Cougar 355FBS

Tanks first, then the bathroom

Two Cougars carry a 76-gallon waste tank; the 355FBS is one of them, and with 75 gallons fresh and 76 gray its tanks total 227 gallons, 38 more than the 189 of every other plain-subline plan. Each of the two waste tanks is 1 gallon larger than the fresh tank, so one fill of fresh water cannot top out either of them; that is arithmetic on the published sizes and says nothing about how fast any tank fills in use.

The rest of the numbers: 39 ft 3 in long, tied with the 350LLK and 360MBI for longest and 9 in inside a 40-foot pad; 11,802 lb dry, 14 of 16 lightest; 2,000 lb on the pin, which is 16.9% of dry weight and 5 of 16 lowest, the smallest share among the three plans at this length. Three slides, sleeping for 6, and 2,098 lb of carrying capacity, 12 of 16. Among the three rear-living plans in the plain subline the 355FBS is the longest, by 3 ft 7 in over the 316RLS and 5 ft 7 in over the 290RLS, the lightest on the pin, and the only one whose tagline names a second bath and a walk-in closet. Its carrying capacity sits between the other two: 235 lb under the 290RLS and 308 lb over the 316RLS.

Keystone's tagline is '1 1/2 Front Bath/Rear Living, Walk-in Closet'. The named features are one and a half baths with the full bath forward, the rear living room, a walk-in closet, a 60 by 80 queen bed with underbed storage and a king option, a booth dinette with drawers, an ottoman with storage, an electric fireplace, washer and dryer prep, a rear receiver hitch, two electric awnings, slide toppers, and a 16 cu ft refrigerator. The tradeoff a front bath sets up is distance: the full bath sits at the raised front end over the hitch and the living room at the back, and the half bath is the piece that decides how often that walk gets made. Where the half bath sits is the first thing to settle on the lot.

On the lot: what a front bath changes

Four items, each tied to something in the tagline.

• Walk from the rear living room to the front full bath with the slides closed, then find the half bath and do the same. The distance between the two is the thing this layout asks you to accept, and it is only real with the slides in.
• Open the walk-in closet and stand inside it. It is the feature Keystone chose to headline alongside the baths; measure the hanging length and see whether the washer and dryer prep shares the space, since appliances installed there weigh against the 2,098 lb carrying capacity.
• Ask whether the unit on the lot has the 60 by 80 queen or the king option, and whether the 15K bedroom air conditioner option is fitted. Both are Keystone-listed options that change the front end of the trailer, which is the end that rides on the pin.
• Check the rear receiver hitch, then locate both waste tank drains and the dump valve handles with the slides in. Keystone lists 76 gallons for each tank, so a full dump is 152 gallons, and the valves need to be reachable at a site.

Trade the bathroom, keep the room, or keep the tanks

Each alternative keeps one of the three things in the tagline. Differences are arithmetic from both records.

The 355FBS as Keystone publishes it