soft floor versus hardfloors camper trailers

Submitted: Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 18:41

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Julie S2

this is also something we would like to investigate. I am a bit concerned about a soft floor as if it rains a lot and it can in central Aus or around Birdsville. We have experienced this and in a tent! We have also been stranded for a week on a camping trip, we had tents, my sister a camper van. Having somewhere dry and high was absolutely a must as we were walking on ground where the water just kept coming up out of the ground. After that we thought a soft floor would be useless in these conditions. We since have decided that a hard floor would not have these issues. I like the outdoor kitchen set up of camper trailers, but wind is always a problem unless you have an annex with a wall.

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Reply By: entropy - Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 19:51

Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 19:51

We've owned a hard floor but not a soft floor camper, so I can only give you half the story. Being up off the ground worked well for us, even in the wet. Biggest plus for us was not having to worry about rocky ground, just level up the camper and open it up ...

But there are heaps more soft floor campers out there and plenty swear by them. Maybe it's a matter of picking the right camp site, rather than a straight hard/soft floor question. I wouldn't camp in a dry creek, or on black soil with rain predicted, hard floor or not.

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Follow Up By: Julie S2 - Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 19:55

Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 19:55

thanks for the info, still think hard floors are the way to go, even if there is less room. There will mostly be only 2 of us.

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Reply By: Member - Mark (Tamworth NSW) - Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 19:52

Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 19:52

In our previous soft floor camper we have twice experienced 100mm weekends with no water ingress. We purchased our soft floor camper new and it was Australian made for about $9000 a decade ago.

Hard floor will be more "water ingress assured, and are easier, cleaner to set up/ pack up, but are more suited to just a couple or max 1 child and often more expensive. For 3 kids our soft floor was fantastic, with kids leaving home we prefer our hard floor.

Water ingress in a well made soft floor camper would be the last thing I'd be worried about.

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Follow Up By: Julie S2 - Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 20:04

Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 20:04

My concern is walking on a soft floor when the ground is so soggy, that you sink in. We just kept sinking into the ground even in the annex with jigsaw rubber mats. So it was staying inside for most of the time. I think hard floor is the only way to go if we want comfort. getting ideas and hearing the pros and cons is a good way to judge what we want.

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Follow Up By: Member - Mark (Tamworth NSW) - Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 22:14

Friday, Sep 23, 2011 at 22:14

IF you are just a couple and prepared to spend about $15k + for a 2nd hand Camper trailer (or more) a Hard floor is the only way to go. They are quicker to set/pack up, you don't get as messy, provide ane even floor.

We have done a lot of camping over 20 years, most of it in the inland, including over 150mm of rain in our hard floor CT and never once had ground so soft you sink in it. Yes I have seen such country, but it was on the coast.

You must have been very unlucky. Yes it can rain heavily in the inland, but not that often. If I had more than 1 child, I wouldn't consider a hard floor, they just don't have enough room.

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Reply By: Member - Bucky - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 04:26

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 04:26

No pegs !
Quicker set up.

Quicker pack up.
Then again, we love our Trak Shak

Only a little jealous, especially in Rocky ground

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Reply By: Member - Tony (ACT) - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 06:18

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 06:18

Our hard floor camper has been set up on alll type of surfaces, rocks, sand, mud etc. As long as you can put some sort of board or mat to wipe your boots on you will keep the inside fairly clean.

We travel quite a bit with 2 G/kids, no problem with room if we put the annex up, and the end wall for the extra area.

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Follow Up By: Member - Wayne B (NSW) - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 19:29

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 19:29

Quote "We travel quite a bit with 2 G/kids, no problem with room if we put the annex up, and the end wall for the extra area"

So that would be then a soft floor or No floor annex. Which negates the main reason for having a hard floor camper

If there is just tow two people the Hard Floor I think is the best. If you need room then the standard soft floor is the way to go IMOP.

I have been looking at up grading to a flasher camper trailer but I have trouble justifying the cost of them. In the end I decided to stay with my old Cameron Camper and just add a few luxuries to it. The fold out tent section is quite large and room is not a problem particularly if it is raining we can all fit inside

Cheers
Wayne B

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Reply By: teemac - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 18:25

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 18:25

Hi, the bride and I have had a few hard floor campers and love em, the added bonous is that you can place extra gear on top, push bilkes, eskys, generators and fuel, I put the fuel and stuff like that in milk crates (not real milk crates) because you are not allowed to have them ha ha!!, a 9kg gas bottle fits perfectly

This keeps fumes and stuff out of the car, we have a custom tarp for ours, this means you dont have to rope it all down, this includes the shovel.

My thoughts only, love the hard floors

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