Hi and can I please get advice?

[Bennyd04-87]

Hi guys and girls, name is Ben and I am new to the forum. Infact, all of these forums in general. I am looking to buy my first camper trailer. It will be to suit myself, my wife and our 3 year old daughter. Mostly 1 or 2 night trips. However we do plan to tour tasmania in it for 2 weeks at the end of the year.

Camper will be towed behind my 1994 2.8L turbo dual cab hilux. I am thinking I should get something light for this reason.

We would prefer quick and easy to set up and pack away. We are thinking hard floor for this reason.

We are wanting all the 'upgrades' whilst still not paying for them in purchase price (don't we all 😀). Are we really going to need a kitchen and 4 extra annexe rooms or not?

We are on a tight budget. Can borrow up to 5k from a family member. Anything under 2k I MIGHT BE able to convince the wife and family to make my early birthday present 😂😂😂

Should we get something 'basic' and upgrade as we need? Should we look at and newer soft floor with a few extras or and basic hard floor that is old? I don't think we are really into the pop up/caravans. What 'extras' do you think we can NOT go without? We Andre keen to get out there!

Thankyou for your help people. Much appreciated.

[KingBilly]

Welcome to myswag Ben.

$5K is not much of a budget for a hard floor, unless it is a well used one.  Your budget is more around the soft floor market.  With that in mind, hit the search button on here and have a good look around.  Heaps of info.  Then ask any questions.

Happy camping
KB

[Bennyd04-87]

Thanks for the reply king Billy.  Yes we are definately in the lower market. There are several older hard floor ones about. I think the quicker setup time will be OK but they do seem to loose a bit of space and are generally heavier. I think we will infact end up with a hard floor. Just not sure weather to get a more newer done up one at the top of our range, or a cheaper no frills bargain that we can adapt to how we want. Cheers

[DrewXT]

Hey Ben, welcome!

I agree with $5k being in the soft floor price range, you can probably get a new one from MDC or similar for those $$'s.

A mate recently picked up a 2 year old MDC that was worth about $12k new, for $2k, and had been used once, so there are some excellent bargains out there.

Don't let the idea of a slow packup put you off - we can be in bed with our soft floor about 15 minutes after stopping, assuming we peg out guy ropes, 10 minutes if it's a still night

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[MarkVS]

Ben,
Welcome to the forum..

With a soft floor, you get extra storage that will be handy with a young one....with an older model hard floor (which is where you are budget wise), storage is where you are likely to miss out.

Both weight wise should be fine.

Soft floors aren't that bad setting up...you just need to have a routine, and alter your trips. Eg..for your trip to Tassie, rather than moving every day, you go to one spot for a couple of days, and do daily trips out and about....and then move onto next spot for couple of days...

For that budget, I'd suggest you are more likely to get a younger soft floor than hard floor, which being your first camper, means it maybe in better condition ?

Hard floors "generally" are easier to setup......


Mark

[Bennyd04-87]

Thanks for the reply guys. Seem to be confirming what I am thinking about getting the soft floor. I fear a hard floor will lose too much storage and be a little cramped possibly.

Mdc has a good set up at the moment for 5500. We really can not stretch our budget that far. I know we are in the lower end. I personally want to get a cheaper one and ad things as we need.  Or do you think we should go for one with all the extras (only consider bargains like above) and only use what we need? Extra rooms can above ways be left at home for over night trips I suppose. The kitchen seems great but then we have above ways portable bbq so are we really saving that much room?

[ScarpsD40]

If this is your first camper, then just get the best unit (new or second hand) that your budget will allow. Don't worry too much about the bling at this stage. Focus on the build, structural components, canvas quality etc. every chance you'll use this for a year or two, work out over trips what suits you (we're all different), and upgrade to another unit in the future. Use as much as your existing gear as possible and most importantly don't sweat what others say. Just get out and enjoy and overtime you'll work out what makes the experience the best

[MarkVS]

If this is your first camper, then just get the best unit (new or second hand) that your budget will allow. Don't worry too much about the bling at this stage. Focus on the build, structural components, canvas quality etc. every chance you'll use this for a year or two, work out over trips what suits you (we're all different), and upgrade to another unit in the future. Use as much as your existing gear as possible and most importantly don't sweat what others say. Just get out and enjoy and overtime you'll work out what makes the experience the best

Great advice 

[DrewXT]

Hey Ben, you've not said where you are located?  There's a few campers popped up on Facebook that might suit your budget, but not if you have to cross the country to buy it

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Bennyd04-87]

Hi drew xt. We are located in bendigo. Most the good ones seem to be on the other side of Melbourne.  Not an ideal trip with a thirsty old diesel, no air con and a 3 year old.

Not to worry we actually bought one this morning :-)

2015 forward trailers (sold by dingo?) with a queen bed, enclosed annexe, swing out out tailgate with kitchen and hand pump (no on board water), toolbox and spare wheel on front, side door access, gas bottle holder, 20 inch sides... whole thing is near new. Only set up twice and only slept in once. And we got it for a steal 😀 if I can work out how to put pics I will

[Rumpig]

Good little starter camper here http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=50924.0

[Bennyd04-87]

  Pic

[Desert lover]

Hey Benny... looks like you have done well.  Enjoy the camping experience/s... Some nice spots around Bendigo and not too far to travel with the young one on board!