Cabin-A versus Aliner

Before we bought the Aliner Expedition in 2012, we had a 2006 Cabin-A, also manufactured by Columbia Northwest. We actually loved that little camper, but we were very unaware of the idiosyncrasies of these very lightweight caravans. If we had realized that it's par for the course to have to constantly screw things back in and reglue and tighten up, we would have done a better job of it. As it was, after 6 years, the poor thing had rattled apart inside, and we had to take it to an RV interior guy to fix it up (for $1,000!) so we could sell it. We made sure to spell out to the new owner what she needed to do to keep it up.

We're thinking that with the Aliner only having cabinets on the bottom level, it might be a slightly different story. The Cabin-A was not foldable, and had cabinets up and down. Of course the first thing to go was the microwave, shortly followed by the range hood!

I'm glad we joined the Facebook Aframe owners' page A Frame Campers. It's a great place for lots of information from people who have owned and modified Aframes for years. If something's coming apart or not working properly, someone on that forum will have an idea for a fix. Most of them seem to recommend shoring up or doing away with the microwave as, again, it is the first thing to work loose and fall out! Many people seem to like the extra cabinet space that removing the microwave provides.

The Cabin-A was a dream to tow, but was very tall so visibility was always an issue. Our Aliner is also too tall to see over when we're in the tow vehicle, but it's easier to see around. We still use the extendable mirrors, but could actually do ok with the regular mirrors on our Silverado.

Another issue with the Cabin-A was the bed situation. At night, the seats and table could be rigged into a full-size bed which turns out to be pretty small when you're used to queens and kings. So we mostly opted to sleep on the bench seats, one each, which were comfortable with extra foam place on top, but extremely narrow.

The Cabin-A did have an enclosed shower and toilet. We never did use the shower, but it was nice to be able to use the toilet in the middle of the night and have it in an actual room! On the other hand, the Aliner has a toilet in a cupboard that you open up at night, and if you want privacy, you'd have to rig some kind of curtain-thing up. There's certainly no door. There is an outside shower on the Aliner, but we try to camp at places that have showers anyway. The outside shower might be good to hose off a muddy dog or kid. We don't ever use the water heater anyway - any hot water we need is heated up in our electric kettle. It gives us enough to wash dishes and/or faces!

The Cabin-A's door was in the back of the coach, which was great in some ways, but also meant that it was very hard for 2 people to pass each other in the gangway. The Aliner's door is in the middle. One person can be cooking or washing dishes and the other sitting at the dinette, going in an out as he or she pleases. Sometimes though, the side doorway is on the wrong side to be convenient at some campgrounds.

I liked the curtains in the Cabin-A. They pulled open and closed and there was some Velcro involved. The Cabin-A has pleated blinds on the bubble windows that already look terrible. We probably left them down at some point when we closed up the camper, and squashed them. One day I'll get around to replacing them.

We did have a leak in the bubble window of the Cabin-A, and got it fixed. It took a few years to develop. The Aliner leaked just a few months after we bought it - through the apex of the roof. I'm sure that's going to be a problem with any foldup camper sooner or later. I'm not impressed that it was sooner though.

The Cabin-A cost us $13,000 on clearance (new) in 2006, the Aliner was a pretty much fully-loaded model, also on clearance in 2012 at $21,000. They're not cheap!

There are obvious differences in convenience between parking and hooking up the Cabin-A, and having to unfold and fold the Aliner. It just depends what you want to be towing around.

We were definitely emotionally attached to the Cabin-A, but we're enjoying the Aliner just as much, and will even more when we get our Wind Cheeta wind kit installed for extra peace of mind when unfolding and folding in a wind, and just being camped in windy weather.
http://www.aframewindkits.com
I have no financial interest in this wonderful invention developed by Randy Floyd. I just think it's an awesome gadget that gives an Aliner owner a lot of added security.

I hope the woman who bought our Cabin-A has enjoyed it. We certainly did. Now we plan to make many happy camping memories in the Aliner in the future.