Remote control camper - Travelander
Submitted: Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 13:49
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beelzebug
My wife and I spent most of last Saturday at the Rosehill 4WD and Camping show. Our main aim was to
check out hard floor camper trailers and pop top vans.
We like outside kitchens and dislike claustrophobic eating areas. For the latter reason, most of the pop up vans were ruled out.
So, it was on to the campers.
Kimberley Karavans are small for the money, Ultimates are very nice (and expensive) but have an internal
kitchen. Most of the others on show had pluses and minuses, or compromises that did not particularly suit us.
However, we were really impressed with the Travelander.
It has everything we like in camping plus the advantage of remote control opening, which will good for the old back. They are at the high end of the price scale, but have nearly everything that opens and shuts.
My question is "does anyone on the
Forum have any first hand knowledge of these campers?"
Are there any deficiencies or pitfalls with this brand?
I'd love to hear from Travelander owners about their experiences.
cheers
Gary
Reply By: jdwynn (Adelaide) - Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 15:55
Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 15:55
Gary
Frankly I wish someone would give Travelander a go. They seem a great camper and a mate is very interested in it. For him I’ve tried to find owner comments / endorsement etc., but I’ve found nothing much on this site or others. Concerns me that almost no discussion exists – but then again it makes no sense not to buy something because almost no one else is (if it’s a worthy choice).
We have an Ultimate. Internal
kitchen was partly why we wanted it. Great when it’s raining, cold, windy, ground saturated or when you stop late at night etc – we’ve experienced all these conditions in our travels. We have also set up a cooker in gas cupboard (accessed outside) and everything else is available in adjacent external locker or in rear of 4wd. So we can live in or out conveniently. Against this Travelander,
Kimberley etc probably a bit quicker to set up / pack up. High end Aussie Swag has amazing electrical set up. Thing I didn’t like about Travelander is spare wheel in a position to compromise (trailer) ramp over angle. Ultimate great in this respect. With Travelander, like ULtimate, you'll have to buy or make your own stone deflector (flat style). You could go on and on – pluses and minuses with them all. Find what suits you/yours. Cheers JD
AnswerID:
360541
Reply By: Serendipity of Mandurah (WA) - Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 16:11
Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 16:11
Hi Beelzebug
We have owned a Travelander camper for a year now. Chose it for the same reasons you are looking at. It comes standard with everything that you would need and it is easy to open and close. Have a look at my profile as there are some pictures in there.
Are you looking at the travelander on the trailer. We purchased the unit and put it on the trayback so we can tow the boat. Also I go into some very hard
places and towing trailers just makes it real hard.
It is a lot of money but when we looked at the KK campers or others that meet the same specs they where the same if not more. The main things I like are the hard floor when open and the hard roof when closed. We liked the open
camping style. We have seen caravans pull into some scenic spots, set up, and go inside never to appear until they leave. It suits some but we just like the openness, meeting people, and soaking up the atmosphere of where we are.
I have taken the camper into some rough trips.
Steep Point of
Shark Bay WA - from the bitumen 120km takes 5 hours of hard going. Smashed the leaf springs on the boat the last trip in - the travelander was fine. While we where in there winds got so bad everyone just battened down for a couple of days - camper was fine.
When it has been cold we find the camper zips up and is quite warm inside. When it has been stifling hot there are so many windows to open that any hint of a breeze gets through. After living in the Northern Territory only some campers would be suitable to allow any breeze in and this one is good.
Ask any other questions. Even through one at my wife to get here opinion.
David
AnswerID:
360545
Follow Up By: beelzebug - Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 16:25
Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 16:25
Thanks for the positive report David.
We would be looking at the trailer version (Geo convert model).
Apart from JD's comments about ramp over angle (thanks JD), the Travelander seems to have a good departure angle and I suspect driven to the conditions, should go most
places.
cheers
Gary
FollowupID:
628338
Follow Up By: jdwynn (Adelaide) - Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 17:43
Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 17:43
David, further to my post above, I would say that's the first Travelander owner comment I've seen - which is great - keep it coming. How was the company to deal with? Any after sales experiences? Have you been in bulldust or heavy rain yet - how is dust / water sealing? cheers JD
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Serendipity of Mandurah (WA) - Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 20:49
Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 20:49
From a female perspective, I like the ease of setting up the Travelander and the versatility it offers. As you say, the
kitchen is outdoors but can be moved indoors in inclement weather. The newer travelanders have a swingout
kitchen which looks great and we plan to modify ours the same (it currently has to be lifted in/out and is a 2 person job). The inside is quite spacious and the included annex doubles the covered living area.
The bed is queen size and the mattress is inner spring, but is low profile so is rather firm. We improved that with a foam overlay.
We also took out the largest internal drawer to give us more storage space. The drawer is also very heavy so saves weight.
Through dusty roads and heavy torrential downpours the inside has stayed dry... so no problems there, though we have had recent problems in securing the rear door (we have added extra tie downs to be sure it won't spring open while on the road). Because the floor ends up sitting on the bed when packed up, it is essential to carry a broom to sweep clean before folding up. We also often place a tarp over the bedding to protect it.
Regard after sales service, we have always found them very helpful even from the other side of the continent. They are constantly making improvements to the Travelander based on customer
feedback.
So far, we have only used it on short trips of up to 2 weeks and it works
well for those trips, but it is our plan to travel for months or years in the future and we purchased it with that in mind so hope it will be as easy to live in over longer periods.
FollowupID:
628382
Reply By: Member - 1/2A - Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 16:49
Monday, Apr 20, 2009 at 16:49
We went away from sleeping under canvas and bought a
Vision made by Pacific Aluminium Trailers.
Empty weight 650 kg
Can hold 240ltrs of water in two tanks.
Pneumatic interdependent
suspension.
Hot water service.
Slide out
kitchen.
Lots of packing space in slide out _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx.
The back of the camper opens with pneumatic actuators controlled by a switch. If the weather is that bad you can get inside the camper and close the door from inside.
We are really impressed the Vision after our trip to FNQ it's fantastic on the dirt. With the pneumatic
suspension when the
camp site is not level it's a matter using two switches to control the
suspension and level the camper.
There are just so many features in the Vision PM me if you require more info.
Arthur
AnswerID:
360553
Reply By: Geoff M - Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009 at 08:00
Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009 at 08:00
We looked at the Travelander (tray top version) as
well as the various other tray top options, also considering the numerous camper trailer offerings available. The travelander had lots of nice features but a number of factors put us off including:
1. The cost. Lot more expensive than other options.
2. The weight. Was going to limit what we could carry.
3. Overseas manufacture. Constructed in China with final fitout only in Queensland.
There were other factors too. We ended up choosing the Trayon camper which we have had for over twelve months now and have been very happy with it. It was the best option for us, but everyone has different needs so good luck with your decision.
Cheers,
Geoff
AnswerID:
360653
Follow Up By: Member - Richard B (NSW) - Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:14
Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:14
Like Geoff we had an in-depth look at the Travelander - went 600km to see their set-up but we had a few reservations about the company and the fact that the finish was not up to standard for the biggish price they were asking - also it appeared a little gimmicky - ended up with a Trayon and find it hard to fault......
Cheers
Richard.
FollowupID:
628451
Follow Up By: Serendipity of Mandurah (WA) - Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:30
Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:30
Hi Geoff
We did look at the trayon camper as
well as many others. It was a nice camper. You point out 3 things that put you off and I would like to support the travelander on these.
1. Cost - I found with all the options included on the Travelander compared to the (optional extras) on the Trayon made the Travelander cheaper.
2. Weight - I think the weight they quote is a bit misleading - when you add in all the same (optional) trayon equipment they are about the same.
3. Only some of the stainless steel frame is from over seas and you would find any of the campers are trying to cut costs with chinese manufacturing. We have not had an issue with any of the chinese parts.
The big difference is the lifestyle of the trayon where it is all contained inside the camper - you open it up and just step in and stove, fridge, bed, seating is all just there. Our style is to
camp more outside. For inclement weather the travelander has the hardfloor section and comes standard with an entire enclosed annex that doubles its living area.
As you say everyone is different, and while both campers are very comparable it was a slight difference in
camping styles that swayed us to the travelander.
David
FollowupID:
628454
Follow Up By: Geoff M - Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:46
Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:46
Hi David
Good to hear you are happy with your travelander and hope you get to use it often! We have taken our Trayon into quite a few areas including the Canning,
Kimberley and Victorian High Country and its been great. We too generally
cook & prop outside and have setup the Trayon _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx to allow us to do this, with the added comfort on knowing we can do everything inside if the weather turns crap.
Geoff
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