How convenient are camper trailers?

Hi PJ. I have used both a camper trailer and a tent and have found the camper trailer much easier as the bed and kitchen area are already to go after pulling the tent over.
I also have 3 kids so needed a large tent the tent and all the other bits and pieces use to take up to 2 hours to get everything set up or packed up but with the camper trailer I find it is about 45 minutes to set every thing up.
The tent was no good for overnight stays as it too long to set up after a long day on the road.
With the camper trailer if I am only setting up for 1 night I don't worry with the annexe and only put in the 4 corner pegs on the tent.
I hope this helps you out with your decision.
Clint

We ahve done many miles and months in our camper trailer. Get one that will take a inner spring queen size and spend the rest of your days making alteration and improvements.

the bed is priority I reckon.

Owen

I can talk about my experience, I have a oz tent and always used it for caming trips until a friend purchased a soft floor campertrailer.
They had 4 boys all helped to set up once erected the cooking gear,lights,water,food storage,fridge was already apart of the trailer as was the washing up gear.
So I would say the erection of the trailer would be much the same as a tent but everthing is contained on the trailer the setting up is complete once it is erected.

After seeing our friends campertrailer we had to have one and never looked back.
I have a hard floor type campertrailer which is very quick to erect but no good for that many in the family.There is only 3 of us.

Happy camping Scoof. :-)

i have a C/T and it only takes me 10 minutes to fully set up camp the bed is always made and the kitchen is always ready, there is no need to pack the car when going camping or un pack when returning all the camping gear stays in the trailer ready for next trip, make sure u do your homework before buying as some campers have more poles and ropes than others. Col

Hi Paul
I believe your right - a good gear trailer with kitchen, fold out benches & awnings - a camper trailer without the tent. I own a camper trailer & although its great the main downfalls are: finding level spot to setup and getting trailer into it
National Park Camp grounds where you cant setup on the grass-all fenced off-have to set up in car park(normally gravel)
To high to set up in most garages when you get home after a wet trip.
Cant access the bedding when trailer is folded.
I would like to give a gear trailer a go but my wife loves the camper trailer mainly because the bed is always set up and the kids beds are packed on top of ours ready to go.

regards Darrin

PJ

I have a tent and I also have a camper trailer.

Tent only gets used if we are going somewhere we cannot take the camper.

Get a camper. You can everything set up so you just put it on the back of the 4WD throw your clothes in the back and put the food in the fridge. Far less hastles than a tent.

You also sleep in a comfortable queen or king size bed.

Tjilpi

We have had a camper trailer for over 10 years.

What's good? Ours can be set up with just 2 poles, 2 guy ropes and 2 pegs. I can be in bed 10 min after pulling up. This is obviously a minimal set up but it can be done. Normally when we arrive at the end of our day we pull up and set up the kitchen remotley from the camper. This is quick and easy. All I have to do is open the tailgate swing the kitchen legs down, lift the kitchen off the door and put it where I want it. The missus then cooks tea while I set up the camper. With a pre-cooked meal that only needs re-heating I am usually finished and into my first beer before she has tea ready. The kids do the tables and chairs, beds are already made life is good. Also at pack up time the last thing to be packed away is the accomodation so if it is a wet pack up the only thing that gets wet is the canvas of the camper.

In ten years of owning it and camping extensively we have only had to set it up at home to dry 2 or 3 times. Maybe we have just been lucky. When that has happened I have set it up out the front of home because I have never been able to get it into the back yard. Concerned about security I simply use the time it is up to check it out properly, camper and trailer are given a thorough going over.

What's bad? Not much, really there are problems but they are not great and if I remember back to the days of the tent it had probs too, everything is a compromise. I need a fairly large near level site, often sites in caravan parks are tight. Sometimes National Parks make life difficult but we don't camp in NPs much anyway. The other problem is that the camper has very large and high sides. These provide a large area for the wind to work on and on a windy night it can be scary. There have been nights when I did not get much sleep. I have improved the spring damping on the guy ropes which has made a huge difference for the better. But by far the biggest problem is finding a parking space in town.

I have travelled with gear on a roof rack. That made making and breaking camp very slow and a lot of hard work. I then tried a trailer full of gear which was better in most ways than the roof rack but still had the parking problem of the camper and you have to fold the tent before you pack the trailer. If it is raining everything gets wet including the family.

What would be better? A tray top that can be easily loaded and unloaded from the car would be great but I would need a dual cab with a big tray and I haven't seen that in a vehicle I can afford. For me and my family the camper is the only way to go.

Duncs

Our soft floor camper is just on a year old now. We used to do the tent thing and still do on the odd trip. The best things are the set up time and the fact that its always ready to hook on and go. We rarely use the awning unless its more than a day or two.The bed is always made and ready.(no flat airbeds lol)
Negatives include more fuel usage,extra cost on rego/tyres.

For me the biggest plus of the camper is having a wife who feels more comfortable and happy to come camping.

g'day,

well, my gig is an unusual hybrid. i have always loved tent/swag camping. Now we are six, if the whole mob goes, and the planned tracks allow it, I use an off road trailer with tent. The trailer is pretty much like your butterfly canopy you see on tray/cab chassis vehicles, but I have the extra storage area underneath that, being the box section. That is where the engel and icebox live, down low in the coolest part of the trailer.

i aim to have the prime mover (the car) as light and comfortable as possible. I pack quite thrifty anyway. Re the trailer canopy area, it is partitioned with a kitchen one side and storage for travel or sleeping when camped on the other side. It is fully lockable which I love and is very hardy Roadside stops are a cinch.

Used to use a centre pole next to it but now the Oztent sits up against the trailer with it's awning matching the trailer butterfly doors/awnings. Just beaut. If need be, a quick tarp attached to the kitchen side awning is no trouble, if windy, raining etc, easy to add another vertically.

But, I don't take it on every trip because quite often we don't all go and I can just install my home made shelves and use the tent, all we need. I don't depend on the trailer.

!MPG:9!!MPG:10!!MPG:11!!MPG:12!

We are now on our 3rd c/t , the major part of any c/t is the "convenience" factor ,setup / packup times vs area vs poles ect ect ,but the realy truly best part of any c/trailer is the bed , off the ground ,ready made , and comfortable , , a few yrs ago we ,the swimbo and I bought the Wenetex "sleep system" for our home , magic, brilliant, sleep soundly like no other mattress , and best of all fits our c/t so goes where we go..

I have gone from tent to caravan to camper and find the camper the best option for me. I spent many an hour observing setup times for people with campers and have found the following very important. Opening the camper regardless of type usually only takes a few minutes, as everyone has said a couple of pegs and your away. The time consuming part is attaching and putting up awning/annex (10 - 15 minutes by the time the thing is up and adjusted. The big time waster is setting up kitchen, getting out chairs, table,cooking gear etc. If the camper has quick access to the kitchen ie slide out, it can make life a lot more bearable. I have specifically built my camper with slide out kitchen and storage compartments for all items. This means I can pull up on the side of the road and access fridge, bbq, kitchen, gas bottles, water,chairs, laundry items all without flipping the camper open. If you have to replace everything carried into the trailer under the bed, this can take easily 60 - 90 minutes to do..... I have seen this happen many times. .... so the moral to the story is have the seller set the rig up for you including the awning and time them!!! Also take into account the time taken to unload everything from under the bed and open/unpack from its box and set up. If you do not have an efficient setup, there will be no time saved in buying a camper... but you will at least have the benefit of 1. your gear packed ready to go, 2. should not forget anything, 3. comfortable bed 4. off the ground.
The downside to campers in general 1. use more fuel 2. can be hard to get into some places ie national park camping areas (which sometimes are not designed for reversing campers into over soft sand)

hope this helps
Kc

Get a Trak Shak

10 min set up ,,,,, 10 min pack up ,,,, but not the first 10 or so times, just packing up and setting up on trips will be all the experience you will ever need

Cheers
Bucky

After years of using a trailer similar to Bushfix's, I bought a camper trailer yesterday.

With some minor adjustments It will be great.

I will still use the other trailer for our camping tours.

Cheers Steve.

Trailer!

Our Cavalier is 12 years old, (we've had it 2 years) and for an "overnighter" can be set up in 10 minutes. It has a small awning, but we carry an Oztent 3m X 3m Gazebo instead and set this up outside for longer stays. The kitchen, cooker and table/chairs are all in the gazebo, which has solid walls for rain and fly walls for insects. We don't always put the walls on. Full set up is about 45 minutes, full pack up about an hour.
Our previous camp site was a dome tent and tarps, and usually by the time everything was put up, we weren't real happy with each other and the kids would have disappeared to get away from us. Packing up was a nightmare as well, but the real problems were getting it ready to go and packing it away when we got home! With the trailer, we pack food and clothes in, fill the water tanks, put the fridge in the truck, hook up and go..... when we get home, unhook, unload clothes and leftover food, take the fridge out then relax in the spa with a glass of red.

From our experience, some points to ponder;

Some trailers are easier than others, recently we set our gear up and sat back watching 3 of our friends setting their rigs up, all included large awnings that required poles and guy ropes and lots of hammering of pegs.
Trailers that fold the tent "off-the-rear" tend to have smaller internal dimensions, therefore larger awnings are needed. Tents that fold "off-the-side" are usually larger. The common size is 9ft, ours is a 14ft tent which is HUGE inside, we didn't know they came that big till we found ours and now wouldn't have anything else. Even with the kids beds made up, we can still sit at a table inside and play cards or whatever if it's cold outside or wet or whatever. Plenty of room.
Have a good look at what's available and when you're looking at trailers in a showroom situation, have a go at folding/setting up, and see for yourself how it's done. Maybe hire a few to try out. (We hired a Trackabout Safari before buying ours, a very good unit but they have some features that don't suit us.)

Hope all this helps

Cheers

Brian

I have a campertrailer and love it. With a tent it would take over 2 hours to fully set up, now with the campertrailer it takes about 45 mins.

For an overnight stop about 10 mins - fold out the tent, bang in the four corners and set the kids beds up. The kitchen is built into the tail gate is all ready to go, even for that 15 min break on the side of the road to make a cuppa or lunch etc.

We have the soft floor, side fold out type as this gives us the most area for the kids. My annex is attached so it is just a matter of putting up the poles.

Pros:

1. Everything is contained with in it, including water tanks etc
2. Quick and easy to set up
3. Extremely sturdy even in the most adverse weather conditions (and we have been in it during a mini cyclone)
4. Plenty of room inside the tent area for the kids etc.

Cons:

1. Need reasonably level ground
2. Need a large area - at least 4m x 6m
3. Can be a little bit hard to set up and pack away - but this gets easier with practice and as the canvas looses its stiffness.

One piece of advice - before you buy go out and hire a couple for weekends away. This way you get a feel for what they are like and which ones you prefer - because what suits someone else may not suit yourself.

Karl

Thanks to all who have replied so far, sharing your experiences has been very helpful.

PJ.

I'm a tent camper & have just got back from a trip with a trailer camper. The difference over this weekend was I had set up 2 tents for the family of 5 with all the bedding etc in 10 minutes less than the couple with the trailer took. I packed up in a similar time (longer to pack self inflating mats). When home I put the tents up in the shed to dry while he now waits for a sunny day to dry the camper out as he has no where big enough under cover.
In general there are so many different campers around & likewise tent setups that comparing is almost impossible. A simple tent arrangement like mine with a clever packing system in the rear of the car is almost as fast as the best of the campers & streets ahead of the worst ones. One fella above talks of 2 hours to set up his tents etc, what was he errecting....a circus marquee? ;-)
Where the campers start to excell is the comfort in the main bed, convenience in sliding the kitchen out for a lunch stop, plenty of dry area to get out of the rain & the unit is all packed ready to go.
Down sides are many restrict the access you have to some tracks & camps, additional insurance & rego, wet canvas onto the mattress (some types) increase fuel consumption & more stuff to maintain.
Friends bought a so called Obrien's offroad trailer & on their 1st trip to the Vic High Country tore the wiring loom off disabling the electric brakes, dinted the jerry holders, bent the boat rack then couldn't tow it up a steep hill. End result is he now rarely camps in the HC because of the trailer. My point is when choosing a camper, pick one that will go where you want it to go & with the features that allow a true saving in set up time unlike the majority currently on the market with more poles & canvas than a dozen tents.
Cheers Craig............

I have had a camper trailer for about 5 or 6 years.
It takes about 20 to 30 mins to do a full setup with a walled in annexe or about 5 mins for an annexe-less setup for an overnighter.

If i am on my own i will use my rooftopper and i have a swag for boys' weekends.

I reckon the trailer is tops for family camping, especially if you get the kids invoved with the setup and breaking camp tasks. You have one setup which houses all family members and the advantages have all been mentioned in previous posts. Kitchen beds etc....storage area for camp gear instead of filling your garage up with it.

So my recommendation is the Soft floor Trailer while your family are young enough to have to/want to come camping. The soft floors usually offer more floorspace than a hard floor.
Then when you are free of them hehehehehehe go a smaller hard floor.