This could well start getting personal and nasty - so, I'm out.
My final observation is that Holtkampers appear to be insanely overpriced - I mean come on!, 11 - 13K for something that is little more than a well made tent?!!
If people chose to pay it, that is their prerogative - but, personally, I can think of many better ways of spending £13,000.
Certainly, if I was in charge of Pennine marketing I really would try to ensure that every dealer also stocked a Holtkamper, simply to boost Pennine sales when potential customers compared units.
'Nuff said, now - 'bye.
------------- Getting Old, Staying Active (much to Mrs Folder's dismay..)
Not trying to get nasty, just wondered what outfit you had!
I agree completely that Holtkamper are expensive, the reason I changed from Conway (taken over by Pennine) is the difficulty in erecting the awning especially when it was windy - trying to hold three poles upright and located each with the other, while maintaining a connection with the main assembly during a wet and windy outing was nigh impossible. Had Conway been able to supply an easy way of achieving this I would not have spent extra money and lost the benefit of hot water, inbuilt heater, large sink etc. It's all down to personal taste, when you get to my age simplicity becomes more appreciated and the cost and little extras have less meaning. Mind you wanted to sleep off the ground or would have stuck with my Outwell
Quote:
I still laugh at people who come up to me and say "I can buy a caravan for the price of that".
As plenty of new 2012 Bailey Orion caravans - complete with rot-free construction, blown air heating, cassette toilets, showers, 'proper kitchens with 'proper' fridges, etc, etc - can be purchased for the price of a Holtkamper, I can quite understand why you laugh.
It's a genuine rib-tickler.
Someone, somewhere, is making an awful lot of money out of those trailer tents.
------------- Getting Old, Staying Active (much to Mrs Folder's dismay..)
As plenty of new 2012 Bailey Orion caravans - complete with rot-free construction, blown air heating, cassette toilets, showers, 'proper kitchens with 'proper' fridges, etc, etc - can be purchased for the price of a Holtkamper,
And somewhere to store it without taking up half the road and annoying the neighbours by blocking their view. Had considered a campervan but had nowhere to park it and offsite storage would have been expensive.
Quote: Originally posted by Zantos on 16/1/2013
Not trying to get nasty, just wondered what outfit you had! I agree completely that Holtkamper are expensive, the reason I changed from Conway (taken over by Pennine) is the difficulty in erecting the awning especially when it was windy - trying to hold three poles upright and located each with the other, while maintaining a connection with the main assembly during a wet and windy outing was nigh impossible. Had Conway been able to supply an easy way of achieving this I would not have spent extra money and lost the benefit of hot water, inbuilt heater, large sink etc. It's all down to personal taste, when you get to my age simplicity becomes more appreciated and the cost and little extras have less meaning. Mind you wanted to sleep off the ground or would have stuck with my Outwell
An adapted porch awning would have been a much cheaper solution for you I would suggest.
Don't get me wrong I think the Holtkampers are lovely pieces of kit but i also wouldn't have wanted to lose those bits you mentioned. I think the lightness of the HK's is one huge advantage if touring and towing a lot and you can use a pretty small tow car whoch with some of the larger FC's you can't
Bottom line we all choose to spend our money on different things and all judge "value for money" in different ways (its not always price for me)
Certainly no point in comparing a TT or FC with a caravan purely on price.They are very different things often bought for different reasons with different running and lifetime costs associated with them
Quote: Originally posted by SGThomas on 17/1/2013As plenty of new 2012 Bailey Orion caravans - complete with rot-free construction, blown air heating, cassette toilets, showers, 'proper kitchens with 'proper' fridges, etc, etc - can be purchased for the price of a Holtkamper,
Providing you have a monster tug to tow it
Hardly! - I'm amazed at how light the new generation of vans are becoming.
I think the Orion 5 berth tops off at around 1300kg, so an awful lot of 'everyday' small cars will pull it.
I had an email today from Safeguard insurance promoting the new Bailey Pegasus - a very high spec (love the digital heating panel!) and all at under 1500kg.
As for storage - OK a TT might go in a garage (but who, in real life, has space in their garage for storage ;) If it needs to be kept on a drive, then you can just as easily store a small caravan - from any 'covenant' pov a TT is a caravan, so the same legal restrictions would apply.
------------- Getting Old, Staying Active (much to Mrs Folder's dismay..)
Around 1380kg max load I think. So with a recommended 80% match you would need a car around 1700kg and above (yes you can have a legal unit less than that obviously). Also at 6m + length you need a decent sized driveaway to store at home or pay for secure storage.
Insurance, servicing and increased fuel costs whilst towing all add up and so so residual values all add to the lifetime cost
Point is they are not like for like. Not everyone wants a caravan. Not everyone wants an expensive "tent" either - its what makes us all different so lets just enhjoy that ;)
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Topic: Holtkamper - UK distributor Changing
