Since there are just the two of us -- semi-retired so we can travel more -- the 171 has everything we need -- a bed separate from the seating/dining area, a bathroom, refrigerator, and kitchen.  Love it.

 

The indicators are crap.  Pun intended.  Most people have problems with theirs.  I usually use the glance-down-the-toilet method if I don't believe the indicator LEDs.  Once you see the water rising in the tube the tank is full and you only get a flush or two more before you are in serious trouble.

 

Eventually you get a feel for how long your tank will last with your own useage patterns - number of people, how often it is used, etc.  With our family of 4 we can go 2 full weekends before we need to dump, or about 5 days for a week-long trip.  The same is true for the other tanks - we can go a weekend with 4 Navy showers and hand washing on the fresh water tank.

Fill w/water via the toilet and spare (not water connection) hose? 

I looked down the toilet to gauge how full .  Not really good/easy  as waste pipe is offset into black tank.  Tank indicator light on wall has been misreading. Any suggestions?

Tim

Weather was sunny first day and rainy the second.  Setup went well - used a power drill w/ bit to put down stabilizers - nice. Push out went out OK ... Hookup electric and water BEFORE next time ! Tent went down easily, set up inside poles and it really made inside look much larger. Didn't use mattress topper as I wanted a baseline first - slept well.  Forgot my pillow - cushion as pillow was Ok on my side ... NG on my back.  Potty break at 4AM was Ok ... didn't kill myself in the dark.  Used the microwave for some lite meals and soups - no serious cooking.  I didn't use R-Dome as i didn't want to break it down in the rain per wether report. Finally figured out the TV and channel scanning ... that was a challenge! 2nd night (in rain) I watched DVD on TV and discovered my Tent camper has no good seating  back support to watch TV ... so had to use small folding chair were table usually goes.  I'm thinking I need to get TV outside under the R-Dome with chairs when with wife on our 3 week venture North in June.  I may look into stadium seats for inside?? Decided I needed 2 more stick up Hooks in front door area. Bathroom door mirror was excellent! Also, I had decided to use 4 large plastic bins (BJ's at 3 for $18) for managing cooking/camp stuff, clothes, people food and dog stuff (took my 12 year old dachshund  as company - she slept on large dog pillow by the door). Bins worked great in seperating stuff and keeping it organized and I stored them on and under my bunk beds. My pickup with hard tonneau cover was great for large items - table, chairs, etc.  Finally, i used the campground dump station for both grey and black water dumps when i left even though they were barely full. Everything worked as deigned.  All in all a good time and I gained lots of confidence for the June trip ... Reading everyone's tips REALLY was helpful.  Thanks!