For those who are going through the process of checking out camper trailers, here are some of the reasons why my wife and I decided to buy a Trackabout [I is gunna be sensible here, this is fair dinkum. Who's that snickering?]
First a little background: I have been going camping for 40 years, usually with small tents. My biggest tent is 10' x 8' and we bought it about 25 years ago. My approach to camping gear is think hard what I want to accomplish, find quality gear that does the job effectively, look after it.
For us, tent camping is basically history now due to my wife's decline in health. That's why we started thinking about camper trailers. We wanted easy setup, greater comfort, as little crouching, bending, lifting as possible. Compared to tenting, a camper trailer seemed ideal, but which one?
After much confusion and being overwhelmed by so much on the market, I thought a Cub Kamparoo or similar would be ideal. Secondhand, with a bit of hunting, I expected to get a good one for about $10,000. The positives were, extremely easy to set up, light weight, hard floor above ground. However, as I kept searching, I changed my mind.
I realised the soft floor camper trailers were easier to fold out than I was thinking. Sure, slower than a Cub with the wind-out system but still quick and easy as. With both types of camper, it still takes time to pole and peg the awning. The soft floor campers had more storage space and internal living space. Since it always seems to rain on my holidays, the extra space in the soft floor campers was a positive point for me as it makes the 'confinement' easier to take. Also, I saw a few Cubs which had been flogged (and were on the market at a high price) and I had a question mark about their robustness. Overall, I decided a soft floor would probably suit our situation better and for the same money, could get a near new or new one.
Which softfloor camper? Well, the headaches had really started. There is soooo much info and web sites. Over time a few things came clear. First thing I realised was that my wife did not like me spending so much time on the 'net.
Basically, I was looking for (a) quality tent (b) strong trailer with solid suspension.
Tent: With sizes, some brands come in 6', 9' and 12'. For me, the 9' foot seemed right. I noticed some tents had low roofs. I was after a high one as I liked the spaciousness and I thought it would be cooler. The tents with Australian canvas about the 12 oz mark impressed me as being a good solid product.
I would have happily bought a Chinese-made tent if I was convinced it would give the long term service I was expecting. Certainly the price is attractive but decided to go for something with Australian canvas. Hopefully it would have long-lasting zips and screens and be sewn with quality thread.
Then it was windows and doors. I told my wife I would not get one without windows and a door. Luckily they all seem to have these useful additions so it made my job easy. Actually, I looked for the best ventilation as possible since we live in a hot humid climate. Design wise, the tent door in the middle rather than at the end was what I was looking for. Seriously considered a tropical roof but decided to do what we usually did with the tents, chuck a tarp over the top. I have the tarps so no extra cost to me.
Trailer body and suspension: I really liked a few aluminium trailers and the light-offroad ones appealed to me - cheaper and light weight. I have a 4wd but don't do hard-core off-road stuff. However, I shifted in my thinking. I decided to go up a few notches with trailer strength as insurance. A couple of times we have been caught in tough conditions trying to get back out of remote areas. In those situations, I want to be 110% sure the trailer is up to it.
So that's what I primarily looked for -quality tent and well built trailer with suitable rugged suspension.
You are probably wondering why I have not discussed essential aspects such as the kitchen, available colours of canvas and trailer paint, special lockable boxes, water tanks etc. That's because I don't class them as important as being protected from the elements and getting in and out from the camping area with no problems.
Focusing on the tent and trailer as discussed above narrowed the list of possibles. If I had gone to check out workshops the list may have been different but I had to basically rely on websites. Trackabout was on my list. Lifestyle was one brand I strongly considered. In the end, Trackabout had more stacked its way.
I really liked the way the Deluxe Trackabout is set up. Dob54's which I checked out is awesome. All the bits and pieces simply work well together. Well made. Great options.
The standard kitchen is the Drifta. While stainless steel is nice, for effective camp cooking, I personally prefer the Drifta kitchen (that's my opinion now, if I change my mind when I pick up my camper, I'll let you know). Overall, Trackabout had everything I was after. Well made trailer, tent and add ons.
In summary, I decided the Trackabout was a well-designed combination of robust and effective parts which worked together to make a very useable camper which I reckon will last me a decade or so. The great service and a 2 year warranty that covers stuff like zips is icing on what I believe is a top product. And for the stuff I was after, the price was less than other brands.
There ya go, there was so much sense in this post that anybody would think someone other than troppo wrote it.
