Hard Floor Camper Vs Soft Floor Camper

[NatGav]

Hey Guys,
Been looking around for a camper trailer.....
Really like the idea of getting a hard floor trailer and i'm a little confused at the benefits and difference between that and a soft floor.
Thoughts and options welcomed.... 

[JCOJ]

In one sentence hard floors are generally faster to set up and soft floors give you more space.

I think there was another thread on this some time ago which got alot of responses so you could try to search for it.

[Carlisle Rogers]

Hey Guys,
Been looking around for a camper trailer.....
Really like the idea of getting a hard floor trailer and i'm a little confused at the benefits and difference between that and a soft floor.
Thoughts and options welcomed.... 

NatGav,

First question: do you have kids?
Next one: do you 'tour', i.e. travel far, stopping for lots of overnighters, or do you 'holiday camp', where you go to a beach, set up and relax?

Answer those two, and you're halfway there with your decision.

Carlisle

[gibbo301]

yep just type hard floor soft floor in the search there is quite a bit of info there  

[Mandrake]

We just changed from a soft floor to a hard floor

reason - Tent goes up as the floor comes down .. 2minute setup ..

Big trial this weekend - photos will be posted ...

Steve

[NatGav]

Hey Carlisle
We have two dogs (yes they are like my kids) oh and they are big dogs...
We are doing a 12month trip around Australia starting with the east coast, so i'm guessing there will be a bit of over-nighters, holiday camp ect...
Thanks Gibbo, i'll do a search

[db]

If there are only two humans, and you can afford it I'd go hard floor.  As a general rule:

• hard floors are more expensive than soft floors
• hard floors are generally considered quicker to set up and pack up (influenced by other stuff too)
• hard floors generally have less storage space than soft floors

But these are only general rules, there are exceptions everywhere (just so it isn't too easy for you)   

[NatGav]

Thanks DB.
went and had a look at the enztrailers and wasn't impressed with their hardfloor. I can understand the benefit however thinking that they were not made very well.
I saw teh white rhino http://galtuff.com.au/about/ which i'll call tomorrow to see where its made and where the materials are from.
I really like the trackabouts (not hardfloor)....and got some really good reviews.
Its so confusing.....
Thinking we don't wanna spend more than $10K....also have the option of doing some work on it ourselves.

[singo-26]

With a 10k budget i dont think you will find many hardfloors.
Here are a few I'd look at with that budget.
http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=16147.0
http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=15209.0
http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=12683.0
http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=16710.0
And an option from left field.
http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=13514.0

Whoops how did that get in there.
Depending on where and how you want to travel a jayco may offer what you are after.

 

[NatGav]

Singo...there are some great options there thanks heaps mate.
Good luck selling the Jacko.....
We are going to go to the Bendigo leisurefeast on in a couple of weeks and get more confused...hehehe
thanks for the input..its been great

[db]

If you are going to spend 12 months using it every day I think you'll need to look hard at the quality of whatever you decide on.  I think singo-26 is right, you'll struggle to get a good quality new off road hard floor for $10k.  Maybe a good second hand cub or similar?

Some of the smaller tent softfloors (8ft) are pretty quick to go up and down, rear folds even more so than side imho.  There are a few of them around Outback do one http://www.outbackcampers.com.au/canning-camper.asp, Trackabout does (or did, not sure if they still do), Modcon do, Challenge will do one.

[singo-26]

Singo...there are some great options there thanks heaps mate.
Good luck selling the Jacko.....
We are going to go to the Bendigo leisurefeast on in a couple of weeks and get more confused...hehehe
thanks for the input..its been great

No worries. All the campers (with the exception of my jayco) Would be reasonable to put up, My rear fold soft floor is under 15 mins with awning. Don't be afraid to ask at the show for them to demonstrate putting their camper up and packing it away.

[NatGav]

If you are going to spend 12 months using it every day I think you'll need to look hard at the quality of whatever you decide on.  I think singo-26 is right, you'll struggle to get a good quality new off road hard floor for $10k.  Maybe a good second hand cub or similar?

Some of the smaller tent softfloors (8ft) are pretty quick to go up and down, rear folds even more so than side imho.  There are a few of them around Outback do one http://www.outbackcampers.com.au/canning-camper.asp, Trackabout does (or did, not sure if they still do), Modcon do, Challenge will do one.

Hey DB,
I didn't think about the fact that a smaller tent wouldn't take that long to setup. Its a great point. Thanks for the options. I really like the trackabout kitchen set up, Might give them a call. So many options, just when i thought i'd seen all of them a new camper pops up. So exciting. Cant wait...

[Manjimike]

The Oztrail 8 is an example of a rear-fold soft floor.
We leave the awning permanently attached. We generally always put it up, but if we were just overnighting, it could just lay on the roof, meaning the camper is set up in 2 mins.