1. Do you feel like your pop-up is adequate for the camping you do?
Yes. I would buy something different were it not. My wife likes having room to stand up, sit down, move around, etc. Its nice to get up in the AM and have room to be before you need to step outside. Yes, this can be accomplished with a larger tent. Wre like being up off the ground. We like having a stove and fridge (icebox) inside. We literally only use the ice box, stove, and the one interior light. To us, its essentially a glorified tent that is roomy and above the ground. I've never run the heater because the battery doesnt have enough juice to trip the fan switch, and ive never replaced the battery, lol.
2. Is it overkill?
No. Sometimes yes, but mostly no. A few times a year we will tent camp if we dont want to drag the camper. Mainly this is long trips in CA because with the camper we are only allowed to travel 55mph, so it sucks to tow long distances in CA. We sometimes take it out for 1 nighters. It takes no longer to set up than a big tent, and it allows us to haul more crap and have more comfort. Again, to us, its just a glorified tent. We love it because it still feels alot more like tent camping.
3. Not enough room?
More than enough room for 2 people and a dog, it gets a little cluttered with 4 peoples stuff but still fine. would be super crowded if sleeping 6. With the two of us, we leave the table in it all the time. with 4 people, we take the table out unless we are cooking or eating. We are actually considering downsizing to a smaller vintage camper. The pop up offers more floorspace because the whole length of the trailer is floor, then the beds pull out from there.
4. Would a tear drop be better?
Yes and no, it depends on your needs. All you can do in a teardrop is sleep, sit up, and then get out. No room to "hang out" inside, you gots to go out to the galley to cook, assuming you even have one. It would be equivalent to having a small non stand up sized tent. However, teardrops are smaller, pull easier, could be better adapted to offroad use, etc. My wife is claustrophobic to an extent, so a teardrop wont work for her. A canned ham, sure, but a teardrop is too low and too enclosed.
5. How extreme have you gotten off road with the popup behind you?
Nothing worse than a crappy dirt road. Here's a video that shows a kinda rough road we had it on. Please note that there is a Tbird parked in front of me because a t bird made it down the same road.
starts around the 2 minute mark:
Now, this may vary per camper. There are alot of modern "ruggedized" pop ups offered by fleetwood, jayco, and others. However, mine is a 37 year old rickety-assed thing that has been drug down washboard hunting roads its whole life. Mine is literally falling apart. I constantly am replacing staples (that work their way out) with screws, pumping crevices full of liquid nails, etc. I'm aware of this, and it is more a result of a long hard life with little maintenance, than it is of simply being a pop up camper. I have reinforced things, i lifted this trailer and added the bigger tires, i have installed braces on the corners and back of the body, etc. A few weeks ago I drug it 20something miles through the mountains on a bumpy dirt road and it was no worse for the ware, aside from a bolt falling out of the lift pole.
Overall, we like it, it suits us, its way more comfy and useful than a tent, it allows us to haul more firewood and gas, its easy to tow even though my jeep feels the weight, and as said several times its essentially a glorified tent. That being said, its old and falling apart, but I paid $800 for the thing like 5 years ago, and have used the crap out of it. We'll likely run it into the ground before getting rid of it.
