CAMPING ON WHEELS.

Byline: Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

THIS IS NOT your father's pup tent. And it's certainly not the behemoth RV that last rolled off the pad alongside your neighbor's house way back when gasoline sold for $1.10 a gallon.

No, this a pop-up camper, a mini-RV that falls somewhere between sleeping on the ground and sleeping in a home on wheels that comes with microwave oven and satellite television - and big gas bills.

Pop-up campers are small utility trailers that open up - and often out - to reveal beds, dining table, refrigerator, stove and, of course, a kitchen sink. Everything you really need, in other words, to provide a comfortable camping experience. Some deluxe models even come complete with "indoor plumbing" - including a "sit-down shower."

And pop-ups are relatively popular. Enough so that about 800,000 of them are now on the road in the United States, according to Dave Newhouse, editor of "Pop UP Times," a Virginia-based magazine that caters to the towable tent crowd.

Pop-ups will be among the units exhibited at the 34th annual Eugene RV Show & Sale, which runs today through Sunday at the Lane County Fairgrounds. Doors open at 10 a.m. daily.

Most of the 300 or so RV units on display will be the larger self-propelled or trailer units that Americans have come to equate with the term RV (Recreational Vehicle).

But the pop-ups are bound to get a little more attention than usual - if for no other reason than one will be given away. The show is offering the choice of a Rockwood tent trailer or an Aliner - a hard-shell camp trailer that opens into an A-frame shape - to the winner of a free drawing.

Newhouse expects pop-ups to get plenty of attention this year for a couple of other reasons - the price of gasoline and the stagnant economy.

"A pop-up is just a real economical way for families to go out and enjoy the great outdoors and keep the cost affordable," he said.

"You can get into a basic pop-up for under $5,000, you can tow them with a mid-size car, and you can camp with them almost anywhere."

There's not even a need to pay campground fees. Because no "hook-ups" are required, you can pitch camp just about anywhere.

"I know a lot of people who go what I call dry-camping, with no external water or power hook-ups," he said. "They just use the battery, propane and water tanks in their unit."

While pop-up units are usually regarded as "entry level" RVs, Newhouse said he knows many people who have gone on to purchase bigger units, only to return to the cute little campers.

"They say the pop-ups are more fun, easier to tow and easier to fix if something goes wrong," he said.

Pop-ups now account for about 11 percent of all RV sales by unit, Newhouse said. The percentage of the dollar volume, however, is much smaller.

Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., which makes the Coleman line of pop-up camp trailers, "is the big frog in the pond," Newhouse said, with about 42 percent of the market. Several other companies located along the Michigan-Indiana border share most of the rest of the market.

"They all share a lot of the same components - axles, brakes, lift systems, refrigerators, etc.," Newhouse said. "All these pop-up companies are really just assembly plants."

While most pop-ups have "soft" (canvas) sides, a few makers feature tilt-up walls that are fully insulated.

Aliner, which built its first six units in Bend almost 30 years ago before the company founder moved his operation to Pennsylvania, is one of those. Retail prices for its units start at about $5,900.

"You get a hard-sided, insulated trailer that opens and sets up within a minute. It's very secure and fully self-contained," said Bret Frost, the towable units sales manager for Guaranty RV in Junction City.

Another segment of the towable RV market that has been strong, Frost said, is the "sport utility" ramp trailers that combine living space with the ability to haul ATVs or other recreational gear.

Overall, RV sales have been strong in the "post 9-11 environment" in spite of a soft national economy, according to said Hans Dillger, public relations manager for the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association.

Factory-to-dealer shipments of RVs "jumped 21.1 percent to 311,000 motor homes and towables in 2002 compared to 2001," he said.

Dillger attributes the jump to a combination of demographics (`10,000 people turn 50 every day, according to the U.S. Census') low interest rates and growing interest in domestic travel "due to what's going on in the world right now.'

`About 7 million U.S. households now own recreational vehicles," Dillger said. That's one out of every 12 vehicle-owning households.

A recreation survey released earlier this month by the Oregon Park and Recreation Department said state residents spent a total of 11 million "user days" camping with RVs or trailers. Non-residents spent another 6.2 million days camping in Oregon.

Indeed, RV camping ranked behind only walking, birdwatching, nature/wildlife observation and sightseeing on a list of recreation activities most engaged in by Oregonians.

The study included no data on the number of people still camping in pup tents.

IT'S RV SHOW TIME

What: The 32nd annual Eugene RV Show & Sale.

When: Today through Sunday; doors open at 10 a.m. each day.

Where: Lane County Fairgrounds convention center.

Cost: Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for youths and children under 12 are free.

CAPTION(S):

"About 7 million U.S. households now own recreational vehicles," according to Hans Dillger, public relations manager for the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association. Here, recreational vehicles bring all the comforts of home to dunes four wheelers on the Oregon Coast. RV camping ranked behind only walking, birdwatching, nature and wildlife observation, and sightseeing on a list of Oregonians' top recreation activities. RV show: Pop-ups can be had for less than $5,000 Continued from Page E6 Please turn to RV SHOW, Page E5 Pop-up campers gain popularity as an economical way to camp