Camper trailers

We've had a hard floor since Cub started making them in the mid 70's and for what we wanted to do with them they worked well. We always regarded the camper as a tent on wheels and all the heavy stuff was carried in the troopy.
My way of thinking is hard floors are more suited to constant travel where most stops are only one or two nights, they are quick to erect and close, they can be used for long stays too and many do so. With a hard floor you can pretty much camp anywhere, it can be sloping in any direction as you can level with timber blocks or rocks, it can be rough and uneven, covered in burrs and prickles, concrete, dirt, mud, it doesn't matter as you up off the ground and in times of heavy rain are above the puddles.
Soft floors are more suited to extended stays due to the time taken to erect and pack away, the usually larger footprint required and the need for a flat level surface to put them on.
We've done extended outback trips with groups where both types were used and usually by the end of the trip the soft floors are wishing they had a hard floor.
We've also come across parks that will not let soft floors erect on their grass due to the soft floor suffocating the grass. Some parks also have problems fitting soft floors on their sites, an increasing problem as site sizes shrink due the the proliferation of cabins.

Here's a list of forum threads discussing the subject.

Hard Floor - Soft Floor


Cheers Mick

Agree with Peter's comprehensive reply - it seems to me too that the main plus of top shelf soft floors is that they cater more easily to families that require more room.... it can be done with hard floors, but as I recall trailers like the TrakShak and the Adventure shine on this aspect (there may be others). Adventure has a good video on their camper setup - that part is skipped on Pat C's video at TrakShak.

Hi Justin i have a hard floor camper (Chinese one) one person can erect . It suits two adults one child. I have friends with soft floor seems a lot more work but they have two kids so the space of a soft floor suits them atm . I would not think the weight would be much difference. Mine is 750 kg dry on paper. As far as vision goes I can see over mine where he cant see over his . Over nighters or short week ends hard floor for sure as set up/pack up is way shorter and easier. I have made alterations to mine so I can have a room and a awning or a double size awning. or if its just a short trip I can just use the original awning which I leave zipped up on the camper . The soft floor has better access to your gear as the hard floor usually only has a small door at the back. But a good toolbox can solve that but it is something to keep in mind. It’s really what suits your needs. Hope that helps a little.