2027 Forest River Puma Camping Edition261BHCE

The Puma Camping Edition 261BHCE leaves Forest River's factory at 5,508 lbs dry, with a published GVWR of 7,008 lbs and 1,500 lbs of cargo capacity between the two. Cargo capacity is 21% of the loaded rating, and Forest River's own definition is worth reading before you plan against it: cargo capacity is what remains for fresh water, gear, food, batteries and every dealer-installed accessory. Fresh water alone is 8.3 lb per gallon, so filling this trailer's 43-gallon fresh tank spends 357 lbs of that 1,500 lbs before anything else is loaded.

Tongue weight is 695 lbs, or 13% of the dry weight. Ten to fifteen percent is the conventional band for a bumper-pull trailer, and this plan sits inside it as published. Tongue weight is not fixed: it moves with how the trailer is loaded, and weight added ahead of the axles raises it. A weight-distribution hitch is the normal fitment at this tongue load, and the tow vehicle's tongue-weight limit is a separate number from its trailer-weight limit.

Tank capacities are 43 gallons fresh, 70 grey and 35 black, 105 gallons of waste capacity against 43 gallons of supply. The ratio is what governs how long the trailer can sit off hookups: waste capacity exceeds fresh, so the fresh tank is the binding constraint and refilling extends the stay. Forest River publishes these three figures per floorplan, and they are the factory's numbers rather than a segment average.

Against the rest of the Puma Camping Edition roster this is the 22nd of 30 floorplans by dry weight, in a line that runs from 2,295 lbs to 7,018 lbs. It sits in the heavier third of the line. Comparing floorplans inside one line is more reliable than comparing across brands, because every figure here comes from the same factory channel on the same day.

A useful way to read the pair of weights is to stop planning against the dry figure. Nobody tows a trailer at 5,508 lbs: that is the weight before water, batteries, propane, bedding, food, tools and anything the dealer bolted on. Load half the published cargo capacity, which is modest for a family trip, and this plan is already near 6,258 lbs on the road. Compare that number against the tow vehicle, not the dry weight, and leave margin on top of it - the published GVWR of 7,008 lbs is a limit rather than a target.

Every number above was captured twice from Forest River and checked against itself before it was published. The line listing and the individual floorplan page are two separate factory renderings of the same trailer, and this plan's 4 shared figures agree exactly on both. Dry weight plus cargo capacity also equals the published GVWR exactly, which is the arithmetic check this site runs on every profiled floorplan. Where a figure is missing from this page it is because Forest River does not publish it in this channel, not because it was hard to find - and the row says so rather than being quietly dropped.

Forest River publishes no floorplan description for this plan in the channel this page is built from - only the numeric specification block. Rather than describe a layout from the floorplan code, which would be a guess dressed as a fact, this page carries what the factory publishes and says where it stops. 261BHCE is a Puma Camping Edition designation and this site does not decode it into a layout claim.

How the 261BHCE differs from the other 29 Puma Camping Edition floorplans. Most distinctive first. Each rank counts only the siblings that publish that field, and a figure most of them share is left out. Not every one of these pages covers the same model years as this one (2027); each figure is the one its own page prints, so a rank compares pages, not one model year.

• Length, 30 ft 6 in: eighth-longest of 30, between the 23BHCE (29 ft 8 in) and the 283BHCE (30 ft 9 in).
• Dry weight, 5,508 lb: ninth-heaviest of 30, between the 23BHCE (5,153 lb) and the 250RBCE (5,623 lb).
• GVWR, 7,008 lb: ninth-highest of 30, between the 23BHCE (6,653 lb) and the 250RBCE (7,123 lb).
• Tongue weight, 695 lb: ninth-heaviest of 30, between the 303BHCE (680 lb) and the 250RBCE (715 lb).
• Grey tank, 70 gal: largest of 30, level with the 23BHCE, 250RBCE and three others; next are the 211FKCE and 303BHCE (65 gal).
• Cargo capacity as a share of GVWR, 21.4%: tenth-smallest of 27, between the 250RBCE (21.1%) and the 23BHCE (22.5%).
• Tongue weight as a share of dry weight, 12.6%: fourteenth-largest of 30, between the 17COUPLE (12.5%) and the 250RBCE and 275BHCE (12.7%).
• Exterior height, 10 ft 11 in: shared with the 211FKCE, 23BHCE and seven others; of 30, nineteen lower and one taller, nearest the 141THCE (10 ft 7 in) and the 275BHCE (11 ft).
• Fresh tank, 43 gal: largest of 30, level with the 20BHCE, 20RLCE and twelve others; next are the 120RKCE, 121RKCE and thirteen others (34 gal).
• Cargo capacity, 1,500 lb: shared with the 141THCE, 20BHCE and twelve others; of 30, thirteen smaller and two larger, nearest the 131RBCE (1,475 lb) and the 16DSCE (1,501 lb).

Next to the 23BHCE (2026 page), the nearest lighter floorplan by dry weight, the 261BHCE is 355 lb heavier by dry weight, has a GVWR 355 lb higher, has a tongue weight 30 lb heavier and is 10 in longer; the two publish the same cargo capacity, exterior height, fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Next to the 250RBCE (2026 page), the nearest heavier floorplan by dry weight, the 261BHCE is 115 lb lighter by dry weight, has a GVWR 115 lb lower, has a tongue weight 20 lb lighter and is 1 ft 7 in longer; the two publish the same cargo capacity, exterior height, fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Camping Edition is where Puma starts, and for 2027 the class opens with three sixteen-foot plans around 2,300 lbs dry and runs past 7,000 lbs dry at the top. Cargo capacity runs 986 to 1,501 lbs, and on most of the larger plans it is the same 1,500 lbs, so a longer trailer here does not buy more carrying capacity. Hitch weight runs 260 to 860 lbs. Forest River publishes a GVWR for every 2027 plan with a full record, and unloaded weight plus cargo capacity equals it exactly on all nineteen.

A full 43-gallon fresh tank is about 357 lb of water (water counts as cargo: 49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.2), 24% of the 261BHCE’s 1,500 lb cargo capacity, leaving 1,143 lb. Across 30 Puma Camping Edition floorplans the water share runs 19% to 42%, and 6 give up more than this one. Nearest on that share: Puma Camping Edition 20BHCE at 24% and Puma Camping Edition 123RDCE at 24%. Your own unit’s figure is on the label inside its entry door (49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.3).

Closest sibling: the Puma Camping Edition 250RBCE, nearest on the published figures. It differs on 4 of the 8 fields both publish (this plan first): length 30 ft 6 in vs 28 ft 11 in; dry weight 5,508 lb vs 5,623 lb; GVWR 7,008 lb vs 7,123 lb; hitch weight 695 lb vs 715 lb. They match on cargo capacity, fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Either side of it by GVWR: Puma Camping Edition 23BHCE is 355 lb lighter (6,653 lb GVWR); Puma Camping Edition 250RBCE is 115 lb heavier (7,123 lb GVWR).

All 30 Puma Camping Edition floorplans: Puma Camping Edition line hub.

Against the 261BHCE: the Coachmen Apex Ultra-Lite X-Series 24RBX is 8 lb lighter and 1 ft shorter; the Jay Feather 22RB is 8 lb lighter and 3 ft shorter; the Jay Flight 235MBH is 8 lb lighter and 3 ft shorter.

10 of the 18 fields this catalogue tracks are published for the 261BHCE. Not published: interior height, sleeps, slide count, axle count, tire specification, awning, refrigerator, air conditioning.

Sourcing rules: methodology.