CTA Camper Trailer Of The Year 2012

[Kit_e_kat9]

Congratulations to Aussie Swag for being a CTA.CTOTY Winner for 2012 with the Ultra D!

Well Done!   

And Good On You for all those that participated and those judged best in their $ range.

Kit_e

[Yoda42]

Way to go Aussieswag

Ours has sat idle for the last couple of months, can't wait for the dry season so we can break it out again, only another 3 months :-(

Yoda

[ozbogwam]

I thought the Johnnos Evolution was overall winner as it garnered the most votes. Only watched the DVD so far haven't read the article yet

[Kit_e_kat9]

Will mention that I didn't say they were the winner ... but that they were A winner.  Because I own one, I'm proudly biased towards them.   

There were 4 winners in all, and as I said earlier, each within their $ range. 

Kit_e

[wholehog]

They where all judged in there respective price catagory's
15k-25k...Johnno's evolution
25k-35k...All Terrain Camper Trailers
35k plus...Aussie Swag 
Hybrid thingy's...Complete Campsite Exodus..
So there u have it...

[Fun Police]

Where was Lifestyle Campers??

I thought they'd give it a run??

[Frostd]

Off Road Camper Trailer of the Year - Winner 2012

Nice camper trailer, with all the trimmings, but I dont have $53K to spend. 

[torsion]

Those awards arn't worth a pound of piss.
Eventually every main stream camper manufacturer will win the award one day - joke.
Sell more magazines, make more money.

[ozbogwam]

Those awards arn't worth a pound of piss.
Eventually every main stream camper manufacturer will win the award one day - joke.
Sell more magazines, make more money.

And why is that, if you are going to bag it at least explain the reason why.

[Bill]

And why is that, if you are going to bag it at least explain the reason why.

I will explain.
Please remember that this is just my personal observations and opinion.
The more a manufacturer advertises in any type of magazine the more likely that manufacturer is to win any comapairisons the magazine has.
If a fair compairison is to be done it should be done by folks who have absolutly no affiliation with either the manufacturers or the magazine. Said results should then be posted/printed in their entirety and unedited in any way...
Bill

[Campa]

Those awards arn't worth a pound of piss.
Eventually every main stream camper manufacturer will win the award one day - joke.
Sell more magazines, make more money.

Yep I agree.

1 Mag will say "X" is the best , then another will say "Y" is the best.

Who cares anyway what suits the them may not suit me!

Does anyone go out and purchase these campers now because they have won an award from a Magizine? 

[Carlisle Rogers]

It is probably worth weighing in here, because many of the negative comments about this event every year are based on flawed assumptions.
1. 2 of the 5 judges do not work for the mag. One of them works for ARB, so he brought 4WD knowledge without any ties to this industry.
2. Judging is done essentially via a blind ballot. We then tally each judges scores after the event. There is no cooking of the scores, and no good reason to. The fact is, this award is NOT awarded to more people than it IS awarded to, so it is not based on looking after the advertisers, 11 of whom don't win...
3. We would like to sell more magazines. The mag would not exist otherwise. My team and I work hard to maintain the integrity of this award, to ensure it is worth the ink, so to speak. People buy the mag to learn something. And while we cannot put every camper on the block (some cannot make it; time constraints, etc), we pick quality campers first. Essentially, it does amount to a tacit endorsement of the 15 campers invited by me...and I am more concerned with ensuring my name is not associated with a less than standard product than I am with how much advertisers spend.

That is why this is the only award of its type that isn't BS. 4WD of the year goes to a revolving gallery of crappy cars because Toyota and Nissan do not release yearly updates to their products. I select the best campers in the country each year to compete, not an arbitrary selection based on model upgrades, or how much anyone advertises.

Feel free to disagree with the final winners, but the method behind the madness is sound. The sad thing is that magazines, as a whole, have ignored anything resembling journalistic integrity for so long, we have all become very cynical, even nihilistic.

There is meaning in the world, though, and occasionally a half good bloke!

Carlisle

I will explain.
Please remember that this is just my personal observations and opinion.
The more a manufacturer advertises in any type of magazine the more likely that manufacturer is to win any comapairisons the magazine has.
If a fair compairison is to be done it should be done by folks who have absolutly no affiliation with either the manufacturers or the magazine. Said results should then be posted/printed in their entirety and unedited in any way...
Bill

[martyn]

My team and I work hard to maintain the integrity of this award, to ensure it is worth the ink, so to speak.

Good reply Carlisle, I think magazines who show any sort of bias towards a manufacturer will loose the respect of their readers pretty quickly, especially if the readers are well informed themselves.

I have never read your mag as I am only now looking at ct's for the first time but looking at those results makes me wonder, is the magazine only aimed at those with money to burn? $15k is pretty high for the cheapest possible camper to be considered, not to say they aren't worth it but some of us have significantly lighter budgets, but that doesn't mean we can't afford to buy a magazine!

[wsullivan]

Well said....

[cewilson]

Martyn - 15k is a lot of money, it was more than I had to buy our camper trailer.  However the advantage of looking at these awards is it gives you a good idea of what works - and then you can look for similar trailers in the second hand market.

I'm a firm believer that a 5-8k trailer new is a lot of hard work as there are inevitably problems if you do take them off-road properly.

Trailers like All Terrain and Trackabout are generally available second hand for under 10k which makes for a fantastic starter for anyone getting into it.


Cheers
Chris

[Paul (SA)]

I thought the DVD was great to watch, even though I can't afford any of the trailers judged. The best ideas and developments will stick around though and in the next few years become standard across all price options. Look at ABS and the like in the car industry.

One thing struck me though. It felt like there was a category missing for my liking around ease of use/set up or convenience.

What categories do other folk think are worth considering for next year?

[Fun Police]

I thought the DVD was great to watch, even though I can't afford any of the trailers judged. The best ideas and developments will stick around though and in the next few years become standard across all price options.

We enjoyed it too.  My 2c is that i would have been good to see the setups at normal speed, you can always FF through them.

Agreed, that I cannot/willnot afford the trailers represented, but just looking at all the setups and ideas is invaluable.

It allows people with average setups to enhance what they have by installing equipment to mirror what has been developed by the big boys.

I actually got a lot out of the DVD.  I am actually stunned by the quality of some of the setups.  Jawdropping would be the right expression! 

Count me in for a Conqueror when I win the Lotto!!

[Benduro]

This was an interesting read and well produced video. :cheers:CTA

As for possible categories for next year:
*Sweatshop comparo (GIC, Ezytrail etc)
*Rear fold
*Side fold
*Hard floor
*Cross over
With examples of different manufacturers and price points within each category.

[ryangus]

Essentially, it does amount to a tacit endorsement of the 15 campers invited by me

Just curious - how do you decide which 15?

Sent from the dodgy keyboard on my phone via Tapatalk

[Sixtys Guy]

I have read the mag but haven't watched the DVD as yet.

I am in no way questioning the integrity of the coty. To follow up on a couple of points already raised......

How are the camper trailers that compete selected?

I agree that there should be a category for ease of setup.

[Kit_e_kat9]

I agree with some of the comments made here.  This really is a fantastic way for the average Joe to look at what's out there and purchase accordingly within Joe's budget.  I think CTA as a magazine, is a great editorial way for those wanting more information to get it ... whether it's travel or CT's or just things to add to your vehicle ... and everyone can easily access them (funding permitting of course).

The way the comp is run and judged seems fair.  Even judging cakes at the local show has criteria that must be met.

Even though I own an Aussie Swag and are very proud that they've been judged a winner (and it wasn't by much), I don't own the one judged ... I have the base model with some options I wanted.  It's wonderful that these campers (all in the comp) that have been judged, have such quality, thought and innovation within their chosen niches.  Even I was envious of things, could see flaws in things, and learned a few things. 

One thing struck me though. It felt like there was a category missing for my liking around ease of use/set up or convenience.

Check page 30 of the mag, where judging criteria is explained.

Kit_e

[corynmelnkids]

we started at the bottom with a cheap tent and soon learnt not to go cheap then we upgraded to a good quality tent, we currently have a basic CT which we got second hand, and are saving towards a soft floor Complete Campsite.....we have found over the yrs of camping with 3Children, and now a baby plus with our future goals what we want to get out of a camper and many visits to annual camping shows, that the soft floor Complete Campsite or a Johnno's suit our personal needs and wants best......we have watched the DVD and I'm now slowly reading my way through the magazine and the mag. explains the 5areas being judged better then the DVD so i understand that better and after listening to the judge's on the DVD plus reading their brief descriptions in the mag. i feel they reflect the general public well (young, old, families).......when we got our CT it was just a trailer n tent not even a mattress, and slowly we've modified it to suit us and to make it easier, everytime we go camping we discover something else we could add or change, or you see someone Else's camp setup and get ideas for yours.......we have friends that also have kids and wanted to upgrade from tent to trailer and they went with the Jayco style but we've looked at them and decided that's not for us.......everyone has different family makeups, budgets, and desires i suggest visit your next closest camping expo they cattier for the cheap budgets up to the luxury and you can talk to the manufacture

[McGirr]

Congratulations to the winners and great to see Australian made campers are still growing strong and well done on the article.

Looking at the Campers these days going camping , I think, has lost its appeal of  "camping" !!

Hot water systems , built in heaters etc... To me a basic camper will keep me happy?

Mark

[wholehog]

Looking at the Campers these days going camping , I think, has lost its appeal of  "camping" !!

Hot water systems , built in heaters etc... To me a basic camper will keep me happy?

Mark

Exactly... If i wanted all that i would stay in a resort...
Gimme a dry bed..some good tucker and a cold beer....top it of with some good Aussie scenery..... im happy

[Fun Police]

Exactly... If i wanted all that i would stay in a resort...
Gimme a dry bed..some good tucker and a cold beer....top it of with some good Aussie scenery..... im happy

That's what you/I want and can handle.  But, if you are like me and only get 49% of the vote, then "all that" is necessary.

Heck, my wife will only sit on our home toilet and "hovers" on any others...  try reasoning with that paranoia