I hate islands!

[Kenleys Oompah]

Are Kenley's GiGi and I the only RVers who don't want an island in the galley? Every Fifth wheel we looked at yesterday had a beautiful island that prevented access to the refrigerator and/or the cooktop when the slides were in. In one, the island only needed to be slid back less than ONE INCH to have been able to open the refrigerator door. We've had our 2006 Mountaineer 329RLT since 2009 and we love being able to pull over in a rest area for lunch and get to our food and cook our food at night in the truck stop with the slides in. We bought a 24 table with a cutting block to that makes a great food prep area,one which we can slide to the rear of the cabin when on the road, freeing access to everything we need.

We even looked at SOBs (gasp!) yesterday, with no luck.

Are we weird?

[Creeker]

The islands are nice for most everything except access with the slides in.
We kept looking until we found one with access to the fridge with slides in.
However, the main food pantry is not accessible with slides in. We simply will store bread and travel snacks in the cabinet above the coffee maker area.

You're certainly not alone though. If we could have found one without the island and had our other requirements, it would have went directly to the front of list.

[jetskier]

On the new models except for the rear kitchen units, , access to the fridge and pantry is in front of the island easily accessed with the slides in.

[Eagleback]

Ours has a movable island on wheels and we love it. Move it here to make the living bigger for guest or move it there to make the kitchen bigger for folding banquet table. It the only model that we have seen that has this feature.

[Creeker]

Originally Posted by Eagleback

Ours has a movable island on wheels and we love it. Move it here to make the living bigger for guest or move it there to make the kitchen bigger for folding banquet table. It the only model that we have seen that has this feature.

We looked at an Open Range with the movable island. We liked it very much
but had small holding tanks and residential fridge which were both deal killers for our use.

jetskier - our pantry is also in front of the slide but you'd have to be mighty thin to fit in there. One of the drawbacks of a 34 footer.

[jeffba]

DW agrees she does not like islands or the stove on a slideout

[CarWin]

Originally Posted by jeffba

DW agrees she does not like islands or the stove on a slideout

Same with my DW...caveat is we have to open 2 slides to access the fridge/kitchen area(as you do too)! With that said we do LOVE our rear kitchen units!!!

[Overlord]

When we were looking, we had two criteria, the wife insisted it was not to have an island.

I insisted on having a full bathroom, and not a toilet in a tiny closet.

So, you are not alone.

[Dave W]

There are two significant reasons we have a HC instead of a 'regular' Montana or SOB. It has a real kitchen counter instead of an island and it has a 10 gallon HW heater instead of a 6 gallon that we saw on many in the same $50-$80K price range. We looked at possibly 100 different models and brands and 98 of them had an island. The other one we really considered had too many other "defects" starting with the dealer being the biggest one to overcome

[DQDick]

On our 3720 we can open one door on the fridge with the slide in and the other partially. Not so, however on the 3721 with the residential frig, but we didn't want that anyway.

[Montana Man]

Originally Posted by Overlord

When we were looking, we had two criteria, the wife insisted it was not to have an island.

I insisted on having a full bathroom, and not a toilet in a tiny closet.

So, you are not alone.

What did you end up with?

[edbales]

We are also anti-island. If you are on the road a lot and you stop for lunch or or stay at Walmarts or truck stops, access to fridge, sink, and stove are essential for us. I have had a number of different rigs. We shopped a number of years ago and and nearly gave up. We found a gently used 2010 3605RL. We have access to almost everything while going down the road. Just put out the bed slide and go to sleep. We now would consider replacing this one but cannot find one that works as well.

[RKassl]

This is a strange thread, why not just buy what you want, pretty simple.

[Razahoryin]

Originally Posted by CarWin

Same with my DW...caveat is we have to open 2 slides to access the fridge/kitchen area(as you do too)! With that said we do LOVE our rear kitchen units!!!

I also have a rear kitchen and love it.
The time is approaching to replace it and I have not been excited about the options.
I currently have a Montana 3000RK

[Montana Man]

Imagine, having to push a button for 10 seconds to gain access to the fridge! That's about as inconvenient as tent camping.

[jeffba]

Originally Posted by Montana Man

Imagine, having to push a button for 10 seconds to gain access to the fridge! That's about as inconvenient as tent camping.

But you cannot always open a slide safely.

[rslopez65]

We have access to the fridge and the pantry with the slides in. We can also sit at the table to eat if we want. We did swap out the dining table with one that had two drop down leaves making the opening to get to the pantry larger.

[team bradfield]

we have to open our slide about 20" to access the fridge, I'm aware of this so when i pull into the rest area, i take an end slot or hug the line on one side, we have never been unable to open a slide, its not a big deal to us

[Blackshadow]

Originally Posted by team bradfield

we have to open our slide about 20" to access the fridge, I'm aware of this so when i pull into the rest area, i take an end slot or hug the line on one side, we have never been unable to open a slide, its not a big deal to us

Agreed, we have 3750FL, and backdoor access to bathroom slides and full kitchen for quick cooking. We do as suggested above to put out dining or bedroom for sleeping or a nap. Works great! NO ISLAND or dishwasher for two for us.

[miton 5052]

Our 3582 has access with the slides in ,DW makes sandwiches at the end of the island and we're off but then again we don't spend of time on the road, we're usually parked by 3:30 (cocktail hrs)