Pondering the direction of our outdoor interests..

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

I would love to have a camper but the cost is too prohibitive. When we head off for 1+ weeks I take the 20 year old canvas tent, fly and tarps, kitchen, gas fridge etc in the trailer. I kid you not this takes about 4 hours to set up but it has everything. Short trips mean a couple of dome tents and whatever we can carry on the roof and in the back with the 12v fridge.

I built a pretty tough 6x4 trailer a few years back and I am toying with picking up a cheapie tent/camper to put on top. You can get these for around $1500 which is damn cheap and good value for money. Still not as much space as the Taj Mahal set up but better than the dome tents.

Not much support from the rest of the family on this though so it may be a while off. On the subject of air mattresses and the like I use a stretcher and a self inflating mat on top, much better than anything else I have tried. Gave up sleeping on foam on the floor when I was woken in the middle of the night by a sand centipede. Ouch!



Still need to work on the financial controller but $2,000 is easier on the mind and the pocket than $20k when you only use it about 4 weeks a year.

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

a self inflating mat
.

The Matt I remember was already inflated. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[AJ Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AJ]

While not the perfect getaway set up for the family, it may serve to be a alternative for both myself and my young son. Price wise is fair.. I need a roof rack anyway, and the tent top would be easy to move on ebay or on PP once we outgrow it and need a trailer.

I'll take it This is the set up I'll be looking to invest in soon. I plan on putting mine on removable Rhino Bars however (low roller door won't let me keep them on permanently).

This is only feasible for me as I'm too selfish to have kids just now (few years and that might change). If I had young-ins, Camper Trailer for sure.

My 2c worth.

Cheers,
AJ

[bitdist Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bitdist]

We are just about to complete the circle !!
We started off with tents etc ( 4 kids) but it took sooooo long to setup camp for 6 of us that we did not want to go anywhere where we wern't staying for a while and it took hours to pack and go and then hours to unpack when we got home. Cooking was hard work etc etc
Then we got a trailer and everything pretty much stays in it ready to go, just add food and clothes and we were off !!
For a quick overnighter, about 20 min to setup and quick stops on the road, slide out the kitchen and use it, then put it away.
It was great to use !!
Fuel ecconomy wasn't too bad, probably not much different to having a roof rack on (for a diesel), and being off road trailer you could get pretty much anywhere you wanted to go which was nice. (Big advantage over a caravan)

Now kids are growing up and all don't want to camp any more and the wife is not as interested either so now if I go camping it is usually me and a kid or 2 and so we are back to swags now and east out of the back of the Prado
So the trailer is going to go soon as it does not get used.

So in summary, if you want quick stops, setup and convenience and especially if you have kids, then the trailer is great, and don't worry about the slightly more fuel you will use

cheers

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

this is my usual set up for a onite up stockton, very basic but takes 10min to set up, if the footy is on i will chuck in the geny and telly, need to work out how to get mobile foxtel, without payin for it. :wink:


love the opensky awning and swag for quick setup, also have oztrail heavy duty 3mx3m gazebo for extra cover when needed.

[cjd Member Find all posts View Profile Close cjd]

We brought a mid-range offroad camper 10 years ago and it was great for the first few years. Then it was used more as a handy box trailer. Ocassionally we put the top back on. It all depends where you are going. MOst of our trips in the last 6 years have been through the centre and into NT and Arnhem Land in the dry. For that there is a little tent like Samo has for my wife and a hammock for me. Nothing like off the ground and under the stars, can't be beaten (unless you set up the hammock in the dark and find out you have strung it across a track frequented by water buffullo). Anyway, my point is, first up available finance dictates what equipment you will get. If you get it and hang onto it, you should get your money's worth over a lifetime. Your camping/travelling needs continually change and besides it's great to try a different experience, even if going back to frequented areas. it's incredible how a different style of camping changes the experiences. For me, the simplest and basic set-ups have always been the most enjoyable. You can cook up a storm on a single gas ring and a camp oven produces meals fit for kings, especially if you have caught that meal. The main thing is to get out there and do it. First full day of the new prado and like most I'm fiddling with everything I can. I thought, 'great, the seats fold down into a flat bed, good for those trips where you need to make lots of miles quickly', soon discovered I need articulated hips knees and shoulders in order to try and sleep on that zig zag bloody set-up. However I am now thinking that if I made a few different cushions of appropriate thickness, I could level it out enough and they can be thrown in the back. It's all matter of working with what you have eh! I'm certainly glad to have a Prado to do it in though.

[Warby Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Warby]

outdoor intrests

Well we own a camel group beachcomber offroad camper trailer that we intended to take to the big get together in Alice Springs July 09 (Cant wait).
But the way thing are going we will be back to basic camp set up. The tent we have had for 10 plus years will get dusted off and we will go back to where we started.
Who knows where the fuel price will end up. Maybe it will be we set up in our own back yards and do a video/computer hook up and sit around camp fires and tell our stories via the net.

Warby 8)

[LiveFreeAndRoam Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LiveFreeAndRoam]

It's all a matter of personal taste, so fwiw, here is my take on things...

Over the years our camping has morphed as the kids grew from babies to children to teenagers to young adults. In the very early days, we all piled into one family-sized tent. Later we bought a decent 2-man hiker's tent. Further down the track two smaller tents, one for the kids and one for us. The variety of tents we have collected gives us a great deal of versatility.

We put a tarp over the tents to create a nice cosy community area; it works very well for us.

Tents are cheap, tarps/poles/pegs/ropes are cheap. It all fits in/on the Prado, admittedly with some careful packing and consideration of what comforts/gadgets we can survive without.

That's my 2.2c worth.

LFaR.

[Mike Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mike]

I use a Blackwolf Turbo 240 tent which takes about 10 minutes to set up and about 15 minutes to pack away. Adding a tarp for extra shelter takes a bit more time when necessary.



The cost/usage ratio was an issue for me as I would like a camper trailer but currently don't have time to use it enough. Hopefully that will change in the future.

[mototrim Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mototrim]

Well done Matt :shock:

How did you do it :?: Can you throw us any tips :!:

[mototrim Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mototrim]

Sounds fair to me now all you have to do is pick a camper :wink:

Good luck 8)

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

I am off to the camping and caravan show tomorrow to look at some camper trailers, our plan is hire one or two that we like test them out and then make a decision from their. I have hired one for fraser in August at $80 a day, plus powered site for $40 a day much cheaper and fun than carrying everything up three sets of stairs at a resort.

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

I am off to the camping and caravan show tomorrow to look at some camper trailers, our plan is hire one or two that we like test them out and then make a decision from their. I have hired one for fraser in August at $80 a day, plus powered site for $40 a day much cheaper and fun than carrying everything up three sets of stairs at a resort.

Hey Hutch, check out that new Lifestyle Platinum camper and post your thoughts on it. It seems to be very keenly priced.

Cheers

Mav

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

when my hand is 100%..

Legend :P :P :P .

Bugger I hate it when it slips off like that. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

I am off to the camping and caravan show tomorrow to look at some camper trailers, our plan is hire one or two that we like test them out and then make a decision from their. I have hired one for fraser in August at $80 a day, plus powered site for $40 a day much cheaper and fun than carrying everything up three sets of stairs at a resort.

Hey Hutch, check out that new Lifestyle Platinum camper and post your thoughts on it. It seems to be very keenly priced.

Cheers

Mav

Mav, i have the lifestyle on my short list, along with ABL and Johno's trailer with budget around 12-15K.