Lack of reclining in Elite II

[newbiex]

I'm looking at buying a travel trailer and Oliver stands out for build quality.  However, the Elite II is rather small and it lacks what some other trailers its size lack - a decent chair.  It appears to me that you're either sitting straight upright in the dinette or lying flat on the bed.

I anticipate using the trailer for 1-3 week trips.  I have no RV experience.  Will the lack of a reclining anything get old after a while?  Do you do your reclining outside in a camp chair?  Or is everyone out doing things all day?

[ScubaRx]

Come evenings or if I want to read during the day, I throw a pillow in the corner against the rear wall and recline all I want. I'm not sure which fiberglass trailer you're referring to that has a reclining chair. There was a Casita model that had two swiveling captain's chairs at the dinette (they did not recline) but none others that I've every seen.

[Mike and Carol]

We sit outside a lot.  Comfortable camp chairs are important, there are a bunch to choose from.  It’s mostly personal preference.

As far as reclining goes, we recline on our beds quite often.  A couple of pillows on the back wall and you’ve got a nice recliner, not laying flat on the bed but sitting leaning against the wall.  It’s quite nice.  We sit in the dinette but also recline on the beds.  

Our trips are usually much longer than 1-3 weeks and comfortable sitting hasn’t been an issue.  Mike

[Katjo]

We most often sit outside in comfortable lounge chairs (zero gravity) however we are very comfortable inside stretched out on our beds with pillows to support our backs. 
We are only in our camper at night, even rainy days we spend most time out in our Clam screen tent (with side panels on) but you can certainly get quite cozy stretched out on the bed. 

[John E Davies]

My wife and I like to recline on the single beds, looking out the back and side windows. We try to select a site that has something worth looking at in that direction. Lakes are good 😬 If you are traveling solo, you can do this. It’s a Zero Gravity type recliner. It will work in either direction, but this way is better for access to the sink, pantry, bathroom and outside door.

Welcome to the forums.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[John and Debbie]

26 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

My wife and I like to recline on the single beds, looking out the back and side windows. We try to select a site that has something worth looking at in that direction. Lakes are good 😬 If you are traveling solo, you can do this. It’s a Zero Gravity type recliner. It will work in either direction, but this way is better for access to the sink, pantry, bathroom and outside door.

Welcome to the forums.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

John, did you make that divider between the stove and the bed or was that standard?  They have rotated the stove 90° so the cover now act as the splatter shield.

John

[John E Davies]

8 minutes ago, John Welte said:

John, did you make that divider between the stove and the bed or was that standard?  They have rotated the stove 90° so the cover now act as the splatter shield.

John

That was an inexpensive factory option in 2017. They dropped it after a short while, maybe nobody was interested? I think it is great. Without it, the first time you knock over a soda bottle you will swear. Fluids can go straight onto the bedding or the person lying there..

John Davies

Spokane WA

[John and Debbie]

30 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

That was an inexpensive factory option in 2017. They dropped it after a short while, maybe nobody was interested? I think it is great. Without it, the first time you knock over a soda bottle you will swear. Fluids can go straight onto the bedding or the person lying there..

John Davies

Spokane WA

John I am visiting our grandson in Denver on the way to Hohenwald.  He has a cup with a lid that makes it difficult to spill.  I can get the name of it if you're interested.  😂🤣

John

[newbiex]

2 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

Come evenings or if I want to read during the day, I throw a pillow in the corner against the rear wall and recline all I want. I'm not sure which fiberglass trailer you're referring to that has a reclining chair. There was a Casita model that had two swiveling captain's chairs at the dinette (they did not recline) but none others that I've every seen.

Not necessarily fiberglass, just a similarly sized trailer.  I didn't find reclining seating in travel trailers until the Airstream Classic.  Most (all?) of the other similarly sized TT's seemed to have basically the same setup as Oliver - dinette and beds.

[newbiex]

Thanks for the replies.  Sounds like the right kind of cushions can turn the beds into decent places to recline (without being completely flat).   I'm relieved by your replies.  Didn't want to have to get a big, maintenance-intensive, class A just to recline!

[Steph and Dud B]

We have wedge pillows we put on the bed to recline, watch TV, etc. inside. We put them on the dinette seats when we want to sleep at night. 

[John and Debbie]

5 minutes ago, Steph and Dud B said:

We have wedge pillows we put on the bed to recline, watch TV, etc. inside. We put them on the dinette seats when we want to sleep at night. 

Good idea.

[ScubaRx]

4 hours ago, John Welte said:

John, did you make that divider between the stove and the bed or was that standard?  They have rotated the stove 90° so the cover now act as the splatter shield.

I designed the divider and our raised beds with storage underneath for our 2013 build of Hull #050, The Outlaw Oliver. Oliver offered them as options for a while but when they decided to drop any custom work done on the assembly line, these two items fell off the options list. I originally intended the divider to protect the bedding from any cooking splatters and to be able to recline against it, while partially sitting up to read. But, I didn't feel like it was sturdy enough to support that position so I recline on the other end of the bed although we sleep with our heads in the middle, feet to the rear. It does function well in the anti-splatter mode.

As far as the cook tops, we specified a North-South orientation. Having come from our 2008 Elite, I felt like it was a better usage of the available counter space. Then some customers wanted theirs turned East-West, claiming it gave them more available counter space!?!? So Oliver switched orientations. I gather from what you are saying that they have now returned to the way we have ours turned. The downside of that orientation is that you have to reach across the front burner to utilize the back burner.     

[John E Davies]

Steve, do you know if Oliver Service could supply the parts of the divider for a DIY installation? I have had a couple of owners ask me questions about mine. How is the wall portion attached, adhesive? Mine seems to be plenty sturdy and it is holding up fine as a head rest. Thanks for the background story.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[John and Debbie]

6 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

I designed the divider and our raised beds with storage underneath for our 2013 build of Hull #050, The Outlaw Oliver. Oliver offered them as options for a while but when they decided to drop any custom work done on the assembly line, these two items fell off the options list. I originally intended the divider to protect the bedding from any cooking splatters and to be able to recline against it, while partially sitting up to read. But, I didn't feel like it was sturdy enough to support that position so I recline on the other end of the bed although we sleep with our heads in the middle, feet to the rear. It does function well in the anti-splatter mode.

As far as the cook tops, we specified a North-South orientation. Having come from our 2008 Elite, I felt like it was a better usage of the available counter space. Then some customers wanted theirs turned East-West, claiming it gave them more available counter space!?!? So Oliver switched orientations. I gather from what you are saying that they have now returned to the way we have ours turned. The downside of that orientation is that you have to reach across the front burner to utilize the back burner.     

"The downside of that orientation is that you have to reach across the front burner to utilize the back burner."

My wife is concerned about that as well.  It appears that many people cook outside, so that may be what we'll do also.  Our tent trailer had an outside high pressure two burner stove that attached to the outside wall of the trailer that we used most of the time.  We brought our Coleman two burner portable stove, a dark green unit that has a cover that we bought about 35 years ago when we tent camped.  We have propane cannisters but maybe we can connect to the quick connects on the trailer.

John

[johnwen]

Newbiex,

I had the same concern until I tried the husband pillow beneath my regular pillow and reclined in the corner by the pantry.  Very comfortable for me :) 

John

[topgun2]

11 hours ago, John Welte said:

John, did you make that divider between the stove and the bed or was that standard?  They have rotated the stove 90° so the cover now act as the splatter shield.

Or - you can use something like THIS shield.

Of course it doesn't do much for tipping over that wine glass but it is great for keeping splatters (think burgers, bacon and the like) off the bed.

Bill

[topgun2]

10 hours ago, newbiex said:

Sounds like the right kind of cushions can turn the beds into decent places to recline (without being completely flat). 

If you get the twin bed floor plan and you travel solo (mainly), you can have one side or the other set up as a sofa by ordering the "back cushions" with the other side a regular bed.  A couple of throw pillows or a wedge and you are in business.  When you have a guest you simply remove the back cushions and they sleep on the couch which is now a bed.

My Ollie is designed this way but, unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post of it.

Bill

[Hokieman]

2 hours ago, John Welte said:

"The downside of that orientation is that you have to reach across the front burner to utilize the back burner."

My wife is concerned about that as well. 

No worries, getting to the back burner is no more trouble than using the back burners on your range at home.   We tend to use our left arm, so we don’t bump the shield on the right side, and it’s easier to get to the two control knobs.  The splatter shield is built in, keeps a hot pot or skillet from accidentally being pushed onto the bed.   That being said, we mostly cook outside,  and don’t  cook anything inside that has a chance of splatters.

 

[Hokieman]

4 hours ago, John Welte said:

We brought our Coleman two burner portable stove, a dark green unit that has a cover that we bought about 35 years ago when we tent camped.  We have propane cannisters but maybe we can connect to the quick connects on the trailer.

I may have the same old vintage stove John, the Coleman Classic.   Unfortunately it will not run on the low pressure gas QD fittings as stock.  There may be a way to convert it, but I haven’t been able to find an adapter that fits yet.   I use a separate 20 lb propane tank with adapter hose, readily available at Home Depot or Amazon.  We also use a Weber Q1000 grill that was easy to convert to low pressure QD with a kit.   You could buy a new 2 burner stove that will work on the low pressure QD, there are several threads that discuss what others are using such as this one.

Converting Coleman Stove

 I’ve been waiting for my Coleman to die and replace with something more convenient, but it has sentimental value and may outlast me. 

[Steve Morris]

16 hours ago, newbiex said:

It appears to me that you're either sitting straight upright in the dinette or lying flat on the bed.

We have yet to receive our new Oliver, but I had the same concern while trying out the model in the showroom. With my picky back, the dinette just didn't work. So I tried a couple of experiments.

One, was to tilt the bottom of the back cushion out an inch or so. This helped tremendously, but also reduced butt room. I plan to add Velcro to the back side of the cushion, and cut a small pool noodle and add velcro to it. That will create the reclined position on the dinette.

The other thing I tried was to add a footrest. One of the small bed backrest pieces fits perfectly across the lower kitchen drawer top. At only 5'8", I can comfortably sit with the back reclined a bit (using the above tilted backrest) and my feet up at a comfortable angle.

How this will work out in real world use is yet to be seen. We have two different style outdoor chairs that are both very comfortable, and in a pinch, either will fit inside for inclement weather.

I hope that helps a little,
Steve

[Steve-Gwenne]

13 hours ago, Steph and Dud B said:

We have wedge pillows we put on the bed to recline, watch TV, etc. inside. We put them on the dinette seats when we want to sleep at night. 

Yes, we do the same using what we used to call a 'husband'; a bed rest which we place against the pantry wall & the stove wall. Very! comfortable.

[ScubaRx]

10 hours ago, John E Davies said:

Steve, do you know if Oliver Service could supply the parts of the divider for a DIY installation? I have had a couple of owners ask me questions about mine. How is the wall portion attached, adhesive? Mine seems to be plenty sturdy and it is holding up fine as a head rest. Thanks for the background story.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

John, I don't know if they would still stock the materials they formerly used. Steve Parsons (now deceased), who was their fiberglass guru and mold maker found a rogue piece of what appears to be the same stuff as cutting board material, about 5/8" thick and fabricated it for me. It is held in place by a couple of pieces of very thin SS channel that have been glued and caulked in place.