camper trailer space & kids

Wen,
Try the following group for any info
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We went for the large family size camper (16ft) which was great when the children were younger (5 - 10). When they got older (12 & 7) they no longer wanted to sleep in the camper and wanted individual dome tents.This was OK but we then found we were putting up a large camper and virtually using only the bed area. So we have now downsized to a smaller camper and this is a lot easier to manage. I notice with the age of your boys they may want in the near future to have their own space so a large camper may not be necessary. It was made very clear to our kids that the putting up and taking down of thier tents was solely their responsibility and to date there has hardly been a problem with this.

we have a tambo. we dont have kids but in preperation for kids we had them put a door on the back side of the room and also a zip(because they can only do this whilst they are building it) when we have kids, we can buy the add-on room. so then we have the bed area, the room area, the add-on kids room area and we have the annex on the front. we only bought the side walls to the annex for wind and weather, we may get the front wall later to close it all in! then when the kids dont want to come camping, we just zip off the room, or use it for storage.
we highly recomend the tambo.
www.tambocampers.com.au

affordable too.

G,day, We have have two boys age 12 &14 who still love to go camping with us. The key to the area you have available to you is the positioning of the door. we found that the closer it is to the trailer the more options you have with the bed lay out. We have a 10' room and can easily manage having the beds in an L shape giving you a large area to use for changing or whatever. There are 2 doors in ours which are located close to the trailer which also great for letting a breeze to go straight though in times when it is hot. Annex, we have a 9' annex with asolid wall at the kitchen end and flyscreen around the rest and have found this to great in times when it is wet.I hope I have been of some help to you,

Chris

Hi Wen,

We are just waiting for our CT to be ready to collect, we also have kids, whilst the older two don't come with us any more the younger two do (9 & 11), so we were in the same predicament as you, been camping with tents but wanted to have something a bit more comfortable and less hassle.

We decided that the larger tent area was a must, especially if we encountered bad weather, we went for a 17ft tent as it gives us room for the kids to have either their bunks at the end or they can use mattresses on the floor and we won't walk on them when we are getting in and out of bed.

We have also gone for a fully enclosed annex, however we can use as little or as much as we require depending on if its a one night stop or a weeks stop, the annex comes in sections which can be zipped on and off and the annex roof (otherwise known as the awning) is left attached at all times and remains thrown over the main tent area when not in use. Thus it is ready for any situation.

Also by having the larger main tent area, if your just stopping for one night and therefore not erecting the annex, there is still enough room for us to put our table and chairs in there to eat at and remain out of the rain should the occasion occur.

I believe that the difference in time in erecting our 17ft tent in comparison to the smaller version which is 14ft wouldn't even be noticable, we have watched them demonstrating it and it is the exact same procedure to both.

I believe that you will appreciate the extra couple of feet even if its just giving you a bit more room to move, and when the kids no longer want to go with you it still won't be too big for two to use, it may mean that you no longer put the annex up as much, maybe just the awning for a bit of shade. Either way I think it worth the few extra $$$ for the benefits.

Just my thoughts, hope this helps.

Regards,
Kerrie

Hi,

We had a 16ft tent to cater for the two children, but have now changed to a hard floor, as we find we are going away more and more without the children. We also have the add on kids room we can put up if required. For quick overnight stops, the kids just sleep on the hard floor, cosy but do-able.

The big advantage fo the hard floor is the ease of putting up and packing up...we don't tend to stay in one place for too long.

At the end of the day, it is what works best for you.

Cheers,
Greg

Hey TT

Just remember you are getting away so the more compact and esier to set up works for me. I like traveling and just spending a few days in 1 spot.

If you are bush camping the smaller foot print helps to get a better spot.

I have done the big camerons canvas set up now looking at a kimberly hard floor for the more remote capability.

TM2CW

Rregards

Trevor

Good luck with your hunt for a camper, for a soft floor camper with much space can I recommend you have a look at the Deluxe Camper Trailer built in Adelaide in particular the Double unit. These offer 2 Queen size beds, a large living area and an awning. All canvas and heavy duty vinyl floor are in one piece and easily fold out to provide you with great family space.
Check them out at www.deluxecamper.com.au

My Wife & I have a halls soft floor camper and just being the two of us I ordered the small tent version, after getting home and pulling out the folding table, chairs etc:, doing a little measuring I found that they would block access to the tent door & be in the way in front of the kitchen area so I got on the phone and ammended the order to the larger tent.
Doing this mean that the awning automatically increased in size and believe me, on those stinking hot days you will want all the awning you can get.

Yes there are disadvantages - when bush camping it can be hard at times to find a flat area large enough to accomadate.
However the larger tent gives plenty of floor space for the times I camp with one of my sons & one or two of the mates, lots of room to throw down extra airbeds & sleeping bags. Then of course every one has a kit bag of some sort for clothing etc: - usually a damn big bag.
Room to throw the table & chairs etc: inside when you leave the camp site unattended, O:K, it's not lock up secure but reduces temtation to any passerby.

Interestingly enough the full annex walls we ordered with the tent have only twice been used in their entirety in the four years we have the unit, we usually only put up one end wall as a wind break for cooking when required.

Have a play on the back lawn , measure out the proposed area, divide it into tent & awning than stick all you camping gear into it and see how it fits - sounds stupid I know, however I think you may surprise yourself on how fast you run out of room.

In closing I reckon there is no difference in folding up the two sizes & nothing to speak of in weight

Good Luck & Happy Camping

Ian

We have a Cavalier with the 14ft tent and two boys 15 and 12..... we have a lot of room in this tent, can actually have their beds set up as well as a card table and four chairs for board games etc.... and not be tripping over each other. The other thing is it takes about 10 minutes to set it up for sleeping.... in other words, pull up at an "overnighter" spot, put the tent up, two end pegs (if necessary) and it's ready for sleeping in. For longer stays, our full set up is about an hour.

Worth it's weight in gold!

2 questions from one who is thinking of going from caravan to C/T: 1) a few times when we've had wet weather we've sat in our van, smugly watching as the campground empties of canvas campers. I take it a soft floor would leave you more vulnerable to wet weather??? 2) are the hard-floors easier to put up? (maybe varies according to model/brand)???

G`day Terranno Tripper. When we were looking at camper trailers we couldn`t find any that offered enuogh storage space , or enough under canvas room either.So having our own engineering business we built one that had both of the above features, [ had all the canvas work done by Southern Cross].We have three children, but now they rarely come away with the old fart,so we will be down sizing.If you are interested in a bullet proof camper, comes with quite a few goodies , drop a line or give us a bell on 0428300357.
Keep wandering,
Regards Bob

Thanks for your advice, it is always good to get feedback from those who can speak from experience. The search continues.

Wen

G`day Terrano Tripper, SWMBO sent pictures of the camper Monday afternoon, if the didn`t come through could you give us a bell.
Keep wandering
Regards Bob