Solo Pack Up of Soft Top Camper

Gidday,

I have a Trackabout soft floor camper. I have no problems packing it up by myself although it takes less time with my Hugs and Kisses. When camping by myself I usually just take the swag and a few bits and pieces.

kwk56pt - Not at all familiar with Wandering Star CT but I reckon they're pretty much like the others I've seen & owned.

I my case my Missus, being gravity 'advantaged', is of limited use at set-up or pack-up time. We do it for the exercise in co-operation but in all honesty it's easier on my pat. But I take your point about windy conditions. Again though in windy situations it may have been me saving her, so again better alone.

My biggest lesson came from watching others. For example, those metal lugs where the pegs hammer into to keep the canvas down, can be useful when folding up the tent on a windy day.

Wind is sometimes like vibration. If you can arrest it before it gets on a roll you're usually okay. So with those lugs, once you fold your softfloor onto the CT, you can tie a piece of rope or string to them & the CT. This allows you to move to the next stage & so forth.

Very important in wind to get the order of things right. I once decided to set-up on my own & changed the sequence. Thought I'd leave the pegging until last & get inside & extend poles etc.

Went okay for about 20 seconds & then the wind hit the extended canvas (which wasn't pegged) & it all went pear shaped.

I got the sequence of things sorted and actually prefered to unpack & pack on my own. Just got to think it through before you do it.

Since then gone for a hard floor. Now they are easy to set-up.

If your C/t is the usual concertina type I think you should handle it OK. The
attachment of a rope or two, as already said, is a handy thing. We dont bother banging in pegs as ours has legs that stand in the outside corners so it cant go anywhere. Seen many putting pegs everywhere there is a lug, but takes up
good drinking time. The childbride & I usually stand at each end & fold the canvas in as the frames come down in an effort to keep it neat, but a lump or
two is of little consequence. An annex pole is a handy thing to push & prod
things around, but use the blunt end...:)))...good luck with it...oldbaz.

Here’s my slant on things. Some campers are far easier to set up than others. Therefore the first priority is to ask the salesman to stand back and do it yourself.

Apart from design, another factor is the weight of the canvas. Whilst it may sound appealing to hear you’re getting the best canvas in the business, you need to consider the extra effort required to set up and pack up.

If you’re a young fella, you probably won’t have too much of a problem, but on some campers it can be a bit of a chore solo.

The next thing you will need to consider is drying the canvas when you get home (important in winter). In my case this was very difficult, because I don’t have a large enough area around the house to do so.

Whilst the hard floor campers are more expensive, they would be my choice in hindsight. The down side is of course is you sacrifice storage area.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Kim

G'day Peter

Like you, when I was wanting to buy a camper trailer for solo travel, the thought of pack up/set up in the wind, or with wet canvas, wasn't something I wanted to do either so I bought an Avan Aliner and more than happy with the super-quick setup specially for lunch breaks along the track. While I wouldn't recommend one for true offroad, they do have an 'Expedition' model which has additional ground clearance, larger wheels etc but of course this model is more $$$'s too. There are several size trailers from a tiny one to a large one and usually you will find a couple on eBay.

Imho, there is never one setup that is perfect for all trips/camp spots/etc so I still pack a small dome tent (or even the swag) so I can get off the beaten track to some scenic spot etc for a day or three.

Not sure if this helps but something else to think about.
Bronwyn ;-)

Hi Peter, I have a soft floor Billabong Camper trailer and travel with only my 6 year old daughter - hence the pack up and set up is entirely up to me! We travelled around Victoria for 2 weeks last year and stayed in most places only 1 night, so it was set up every night on my own for 14 days and l didn't have any dramas. (I'm a 37 year old female if that gives you any insight?!)
It was very reasonably priced, and is very easy to set up. Would highly recommend to anyone! :)