Desert travel

Travelling alone?
With your partner?
With another vehicle?
How remote do you want to get?

Hi Craig
A good start would be to check out the TREKS section of this website. eg

https://www.exploroz.com/treks/simpson-desert?s=Simpson

Plenty of excellent info and advice there.

Cheers
Jim

Hi Craig,

If you are comfortable with a swag or tent, then try that?

I think that the lighter you are, the easier the going will be.

Don't forget the fridge and the beers/wine

Best advise is to get out there with whatever you have.
A couple of trips will soon sort what suits you and your partner, how you travel, your expectations and your budget.
We are all different. In the first instance, if you are not sure about something, leave it home. If you did not need it on the first trip, leave it home on the second trip.
Take a few shorter trips first, gradually becoming more adventurous. Probably not a good idea to start with the Simpson.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

For a touring Ute do yourself a favour and order a dropside and a proper aluminium canopy. Tubs and fibreglass style canopies are an awful compromise.
For 2 people I’d also take the single/extra cab over the twin cab also for a much better layout and distribution of weight.

Hi Craig,

From your responses, I would suggest a single cab/chassis, or (extra cab) then put a solid alloy canopy on the chassis. You could have a canopy purpose built with a fridge and draws etc built in, or just an empty canopy and fit it out yourself.

I would also humbly suggest 100 amp LiFePo4 battery and 200 watts of solar capacity (or even 200 amp LiFePo4 batteries, 400 watts of solar capacity) with appropriate charger. You can then run a decent fridge, 60 or 80 Ltr.

An OzTent is easy to put up and down, but are heavy to carry around. Swags are good if you don’t mind sleeping on the ground, or you can get a swag/tent/camp bed combination. You could also try a Rooftop Tent, but at my age, I find them a PITA as I need to get up in the night for a leak. Also, they restrict where you can mount solar panels if mounting the panels on the roof.

On my last fishing trip from Melbourne to Broome, I used an ARB Dome Swag for overnight stops, and an OzTent RV4 and camp bed for the month I was at Middle Lagoon.

I have crossed the Simpson twice, first time I used the OzTent, second time the Swag. For me, the Swag was less work, and what I would use again.

Macca.

Hi Craig,
Just 2 of us & we have a 4wd DMax & Slide on camper having owned it for 4 yrs. Had a camper trailer prior & our needs changed.
Just the 2 of us so the single cab gives more room in the Slideon.
We travel remote & it suits us fine. . We don't sit in one spot for long but if you do bear in mind it has to be packed to go on day trips. If we feel the need to leave camp for the day we just leave a couple of hike chairs in our spot for our return.
To be honest that rarely happens as we usually find nice spots anywhere for the night as if you can park the car you can sleep in the camper. No need for flat cleared spots for tents.
Bear in mind the cost of suspension upgrade & carefully calculate all the weights. Best to put the rig on a weighbridge packed for trip with passengers so you keep below GVM.
There is no "best" set up just what suits your style of camping.

Cheers
Stu

G'day Craig

A lot depends on your experience with camping, your budget and whether you prefer glamping or roughing it.

I agree with most who have replied that keeping it light and simple is the way to go but that can vary on where and how long your trips last. Full alloy canopies are great but I wouldn't be decking one out until you have had a few remote trips under your belt as I constantly hear from friends and other travellers with them that after a few trips they would all change their original setup to make it better.

I have different setups for different trips - both my vehicles have a 2.5 metre awning attached to the roof rack and like in Bob Y's pics I have an Oztent RV5 which is 2.4 metres wide so I can join the two awnings together for more shelter. On longer trips I take the Oztent side and front panels to create an annexe. The oztents are good but a bit cumbersome and take up space in a canopy so I have to lift them up onto the roof rack. I also have an oztrail10 tourer tent, pole in the middle type but the awning is basically useless but a quick easy tent to setup and measures roughly 1 metre x 1 metre x 200mm packed up.

I also have a 2.5 metre x 2.5 metre awning tent that attaches to the 2.5 awning creating a good size room but as yet I haven't set it up - it's light, takes up little space and it's there in case of bad weather. A few friends have and use these and praise them highly - they are not expensive either, depending on brand.

For ten years I ran a 4wd tour company specializing in the Simpson Desert and have only ever thrown my swag on the ground but a few years ago I upgraded to throwing my swag on a stretcher - best thing I've done in years re camping. Swags and stretchers can take up a fair bit of space but I think the ease of setting up a stretcher and just rolling a swag on it to have your bed ready in 2 minutes is worth it.

Here's a tip for you Craig - make sure you have a good bed/sleeping setup for your wife - because experience tells me that when most women wake up cranky after a lousy nights sleep they tend to be cranky all day :)

Most people I know reckon their roof top tents can be a pain in the r'zz - especially those who have injured themselves falling down.

Slide on campers - expensive but the people I know who have them swear by them - one couple in particular have been travelling around Australia for the last two years in theirs and they love it.

And as Macca suggested a good solar panel and battery setup is a must in this country as is a decent 12 volt fridge !

Another tip - the best thing you can take with you is a relaxed, care free nothing is a problem attitude !


Good luck with whatever you decide on and enjoy your travels


Cheers
Gazz

From my experience, it should be whatever your wife can handle. A few short exploratory trips where there are other campers will let you gauge what takes her fancy. Going cold turkey into the desert isn't a great idea, some people think it's horrible.

Some good advice here. Start with minimum and grow from there. Swags are a great start and so versatile. The camping stores away from the main cities are usually better anyway. D-Max is a great choice very reliable. Pay attention to the fuel you buy. Look for high volume sellers and name brand fuel. (BP, Shell, Ampol etc). You will have sometimes no choice and in such circumstances have a glass jar which you can squirt a bit of fuel every say, 20 litres, to see if it looks ok. I would also get a set of good quality (high load rating) wheels and mud tyres. This gives you two sets of tyres. Mud tyres maybe noisier, maybe not last as long, but when you are out there and things turn to sh*t you will be very glad to have them. Additionally, they are much stronger and less prone to being punchered. I have run alloy rims with heavy mud tyres for the last 8 years on my overweight D-Max for over 220k kilometres and never once have I had to change a wheel because of a puncture. I have had 4 punctures which were easily plugged. A must have is a PLB and if you find yourself in remote locations by yourself you need to weigh up the cost of a sat phone verses your personal safety. A gps navigation system not dependent on mobile coverage is also essential if you are travelling in remote areas. What you need is like asking how long is a piece of string. If you want to know more ring me on 0419846292 and I will try and help. Cheers, Chris