Sure many have pondered on this question before. Been camping for many years now and the last outing at Easter we decided we had just had enough of spending 2 hours putting up, pegging down, filling up, our 6 berth tunnel tent.
So i come away thinking right 'lets get rid of the tent and get a cheap second hand caravan'. Thing is there's no such thing really, not in my budget anyway (sub £1000, but much lower if possible) that's not likley to slowly and systematically disintergrate whilst travelling down the motorway.
Next idea, trailer tent, or folding camper, or folding caravan, or whatever a 'trailer tent' is called nowadays? My question is, and i know this is going to vary from model to model, if i go onto the wonder that is Ebay and spend say £300 - £500 on a used 'trailer tent' am i going to be spending the same amount of time putting it up as my current tent just for the advantage of raised beds? Is there any significant time saving on pitching time on a T/T over a standard tent? Are there any particular makes/models that are easier/quicker to up than others? There's only 3 of us and a dog so a 4 berth with awning is going to be big enough.
I have absolutley no idea with these so any comments or suggestions would be very welcome and thanks in advance
We bought a 2nd hand 20 year old Conway TT. Putting up and taking down wasn't really any quicker but there was nothing to put away when we got home because all the camping stuff lived in the TT.
Mine is considered to be quick erecting,however,it aint! And I almost always have to open it out at home even after dry trips. We usually pack up early on site and the condensation under the mattresses and the dew on the tent generally would soon cause problems.
It takes two of us about an hour to put up our trailer tent, then another hour to set up inside. We don't rush, we are on holiday after all. We could probably do it a lot quicker if we had to. If you are looking for a quicker set up then i've heard that folding campers which don't need an awning are very quick but not sure whether you can get one with your budget :(
There are other advantages to a tt over a tent. You can get a huge 8 berth tent on a small tent pitch :) And as there is no sewn in groundsheet you can, if you choose, go on a hard standing pitch. We did so last year and found not worrying about a groundsheet quite liberating.
We have had a few caravan's but didn't like towing them, we have to keep checking that the tt is still there ;)
We moved from a tunnel tent to a trailer tent (Chantilly GL) to gain comfort / convenience / space. Quickly got fed up with having to put up the awning for somewhere to cook / sit and for tinkles during the night.
Upgraded that to folding camper (Pennine Pathfinder) to gain greater comfort and convenience. We particularly wanted all facilities to be in the main unit and no need to put the awning up every trip. We liked the unit a lot, but didn't use it outside of the main summer trip because of the issues around drying it out at home.
Sold that and bought a decent canvas tent and trailer. Happy.
We have recently moved from tunnel tent to frame tent to trailer tent. The tunnel tent was a nightmare pitching in the rain being an all in one (which I thought would make it easy)whereas the frame tent you put the frame up then canvas, then inner and groundsheet fitted over the stormflap making it near as good as a sewn in ground sheet.
The sleeping area of the tt opens up in about 10 mins but ours doesn't have any 'standing' room its just beds so needs the awning up. We have yet to pitch the awning properly but will probably take about another 30 mins and then another hour or so to fill as a normal tent. In hindsight I would probably have gone for a combicamp as you can use it without the awning and probably still be able to cook inside if careful ie not frying etc. If not fussed about age you should be able to get a combicamp in your budget (sometimes cheaper!)
As you can see from my outfit I still have a small tent for short stays & when I don't have another adult with me to help pitch.
It sounds as i thought (but hoped it wouldn't be) that i'm not really going to have any significant gains in pitching time with a 'standard' t/t over my current set up.
Tynx, your combicamp suggestion might just be a goer though. Had a quick look on Ebay and although there is'nt a huge selection to choose from they do look very interesting. Sellers are quoting pitch up times for the main unit as a couple of minutes. The awning may well add another 20-30 mins on top of this but i guess with a caravan you'd have the same addition to time erecting an awning. Only down side, for the older ones in my price range, against a t/t is they seem to be slightly less caravan like in that theres no kitchen units or 'fixed' power sockets, etc. This i could live with though, i could just use my existing kit from the tent.
Interested in any comments from owners of one of these in what they are like to actually live with and use. Given i would be looking at an older model for my price range any weak points on them i need to look out for and is the 2 minute pitch time realistic, wishfull thinking, or sales patter? Also anywhere else other than ion here and ebay i should be looking for one.
my old pullman folding camper ,cost sub £1000 ,but i had to travel to pick it up and it needed work ,but well worth the effort .i think 2 minutes is a downright lie ,most units take around 20 minutes for the main unit and about a hour for the awning if done properly .your probably looking at the wrong time of year as this is the most expensive ,feb/march oct/nov are the best buying months
The Combi Camps do go up very quickly, as I understand the main unit doesn't need pegging, which makes a big difference to pitching time. If you are staying for any length of time though you will want to pitch the awning, and on older models that might take a little while. It does give you the flexibility to do that on your own schedule though, something I think I would like!
Ours is a quick erect TT, with an integral awning, and its the only type of TT we've owned. It is quicker to erect than a tunnel tent, but I'm not sure that a traditional TT would be. The pluses though are space and comfort. Canvas is a lot nicer to live under than synthetic fabrics, and proper beds make a big difference to me. The square sides mean that you have more headroom and actual living space compared to a tunnel of the same footprint. Our TT is a similar size on paper to our old tunnel tent, but feels much more spacious.
The other advantage is that it is always packed ready to go, which cuts down my prep time massively. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to the old days of trying to cram everything into the car. Of course using a trailer for your existing gear would do cover that as well, and I suppose you could switch to a frame tent and trailer for space and canvas. We decided that if we were going to tow we were going to have proper beds!
We changed from a large tunnel tent to an old combi camp. It is true the main unit does go up within 2-3 mins max. We however are a family of 4 and the 2 small doubles were feeling a bit small. The main unit went up very quickly but the awning took the same sort out time for other tents. For stays less than a week we used a day tent as this was a bit quicker to pitch and far less hassle for us to dry if we had to pack up wet (our Tarmac drive is not very suitable for pegging out!). In the older models the storage is on top of the beds so obviously you have to move that before you can sort the beds. It was however a good way for us to try trailer tenting, we found it suited us much better. We were going to keep our combi for a couple more years but trigano quick erecting tents took our fancy and we couldn't resist an odyssee in the end of season sale. We've had it 6mths and finally get to try it out next week....
------------- From tents to trailer tents to a tin tent to an air tent to trailer tent and back to tin tent!
Ive tried most combinations over the years and find a TT to be the right mix. I have a Sunncamp 400se trailer tent. The main cabin goes up very quickly for overnighters or weekends with the option of spending about a hour and a half for the huge 4mtr long awning - which make for a very spacious holiday, but not worth erecting unless you are staying for a long weekend at the very least. A quick cabin only pitch with minimal pegging can be done in about 10 minutes, which means you sleep on a pretty good bed that's off the floor and there is adequate storage inbetween the bedrooms to store most of what you are likely to need for a weekend jaunt. I prefer basic camping and like the fact that the mains hookup lead is a cheap option(£40) and things like fridges become almost disposable items should they go wrong - unlike snazzy factory fitted options which cost the earth to repair when they inevitably go wrong.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: New Tent or T/T ?
