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Couples camper challenge - Keystone Cougar 22MLS

Tony Barthel

Today’s RV review looks at one of my favorite couples’ campers out there - the Keystone Cougar 22MLS. We’ve looked at this rig in the past and I looked very seriously at it when we were shopping for our own RV. In fact there was a time I thought this is the direction we would go, but we stuck with Rockwood for a number of reasons.

New and improved for 2023

To be quite honest, there are not a huge number of changes to this floor plan but the changes they did make are substantial in an RVer’s experience.

The first of those changes is something I’m really happy to see in the Cougar line - the fact that Goodyear Endurance tires are now standard across the board.

I had the opportunity to go through one of the big tire suppliers to the RV industry and the volume of tires in there was incredible. But there is no convincing me that the typical tires mounted to travel trailers are all that good. The fact that there are plenty of people who post pictures of their spare literally exploding or failing without ever seeing the first mile is enough for me.

So, as of this writing, I would primarily use Goodyear Endurance tires on anything towable. Period. Glad to see Cougar has joined me in this sentiment.

The next thing that is a big change is in the department of stupid things husbands say. You know, the things that get us into hot water.

To that end Cougar now offers a tankless water heater as standard equipment. These things are nifty for a number of reasons including the fact that you get continuous hot water so long as you have cold water, propane and a wee bit of electricity. The electricity is there to operate the circuit board, essentially. The propane provides the hot and the water, well, is there to provide the water.

But these are also a safety item to my way of thinking. RV water heaters generally heat the water to 140°F with the thinking that you’re going to only have six gallons of hot water but mix in a lot of cold water. This does make sense.

But if you get a junior camper or someone not familiar with RVs can actually scald themselves if they only open a hot tap. With the Furrion tankless water heater you can set the temperature such that you only need to turn on the hot tap if that’s your preference. A digital control panel lets you choose whatever temp your hot water is.

Same as it ever was

The rest of the trailer remains intact but that’s not a bad thing at all. Cougar certifies their trailers for 0°-100°F camping so they’re well insulated and designed for those temperature extremes. Many campers are concerned about being able to camp all four seasons and, depending on where you camp, this would work.

Speaking of seasons, Cougar’s warranty also covers full time use. You might wonder how many campers would live full time in a trailer of this size but I lived in my own trailer with my wife for almost five months while we house shopped and traveled all over the place.

On the subject of size, this is one of the few Cougar offerings that isn’t available with an automatic leveling system but, frankly, I wouldn’t want one anyway. Using wedge levelers a travel trailer is so easy to level and I handled too many warranties on automatic leveling systems to have any interest in them. It does have power stabilizer jacks, though.

On the subject of seasons one of the seasons many RV companies don’t talk about is allergy season. Any of us who suffer from pollen allergies can attest to this being a legitimate season. To that end, another Keystone advantage is their Blade Pure air conditioning system.

The company has developed their own air handling vents and air intake for the air conditioning which incorporates a residential air filter to help alleviate those airborne annoyances. I also like that Keystone utilized a standard-size air filter so you can just replace this at any hardware store.

There are a lot of features like this incorporated into the Cougar line and I think this is definitely a brand whose products I like quite a bit. Another feature that has proven itself now over a few years is Keystone’s Hyperdeck flooring. What this is is a laminated flooring product exclusive to Keystone that is not damaged by water.

Anyone who’s restored a vintage trailer can likely attest to the fact that the plywood decking that makes-up the floor is something you’re most likely going to have to replace. I like this idea.

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Boondocking and travel access

I was surprised to see that this trailer is fully accessible with the slide in. You can get to the bathroom, which is all the way at the back of the trailer, and the kitchen. There’s a place to dine over on the camp side of this trailer that’s not in the slide so you’ve got a place for a roadside meal on the way to your destination.

As for boondocking, Keystone has a lot of leadership there, too. The standard solar on this is 200 watts which may be enough to compensate for the consumption of the 12 volt fridge. Maybe. But there are also 400 and 600 watt configurations available straight from the factory. These upgraded systems, part of Keystone’s Solarflex package, also come with inverters. Still, the base package does have outlets wired for an inverter if you plan to use one and features high quality components.

Lastly, there is 54 gallons of fresh water storage on this trailer which is a good number.

Conclusions

One of the things I am bugged by in the RV industry is the shrinking number of camp-side windows. I know windows are pricey as can be but, doggone it, give me windows or give me darkness.

Wait. Never mind.

The point is, this unit does have camp-side windows including one in the door with a shade included. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

There’s also a larger oven in here. Again, if you’re going to include an oven, put one in that actually is usable as is done here.

One of the things I wish Keystone would stop doing is advertising these as “Half Ton.” If I were to buy this trailer I wouldn’t tow it with a half-ton truck. This is a large enough trailer that I’d want a three-quarter ton truck just for the sake of better control. I think the “Half Ton” designation should be eliminated.

Of course no RV is perfect but you can spot when an RV company isn’t just building to a check list, but is listening to the owners. There aren’t really huge changes to this model but the changes that exist are worthwhile improvements to a floor plan I already liked quite a bit.

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