Is the traditional soft floor camper a thing of the past?

[Tweekin]

  Yep as much of a copy as you can get. I spoke to a guy from Eagle at a show last year and he was quite proud of the fact that they had taken someone's design and knocked it off to the finest detail.  Says a lot about the company IMHO.

Agree , spoke to the guy at the Sydney show and he said the same thing . I could not believe my ears

[melba]

I have drifta draws and slide out table in the truck, absolutely love there quality and customer service, so too there utube videos. As good as the quality of there trailers are,  i find personally theres too many poles  and bits etc to setup for me personally.

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[JRABS]

We have an Austrack softfloor and while it suited at the time, the setup time is the main reason it hasn't been out for 12 months now.
I have an old van I am making a career out of renovating at the moment and the Drifta kitchen will be the only thing that will come with us to the dark side.

[MrNoodle]

We recently sold our soft floor taj mahal in under a week (deposit in under 24 hours). Price it right and it sold. 2 kids under 6 and a wife that loved setting it up. Moved into a Jayco Expanda now. I wouldn't say soft floor campers are dead, just more refined market. Yes we loved the room and everyone was always at our site but it was always a minimum 4 nights we would go away otherwise too much work. The double handling of all the gear was annoying roo

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[Moxley]

We recently sold our soft floor taj mahal in under a week (deposit in under 24 hours). Price it right and it sold. 2 kids under 6 and a wife that loved setting it up. Moved into a Jayco Expanda now. I wouldn't say soft floor campers are dead, just more refined market. Yes we loved the room and everyone was always at our site but it was always a minimum 4 nights we would go away otherwise too much work. The double handling of all the gear was annoying roo

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We went from an expanda caravan to a soft floor. 

The expanda still required the beds to be made up each time, and the awning always needed more effort in terms of staying it in rough weather.  We only set the annex up once because it took so long. In the end we found ourselves being inside too much, mainly because the kitchen and fridge were inside.

So, sold the expanda and went for a soft floor because we had the internal space to hang out in bad weather, the cooking was outside, and the main bed was actually a proper queen innerspring compared to the crappy caravan one in the expanda, and storage and towing were much easier compared with the taller, wider and heavier expanda.

For overnighters in the softfloor we don't set up the awning, and being lighter, we spin it around to set up on the direction that best suits the weather.

All up, horses for courses, but the softfloor has been the horse for us.

[tryagain]

I definitely don't think it's a thing of the past, maybe the Aussie made soft floor is going that way but soft floors, in general, will always serve a purpose. One of their main draw cards is the price that allows people to give it a go without requiring a very big financial outlay, If you look at the Camper Prices topic a third of people spend under $10,000 purchasing their camper, most of what is available in that bracket is soft floors. Excluding those who have age-induced comfort and ease of setup requirements (bickie dippers), I find it interesting the amount of people who go to a caravan type setup only to realise that it either changes they way they "camp" in a way that while increases the comfort, reduces the enjoyment they get from it or realise that the setup time isn't that much quicker and revert back to a soft floor, or even a tent or swag. I think some hybrids go some way to addressing this but their typical price precludes 90% of buyers.

There are trade off's with every type of camper/caravan and people's different camping styles and requirements meaning there is no one size fit's all. As most people who start out aren't 100% sure if it's for them, soft floors allow an entry point into camper trailers, some then move onto other styles of camper or caravan to find what's best for them, but for many, a soft floor is still the best comfort/camping experience compromise.

[DrewXT]

We looked at hard floors, and really wanted to buy a Camprite clone or Modcon Quattro, but in the end, they didn't have the living space of the Customline 10' Walk Up...

We've just had 10 nights on Fraser, and every night all our friends were in our annex, which speaks volumes for the size and practicality of it

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[Nomad]

I just find that my style of camping is different with each trip that I do that no particular camper suits me anymore.

If its a quick weekend away its usually car only with a couple of two man tents, if its away with friends surfing or fishing or whatever its a swag on the roof, if its longer I use the new blackwolf turbo twin air.......

The new trailer, which should be here but isn't, will eventually have a water tank and kitchen set up in it but to be honest I am not in a rush to do anything elaborate in that regard either, and when I do I'll probably make it removable for the same reasons as above.

Anyway I don't know if that contributes to the soft floor v everything else but thats my dilemma

 

[stabicraft]

Looked at soft floors, but didnt like them.

Too long to erect.

My, nearly 30 year old cub, takes 30 seconds to open up ready to sleep.
1/2 hour to fully set up with the awning.

Couldnt be happier.

[The punter]

Doesn't matter if they are local or Chinese chicken, it was the aforementioned double handling that saw us move on. They do suit young families and those on a budget. There will always be a place for them I think