Camper Trailers

Paro

That depends somewhat upon the configuration of the CT in question. e.g many soft tops have the kitchen attached to the swing out tailgate in which case the tent at the rear is preferred. Some hard floor types have a slide out kitchen on the side, in which case that's where you need the tent position.

Does this help??

Cheers

In tight camping spots the one that folds out the back would take up less space. If you can drive in you can set up. Ones that fold out on the side do need a larger space. You also need to know exactly where the tent will fold out to, and where your head will be in the bed so you can get the angles right. So your head isn't pointing downhill etc.

My CT folds out on the side and it isn't really an issue for me. The benefit is i can access big obects in the back of the trailer outside, with a rear folding one i would have to take everything through the tent door first.

Barnesy

My camper folds out from the side with soft floor and I can set up in just over five minutes. As mentioned previously soft floor or hard floor each have their own advantages. I would suggest that the hard floor fold out type is going to be a heavier unit over all. I'm sure you would have seen some hard floor campers that incorporate a winch to open and close.

If I may be so bold I would suggest after many years of trailer camping that you consider a unit that allows you greatest area of external awning. There will be many times when you won't want to erect the awning, I never do if I can get away with it, however it's amazing just how small an external awning suddenly becomes in wet or extremely hot weather.

If you camped in one spot for a few days with rain I would suggest you need all the awning you can get, surprising how much room a camping table and a couple of chairs take up, not to mention all the other bits and pieces you will want under shelter but not inside the camper.

I have also found that at the hight of summer a small awning gives minimal shelter from the blazing sun, particularly as the afternoon draws on and the sun starts to drop.

You don't mention if you have kids to cater for, if so, all the more reason to go for large awnings.

O.K! I know that I have wandered away from the origal question of soft versus hard so will close with the comment that my wife and I avoid caravan parks wherever possible and like you prefer to bush camp, we have not found our soft floor camper to have been a disadvantage.

Good luck with your search and happy bush camping.

Ian

Thanks everyone..........The cost of brand new CT is a considerable expense and that's why we want to be sure our purchase is the correct one.
We have done a lot of camping but we have reached the age where we would prefer to put behind us the need to sleep in a tent.
Paro

Go and hire a few first... try them and see what YOU like

Paro

IMO, and I have owned both off an the back and an off the side campers, the off the side gives you more space inside the tent area.

When the tent folds off the back the width is only as wide as the width of trailer. When you go off the side the width is as long as your trailer.

Hope that makes sense. Go and have a look at both and you'll see.

Al

Paro ,

I think some caravan park spaces make one or the other a problem sometimes . I do not use parks , so I am not sure which is a problem , but I have heard it mentioned .

I would not get a camper with the canvas on the back if I had a stove in it which I could not remove and put outside . Just imagine the smells and fumes from cooking a meal inside the tent . Yuk .

I have a Trak Shak , and the kitchen unit comes off the tailgate and forms a free standing bench outside . I built a wind break for it with a back and two sides - these hinge down across the stove for storage .

I would make sure your new unit has a reasonably wide attached porch roof for cooking under .

For me , the most important things I considered for my purchase were :
Usable kitchen
Ease of erection and take down
Boat rack ( which is great for firewood etc ) .
Outboard bracket
Build strength for rough roads
Plenty of jerry can holders
Clearance

But all campers are a trade-off . When I bought the Trak Shak , it had everything except that it took a while to put up and down - too long for overnight stays , but it had everything else I needed .

I am sure that many on the site will disagree , but I think the worst thing on a camper is a water tank - if you are going into areas where water is scarce . If you get somewhere with questionable water and you have half a tank of good water, you really are in a quandary . You need to take on more but don't really want to mix it with the good stuff . I take 6 jerry cans of water on my rig as I do not need extra fuel with my long range tanks . That way I can have drinking water and water for showering ( or drinking in an emergency ) .

Cheers ,

Willie

In the end, this is largely a matter of personal choice and budget.

Although your question is not specifically a 'hard floor v soft floor' one, by default it largely is.

There will be many who may disagree, but here is my summary:

Hard floors are generally more expensive; often by a factor or 2 to 3 times. Ours was close to $30K.

Hard floors are generally much quicker to set up, particularly for an overnight stop. Just for fun, during a recent trip, my wife and I tested how quickly we could set up. From closing vehicle doors after stopping, to set up (CT open, kitchen open, stove set up and connected, sullage hose to sink, table and chairs out and set up, internal and external door mats in place, beer and wine in hand). 97 Seconds!. Now that's not typical as we normally take our time,but we just did it for fun; but it is pretty fast.

Hard floors have less tent space in their normal configuration, but of course can be expanded with additional canvas. In their standard configuration they are good for 2 people, but probably need extra canvas added for more.

Hard floors are (in my experience) much more dust and water proof. On our recent Kimberley trip we did over 6,00 KM off road with deep water crossings. No dust or water inside the CT.

My view is, for 2 people, if the budget permits, a hard floor is the way to go. But others may disagree and that is fine.

If in doubt, hire a couple and try the different set ups.

Other factors are just as important (even more so). Suspension, build quality, storage, ability to carry the stuff you want (water, fuel, boat, firewood, etc etc).

Whatever you get, I suspect you will be happy.

IMO whether the tent section folds out sideways or to the rear makes little difference except which way the trailer ends up pointing.

TENT = Sleeping area
ANNEX = Living/Cooking area

If a campers' tent folds out sideways to the right, like mine does, (or to the left) you end up with the rear of the camper becoming the front. (Does that make sense?)
The tailgate swings out and becomes the "kitchen" where the stove is located.
To protect one from the elements whilst cooking and gorging, one erects an annex across the rear and this becomes the living area as well as the entry into the tent section.

If a campers' tent folds out to the rear (usually the case with hard tops) the hard top becomes the floor and the tent section again becomes the sleeping area.
In this configuration the "kitchen" usually slides out from the front left hand side of the camper and again, to protect oneself from the elements, an annex is usually erected along the left side of the camper, over the kitchen area and extending to the rear of the opened up section. The only real difference is that the camper is pointing cross ways, so the left hand side is now the front.

Plain as Mud?

The real difference between soft top and hard top is the speed of erection of the "bedroom" section. Flip it backwards and that's about it. The weight of the hard floor probably negates the need to peg it down.
BUT, the erection of the annex, with it's accompanying poles and guy ropes will take about the same length of time in both situations. And you will undoubtedly need the annex to protect you from rain or sun, unless it is very mild weather indeed.

The two configurations above are the most common. One exception is the Ultimate which has the cooking/living area located inside and the sleeping area out sideways to that, kind of like a mini caravan. (Is that right Roachie?)

www.campertrailes.org - This topic has been covered there to death :)

I've had both - soft floor side flipper - hard floor rear flipper - as others have said the advantage with the rear flipper is that if you can drive into a space you know you can live there - in our case though, we have to make sure the side kitchen can slide out freely - anyway, you can of course live with both styles easily - overall, you are talking two different beasts though - the hard floors are generally a lot more expensive than the soft floors.

Thanks everyone.............Advice much appreciated. Discussions with the Min' for finance are ongoing!
Paro.