Hi All, been looking now for several months and still unsure weather to go for secondhand (4k-ish) camplet or cabanon stratos. We are early 30s couple trying for a family and although are brand new to camping thought it would be a great way to shoot off for breaks at short notice and with not too much hastle and something we could still do when a little one came along. Heard some issues about the water tightness of some camplets and being washed out which did put me off a little. Can anyone offer any advice or help with concerns.
Camplet = more expensive but very easy to use = possible water tightness concerns
Stratos = cheaper option but with zip in groundsheet
If you are brand new to camping, I wouldn't jump in with both feet on either of these tents,maybe pick up an old unit for now. After all, you may find you hate it! I can't comment on the Stratos except to say it is based on an old Conway design,at least the trailer part,.and these were rock solid,so trying for a family won't trouble it! .The camplet is very water tight until you open a door in the rain,and there have been comments about the annexe leaking,but one thing to bear in mind is that you have no view from one bed to the other,not so good with little ones. Also,the camplet may be advertised as 4-5 berth,but it's better suited for a couple in my opinion.
I have the Cabanon Manga, which is just a little smaller that the stratos and myself and hubby to be find it huge! The fabric of the unit is top quality and has not leaked at all, we recently took it to silverstone for the F1 and it rained and was windy and we did not have one leak or problem. It was also nice and warm overnight, coming from a tent and being cold overnight waking several times, it was lovely to have a good nights sleep!! The unit itself takes 10 mins to set up and the awning another 20, so in total it takes about 30 mins to get up completely and is soo easy! i cant recommend Cabanon enough! I cant comment on Camplet though but i have heard they are nice units.
Not heard any problems with the main Camplet raining in. Have heard a couple about the annexe but i've not tried our annexe yet so can't comment on it. Our Camplet is definitely water tight. If there were problems with an older one leaking it wouldn't be too big a job to re-proof it.They are really easy to use and tow and are very good quality.
They don't have a sewn in groundsheet, which in my opinion is a bonus as it's much easier to deal with a loose groundsheet when it's wet and muddy and if you don't want to put a groundsheet down you don't have to.
We had a 2002 Concorde which we found heavy to open the top lid as it did not have gas assist. The underbed skirt was a pain to fit and having to peg out even for overnight stops took time. we changed to a non pegging Trigano folding camper which was much quicker to put up. It would also be better if you have young children as sleeping compartments are sperated by footwell.
I assume as you are starting a family there is at least 2 of you,so the "heavy" lid won't be a problem,the waterproof issue is probably caused by fitting the annex badly,and the underbed skirt goes on before opening the camper,easy. You haven't mentioned overnight stops,these are a pain in most campers anyway. As for smaller non pegging units,without the awning they are tiny,and with ,they are no quicker than a trailer tent. Plus,the kitchen is next to the bed,not ideal. (It's close in the Camplet too). You can ignore Stuarts comment,we usually do,he's just regretting getting rid of his Concorde!. The Manga is very nice,but I stick with my view that you get an old Conway for now,then when you are ready to upgrade,I will sell you mine!
Used to have a camplet apollo basic and found nothign wrong for mobile people as I could not get out of bed because you have to climb up into the trailer to bed. If I was mobile I woul dnot of soled it what so ever. But because I need to be albe ot get out of bed myself at night especially we now have a Pennine Fiesta. Smashing FC. Not as easy to put up as the camplet as the camplet is just altogether, so you pull the awning with the trailer base like a pram cover comes over.
The camplet have also Isabella awnings and they are excellant maker.But as a member has stated if your trying for a family you will want to see the little ones and there is only a zip in one side of the tent part so you cannot see them in the other side. Which will last you a many years because the top can take the weight of children easily.We never had any leaks what so ever anywhere.
The pennine is something different. Although they have a big awning they can be used without as we did for 7 out of the 9 weeks we were away. No problem, no rain in.You have the two beds either side all within the unit so you can see them all the time. It is just like a caravan with a canvas roof. Whereas some are like caravans with a solid roof and canvas sides.
We started out in tents, which I still do from time to time, then bought a Camplet, which we traded in a couple of years ago for a Jamet Jametic, which is very similar to the Trigano Odyssee.
We had problems with the Camplet annex; it doesn't have mudflaps and the main unit had a loose groundsheet so on a particularly wet weekend in Wales we had a stream coming through the tent! It had happened before on a much smaller scale, but a zip in groundsheet seemed very attractive after that! I should say we'd never felt the need for a SIG/ZIG whilst using the tents, or when not using the annex, so I do think it was the lack of mudflaps that was the problem.
The Jamet we have now has an underbed tent, so we don't need an annex at all, and the storage is better as well. Although the Camplet will hold quite a lot it does have to be packed just right, and we found we were putting less and less in the trailer for ease. One of our reasons for getting a trailer tent was to be able to hitch up and go, so the Camplet wasn't really working for us in that respect either. In our new one the storage space is under the trailer side bed, so its very easy to pack, and it holds more as well. Now we really do only have the food and clothing in the car.
Camplets are really clever, light weight, easy to tow, easy to store, and very good quality, but it still has to fit your needs to be right for you. What turned out to be right for us was actually a cheaper unit, but we have older kids and a big garden.
Where and when will you be camping? If you are always going to need an awning, then one which is easy to pitch would be a big plus. Conversely if you are doing a lot of stopovers then you need to consider a cabin only option. If you want to start a family you might want to think about where a baby will sleep in your unit, and also storage - those little people need an awful lot of stuff!!
We have a Camp-let Royal which was manufactured in 1990, but surprisingly the new ones are really not that much different, if at all. Mine even has a built in refridgerator whereas the newer ones don't so I'm told. The snag is it runs off a 12volt DC power supply and is very power consuming. You do need to have means of recharging your battery because the fridge will run it down in a day or so. If you go for electric hook-up you could use a 240volt to 12volt transformer and run the fridge all the time, but I don't have one so we tend not to use the fridge. Even so it still works perfectly well. We have never had any problems with water getting in, in fact quite the opposite. The canvas is still generally strong after 21 years, but has had a couple of patches here and there. I haven't used it for three years now and last weekend I opened it up for the first time since then. It looked exactly the same as it did the last time I packed it away - still in perfect condition and bone dry even though it's stored outside with a tarpaulin covering it. It's an excellent trailer tent, very easy to set up and tows like you don't even know you've got it. I'd recommend it to anyone.
In August 2008 we took it to a campsite near Bude, Cornwall. The place was a total mudbath following persistant heavy rain for several days prior. It was the only time I've ever been camping in my life when I could push the tent pegs into the ground easily by hand. I even moved the tent about 10 yards after a couple of days because the ground was so soggy. Yet the sleeping compartments remained dry and comfortable. What more could you ask for from a trailer tent? This was the last time I used it in anger, and even looked at it, but we're going away in it again next month.
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Topic: Newbie Camplet Help
.The camplet is very water tight until you open a door in the rain,and there have been comments about the annexe leaking,but one thing to bear in mind is that you have no view from one bed to the other,not so good with little ones. Also,the camplet may be advertised as 4-5 berth,but it's better suited for a couple in my opinion.
