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General => General Discussion => Topic started by: jagfromaus on April 09, 2013, 07:42:42 PM

Title: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: jagfromaus on April 09, 2013, 07:42:42 PM
G'day all, I'm a newbie to the forum and in the market for a camper trailer in the low end of the market....around 5k.
From all my research there seems to be 3 ways to have a large canvas area ie: above 25 sq m.
Without debating too much about brands the 3 campers in consideration have 3 very distinct ways of providing a large canvas area and are as follows.

GIC Ultimate 18' which is 7m wide since it folds out from both sides of the trailer. Overall size 7m wide x 5.3m deep.

Blue tongue camper with additional 2nd annexe. overall size 5.3m wide x 7m deep.

Skamper Kamper with optional kids room which attaches to the main tent out towards the draw bar of the trailer.

All 3 of these configurations offer 30+ sq m of canvas are and i would really like to hear what everyone thinks of the distinctly differant setups please.
Cheers all
Glen
Title: Re: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: KingBilly on April 09, 2013, 07:56:50 PM
Why so much canvas?  How many are you accommodating?

KB
Title: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: BigJules on April 09, 2013, 08:21:05 PM
Beware the huge tent. They're a lot of work to put up and put away, can be difficult to fit onto a standard van park site and mostly unsuitable for traveling due to setup time.

Title: Re: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: Marschy on April 09, 2013, 08:29:10 PM
That all depends. I have a double annex, have never put up the second one, but it's nice to know I've got it.
Title: Re: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: muzza01 on April 09, 2013, 08:39:15 PM
Maybe a good size tent for a two week holiday but will take half a day to setup and similar to pull down on a long weekender.  As big Jules mentioned, if staying in measured sites, these massive tents tend to encroach on neighbours real estate which can cause problems with your neighbours.
Title: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: BigJules on April 09, 2013, 08:49:25 PM
That all depends. I have a double annex, have never put up the second one, but it's nice to know I've got it.
A second annex extension? I love those. You only have to put it up if you want to.
Title: Re: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: Nomad on April 09, 2013, 08:52:31 PM
The same thread is running twice......can you amalgamate them jules?
Title: Re: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: misheemee on April 10, 2013, 11:24:53 AM
I have the Blue Tongue Off Road Deluxe and tent with extra annex.

We are a family of four with 2 young kids age 4 and 2.   

We love our tent size, and how modular it is.  You can set up as much, or as little as you need.  We normally camp on weekends for 2-4 nights. 

To setup the main section takes just over 10 mins, and we leave the annex zipped onto the main when we pack it away (we flip it over the top of the main), so setting up the annex takes an additional 10 min or so. We have set up the second annex roof as well for a super big shaded area on hot days, but haven't used the walls and the floors because we haven't needed it.  I'm sure if it poured for a few days in a row, the walls and floor would be a godsend, and it's nice to know we have it if we need it.

Also, we have camped at many caravan parks including Big4s, river camps, and regular camping sites, and have never had issues fitting on a campsite or encroaching on our neighbors.

Not to steer you away from Skamper Campers as I've read that they're a great product, but there's a thread on this forum saying a couple of people who own Skamper Campers have had issues with tent leakage where the kids room attaches.

Any questions about the Blue Tongue, feel free to PM me - I would be happy to help

Cheers,
Michelle
Title: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: ScottH on April 10, 2013, 12:22:49 PM
My previous camper consisted of the main tent, kids room at the back, and 3! modular annexes at the front. Over our 3 week stay at Christmas I setup the kids room and 2 annexes, but have never used the 3rd. Main tent and 1st annex take about 15mins to setup or pack up. Kids room was about 10mins and the same for the 2nd annex.

The KR+ main tent+ 2 annexes was about 9.5m long and 5.5m wide. It only just fit length-wise on the site we use at Christmas. The typical week-stay setup of KR + main tent + annex is 7.1m x 5.5m and fits on all Big4 sites I've stayed at. Remove the kids room and its 4.7m x 5.5m, and a 15min setup when I do it all myself. Less if the wife and kids help.

I tried one of the tents that opens both sides and found the narrow side to be wasted space, and was difficult to access around the slide out kitchen.
Title: Re: What style of canvas setup do you all reccomend
Post by: jagfromaus on April 10, 2013, 06:11:18 PM
The same thread is running twice......can you amalgamate them jules?

thanks Nomad I wasnt sure where the question best fitted?