I hope this helps a lot of people when considering a camper van purchase

Hi bluefly,
The whole traveling/camping thing is a compromise.
Thats what I've found in the short time that we have been camping/traveling.
One size doesn't fit all. Also, sometimes you have to modify what you've got to meet those needs that you require.
Sure you can order a custom setup, again a compromise between $$$ and need/want.
Happy travels, And a safe one.

hey bluefly, we hired a jayco eagle quite a few times and found everything seemed to break, then bought a soft floor which took too much setting up and packing up and now have a cub hardfloor and are very happy

I started camping with a $19 tent carried either on my back or on the push-bike.

I progressed to a hand-me-down A frame carried on my motorbike.

When I got married the new Mrs said she liked camping but when I got the backpacks out she protested. We borrowed a 2 room tent and packed everything we needed into the boot of an LH Torana and travelled around.

We traded the LH for a Commodore wagon in 86 and could carry a bit more gear so added a tarp or two. Pretty soon the back of the wagon was full and we started taking a trailer.

My first 4wd (shortie MQ) had the mother of all roof racks so I started leaving the trailer at home and packing more and more onto that rack. We bought our own bigger 2 room tent. Added a couple of camp beds when the kids came along and were pretty happy. But it took sssssssssssooooooooooooooo lllllllooooonnnnnggggg to set up.

I had toyed with the idea of building a camper trailer on the old box trailer and actually had drawings nearly completed when I went to a 4wd show with a mate and spotted a proper camper trailer but it was too expensive and our set up was working OK.

Six years later when we were planning a trip to WA with lots of one night stands we realised that our set up was too slow. I remembered the camper I had spotted all those years ago and got out the brochure. The Mrs was sold and all I had to do was find $12,000. That was 1996 the Trak Shak is parked in the garage right now. It is virtually as it was when new. If we are staying put for more than 2 or 3 nights I put a huge tarp over the top that doubles the undercover area of our camp. I can even get the GU under it if I need to.

$12K 14 years ago makes it seem pretty cheap now, less than a grand a year, but at the time that was a lot of money. We have been very comfortable and happy all that time. Now we travel without the 3 kids and the TS seems a bit big so we might downsize but I haven't seen anything that is comparable in terms of weight and ease of set up so the TS will be our home away from home for a while yet.

Now the TS is not perfect, as has been said everything is a compromise. The trick is to find a set of compromises that you can live with. We did and have been happy ever since.

On the last couple of trips with my now 18 year old son we have used swags. Now that is a compromise a very pleasant one, but not for Mrs Duncs.

My tag line is "content with where I am but always looking for somewhere else to go" that is one of my life mottoes. It means I don't always have to have the best but I am always ready to learn. It works for a lot of things, campers included.

Duncs

Compromise is the key word here isnt it?. And expectations too I suspect. As with
most campers our age (60 +) we started off with tents & a box trailer. Graduated
to a basic soft floored C/t about 5 years ago & love it. We dont understand the oft
heard bleating about setting up, packing up, that is synonymous with C/ts. 15 min
sees us happy..dont bother with pegs half the poles etc, but usually tarp it & dont
have any wet pack up issues. Soft floors are not a thing of our past, but we concede the next upgrade will be to a small poptop, not one of those wind up things that have little if any advantages over a C/t. We dont look for all the comforts of home when camping, but have a good bed, a good fridge, a good chair, & an open mind..what else is there? Our simple set up has never given
us any serious issue in nearly 50k of outback touring, & our only regret will be
the access restrictions a little van has, as opposed to the go anywhere C/t.
Our complete rig cost less than $20k, & has given us countless pleasure with a
month in Tassie coming up...roll on :)))))......oldbaz.

We started 35 years ago with a minuscule nylon pup-tent. Easter in the Grampians was hilarious..... rained constantly. Got buried in a sandstorm in the Coorong! Had a great Christmas on a beach on Yorke Peninsula with a beach umbrella for shade.

Built a soft-floor on a 6x4 trailer..... had a lot of fun, spent our honeymoon in it, and it served for about 10 years.

Then built a wind-up step-into with all the bells & whistles. Worked great but realised that sitting inside eating was not "camping"! Kept it for about 10 years but little used due to work commitments. Flogged it off and bought a little Cub. At least we were back to cooking and eating outdoors!

Came retirement and long remote treks beckoned. So it was a Troopy with a comfortable bed in the back and a tarp awning for cooking and eating. Ahhhhh, this was it.... go anywhere, stop anywhere, real camping at last.

So it seems that whatever you choose it won't be the last, our needs change. I just hope that I never arrive at the caravan solution. No aspersions, it's just not me!

Have a great Christmas everyone.

It's just the way it is, and if it's anything like me and my bicycles, when you're not able to go out camping you spend the time on the forums and thinking about your set up and gear, how to improve it and make it better, sometimes you end up going in a full circle!
By the way I really like that motto "content with where I am but always looking for somewhere else to go"!

We started off with just the two of us in the back of the Ute with all the tools he owned and the camping gear. We did live in a caravan for a while but never actually used it to go camping, I think it was when we finally moved into a house that we brought a really cheap old camper trailer, cost us something like $1200.
A few kids later we've been through a couple of different soft floor campers, the Adventure just didn't suit us 100%, but we were quite happy with the All Terrain that we got after it. We had to sell that due to financial circumstances, building a house and changed cars and not likely to go camping much for a few years etc.

Now that is over we have a 6x4 multi purpose trailer, a good family 4x4 again and a nice new center pole touring tent we're yet to try out. We're about to get into the camping thing more now and from there will assess our set up. I would love it if we could just have a fridge, few tents and fit it all in the back of the car, but that's never likely to happen. So since we have to tow a trailer anyway I reckon we will save up for another camper down the track, lol we brought a swag and tried it once, at least we now know we're not swag kind of people.

Familiar story,
fifty odd years of camping with tents and trailer (in 1969 we built a swing out bed and tent on top of our trailer and used it to travel around Central Aust and Qld) was almost unheard of then and next came a bed and tent on top of the roof rack on the Landrover.

Three years ago we bought a soft floor camper for $8000 (Castaway Camper) and love it. Spent an extra $2000 on brakes, battery, electric water pump and my wife and I built cupboards and drawers inside it as well.

Sure it takes time to set up (about 10 minutes if we only want the tent) and about 20/25 minutes if you want the full annex. We have taken it everywhere with us, High Country, Cape York etc....., however the down side is at night, it gets quite cold in the winter months.
A couple of months ago we lashed out and bought an 18ft Paramount Duet Caravan which we took delivery of last Monday and have spent the last 5 days modifying and setting it up. Included was HWS, A/Conditioner, heater, microwave, TV etc and we can't wait to try it out. (The lack of quality control on the van leaves a bit to be desired but that's another story).
I guess we are lucky and feel a bit spoilt but since we have retired (three and a half years ago) we love our trips and will use our camper for 2 weeks at O'tooles (off road trip) and our caravan when we go to Tathra fishing next year(on road trip) for 2 weeks.
Also the tent will get a work out later in the year when we do the Simpson again. A trip to the West hugging the coast is also in the planning stage for next year.
So you can still use all the different levels and enjoy them depending on what trip you do.

See you on the road.
Cheers Rod