After some feedback - Who's gone from Jayco or similar to softfloor or viseversa

[Black Diamond]

Gday Swaggers,

As the title says Just after some feedback From anyone who has gone from having a Jayco or similar back to a soft floor trailer? I never owned a soft floor before the Jayco so I'm hoping there is a few out there that have and visa versa.

It's nice having all the creature comforts of the Jayco like integrated hot water, shower 3 way fridge etc but to be honest I find it a bit of a pain in the ass with three kids(3,9&10) having so much stuff to pack and unpack and we all go  camping to get out there and enjoy the outdoors and sit by the fire not on the couches so it never gets used inside, we don't cook inside either so it's s bit of a waste for us.
So mainly what I'm after is
Any regrets?
What do you miss about either?
Feedback on set up time between the two (which I know would vary between different trailers)
Temperature
Usuable space
Maybe I'm hard to please
If I go a soft floor i will probably looking at something like a Tambo with kitchen electrics etc
Thanks in advance
John

[singo-26]

I've gone from an old Jayco to a slightly younger soft floor and to be honest I can't think of a time I wished I still had the Jayco. I always cooked outside the Jayco so no change there, no difference to my kids and a lighter easier package to tow, not that the Jayco was bad.
The one thing I do notice is the 2 boxes of stuff that remained, despite my attempts to minimize, that I haven't missed in the soft floor sitting on my shed floor.

At the end of the day it's about what is going to suit the style of camping or the locations you want to access.
I'know it's been said before but would it be worth hiring one for a trial run for a couple of days.

[swanny]

Hi mate, i guess i did it the other way to Singo. I went from a soft floor to a Jayco OB Swan.

For me i find it a lot better to get out the gate and to set up on arrival, i have two young kids and the ease of the jayco suits us down to a tee at the moment. The whole canvas, and set up thing with our soft floor got painful in the end. We enjoy the comforts the jayco offers, but like others we cook outside also, so prob dont get the use out of the jayco like we should.

I will add though, that if i had my time over again, i would go for a quality hard floor CT, the jayco whilst it offers the comforts we speak of, it dosent allow you to head off on those remote/extreme type of trips, which is what my wife and i did prior to the bubs.

With regards to room etc, i think u just make an adjustment when it comes to what space you have, and what you need to take, never had a drama with the jayco, or our soft floor, but after years of doing it, i think ive rounded down what we need and what we dont, (SWMBO would take everything if she could).

In real terms, i guess it comes down to what suits you at the time, for us the jayco is right for the time, but i can defo say that i miss the off road ability of our soft floor for sure, and look forward to getting back to the bush so to speak.

My advice, keep the soft floor, or if its becoming an issue, look at a good hard floor, u will defo miss the ability to head off road properly when she is gone.

Regards Swanny

I

[Campa]

Keen to hear feed back too.

We have a Soft floor side fold and have considered getting a Jayco (or similar) for ease of set up and pack up. But we know in the back of our minds we wont use the internal kitchen, and accessing everything we would store inside (fridge - pantry) when were outside will be a pita.

Hard floor is an option too but they don't have the storage space of the softfloor and no real advantage with set up if you have to add rooms for the kids.

We like the look the cross over type design with minimal canvas except bit to $$$$ for how much we'd use it so we are leaning towards the forward fold design.

something like this.

http://www.camelcampers.com.au/html/safari.htm

[Jason B]

I have a hard floor and two kids. The benefits of are hard floor over both a Jayco or a soft floor is ease of set up and pack up. The down side to the hard floor is internal space, and the need to set up kids rooms etc if you want them. Our kids 3 and 7 both sleep on the hardfloor in a swag at the moment. Or in winter they sleep with mum in the bed and I sleep in my swag out side (which i preffer any way), this leaves the hard floor clear.

When my kids get bigger I think I will move to a side fold soft floor like the Complete Campsite ones. They would tick most of the boxes for us. I couldn't be bothered with the kids room and all of the extra work with the hard floor.

I have considered the Jayco style van but like others we would only ever sleep in it.

There is more storage in a hard floor than it first appears also.


Regards


Jas

[cruisindub]

Some great replies here!
We have a van,would love to find our ideal CT.
Hearing the pros/cons/decisions such as above posts,(without slating others) is great.
Its great to be able to understand ideal usage.

[BigJules]

I can't give you an opinion of a Jayco, but having owned a softfloor that was easy to open and close, they don't have to be difficult. When one looks at the level of equipment available in some of the high end soft floors, like Mountain Trail or Complete Campsite, one doesn't need to sacrifice anything but the lounge in moving to a tent style camper.

[GGV8Cruza]

You know you want one BD, heres another teaser for you 

The other weekend you just couldnt get enough, i  am not sure if you were more excited than I was 

GG

[Black Diamond]

You know you want one BD, heres another teaser for you 

The other weekend you just couldnt get enough, ai am not sure if you were more excited than I was 

GG

your lucky I didn't dump the swag and jump in the Marlo for a slumber but then I would've had to put up with your snoring

Thanks for the great feedback so far everyone, some good points to consider so far

Bd

[speewa158]

Soft floors are really for real Swaggers. the rest go Jayco ( bunch of Girls ) 

[Black Diamond]

Soft floors are really for real Swaggers. the rest go Jayco ( bunch of Girls ) 

trust you to upset half the forum you bloody terrorist

[Paul (SA)]

I was all set to order a Tambo or Johnno's having done 6 months if research. My wife then noticed the Jayco Swift and confided she would be much more inclined to come camping with me and the boys if we had the comforts of the jayco.

I am hoping the lighter and smaller size of the swift won't see us compromise on the places we want to go and can with a soft floor.

We will just get out there and have a crack....life is not tried if just merely survived!!!

Paul

[theflyingbadger]

we went from jayco to mid-air floor.

one person (me with a buggered shoulder) had the ulty up and functioning in <5 min on a rainy wet friday night a few weeks ago. joy....

there's enough inside space - the kids go feral cooped up in a jayco anyway, so the smaller space in the ulty doesn't make that much difference. the under bed room for the kids is great too - you could pack 4 in there if you used 2 sets of the bunks

[Jason B]

we went from jayco to mid-air floor.

one person (me with a buggered shoulder) had the ulty up and functioning in <5 min on a rainy wet friday night a few weeks ago. joy....

there's enough inside space - the kids go feral cooped up in a jayco anyway, so the smaller space in the ulty doesn't make that much difference. the under bed room for the kids is great too - you could pack 4 in there if you used 2 sets of the bunks

See to me this still sounds like too much work. By the time you put the walls etc on the room underneath and then set up the bunks, make beds etc etc it is getting too much of a PITA in my opinion.

Both the Ulti and my KK would be similar in time to set up for a quick overnight stop which is where they shine. But they leave a lot to be desired as a family camper I believe. I use a double swag for the kids on the hard floor which is ready to go with their sleeping bags, pillows etc all rolled up, so 2 clips and they are in bed. When we need the space during the day I just throw the swag on top of our bed.

I wouldn't want to add the kids room to my setup as it all adds time and canvas. I have had a go at one of the Complete Campsite soft floors (at the Dubbo 4x4 show), the side fold one, and they are both quick to put up and very roomy compared to the hard floors out there.

Just my 2 bobs worth, I love the Kiss principle.............................and the Ulty looks good to.


Regards

Jas

[Redback]

BD, my suggestion if you decide to change, is get a soft floor with the walkway at the front, this means more internal space, with the Jayco your used to having space, it won't such a culture shock going to the soft floor.

Baz.

[Bird]

I think the Jayco would be better for entertaining kids in Victorian weather..  like right now!  Specially packing / unpacking.

With 3 kids no matter what you take you will take the same amount of shit... and it never seems to lessen!

[niz075]

We have had a Jayco for a few years now it has suited our needs up until now, firstly it isn't an off road model so that has restricted us and we are now planning to do a lot more off road camping so have decided to go back to a soft floor Camper.  Our Initial reason for purchasing the Jayco was really because we had 2 young children and a newborn and my hubby loves to camp and that was his ticket to get out there amongst it all.  We have had some really great times in our Jayco but now our youngest is nearly 4 we are craving the great outdoors where our Swanny can't take us.  So after many discussions and plans for a bit more 4WD in our life we have ordered a soft floor Complete Campsite...   

[gacoxd]

We hired campers for 6 years before we bit the bullet and bought one.

The first one we hired was a Jayco outback something (off road pop top thing) and we were the first people to hire it.

That week coincided with one of the wettest easters I can remember and it feels like all we did was yell at the kids about getting the inside dirty. That might also have something to do with the $600 bond.

 The other thing my wife found was that when she was cooking or making coffee, she was kind of isolated away from the rest of the camp.

After that we hired soft-floors and in the end we bought a trackabout.

If we didn't have the yard apes it might have been different but where is the fun in going camping without the grommets :-) ?

[Bryan Stevens]

I went the other way from a hard floor semi chinese import (same as Swoffers), used it once but the wife didn't like it to a Jayco Eagle outback, used it once and wife loves the comfort of the Jayco. Even though we have a porta potti now she wants something with built in shower and toilet. If I didn't love her so much I'd be thinking of changing wives, its costing so much

In retrospect I should have gone the hire route first. :'(

[flamingo]

  Your not turning are you BD?  Phil

[Black Diamond]

Just something ive been pondering on Phil. I love the Swan but the kids are getting older now and need some more room. Maybe I should buy another Swan an B Double the sh1t out of it

BD

[Darren253]

Rental is your friend BD...
We sold our Chinese hard floor thinking we wanted a Jayco et el.

We rented a 2009 outback swan for a long weekend. I loved the idea of the seating are especially for kids on a rainy day, but I was very dissipointed with the build quality. The rental one was only a year old and it already had some major damage to locks and other kitchen components. This really concerned me and I question the whole build and materials used. Not sure how much we would actually use all of the inside kitchen etc too...
Outside of the quality and what might be left after a Canning stock trip, the real game changer for me was the size and weight. We do a lot of beach camping and I really think the outback build would limit our options too much. Before renting I was about to go out and buy one because I was convinced it was what we wanted. $'000 saved!

We've now gone for a quality walkway camper from follow me campers. Slightly longer setup times but it really can go anywhere the tug will!

[Black Diamond]

Some really good pros and cons from everyone so far, thanks for the great feedback swaggers

I'll be making a decision soon which way to go.

Bd

[lilstookie]

So glad you asked this BD as we were recently speaking of the relative ease of setup. We're finding pack up in particular takes a couple of hours with two littlies....

Lil


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[albany_nomads]

The Albany Nomads went from softfloor to Jayco..
The Plus is that its quicker and EASIER for one night stops to set up the Jayco than the softfloor camper.
The Jayco has more creature comforts are all ready pre built in compared to that of the softfloor.
A big plus is that everything is off the ground with a Jayco compared with that of the a Softfloor
Jayco has built in sink, fridge and wiring..that said some softfloors do come with these features.

The only minus's I feel is that the Jayco is wider than the softfloor..(Towing)
and whilst I know of some that have taken their jayco's to some extreme parts of our landscape..Im sure that you could get a softfloor box trailer more bullet proof than a jayco

The biggest minuses be softfloor, Jayco style, ulimates or any other form of hardfloor is that they have canvas and it can get wet.. my choice of the market choice, if I had the money would be something like the

Kimberly Karavan, Track Trailer Topaz, Vista cross over, Ally master, Trackmaster Sturt or Gibson or a Conquerer or the like with 90%plus with a hard shell..like I said if i had the money.

But then some would say if it dont have any canvas then it ain't a camper trailer