How long does it take to set up a soft floor - basic setup

[Jakster1]

Hello all,

In the quest to find and buy my (new to me) camper trailer, I started looking at the soft floor models, then decided hard floor was the go but discovered the $$$! Of a good one that I would want to suit my needs.
So now I'm back to a good quality second hand and fairly new soft floor with pretty much everything we will need to keep the family comfortable and happy.

Now being a newbie to the world of CT my question is how long does it take for a basic overnight setup when out touring and is it a PITA to setup just for one night, pull it down drive for a few hours setup again......
I'm talking basics tent and awning sort of thing only.
The hard floors look ideal for this type of touring but the extra 10g+ I can't justify right now.
And before anyone suggests it... no, I don't want an import. (Looked into that)
So what do you reckon?
Not worry about it?
Save more for a hard floor?
Is it  a PITA?

Thanks for the feedback guys

[Mace]

How big a tent, 9ft, 12ft, 15 ft, makes a big difference! Some 9 footers can be set up roughly in 10 minutes.  Our 15 footer takes about 45 minutes fully set up.

[D4D]

How many people are you accommodating and what age?

[Pirate_Pete]

We have just returned from 9 weeks of travel around the Big Island.

Our Downunder Campers soft floor took my daughter & I about 15min to setup.
Lay down a mat to protect the floor
Unfold
Peg 4 corners
Go inside & fit 4 poles & stretch tight.
Tighten up the 3 hoops
Lay down mat to walk on

We only bothered to put up the annex if we were expecting rain & that took about another 1/2 an hour.

When we were in van parks we could pack up & go quicker than most of the caravans.

[Scruffnz]

Hiya Jaskter

I too am new to camper trailer and jumped in and brought a soft floor camper for $3500 and am very happy with it.

We hve put it up and down 4 times so far and have set up without awning down to around 5 mins with the wife helping me. Awning if we use it is a quick zip on and 5 poles and a centre pole, not long at all. We havent put up the awning walls yet and since its just the 2 of us I dont think we will use them as if it turns wet we would retreat into the teat, but you never know.

Take down takes us maybe 10 mins. What we did with awning is leave it attached now and just pull it back over the tent before take down.

So no, its not pita, its awesome 

Cheers

   ok ok lol



set up in our back yard this weekend sorting how/where we are storing stuff and adding a few things that our couple trips have raised "hmmm this could be handy"

[speewa158]

You need to explain 1 or 2 things     
ls it raining 
Are we sober   
ls it we or am l doing it myself
so lf its raining /not raining & or Sober/ not so ber  & or not alone
Oh Yes & how many times you have done a Set with or with out help of cans or not
                                               

[Diesel Power]

Set up times is not the concern, it's the pack up time. I have two kids 7 &3 with 13 foot tent, from when I wake up to on the road is 2 hours without messing around. Best I did was 1.5 hrs.
Regards
Angus.

[Mace]

You need to explain 1 or 2 things     
ls it raining 
Are we sober   
ls it we or am l doing it myself
so lf its raining /not raining & or Sober/ not so ber  & or not alone
Oh Yes & how many times you have done a Set with or with out help of cans or not
                                               

Therein lies the meaning of life. One man against the world!

 

[lino6]

The more you do it the quicker it get. Work out the system that works and tweak bits here and there. We found its quicker to setup when you have your own jobs to do and not help each other (less yelling/fighting!!). We could get ours setup in probably 10min for just the tent, plus 30min for the awning (bit extra with walls). First setup though nearly started WW3, ant took a loooooooong time, but we got a lot better the more we used it.

Pack up can take a lot longer, but for an overnight trip we wouldn't setup everything. Biggest thing is when the floor gets wet and you have to dry before putting the cover on, bit paper towel usually sorts that out.

Yep they are not the quickest, but all in all I don't think they are too bad.

[Jakster1]

Looking at a size tent, probably 9 foot as I don't want a huge setup
Myself, wife and young son
Setup with help from the misso as well as she is looking after the little fella
Raining: hopefully not but probably will be
Sober: probably to begin with but working on that

From what I can tell the hard floors look quick and easy as to setup.
 It's not a problem for when we setup for a few days but just the quick overnighters on the way to where we are going

[oldmate]

It's not the tent, it's all the other crap that we all have to take, that takes the time.

[D4D]

Looking at a size tent, probably 9 foot as I don't want a huge setup
Myself, wife and young son

We are also a family of 3 and have a 9 foot tent. It is a compromise of speed vs. storage. Sure the hard floors are quicker but with a young one in tow you pack a lot of stuff. This is where the soft floor will win out. How many overnighters will you do vs. base camping?

[Bobsan]

Have a look at the video by Customline camper trailers on setup and packup on youtube, there isn't many videos that show the pack up of a soft floor in good detail,  customlines system works well.

[Team Evil]

My trailer 9ft, one person up and inside in 5 minutes.(basic).
Pack up one person under  20 min.

[2impulsiv]

You need to explain 1 or 2 things     
ls it raining 
Are we sober   
ls it we or am l doing it myself
so lf its raining /not raining & or Sober/ not so ber  & or not alone
Oh Yes & how many times you have done a Set with or with out help of cans or not
                                               

  Damn straight!

[Jakster1]

Thanks for all the replys gents.
Setup and pack up time and ease is the only thing I am a bit hesitant on when deciding on a soft floor camper over the hard floor.
I do believe for the price that soft floors get so much more everything like features and storage except the setup and pickup time.
We do plan to do a bit of touring all over the place so there will be a few 1, 2 nighters as well as longer stays.

[The punter]

Basic tent, under 10 min. Annexe roof 10 min, sides 10 min, other items 15. Always drinking beer in under 60 min with a full setup, under 15 for overnight stops

[Shelbyright]

How big a tent, 9ft, 12ft, 15 ft, makes a big difference! Some 9 footers can be set up roughly in 10 minutes.  Our 15 footer takes about 45 minutes fully set up.

I have a 16foot tent and it takes 15mins max. But what takes longer as with all campers is packing up.

[oldmate]

I don't have a soft floor, or hard floor, but I know it takes at least 5 mins.....
To get a beer, survey the site, move the car, get the dogs out, after that I don't care how long it takes, I have a beer.

[lino6]

I don't have a soft floor, or hard floor, but I know it takes at least 5 mins.....
To get a beer, survey the site, move the car, get the dogs out, after that I don't care how long it takes, I have a beer.

You related to speewa?   

[Nay-DMAX]

Ours is the 9ft tent already mentioned by the other half lino6 above. And he is right have your own jobs we choose the site and whilst he gets it level I start to get the trailer cover undone, we put those foam mats under the floor these are stored on top of tent so I usually set them up and help him open it up then leave him to peg the floor and do the inside poles, whilst he does this I set up the ozpig, chairs, table etc and then we do the awning. If we have the dogs then last time we just tied them to the bullbar so we knew where they were and they could see us still. (you cant do that with your son but depending on how old he is will depend on if he can go in the pram for a bit to keep you both free to do a quick set up.) In the 9ft tent we have enough room for our bags and the dogs sleep inside the tent part as well.

[mike and tracy davis]

Our Downunder soft floor 9ft takes 10 mins, 15mins with two fold up beds on the soft floor and 15mins 30seconds with open beer and bum on folding chair.
Cheers Mike

[oldmate]

You related to speewa?   

Lol. God I hope not  but we could be distant relatives, does he like beer?

[lino6]

Lol. God I hope not  but we could be distant relatives, does he like beer?

Speewa doesn't do pics, but have a chat to scarps about the best missed photo opportunity from the weekend!

[chisel]

I'd say 10mins without the annex ... and 40mins with the annex (Lifestyle extenda)

BUT ....
There's also the 5-20mins to get the trailer onto the site, or find the right spot if you're not in a van park.  Might also be extra time putting down matting if the site is rough.

and has been mentioned earlier, packup is a lot longer.  The trailer itself might only take 15mins to pack up but getting all the gear back in its rightful spot takes a lot longer depending on how long you've stopped for and how much has been strewn across the campsite and tent by the kids.  1.5 to 2 hrs is a good estimate I reckon.  Drop it to 1 hr if you've spent an hour the night before (after kids in bed).
I reckon just getting the tonneau on takes an average of 10mins for us - it's always a bit of a nuisance.

Of course it depends on a lot of things.