THE MOST POPULAR OFF-ROAD CAMPER? Let me know what you have & why.

G'day dingo, you may need to clarify your question..camper trailer usually refers to the trailer/tent combination. As you refer to Jayco I take it you are referring to
wind up camper vans. Not trying to be pedantic, just want you to get the info you seek..cheers....oldbaz.

aussiedingo

Just in case you haven't found it yet there is a great site dedicated to campertailers. Click HERE.

That said, I have now had a Kanga Big Red soft floor camper for nigh on 6 years now and have towed it over approximately 25000km - Cape York (thrice), Vic High Country and other spots as well. I chose this camper after observing one on a trip I led to Cape York in the early 2000s. There were two others on this trip a Tvan and a Cavalier....IMHO the Kanga performed the best of all in terms of size, functionality, towability, river crossings, and keeping the dust out...and I particularly like the hard top over the bed. The Tvan was next best but also almost 3 times the price. The Cavalier had a great appetite for ingesting dust.

The Kanga also has about the right amount of space inside and under the awning that best suits our needs......and believe me everyone's needs in this regard are different. No problems with the camper at all that can be put down to the manufacture or design but I did once fold a 'borer beetle' up with the canvas (unbeknown to me) and the little bugger tried his best to chew his way out and left me with quite a few holes to repair - thankfully non in the roof area. (For interest I found the beetle - he didn't succeed in his mission to chew out - and took him to a CSIRO guru for identification and confirmation that he would indeed try to chew through anything to escape....just like you and me :-)).

You can check out the Kanga Campers HERE.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this company - just a happy camper!

G'day dingo...

Having a look at the reply above, by Patrol22, gave me a smile..... 'cos I currently own a Tvan and a Cavalier!! The Cav is for sale and in fact, it is more than likely sold to a friend who is looking for the money. But I digress. I can confirm that the Cav LOVES dust... but is a great budget trailer otherwise. I upgraded to the Tvan for several reasons, we were planning a 7 week trip through the outback including crossing the Simpson Desert, and I would never contemplate towing anything less than a Tvan out there. (There are others that are just as capable!) The Tvan has the best off road suspension IMO, is built the toughest IMO, the hard roof over the bed and the ease of set up is second to none, IMO, and the slide out kitchen for lunch stops on the road was the clincher. Expensive.... yes. Worth it? Absolutely!!


Cheers

Brian

G'day aussiedingo

If you look at www.campertrailers.org and decide to join the group (no cost), you will have access to their data base that lists the camper trailers owned by some of the members (sample of 200). It won't necessarily be representative, but it's likely to give you a better idea than an ad hoc poll conducted in the forum here.

Having said that, I haven't looked at the Members page on this site to see if you could do your own survey from info there.

Cheers
John

G'day aussiedingo,
If your after a soft floor camper then have a look Outback Campers in Seaford Vic. I owned one for years & took it on a 2 year 50,000km trip around Aus. I went places with it that the locals said would break it but came back with it in one piece every time. Mind you a lot has to do with adjusting your tyre pressures & driving to suit the conditions.

Jim Coulsen still runs the business & he is a great guy to deal with. In fact I have one of his tray back campers on my short list.

Cheers
Stu

Hello
We have towed a Cavalier all over the place including across the Simpson, the Hay River trip, half of the Canning, the Gunbarrel (including the old section), to Kalumburu, the tip of Cape York, Sandy Blight Junction Track etc etc. We loved it and had little trouble. Very low tyre pressures protect vehicle, trailer and track.

We solved the dust problem by using six large white plastic boxes to store everything. These also served to anchor the floor inside the tent so we didn't need to use pegs. Some water got in the tool box on the drawbar during creek crossings - this wasn't helpful. We bought a full annex but didn't take it anywhere as it is too messy to attach on a travelling holiday.Image Could Not Be Found If you book many months in advance you can get one of these fabulous campsites at Kooljamin, Cape Leveque WA.

On our last two big trips, we took a tent not the trailer - which we loved using but climbing on the roof of the vehicle most days wears thin after a few weeks. We didn't take the trailer because trailers aren't suitable for heavily overgrown winding tracks such as the OTL in Nuytsland Nature Reserve WA.

Hope this is helpful.
Megan

Have recently upgraded from an off-road soft floor camper to a Camp/o/matic Ranger XTC which is a hard top style off-road camper.

The reason for the change was the easier and quicker setup time required, minus the awning which takes about the same time.

Have lost a bit of storage capacity but will work around that.
The internal space is also a bit smaller than the soft top, but we didn't need the extra capacity. We spend most of our time outside and thus the awning area was an important consideration.


Bill.

I have the Tvan, 2005 MkII model with upgrades. Was looking around at a show at Wang last Feb, looked at the Cub, screwed and glued, the Kimberley, will have too much weight on the draw bar if you use that big box. The princess walked into the Tvan and noticed it was a lot cooler than the others and said - I want this. What the princess wants she gets. got it second hand from a bloke that only used it on Stradbroke Island and once to a bit of gravel road. Very pleased. Have done the Darling, just did Canberra, Brou Lake on the NSW south coast, Kangaroo valley, Newcastle, Putty road the Lithgow and then camped at Abercrombie River Camp and back home. Yeah, I am pleased.

Hi Dingo,

Ive got a Cub Camper which is a hard floor. They are a good unit but if I had they coin Id have a tvan. Im a big fan for all the reasons mentioned above.

I'm not a big fan of softfloor campers as most of my travels are overnight stays with quick setups desired then moving on.

Cheers Wilko

We have had soft floor 'over the side' (Track Eagle), hard floor 'over the back' (Pioneer Argyle), & have just bought a new 'crossover' style (Vista RV).

They all have pros & cons, as far as I am concerned the PERFECT camper trailer is yet to be designed ...... let me know when it is!

We have an Aussie Swag which is now 10 years old and has been through the desert tracks and up around Vic high country, gulf tracks, etc. This year we took it over to Kalgoorlie and back through the Great central road and plenty highway with side trip to Goyder's Pillar with dust rocks and mud.

It tows well, is quick to setup (hardfloor) and has been totally dustproof. I had the slightest of dust leaks at the end of the last trip and have just replaced the seals and rear tailgate catches so all good again. It also handles rain very well but cooking in wind blown rain is not so good with an outside kitchen. The bed has always stayed dry.

I would get another Aussie swag in an instant (if someone gives me the money)

Alan

We've had a Tvan for the past year - bought 2nd hand - previous two owners had taken it thru every desert in Australia multiple times and its still in good nick.
We wanted a fibreglass roof over our head and a suspension that was unlikely to break.

Hi Dingo,

After many years of tent camping, originally we went straight to a Windsor Rapid Offroad van, mainly because my kids were 2 & 4 and it was about the only way to get my whole family to come 4WDing with me!

As the kids got older and the off-road harder (and doing a fair bot of damage to the Windsor), we went to a Camprite camper. This would have to be IMHO one of the best family orientated camper plus tru off-road capable.

After many years of Camprite ownership, not only are the kids older but so am I. Some reckon I have gotten soft, but I reckon I have simply seen the light, and we recently purchased a Quantum crossover camper. These are not a van, nor a camper. They have no inside kitchen, just an outside one, a rollup awning for quick setup but a true shower and toilet for real convenience. The inside is really only used for sleeping (its small for 4) but camping is all about being outside IMHO, thats why it "had" to have a true outside kitchen.

While it may not go quite as far off-road as the Camprite, the difference is very small but a huge improvement over a "true" van.

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Cheers

Captain

Interesting how the thread has gone with owners of mostly top of the range brand campers responding yet by far the "most popular offroad campers" are in fact the cheap soft floor types under 10K & Jaco pop tops.
In groups I travell with the TVan does appear to be the model the vast majority of touring campers aspire to. Compact, reasonable weight, full offroad capable, hard roof & looks good ;-)
Cheers Craig...........

G'day again, I guess we would all like to see a mention of lower end & soft floor campers that members have & use as well, regards,...... dingo

I have recently upgraded from a softfloor to a hardfloor simply because they set up much quicker for overnighters. I have a cub which i am extremally happy with, b ut there is no doubt if i had the money i would have got an Aussie Swag. They are the best

Hi ausiiedingo

Did 18 month trip with a Jumbuck soft floor when it was just two of us, had tinnie of racks and loved it. Then kids came and so we got a coromal camper, didn't really have the off road flexibility we were looking for. Went back to a Koala soft floor basic set up and the kids didn't like sleeping on stretchers on the floor so now have a Jayco Flamingo.

For us the wind up style camper iaccommodates a family of 4, it goes where i want to go and is relatively quick to set up and pack up.

Only thing they need for us is an external kitchen, i might get around to putting one in one day.

Scott

Hey Dingo

We have a Trak Shak soft floor. Only just bought it but have used another one prior to my purchase. For us it was the logical choice based on the off road capabilities and the space and sleeping arrangements. We considered all of the others and essentially it was the space that won us over.

We have two girls who are 2 and 4, so having to 2 queen beds off the floor is excellent. Also due to the large amount of room inside when the weather turns for the worst the kids have plenty of room to play etc out of the elements. It is reasonably easy to set up and pack up and made sense to us.

As for mods, so far they have been limited to fitting a 40amp ABR pro charger, and a fishing rod tube underneath. The only other thing I am considering is getting some zip up canvas covers made (like a swag) for the bed so that i can zip the bedding up (still on the bed) so it is fully protected should I have to pack up the camper wet. This is only secondary insurance to make sure the beds stay 100% dry as I have packed it up wet with no issues but I would rather not take any chances.

I still have my trusty Southern Cross Ulltimate Trekka touring tent as you never know when you want to go somewhere that is totally unsuitable for towing a trailer.


Regards.

Hi aussiedingo

We had a Trak Shak but it was too hard to set up for overnighters, great for a family though if your staying put for a while. Upgraded to a Kimberley Kamper LE and have found it fantastic. SHMBO luvs it also and she can fold it away on her own, could be important if something happens to me. Not the cheapest but it will go anywhere the Patrol will. Have found it dust proof and water proof on our Desert and Gulf Savannah trips. It also has the boat loader and up graded suspension. Fantastic CT.

cheers