MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: GCCruiser on August 06, 2016, 09:09:37 AM
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So, as my intro says I'm a newbie to the idea of CT's, but have been tent camping for years. My wife and I are planning to do the lap over a year or two, but not for a while yet. We will have numerous quick trips and 2-4 week trips over the next few years to work everything out. So ky question is this...
How many camper trailers have people owned, and how many times have you either upgraded or downgraded?
I'd hate to spend the money on a new CT with warranty, only to figure out that it's not what we will need for the big trip, then have to buy another one.
Any extra info on why you changed CT's would be awesome too!
Cheers
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I've only ever owned the one
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We're on our second.
We had a TrakShak when the kids were young. My mum was on her own and needed a lot of help.
It was clear the camper wasn't going to get a lot of use, so we sold it and got out of camping for a couple of years.
Now that there's mostly just the 2 of us, and we do more extended trips, we have a hard floor.
:cheers:
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I've never owned one
Swannie
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Owned 1. Still got it. But right buy once. You need to know what you really want/ Need from a camper. No point buying a trailer based on what your friends have become you look at it and say " wow, look how much room they have". But what you need.
We bought our cause it was everything we needed. Small in size. Small in weight. Strong ( unless you are the mdc company owner who thinks our brand is crap) and suit US for what we want. Do I want anything else? No. 4 years on and I would mint sell it for anything but a newer model. And although it is at the higher end of the $ bracket, it has saved is money on things like , mods, resale, time wasters, buying a different camper. All that adds up. But everyone is different in what they need so mine may not suit you. You need to write down a list of what you want and start form there.
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3....
2 awesome ones and another
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Owned three. Started out with a soft floor sold it after 5 years. Ended up going to a goldstream storm ( heavily modded ) but have also purchased another soft floor recently for extreme trips with just the wife and I as kids have left but have boat racks on the soft floor to take the tinny. Will perhaps sell the goldstream at some stage not sure yet we love it and perfect for extended stays at Fraser etc
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I'd hate to spend the money on a new CT with warranty, only to figure out that it's not what we will need for the big trip, then have to buy another one.
don't buy a new one. I'd never buy new again
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1 x Camp O Matic
4 x Trackabouts ( 1 x Onroader & 3 x Safari's offroaders)
1 x Cape York Explorer Extreme
Next one will be a 6x6 truck camper ;D , just need those stupid lotto numbers to roll right :-\
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No one camper does everything unfortunately .... No matter what you buy it can't do everything. They are all a compromise .... Swag, tent, soft floor, hard floor, xover or caravan.
Trackabout Safari
Royal Flair Tuff Roder
Still love my swag though :cheers:
yogi
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No one camper does everything unfortunately .... No matter what you buy it can't do everything.
that's probably the best way to sum it up... some people search for 12mths or more hoping to find the missing link, when they know it doesn't exist.... if they would have sucked it up 11mths earlier, they could have had 11 mths of enjoying their trailer.
YMMV
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don't buy a new one. I'd never buy new again
Yep save your self thousands.
I m on my second soft floor only as our fist one was old and on road style. Working towards a small hard floor or hybrid as the kids get older.
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On our 7th now.
Looking for 8th already 8)
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On our third so far - a soft floor then a Jayco outback dove that we took around oz and now a Trak Shak. We've had the Trak Shak the longest and it has been by far the most versatile, 6 years now. We'll probably keep it another couple of years until the kids don't want to come any more and then get a t-van for the 2 of us. The 2 x queen beds always made up ready to go in the Trakkie are fantastic for 2 girls and mum and dad. Can take 4 bikes on the rack, plenty of firewood, go anywhere you want to go with no fuss, water, gas and solar that lasts for days!
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2 of. One soft floor I built myself and worked for me for about 10 yrs. Just recently upgraded to a rear fold. Both take about the same time to set up. Both have the same mod cons, i.e lights water pump etc. The rear fold looks neater and has independent suspension which is suposed to tow beater than the old one with 7 leaf rebounds. Personaly I can't realy tell the difference. They both tow ok. Rear fold is heavier by about 400 kg. Got a fairly decent storage locker on drawbar of rear fold so I with that and the underbed storage I reckon I can squeeze more stuff into that than the soft floor.
My rear fold has an extra room at the rear which takes 5 minutes to put up so it would work for a kids room. We use it as a shower.
Hope that helps.
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After years of tent camping we bought an old 70's model 13ft pop-top caravan that I heavily modified, then we bought the Kimberley Kamper we have now owned for many years.
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On my2nd CT . Did the research had a trailer built to my specs then purchased a soft floor tent . Saved a bundle doing the mods myself . Now we use a Cub Supermatic Escape , & , Love it . We do short trips & the annual extended tour up to 8 weeks at a time . Might just go on the Wallaby 1 day :cheers:
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Aussie made Arrow camper (before the massive influx of imports).
GIC thing that resembled a camper trailer.
Lifestyle Explorer
Lifestyle Walkthrough
Junco Eagle
Current, Lifestyle Elite.
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I've had 2. Started off with a soft floor for 5 years then moved to a Jayco Dove.
I would recommend buying an older cheaper camper to see if you like it. You may decide you don't like the soft floor style, you won't know until you try! You won't lose too many $$$ when you sell either. Also you won't be scared about modifying it or chopping and changing things around.
Quite often you see near new expensive campers for sale as "the missus didn't like it", the thought of losing thousands of $$$ doesn't sit well with me, especially on what is essentially a luxury item.
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Might just go on the Wallaby 1 day :cheers:
you kinky old ****er!
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On our third so far - a soft floor then a Jayco outback dove that we took around oz and now a Trak Shak. We've had the Trak Shak the longest and it has been by far the most versatile, 6 years now. We'll probably keep it another couple of years until the kids don't want to come any more and then get a t-van for the 2 of us. The 2 x queen beds always made up ready to go in the Trakkie are fantastic for 2 girls and mum and dad. Can take 4 bikes on the rack, plenty of firewood, go anywhere you want to go with no fuss, water, gas and solar that lasts for days!
Trak Shaks are the best thing going for a family IMO.
Nothing else can touch them for sleeping capacity and living area.
A bit big for a couple, though...
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Trak Shaks are the best thing going for a family IMO.
Nothing else can touch them for sleeping capacity and living area.
A bit big for a couple, though...
Yep agree but kids are still in there early teens so still hassle us to go camping, usually more often than I have time to go worse luck. So I reckon I'll keep the Trakkie for a little while yet.
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Just have a good look at all types and speak to people. Maybe hire some and see how you like it. We are at our third. With a caravan in between.
Don't regret having had a couple but things changed kids ,income etc so worked our way upgrading up a bit at a time.
Started with a old complete campsite soft rear folding did heaps of mods and sold for more than we bought and spent on mods. When the kids come along it just wasn't big enough.
Then got a camel beachcomber soft floor side folding which had a bigger tent and was great. Then we decided to do lap of oz, working on the way so wanted a caravan to live in. Lost a couple of $ on the camel but wasn't too bad.
Now we have just sold the caravan and bought a Camprite TX6, over the time we had looked at a lot and tried a few and reckon this is best for us. Now I've got it with everything we want, hopefully won't sell for a long time. Not much left to really upgrade too now😀
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you kinky old ****er!
But Brave or Really Stupid to even think about it ,,,,,Dare to Dream :cup: :cheers:
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2 x Jayco campers
1 x Jayco Expanda
1 x Full Caravan, over it!, while suits us and is comfy it was purchased for a purpose that hasn't happened, it's a pig to tow I'd happily go back to something smaller.
Oh and that makes 4 in 10 yrs.
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We have had one camper, a side fold offroad 12ft soft floor that we have had for the last 4 years. It suits our style of camping, 2 adults 3-5 kids (depending who decides to come.)
We usually camp in the one place anywhere from 2 days - 2 weeks.
The one time we did a week of overnight stays in different locations, we didnt find it suitable and decided that if we ever used it for touring then we would sell it and change to a different style of camper.
In saying that some people tour in soft floors and have no issue, it just isnt for us.
But after years of camping I have to agree with other posters, there is no perfect for all situations camper. We know that once the kids move on or we change camping style then we will change our camper.
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Started with a Trak Shak, then an Aussie Swag, then another Aussie Swag, then an off road caravan.
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Only the two.
A trailer tent soft floor & an 1982 Jayco Swan.
The Soft floor we only owned for about a two years, The Swan we have had since about 2009.
We still have the Swan, we also have swags, an awning & gazebo for over night stays.
camping is an evolving journey.
:)
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2...
First was a johnnos soft floor.. Bought it new, just sold it, won't be buying new again.
About to buy a 2012 jayco Eagle.. Let someone else take the $$ hit. Saved 10000 already😂
Our camping style has changed with a few little kids. I think the jayco will suit us better till they get a bit older. It's the convenience, comfort factor, layout and ease which makes it appeal over the softfloor for now.
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camping is an evolving journey.
:)
great quote young fella
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2...
First was a johnnos soft floor.. Bought it new, just sold it, won't be buying new again.
About to buy a 2012 jayco Eagle.. Let someone else take the $$ hit. Saved 10000 already😂
Yep I reckon that's the way to go.. I got suckered into new :( if theres a next it would be one of those tiny hardfloors with only space for 1
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Added a poll
GG
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2 x Cubs and now an old pop top caravan
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Onto our 3rd
Soft floor to start. Took too long to set up and pack up. It may have been better if we had everything on slide outs instead of in plastic tubs. We had it for a couple of years.
Then onto a Jayco Dove. Good at first when the kids were young, but then it too, took too long to set up and pack up because we we ended up dragging everything outside because, like to cook and eat outside. This necessitated dragging everything outside and setting up big elaborate tarps. Thought about heavily modifying it by putting everything on sliders, but thought this would compromise any resale. We owned this for about 6 years.
Our current camper is a Tradies Canopy on an off road trailer, with a roof top tent. Although we have only used it a few times since finishing the build about 6months ago, it is much quicker to set up and pack up and is by far the most feature rich we have owned to date.
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Cheers
JB
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Still on the first one...
Many years of tent camping and a Jayco Swan about 30 years ago.
Only started on this journey last year as SWMBO, said there was no way she was sleeping on a tent floor again.....VBG...
If Malcom does not increase the pension, it may be the only one......... :laugh:
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Thanks for all the replies!
And thanks GG for adding the poll!!
Some great info and advice so far. Talking to the wife about it tonight, and we reckon taking the advice on here's a pretty good idea. So we'll be spending some time researching, checking out other peoples setups, and maybe hire a couple over the next year or so.
Then it'll be a used CT. I'm pretty handy and love to tinker (when I have time, when not working/studying or spending time with the family) so am keen to get in and do some mods myself. May have to brush up on my welding skills I think.
Thanks again, this forum seems great, with lots of helpful people.
A little crazy maybe, but that suits us :cheers:
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We started with a small tent, then a big tent with a toddler and a baby. First and last trip like that.
Hired a Johnnos soft floor
Hired a Camprite
Hired a Jayco Swan
Hired a Pioneer Argyle
Bought a hard floor Pioneer Longreach
Perfect for us, hard floor for kids on small trips, add on kids room and ensuite for long trips.
When we get sick of canvas and kids are no longer interested we will move on.
I like the look of the Lifestyle Reconns :-)
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Im now on my forth in two years
2x cub campomatic these are a great entry level camper and do well
1x cub drifter
1 x stockman pod only just got this one but my early thoughts are, its pretty good and well built
and requires some upgrades to suit my wants in a camper
:cheers:
Adam
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Spent many years in hootchies, swags and tents. By the time we seriously thought about owning a CT we pretty much knew what we wanted, so we bought once and, we think, bought well. Our TVan suits us nicely.
We're thinking "motor-home" within the next 5 years though for a multi-year lap. While we happily spend months at a time in the TVan, traveling for years at a time is a different proposition altogether.