CTA and I Are Breaking Up

[Paul (SA)]

I got to confess I used to be a fan of CTA but in the past few years it just hasn't seemed to grab me like it used to. I have just read the recent editions about Camper Trailer of the Year and for some reason - even though I wanted to enjoy them and the DVD that just came today - it just didn't resonate with me.

Surely there is more to the camping experience than drooling all over the technical specs on a camper trailer? And why focus on campers over $50k when the strong majority of readers and enthusiasts won't ever be able to spend that much money on a trailer.

I feel when my subs are due I might swing over to Carlisle's new read. Even though it is over loaded with mentions of Johnno's products, the whole magazine seems rather well balanced in terms of sharing what a true camping experience is about.

Am I missing something about all this folks?

PS This is not intended as CTA bashing - but just sharing my disappointment among friends with their recent offerings - maybe they need to rethink their audience and refocus their energies on providing a good read for them?

[Watty2975]

I hear you Paul.
I went through a similar break up with 4WD Action about 2 years ago. It used to be I could not wait to get the magazine and then the dvd's were an added bonus. I was a loyal subscriber for around 10years and received many great subs offers. Then the mag became 50% ads and the genuine reviews became tainted with sponsorship deals. Finally all the spin off mags meant I would have to buy 3 or 4 different mags to read the section that used to be in one magazine.

Good luck with the break up.......you will have more time to tinker with the real thing.

[cetacean]

I agree with you Paul, the mag has gone downhill in the last year or so IMHO.
Won't be re-newing my subscription when it's time. Might give Carlisle's new read a go, or the other one that seems pretty good is Go-Camping magazine

Cheers Darryl

[ozbogwam]

I think most mags have a used by date for readers. There are only so many subjects that can be covered and eventually a regular reader hits their limit even more so in niche market magazines

[Kit_e_kat9]

.

[Bird]

Is this the monthly "magazines all suck" thread? You spelt it wrong

[LB]

I got to confess I used to be a fan of CTA but in the past few years it just hasn't seemed to grab me like it used to. I have just read the recent editions about Camper Trailer of the Year and for some reason - even though I wanted to enjoy them and the DVD that just came today - it just didn't resonate with me.

Surely there is more to the camping experience than drooling all over the technical specs on a camper trailer? And why focus on campers over $50k when the strong majority of readers and enthusiasts won't ever be able to spend that much money on a trailer.

I feel when my subs are due I might swing over to Carlisle's new read. Even though it is over loaded with mentions of Johnno's products, the whole magazine seems rather well balanced in terms of sharing what a true camping experience is about.

Am I missing something about all this folks?

PS This is not intended as CTA bashing - but just sharing my disappointment among friends with their recent offerings - maybe they need to rethink their audience and refocus their energies on providing a good read for them?

Good to know its just not me, was reading through the lastest edition 2 nights go, and was so bored I feel alseep. Plus their camper trailer awards seem to only involve those who advertise in there mag.
We found this forum a much better source of info when we were looking to buy.

LB

[blue2u]

We gave up on it six months ago. Having bought a camper trailer those sections on CTs were largely irrelevant. The thing that really put me off was the cover would mention a destination but when you went inside the magazine to read it the content could be as small as a half page article with a photo.

[nbd73]

And the most useless, pointless addition has been the so called buyers guide at the back of the mag. If you actually read the content it tells you nothing: why have it? None of the info is relevant and people looking to buy a CT will get zero benefit out of perusing this section. They don't even have the data right that they do provide. Waste of space. Could go on & on, enuff said.

[dazzler]

Maybe its us?

If you think about it we discuss more on this forum, and interactively, than any magazine really could.  If you didn't use the forum the mags may seem interesting.

I was given two subscriptions to camper mags and they have just sat there unwrapped for months.  Seriously, how exciting can you make the 20th 'road test' on a soft floor camper?

It's like buying Home Toaster Monthly.  After the 10th "the bread was toasted" you kind of lose interest.   

[oldmate]

Hahahaha well put dazzler

[camlisa]

Yeah its not just ct mags its across the board  . Iused to buy 2 fishing magazines religously every month for about 10 years but have since stopped for the same reason. I  think there are to many so called experts out there who think they can write interesting articles and make a quick buck. In my opinion there are to many diluted magazines out there not to mention the cost of them now. And yes I think the infomation on here is more informative with real unbiased opinions, stories, advice and photos. When i do feel the need to read a magazine now i borrow it from my local library. There are also some good online mags that are free such as escape with et.
P.S I do however think Pat Cullinans new mag is a quality item more like a book than a magazine.

cheers
Cam.

[MDS69]

The only mag I religiously buy is Australian Muscle Car Magazine.
About 12 months ago I stopped buying all camping/4WD related mags as they just don't do it for me anymore except for Pat Callinan's mag but I think I will stop buying that one too. I looked into Carlisle's mag and it looked the goods but I struggle to find in the newsagents I visit so it gets missed as well.

[KingBilly]

I think you just get to a point with all magazines where they no longer have any relevance for you.  For me, it happened with 4X4 mags, fishing mags and now camping mags.  I would start buying them when I started out with a new hobby or interest and would avidly devour all the info I could find.  For example, I was no longer interested in which compressor to buy because I had bought one (and I had bought a good one based on my research) so didn't need to constantly read about other compressors.  And the same could be said about most subjects covered in the mags.  My only real interest now is the travel stories.  Love reading about places I could visit one day.  Now myswag seems to fill the voids and it also gives me a good laugh most days.

KB

[BrindiCruiser]

Interestingly, I just wrote to the Editor last night. I like the mods, and DIY sections, trip reports etc. Less interested in the reviews of campers cause I now have bought a camper. (Understand that others will.)

What I said was

"I have been reading the magazine for a few years now. After thinkiing I was going to buy a softfloor camper, I ended up buying a second hand Jayco. I have just sold that and bought a new Jayco Swan Outback.

The reason that I am writing is that the Jayco/Goldstream/Coromal camper trailers rarely get a run in the magazine. It would be great to see them reviewed or have mods and DIY articles that related to the that style of camper trailer as well."

[blue2u]

My only real interest now is the travel stories.  Love reading about places I could visit one day.

I'm with you on that. 

[Mallory Black]

Sometimes the content is just not .. well... interesting and it has something to do with how an article is written

Some stories are like reading a manual or a log diary and there's no trigger to the imagination or connection to the writer's thoughts and feelings.

I'd rate Carlisle's articles up there because he's a good wordsmith, up there with the late Evan Green.  read the opening pages of Evan's book "A Bootfull of Right Arms" you get what I mean

[olddigger]

Been getting CTT, 4WD Camping and CTT, among others, but have let all subscriptions lapse, mainly for many of the reasons mentioned above but also because of sheer incompetence in production.
An article in the latest 4WD Camping just ends in mid-sentence, the pages are littered with typographical errors and there is a total lack of care with incorrectly used words: the use of "your" instead of "you're". There is abviously NO proof reading, little editing or even the use of spellcheck.
Nowhere good enough for something that retails for $9.95.

[johnno48]

Got to agree with you guys, I was not a subscriber but regularly bought at least one mag a week.
They are getting more expensive, have more adds & mainly the imported campers AND less general interest articles in much depth.

[Carlisle Rogers]

Mallory,

That's a heck of a comparison to make. I'll wear that...

Carlisle

Sometimes the content is just not .. well... interesting and it has something to do with how an article is written

Some stories are like reading a manual or a log diary and there's no trigger to the imagination or connection to the writer's thoughts and feelings.

I'd rate Carlisle's articles up there because he's a good wordsmith, up there with the late Evan Green.  read the opening pages of Evan's book "A Bootfull of Right Arms" you get what I mean

[Shutterbug]

I think you just get to a point with all magazines where they no longer have any relevance for you.  For me, it happened with 4X4 mags, fishing mags and now camping mags.  I would start buying them when I started out with a new hobby or interest and would avidly devour all the info I could find.  For example, I was no longer interested in which compressor to buy because I had bought one (and I had bought a good one based on my research) so didn't need to constantly read about other compressors.  And the same could be said about most subjects covered in the mags.  My only real interest now is the travel stories.  Love reading about places I could visit one day.  Now myswag seems to fill the voids and it also gives me a good laugh most days.

KB

The only thing with the travel stories is my list of places to go is getting so long I'm so confused I don't know where to go and then there's work which means I don't have the time.... Ahhhhhh!!!

On a serious note... I think there is some really good photography in CTA and although I won't be renewing my subscription I might still grab a copy in future if there are some interesting articles. I agree with what KB has said, I've got a camper now so don't need to read about camper trailers. Some people do so while there is a market for this the magazines will continue to sell.

One thing I haven't been able to understand is the price ranges CTA put the campers into for the Camper Trailer of the Year competition. It's almost always a camper at the top of the range that is named the winner. To my way of thinking that makes the range redundant as there is almost no change that a camper that costs 15K is going to win if the category is 15-25K. A 10K difference is lot of money in anyone's language (well, probably for most people) and that adds up to a lot more bells and whistles. You can buy a whole camper for this price!

Maybe there's something I haven't read somewhere..... I'm happy for someone to enlighten me!

Marc

[Wortho]

I think most mags have a used by date for readers.

Agreed.
When I bought my first motorcycle I bought piles of Bike Mags
Bought a 4WD and bought lots of 4WD mags
Took up Scuba diving and bought lots of Scuba mags.
Bought a CT and bought lots of CT mags.

Just depends what your interest is at the time and as said the monthly mags can only cover so many topics and products before they have to recycle them.

Don't really buy any mags these days as I tend to just hit the internet for research and info on products etc.

Cheers
Mark

[bussoboy]

I subscribe to 4WD Action and Camper Trailer Touring but also buy Caravan & Motorhome, CTA, Pats mag and a few others if the attached DVD catches my fancy

I find these days that all mags are coving the same stuff, as others have said there is only so much stuff you can write about and i wont be renewing any sub's

however i do enjoy the caravan & motorhome DVD's and that is the only reason i buy that mag, the 4WDA DVD's with Roothy are wearing thin but i do enjoy the Graham Cahill ones even though he has started heading down the Roothy path - i used to enjoy the out-takes on the Graham DVD's back when they were real out-takes but now 4WDA seem to manufacture them for both Roothy & Graham and they have lost a lot of their laugh factor. The CTA award DVD's are like watching paint dry, i bought this months hoping it might show a bit of Barrington but other than a brief opening it just monologued through the campers with views of them all going through the same spot.

so i guess that leaves a few extra $$'s in my pocket for the next camping trip

[nbd73]

As the CTA "awards" are based on who they invite along they hardly have any credibility. The criteria for an award defines its relevance to the market place, and in this instance there is no credibility. Look at Overlander magazine's 4WD of the year: they no longer base it on releases from the preceding 12 months so now its not "of the year" so much as "what 4WD do we like?". So, a Toyota of some description will win every year as most mags are fascinated with their product (& abundant advertising $). What stinks is the content of comparison articles in ALL mags has moved towards non confrontational rehashing of web site blurb rather than a factual assessment of real world functionality. This has been mentioned several times on this forum and is reflective of an unwillingness on the part of publishing firms to risk aforementioned ad $. They instead risk the sales of the mag by browning off the majority of buyers.
Simple solution: don't buy or read the mags, you know what you are (& aren't) getting beforehand.

[BernieS]

Me too. The last two issues of CTA bored me silly, and the last issue of CTT wasn't much better. Now that I have my camper trailer I won't bother with CTA come resub time and agree whole heartedly that the last few pages in CTA are a waste of valuable article space.  I also like the touring dvd's that come with Caravan and Motorhome, but then again it depends who the host is. I guess it's all just a matter of personal taste.