangement. We also ordered it with the cabover bed, but that will be designated the "guest room" - grandchildren only. Note that with the twin inclining beds, one also acquires greater storage which can be reached from either inside or outside the coach. To my wife and I, the concept of twin inclining beds in the 24 was a win-win situation. :)
Linda Giuliani

Post by Linda Giuliani »

Steve, I have heard really good things about those inclining twin beds- good sleeping and comfortable sitting. When you do that configuration, what do they offer to replace the little "pull up" table? We use our little table ALL THE TIME and probably couldn't do without it - eating, writing, computing, working, etc.. I'm not happy that I can't feed four adults at a table (cutting a steak on your lap tray is not very easy) but the only table for four I've seen was in one of the 32' models. That's an expensive "table for four"! :lol:

A couple of rigs I have seen that didn't have the captain chair/little table configuration had a long, narrow swivel table that they used with their sofa. The only complaint I heard about this table was that it rattled, and that it stayed in the way a lot. No perfect solution for anything. . .

Do you have a table plan with your twin beds?
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