Camper-Trailers vs Tents

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Originally Posted by vnx205

I think I understand your reasons and am not trying to disagree with you.

I think that the difference between your approach and mine illustrates why it can be so difficult to offer advice to others.

You say you drove 700kms a day and I understand why you would do that. On our last trip from NSW to Darwin with our two children in the Series III, we drove about 3-400km a day. We didn't have a tight deadline and our son, in about Year 9 at the time was given the responsibility of organising the whole schedule of where we would be each day. We had organised for him to call in at Port Augusta High School on the way to take part in the Australian Maths Competition that he had done very well in over the past couple of years. Since being in the right place at the right time was important to him, it seemed appropriate to let him do all the schedule.

He knew that his mother liked to stop to set up camp early in the afternoon, so he took that into account. Hence the short days.

Our scheduled stops after a week or so became very early stops. We developed a routine of eating before it got dark, so we were ready for bed by about 8pm. After a few days we were waking at 4am after a good 8 hours sleep and had completed breakfast and were well and truly on the road before the sun came up. So after a while we had done our distance for the day by just after lunch.

It suited us well. We could wash clothes when we pulled up and they would be dry before tea time.

The point of that long rambling narrative is that different people with different children, different budgets, different vehicles, different routes, different personalities, different expectations and so on will find that different setups suit them perfectly.

That doesn't alter the fact though, that it is good to seek advice. With enough replies, it should enable you to sift through the answers and find something that you can reasonably expect to be a match for you.

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I agree with you 100% Unfortunately (or fortunately) we are usually travelling with a group and are the only ones with kids. They are very understanding of the kids (all having been there), but sometimes shorter days aren't practical for us.

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Originally Posted by FifiLámour

WhiteD3 - very good point. Especially as I suspect we wouldn't want to pack the car above seat height as we don't have a cargo rack or whatever they're called inside. Jeez, how are we going to fit it all in :mellow:? Is that a Rhino Rack on your car I see? Do you have a luggage box for it or do you just pile it up?

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The tracks were fitted by ARB. Around $200 I think. The rack is a Rhino rack which I borrow from a mate when needed. I use a tarp to wrap everything up, which doubles as our shade cover in front of the tent.

This was our camp at Fraser in Oct.
http://api.photoshop.com/home_8c364b...5a5f38a7728d0a

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

Fifi,

One thing to consider re the D3 and camping; while its a big car I find 2 nights + for me and the 2 boys means the car is chokers. If you're going to go the tent route (which we have. Blackwolf Turbo 300) you'll need at least a cargo barrier or a roof rack.

The esky and a big tent take up a lot of room.

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true

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

food

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Take a gun

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

chairs, table

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take an axe

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

stove,

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take matches

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

tarps,

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ok true

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

the loo,

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take a shovel and if your a real wimp take loo paper

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

clothes,

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you left in some ?? so just wash them

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

tools

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Its a D3 way to expensive to break down

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

recovery gear.

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D3 computers do all that so why do you need recovery gear.

See now your D3 has room for the flat screen TV and a gen set. LOL

just for fun


Cheers.[/QUOTE]

This topic could be nearly as good as an engel vs waeco one:twisted:

We have so far avoided getting a camper trailer as it is hard to justify the expense for the advantage gained. We have a centrepole tent and all our camping gear fits on the short rack on the roof of the disco.
We can set up camp in the same time as someone with a cheaper campertrailer and we are not limited with where we can go.
I like the look of some of the more expensive camper trailers but if I was to spend $30K I'd rather have a boat I think.
We have two kids, 4 and 6 and have no issue fitting all we need in, we spent all of July on the road travelling to Darwin and back.


Regards,
Tote

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Originally Posted by Tote

This topic could be nearly as good as an engel vs waeco one:twisted:

We have so far avoided getting a camper trailer as it is hard to justify the expense for the advantage gained. We have a centrepole tent and all our camping gear fits on the short rack on the roof of the disco.
We can set up camp in the same time as someone with a cheaper campertrailer and we are not limited with where we can go.
I like the look of some of the more expensive camper trailers but if I was to spend $30K I'd rather have a boat I think.
We have two kids, 4 and 6 and have no issue fitting all we need in, we spent all of July on the road travelling to Darwin and back.


Regards,
Tote

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It must be something that Yass people do. :) Maybe they want to escape the worst of winter. Yass was my home base when I did my trip to Darwin in the Series III.

Here's a pic of our D3 fully loaded at Leigh Creek:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...u/jul09155.jpg


And here's one of our campsites about 20K north of Oodnadatta

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...u/IMG_2539.jpg


And Yass isn't THAT cold in winter ( I grew up near Blayney ) :p

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Originally Posted by Tote

And Yass isn't THAT cold in winter ( I grew up near Blayney ) :p

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:o
:TakeABow:

I have been a tent man all my camping life.

A couple of years ago I bought a Camp-o-matic hard floor camper trailer as we were planning up to 3 month trips and I thought my wife would not enjoy a tent that long. We bought a 10K 1997 basic unit as we figured that by spending less we could afford to stay in cabins if the weather got nasty. As it weighs only about 650Kg loaded no need for brakes and can be moved around easily.
A couple of the reasons are:-
It gets harder getting off the ground every morning particularly as my wife has a slipped disc .
It gets very old rolling up the thermarests and stuffing the sleeping bags into their stuff bags, particularly in hot weather.
Putting the tent up and down is a minor part of setting up/down. Its the packing of the bits.
The main attractions after experience are:-

30 seconds to open if the awning not used.
Bedding stays in place/ bed is queen size/ bed off ground/ 4 inch foam with 1 inch cellular is as comfortable as home bed.

About 3-5 minutes to take down/as the tent has to be stuffed inside the seal.
Kitchen always available for cuppas etc.
Stand up excellent headroom in the hard floor area for changing/storage of clothes etc.

On the down side :-

You just have to be sure if you start a track that it goes somewhere or has a turnaround. I learned this the first day of ownership when I took a wrong turn and ended up in a dead end waterfront restaurant with an almost full carpark. I had to uncouple to turn around

Parking in country towns with angle parking is a challenge but I have always found a park in a side street wityhin 100Metres of the objective.

My camper lets me get about 15L per 100Kms at 100Kmh on flat country in my 3.9 RRC which I reckon is probably down 1-1.5 on car alone. In the Hunter valley say the hilly Golden Highway I get about 17.

I have to say that the pluses heavily outweigh the minuses and on a weekend or longer trip its the Camper trailer every time. We just stayed a week in Gloucester last week and it poured for 36 hours. We remained dry and relatively comfortable
Regards Philip A

As other have stated there is no BEST option.

I now have a camper trailer, and lets just say there are times when it will be loved and times when it will be not so loved. On longer trips it is a blessing. And th added carry capacity is welcomed, when it comes to incar comfort.

I also have one of the best peices of camping equipment a single couple or individual can own. A speedy throw up tent. Its small but perfect. Goes up in 15 seconds from removing it from the car. Lightweight and great for the easy weekend away.

Then I have the back of the car, its also great for the random one night trips and setup correctly is just as comfy to sleep in as the camper (well not quiet, but almost)

So as you can see I am only one person, but there is three different camping preferences that I chop and change between. I would also like to get a swag as there are times when I wish to have the simplicity and comfort of the back of the car but not actually be where the car is.

So you need to weight up the sorts of camping your going to be doin and then decide for yourself the amount of effort you wish to put into the entire excersise.

Some thing you will need thou are adequate lighting (This is something I dont have and it give me the poopers), some damn comfy chairs (something else I dont have, which see me always wanting to flog everyone elses), and a good sized small portable esky (something I actually do have but always forget :angel:). These things combined with a warm fire, good company and the beverages of choice will make campin soo much more enjoyable.

Cheers
Grimace

Interesting posts Grimace and PhilipA, thanks.

I'm really getting the dilemma now after all the feedback on this thread, thanks. I guess, as so many of you have already suggested, the only way to really get a sense of the options is to try them out.

I've got the camping ground where I can hire a camper-trailer sorted - Mt Barney in SW Brisbane. And I'll investigate hiring a tent from Anaconda too. Now I just have to pin DH down for some dates ;).