New family to the camper trailer experience

[grayfamily]

Just thought I'd say hello and introduce myself. My husband and I are in our thirties and we have 3 kids 1yo to 10yo. My husband and I have just recently acquired a camper trailer. Since we have 3 kids we opted for the largest camper tent we could find which ends up being 30x15ft.

Which of cause I will be trying to conquer tomorrow on my own ... Have a feeling I might be a little frustrated too since I have no instructions and I noticed when going through the trailer I have at least 40 poles ... Fun!

Anyhow if you have any tips or tricks when camping with a camper please pass it on ... I'm sure one of them will obviously be don't setup a camper on your own but you know how it goes - I'll work it out eventually or die trying

[scarps]

Welcome to myswag. May you have many relaxing and fun times in your new camper, once you've worked out which pole goes where:-)
Tip = go camping with other swag'rs, we can be a helpful hands on group once we come out from behind our keyboards:-)


It's a Narvara STX V6 TD 3.0L

[grayfamily]

Haha thanks scarps

[Mallory Black]

One thing I can suggest is to buy some plastic insulation tape in various colours and colour code the poles for length and type once you have worked out the setup.

You say there's no instructions  so bring a large notepad and once you're sure that the camper is properly set up write up  plan on what pole goes where and mark the corresponding colours into the diagram so that next time will be a LOT easier for setup.

Can do the same for tent ropes (I just put a bit of spray paint on the blocks to mark the short ones)

If time permits go to the trouble of doing the full set-up, or plan a day trip to a park or reserve spot to work all that out later if your yard at home is not big enough

Don't be afraid to change things around a little bit to make things easier/simpler/lighter. eg: I bought some extra aluminium spreader bars to stop the roof from sagging too much in wet weather.

I can also suggest investing in a good solid UV proof tarp to go over the whole outfit. If you're camping for more than an overnight it's well worth it for the drop in temp, protect the canvas against poo, sap not to mention the waterproofing

have fun, you picked a top weekend for it. looks like plenty of swaggers will be at Flannigans most of us have a sticker or something to ID the rigs

[robbo1172]

Our C/T has the main tent and two annexes.

All of the poles came in two large bags that open on the end, so you had to tip them all out (if you could lift them), sort through them and then get to work on the erection.

I colour coded the poles, put one annex set in one bag, the other annex set in another bag and I also have two additional bags for misc poles.

Heaps simpler, easier on the back and gets me to drinking the brews a lot quicker.

Robbo

[peter01]

grayfamily,
from someone with first hand experience with the size awning
1/ when you set it up put the poles that were in the main room / bed area on top of the mattress should only be spreader bars and bars for bed - leave them there ready for next time

2/ if you put up both annex place the poles color-coded with electrical tap we used  black & red into the 2 separate bass and identity which belong to which area

3/ when putting up the roof annex start from middle and work out (thanks firefox still remember this each time)

4/ As scarps said fellow myswagers are a great help after they (we now)  take the normal  1/2 hour to watch and laugh about it

5/ most important need to bring humour to the exercise and have fun

[xcvator]

Welcome to myswag. May you have many relaxing and fun times in your new camper, once you've worked out which pole goes where:-)
Tip = go camping with other swag'rs, we can be a helpful hands on group once we come out from behind our keyboards:-)


It's a Narvara STX V6 TD 3.0L

  We'd have to amputate your hands, scarps 

[StrvnMrvn]

Welcome to the clan!

Hope you sort out your camper! It has taken me a year or so to get the camper up by myself with everything setup in 30-40 mins!

Practice makes perfect!!

Enjoy the great outdoors!

[GGV8Cruza]

Welcome to MySwag, a great place for like minded people to get together. If you have any queries ask away

How did the camper go for your first set up

GG

[grayfamily]

Yes it took me 4 hours and had my in-laws assisting ... Was definitely a mission and a half!

We have now gone through and colour coded and separately bagged all the poles and walls and roof and floors in labelled canvas bags.

Your advice was great! Thank you all (:

We had a fantastic time at Flanagan Reserve for the long weekend that we have booked there again for the new years holidays but this time we are taking the family pet too ... Hope our OCD of all the bags has now made it a quicker experience! Lol

[Rumpig]

Yes it took me 4 hours and had my in-laws assisting ... Was definitely a mission and a half!

We have now gone through and colour coded and separately bagged all the poles and walls and roof and floors in labelled canvas bags.

Your advice was great! Thank you all (:

We had a fantastic time at Flanagan Reserve for the long weekend that we have booked there again for the new years holidays but this time we are taking the family pet too ... Hope our OCD of all the bags has now made it a quicker experience! Lol

tent or camper it doesn't matter, the first time setting up always takes the longest. Next will be quicker and after that will be quicker again...good to read you had a good time

[bobnrob]

Had a quick look, but can't find it    Maybe someone knows exactly where it is??

There's a post on here with setup videos of different camper's being set up. Even though you've now done it and sorted the poles, you may get a tip(s) of ways other's do it, that you may have overlooked to help make it quicker 

Many good memories ahead to be made   

[grayfamily]

I had watched a few YouTube clips so I kinda had a micro understanding ... Glad I did as I would of had no idea about the spreader bars or whatever the flat end things are called ... But do make the camper tent a lot more sturdier