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RV review: 2023 Keystone Cougar Half-Ton 27BHS bunkhouse

Tony Barthel

Today’s RV review is of the Keystone Cougar Half-Ton 27BHS. This is what I would consider a mid-sized bunkhouse RV and one that has a floor plan that I think works really well. Further, there are features that are common to Cougar and Keystone that do make this stand out, to me.

Bunkhouse trailers

This new floor plan is a very useful implementation of the bunkhouse style of travel trailer.

In this case there are double-over-double bunks at the back of the trailer. The lower bunk also flips up for cargo carrying as we all know if you bring young campers with you, you’re bringing their stuff.

Of course if you bring older campers with you, you’re bringing their stuff too. As George Carlin said, we all need a place for our stuff.

There are plenty of bunkhouse RVs that have more sleeping space than sitting space but this one features a very large U-shaped dinette on the camp side and that seating space also features two windows. Hooray for camp side windows!

Further, there’s a window in the door of this trailer that incorporates a shade right from the factory. This is how ya’ do it!

I also like that the table in this arrangement is not permanently mounted so you can easily let in and out campers of all sizes. Further, you can slide that table right on over to the optional power theater seats in the road-side slide. A standard trifold sofa normally would occupy that space, but choice is good.

Over that dinette is a good-sized cabinet that houses four smaller cupboards, each with their own flip-up doors. In the center is the TV which can be easily seen from the theater seats or couch, but not so much from the dinette. Though, let’s be honest, younger campers are more going to want to stare at their devices than watch what mom and dad are watching.

These little cupboards are a good use of space but the doors are hinged at the top with no counterbalance so it makes getting into the cupboards inconvenient. I’d rather see them hinged at the front or back.

Kitchen space

One of the areas some bunk models really fall short on is the kitchen space, but that’s also a strong point of this trailer. In fact the main kitchen counter top extends across a dividing wall between the front bedroom and the main living space.

This would be a great sound barrier as well as useful food prep area for when, you know, “he’s loooooking at me, mom! Make him stop.”

I like how much storage there is here as well plus the Cougar incorporates a nice-sized oven with the three-burner stove. A standard 12 volt fridge keeps things chilled but you do still have the option of a traditional propane-electric RV fridge.

Another feature in Cougar products is a king-sized bed measuring 70” X 80”. There are both household and USB power outlets on each side of the bed along with hanging and drawer storage.

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Cougar keystone features

Okay, I couldn’t help the pun in that title. Keystone’s Cougar brand is a very popular nameplate and for many good reasons. The brand prides itself in being camp rated from 0°F-110°F owing to good insulation along with effective heating systems for the underbelly including 12 volt heating pads on the tanks.

Cougar, like all Keystone products, features a three year structural warranty. Their “Half-Ton” (more on that in a bit) series also includes king-sized beds and almost all the floor plans include fully automatic leveling systems.

For 2023 they’ve also stepped up their tire game to Goodyear Endurance tires on all models. These used to be optional and now they’re standard. Further, you can get a tire pressure monitoring system with these and I strongly suggest that you do. I have this on our own trailer and I really think it’s a great piece of safety gear.

Another feature in Cougar RVs is their InCommand which is sort of like a smart home system, but for an RV. This system lets you use a touch screen in the RV to control lighting, slides, even air conditioning. But it also allows you to control the heat and air conditioning system including setting schedules.

The latest version of this system also lets you do this remotely with a phone so you could literally be on a hike or at home with your RV in storage and set the climate control or even monitor cameras around the RV. It’s pretty neat.

And I also like that there are failsafe features and components of this system are also readily available at any auto parts store should there be a failure.

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Keystone features

If you haven’t read any of these reviews in the past, I should point out that Keystone has been working on truly differentiating their products even from other Thor products. Keystone has a team they call their Innovation Labs and they truly have been doing things to make a difference. Like what?

There is their Blade Pure air conditioning system which uses a more efficient air handling system to deliver more chilled air throughout the RV. Further, there’s a high-efficiency filtration system that can filter out a lot of air particles to the MERV-9 standard, but which uses easily-found filters.

Keystone also has flooring called HyperDeck which is a man-made flooring laminate.

The company also uses wiring systems that are consistent from model-to-model. This might sound like a no brainer, but remember it’s the RV industry. So this is a very unique feature to Keystone and means that more intentional wiring is more likely to function properly. But if it doesn’t, it’s also easier to diagnose and repair.

Solar

But the biggest thing on Keystone products is their standard solar package. The base solar on all Keystone RVs is 220 watts, up 20 watts from previous years. You can then get a package with double the number of panels or even the big daddy rabbit, the 600i. There are also optional battery packages

I think, more than any other RV company, Keystone has really democratized solar.

Boondocking and travel access

Surprisingly this trailer is well suite to mid-journey access with the slide room in. You can basically access everything with the slide in - I like that. That means mid-journey potty and snack stops (often accomplished in the same stop) are not an issue.

As for boondocking, we’ve looked at Keystone’s solar offerings. Holding tank sizes are good as well. This could be a good rig for those who like to camp off the grid.

Tony’s thoughts

There’s a lot I really like about Keystone products in general and this floor plan in particular.

One thing that just sticks in my craw is the “Half Ton” moniker. This is not a small trailer and there is always the temptation to load up a tow vehicle with all sorts of cargo and people. For example, this can easily sleep six people which would fit into the cab of most half-ton trucks but then you have the weight of those six people taking towing capacity out of the picture.

So I wish Keystone would just eliminate the Half Ton designation altogether, quite frankly. With the misinformation about towing and cargo carrying that exist as it is, having a name like that just furthers the confusion in my opinion.

For more information on towing safety check out our towing resources.

Also, this is another trailer where there is a separate dump connection for the kitchen and for the bathroom. Bleh. One of the first things I’d do is just plumb these together. This is a pain in the plumbing that doesn’t have to be a pain in the plumbing.

But, in summary, I really like this floor plan. It’s big enough that the front bedroom can truly be shut off from the back so the younger campers are left to fight amongst themselves. There’s a good amount of seating space inside as well as food prep area and storage.

Overall a package that really offers a lot of usable features and value. I like it.

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