TAB ins, outs, ups and downs: a 9,000 mile review

AaronC

Our 2016 TAB 320 CS-S has been a periodic home away from home for my wife and I during the past 14 months. We’ve spent more than two months cumulative in the camper, towed her 9,000 miles, and stayed in dozens of state parks and other campgrounds. Our tiny TAB made the pandemic endurable, for which we are extremely grateful. Now that we have bought a larger camper (19’ Intech Sol Horizon), it’s time to reflect on our TAB experience.  

What we LOVE about the TAB. The CS-S outdoor kitchen is a kind of camper heaven on earth. Excellent storage, fabulous counter space, and the big, beautiful outdoors right there. We have used it in the sun and the rain, the wind and the stars, and it always puts a smile on our faces. Talk about the joy of tailgating! Never did we feel we needed an indoor kitchen. Quite the opposite! Trailer makers, please take a page from the CS-S! If the 400 had that option, we probably would have bought that. 

We LOVE the queen bed in the TAB. Comfy, roomy, cozy, and perfect for me, at 5’9”. (But if I were one inch taller, it wouldn’t have worked.)

The fit and finish on our ’16 is pretty darn good. Not quite great, but close enough for folk. The wood cabinets are beautiful to look at (and hide a deceptive amount of storage for such a small footprint); the windows, screens, and blinds are durable and highly functional; the wet bath is amusingly small, but absolutely useful.

The TAB tows beautifully. Period. We put a friction sway bar on for additional assurance, but never felt it was essential. Our ’14 Ford Escape (2.0 Turbo w/factory tow package) and TAB were good friends, and never let us down, even crawling up the Rockies’ highest pass. Averaged 17.1 mpg on our last 4,000 mile trip. I put a rack on the tongue of the TAB for our two long-wheelbase recumbent bicycles, and it worked very well.

The Pahaque side tent was a nice add-on (came with the camper, which we bought barely used in May ’20). Despite some inherent design flaws (I replaced the original shock cord with a seamless aluminum one), the tent helped ease the space constraints of the camper.

So why sell?

The TAB is a PERFECT weekender! It’s even a great travel companion for longer trips. But ever since this little gem introduced us to the joys of spending weeks on the road, it 1) grew on us and 2) shrank on us! We fell more and more in love with the TAB because of its great flexibility, but dang, I started calling it the Barbie House because of how little it is! My wife and I keep our bed made permanently, which means there’s no room for us both to be inside the camper at the same time, except when we go to bed. That got old after a month of travel.

Now that we are retired, we are using our camper(s) like never before. In the past 20 years we’ve owned a 13’ Casita (no bathroom), a 16’ Casita (never should have sold it!!!), a 16’ Scamp (liked the Casita better), the TAB (THE OUTDOOR KITCHEN IS THE BOMB!), and now this strange, new creature, the Sol Horizon, which we will take on its first outing shortly.

In truth, it would be nice to keep the TAB, because it is the perfect camper for weekends. It’s a fair-weather friend in the best sense of the term: ideal for fair weather. But when the rain falls and its time to go indoors, there’s just no room. And when it rains hard, the side tent (which becomes a chore to put up and take down repeatedly), just doesn’t cut it. But if we had the space, we'd keep the TAB. Hmmmmm...could we tow it behind the Intech?

So, goodbye for now, dear TAB. Thank you, thank you for the memories. And THANK YOU forum members for your support, help, and advice that has proved invaluable. What a marvelous community. Safe, happy travels to all.

ChrisK

AaronC said:

I replaced the original shock cord with a seamless aluminum one

Can you elaborate on this? 

AaronC

The problem with the design in my opinion is the continuous sleeve (about eight feet or more) through which you need to push the shock cord. The original cord was not seamless; the edges of the aluminum pieces that joined the fiberglass sections made a small ridge, which could get caught in the sleeve. Worse, when two sections come apart, which is inevitable, they are a pain to reattach, as there is no access through the sleeve. A better design would have been loops instead of a sleeve, which provide structure but also enable access.

My solution was to purchase a shock cord kit, which gives me the necessary 10 ft. of length. I assembled the sections, which wasn't hard to do. The pieces join internally, not externally, so there are no ridges. The outside of the pole is smooth, and also of a smaller diameter than the original. It's just as strong, but much easier to maneuver in the sleeve. The provided two ends of the aluminum poles fit into the loops on my heavy duty steel stakes (which you'll need for gravel or hard packed sites).

I'll post links to the pole kit if you're interested.

Slackers

We love our outdoor galley in CSS as well.  I see the Intech features both indoor and outdoor cooking areas.  It looks spacious.  Happy travels!