decisions decisions... help on a kk purchase?

[rochelle]

hello all, it has been a long time since i have been here asking questions, but here i am again looking for your advice.
so my partner and i have three kids, two boys (8&6) and a teenager (15) the later sleeps in his own oztent like the "man" he is.
We have had in the past a trak shak (loved the space - like totally loved the space, and two queen beds up off the ground - wonderful), downside was it was not made very well (not to start an argument - it was what it was) and it had absolutely no "luxuries", not even a water tank, nothing.
Then i went for all luxury and bought a ultimate xtrak family, it had luxuries up the wazoo BUT NO SPACE at all, dove me crazy all of us inside when it rained so it had to go.
Now I am looking at the Kimberley Classic hard floor,and i am after some advice on options?
anyone have the zip on bedrooms or family room? I am after something that the younger boys can actually sit inside of and read etc if it is wet, and we dont mind taking it on and off when we set up. what about the kwik awning walls? anyone have them, are they easy to add? i am worried about cooking and having weather come in! haha
and finally does anyone have the heater, i know it sounds a bit over the top to me to have a heater in a camper trailer but we are planning a snow trip and well if it works we would probably get one!
anyway if you have one and have any comments on additions you cant live without, that would just be wonderful,
thanks heaps in advance
rochelle

[Jasjul]

I know Tim-Stratford, member, has a KK, and I believe is very happy with it.  I know he has the kids room, which is big enough for his 2 teenagers in their swags out of the weather, and I guess he's happy with the heater, because he was bragging about it on the last Myswaggers trip to Knockwood.  Hopefully he'll see this thread and further elaborate. 

[Bunyip]

We have a KK and in response:
1. We did not get the kids room but measure up and our son and daughter would have got in there with their stretchers and enough room to walk down the centre. At 6&8 perhaps a bunk bed (there is a mod on here somewhere to make them very easy to put up and down) wouldbe an idea as well.
2. Kwik Awning Walls. Easy as pie to put up and down, nice large windows so doesn't get too dark inside either. We almost always put the wall up on the kitchen end and then the other walls if the weather isn't looking good.
3. There are two types of heater from memory. We have the diesel run heater and I don't mind being called soft but it makes all the difference in cold weather. Makes the Kamper weekend a viable option all year round, no packing it away for winter. I would squeeze the kids onto the hard floor and buy the heater if ti came down to that, you can always easily but the family tent later, retrofitting the heater is more difficult.
4. We also got the hot water system. It is a great convienience to have hot water out of the tap, but this is one thing I might be able to live without. Turns out when we go camping with a group at Easter people have now started bringing jerrys of water so they can top up our  tanks, our kitchen is used to wash up everyones stuff (no problem with that) but if it doesn't get done at night then you wake up to a right royal mess in the morning (have a problem with that). Also if you like a sleep in the noise of the water pump is a bit much in the morning, as is the congregation around your kitchen as they do last nights washing up. I am a grumpy old man (Just ask LB).

You will love the KK, wonderful bit of gear. Who are you going through to buy it?

I would seriously considering adding the extras that are difficult to do later (additional water tank, heater etc..) first. We thought we would be buying the family tent but didn't have the funds intially so left that of the list. Lucky we did because now we have used it we realise we didn't really need it inthe first place.

Bunyip

[ATC]

Off topic

4. We also got the hot water system. It is a great convienience to have hot water out of the tap, but this is one thing I might be able to live without. Turns out when we go camping with a group at Easter people have now started bringing jerrys of water so they can top up our  tanks, our kitchen is used to wash up everyones stuff (no problem with that) but if it doesn't get done at night then you wake up to a right royal mess in the morning (have a problem with that). Also if you like a sleep in the noise of the water pump is a bit much in the morning, as is the congregation around your kitchen as they do last nights washing up. I am a grumpy old man (Just ask LB).

Bunyip

Just making notes on how to be a grumpy old man....

[rochelle]

thank you so much bunyip,
this is much appreciated,
i also had visions of our camping friends finding out about the hot water!
on the 2014 classic the hot water is standard which is great, and i really am thinking of upgrading the power from the standard also ( we do like to go to some out there places as well as some powered camping sites so being able to stay away fro it all a little longer would be awesome!),
i think the hardest part is narrowing it down, so many options, that all sound really important to have! haha and the luxuries! I wont know myself on our next camping trip!
we are in townsville so probably going through the ozzie campers, we have been speaking with tim.
have also thought about a weekend in cairns as someone told me there is a company that hires our the kimberley kampers up there, so kind of like a try before you buy deal,
thanks again
rochelle

[Rumpig]

we have a Platinum edition KK, came with the kids room and the heater you are asking about. we only have 2 kids and rarely use the kids room due to many of our trips being touring on the move trips and weekends away, the kids sleep on the hard floor on these trips. Over Easter we were away for 10 days, so the kids room got a run then. Plenty of room for 2 kids in there easily to get out of the weather, it doesn't take long to put on either even though i have to relearn each time how to do it due to not having used it in so long.
The diesel heater is fantastic, they are however a touch noisey (inside think of a car fan on full setting, outside think of a house aircon unit maybe) but i don't care when i'm toasty warm inside...lol. Have camped down around Stanthorpe way in Winter and was sleeping on the bed in shorts and a t shirt, heater comes in handy on Central Australia trips mid year also. Have used the heater to dry some wet matresses after packing up one morning in pouring rain (pooling water got in through the windows as we closed the camper up). Arrived at next campsite that afternoon and zip the camper closed and cranked the heater up....an hour later everything was dry 
we have the walls for the kwik awning also, have only used them once since buying them and that was just to see how they work...lol. found they block a lot of breeze and can make it hot under the awning, but when it rains would be great for cooking and eating there out of the elements. i reckon the walls (or atleast the kitchen side) will get more of a run when we visit Tassie later this year.

[Bunyip]

Off topic
Just making notes on how to be a grumpy old man....

That is not even the start of it. I have mastered the grumpy old man thing and I am only 40!

[Bongo]

We have the kids room for when we take the grand kids. We use a double bunk. After the canvas softens up you can leave the canvas zipped on when packing.

It does leave your setup rather long to fit into some campsites in National and Caravan Parks.

We have the diesel heater but have never used it. Up here we often look for a fan to cool us down.

The hot water is great for dishes and showering out bush. You need a stream close by as you can use heaps of water.

[bully]

rochelle the KK is a good choice. We bought a second hand 08 platinum and love it. We have 3 kids and the kids room and there is enough room for 1 set of bunks and another stretcher as well. The best thing we have found is the hot water system. It makes cleaning dishes and showering so easy but you can also use alot of water if you are not careful. As for the heater yes sometimes it would be nice but once we are in bed we always seem warm enough. Just cant justify the money they are asking for a heater, but that is personel choise. We only have the quick awning with no walls. yes the weather can blow in but we usually just lower the poles down so the rain is not coming in. The KK is our first camper and it took us along time and alot of research before we purchased it.

[Tim - Stratford]

Yep, as Jasjuls said - we love our KK. We have the kids room which we normally use for 2 nights or more. A quick overnighter and the kids put their swags on the deck...sometimes we kick the lad outside in his. We've got a setup procedure which works pretty well - we're setup in about 10-15 mins which includes kids room and swags setup.

The diesel heater is great. We love winter camping in the Vic High Country and have camped in less than -5* - not bad going to bed and it's 32* inside. The heater is very economical but a tad noisey on flat out.

We also got the full annex pack as we had this on our earlier KK - we haven't had it out of its bags in 3 years and it remains unused. I could see us using it in different environments to keep insects out but haven't needed it in the High Country.

They are great campers just a bit heavy on the towball but solid means heavy.

Tim

[rochelle]

thank you thank you thank you all, this is awesome, great to hear how happy you all are with your kk's,
we are so getting the heater, sounds like it is loved by all who have/used it,
and now a couple of you have mentioned the large water usage (that can happen - I am a girl and a hot shower is well.... a hot shower! heaven) we will also look at the creek visi thingy, or at the very least some extra jerry cans, I had already decided on the extra water tank that we can keep for drinking water only. A couple of older posts did mention a funny taste in a water tank on a kk, any updates on that issue?
and has anyone else dealt with tim from ozzie campers?
thanks again everyone, you are a goldmine of information :-)
cheers
rochelle

[HKB Electronics]

I'm a little confused as to the hard floor then the reference to the KK, I assume your referring to
the Kimberly Karavan?

If so there have been a few issues (legal action) involving overheating shockers and the chassis cracking, if
you considering purchasing a second hand unit I would be carefully examining those areas.

Cheers
Leigh

[Jasjul]

They're referring to the flip top hard floor Kimberley Kamper.

Like this.

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.captainbilly4wdhire.com.au%2Fkimberley-kamper.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.captainbilly4wdhire.com.au%2Fkimberley-kamper.html&h=200&w=300&tbnid=9uo7r_jzrjyaiM%3A&zoom=1&docid=FviPfGNbwDY76M&ei=xByFU9nfLMyJlQXn0oGYBA&tbm=isch&ved=0CF8QMygDMAM&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=3937&page=1&start=0&ndsp=17

[Supersi]

Can't comment re the Kimberley (but they do have a good reputation) as we have an Aussie Swag but I do recommend the diesel heater and hot water. Makes for very comfortable glamping.

[Bunyip]

As far as the second water tank goes, out of the factory this is not connected to the main tank and can only be accessed via a hand pump (we have a 2013 model so it may have changed). The other thing is there is no drain plug on the second water tank so emptying it out involes standing at the hand pump looking somewhat suspect from behind

I know some have modified their second tank to connect through to the main tank via an electric pump. Could be a worthwhile mod as long as I was sure there could be no reverse contamination. As you plan, we keep the smaller tank for drinking/pottable water only.

As far as the shower thing goes you can run the shower either from the main tank or an external source. Our reseller made what I thought was a good suggestion and that was to supply one bucket of water for the shower, place the pickup hose in the bucket and when the water runs out bad luck. person having the shower can easily see how much they have left and restricts usage.

We dealt with a reseller in NSW who I would highly recommend if you were not so far north.

Bunyip

[Bongo]

I fixed the bad tasting water issue. And it was bad. Changed the clear hose on the fillers to black, food quality hose. One of the breathers was also clear so changed that to a food quality hose.

The "Best" filter takes the taste out of the cold water tap on the main tank. But the water out of the hand pump on the secondary was foul. It was alright for a day or 2 but the longer the water sat in the tank the stronger the taste became.

[WilSurf]

We have the KK Sports RV and we love it.
We are taking it out this weekend again. Our kids are 11 and 8, but the oldest one sleeps in her own tent.

[rochelle]

hi leigh, yes sorry it is the classic hard floor camper trailer we are looking at,
thanks for the posts re: water tanks, much appreciated, not really interested in hand pumping one out though (2nd tank), sounds like a job for little kids! haha
i believe the aussie swag ones are similar (not intended to start a war here!) and also excellent build quality, unfortunately their base model is our top budget, but my partner and I are happy with the kimberley kamper decision, and the build looks excellent,
cheers
rochelle

[rochelle]

me again,
did anyone decide on the camper they wanted - any camper type, and then email a couple of distributors to see if they could get a better deal?
not really sure if this is common sense or a little unethical in this business climate but... maybe worth it?
anyone do it?
cheers
rochelle

[gronk]

I had 2 KK's and both didn't have hot water or a heater....but I didn't live down in Mexico either !!!!!

With a shower, as said before, best way to manage your water ( especially if doing a trip ) is run the shower out of a jerry can ( preferably filled up out of a river somewhere ) because unless you are very diligent, it's easy to use most of your onboard water in even one shower...

I personally still wouldn't order a water heater if buying again......just as easy to use a solar shower topped up with hot water out of the kettle...

The heaters are very noisy ( not just the KK's either ), so expect complaints if camped near people who aren't deaf !!!

But the KK's are still one of the best hard floors out there !!

[Bunyip]

When we bought there were only two authorised resellers in NSW, one 2hrs away and the other 5hrs (or something similar) so we really had no choice.

[RebsWA]

When loaded, too heavy on tow bar for my liking.

[WilSurf]

That's why we bought the Sports RV which is lighter.
And we love the water heater.