I would go and view a good many of them before making up your mind, Rachie.
Although I haven't ever owned an FC, I've seen plenty of them, and I think the one thing I would miss over a caravan would be the lack of space - FC's are so roomy!
You could look for a three/four berth, and your lad could have his own space in a pup tent at the side, or in a sleeping tent in an awning.
Lots of advice on what to look for when buying a caravan in the features/tips part of this forum at the top of the page.
As to the extra costs, if you can store on the drive that would save on storage, but you will need to ensure that your car will tow the weight of the caravan you choose.
If you want to go away all year through you need a van that you can all fit in without an awning. I would look for two separate seating areas that make into double beds, rather than fixed bunks. Your children could top and tail on the odd occassion they both go with you. Children soon outgrow the single bunks.
------------- Started with a motorbike and tent.......my gallery, my life.
As someone who done exactly the same this year, albeit with younger kids, I can say we are glad we have made the change for us, as we have done more weekends already since May when we changed, than we did whole of last year!
Set up times and pack ups are reduced even if putting up porch awning and many more things can be left stored AND remain accessible within caravan.
You do have to be a lot more careful with overall weights and nose weights and loading weight distribution on a caravan, over a FC but you will soon get the hang of it.
As far as space I would certainly be looking at maybe 5/6 berth if two older children, which should then give you extra living space although you might find older one wants own space if he does come and an awning annex may be better?
Some of the fixed double bunk versions with wider bunks like the Adria Altea 542DK may be better for older kids as they will have room to sleep comfortably lengthwise and width wise. Bunks are rated to 75kg as well (just over 11 stone). Plenty of other fixed bunk models just check them all out for what you think suits you best and get kids to try their beds. As above many UK models will have small bunks width and length so will be outgrown by older children
If only one child going you have extra storage for your bags on the other bunk which is useful
Caravanfinder useful website to search by layout - good luck!
Hi, just a thought, we had a folding camper for 4 years and went away all year round. As it has everything a caravan has roof is the only difference. We were away in minus 5 but with the heater on it warmed up lovely. That is assuming you are talking FC and not a trailer tent. Just wanted to let you know its possible. We have actually just sold our FC and are picking up a caravan Friday. If you do go for caravan only suggestion would be make sure car is strong enough. Ours really is not and we are now going to have to look at getting a new one in the New Year, but you really can go away in the FC in the winter.
Agree we were away at an early Easter a few years ago and had frost and light snow and below freezing temps overnight and were snug inside with heater going all time. Ensuring you have somewhere to dry out in winter can be issue.
You also don't generally have a gas heater so need to be on a reliable EHU in winter, and of course have full facilities on site like showers
So although it can be done, off season camping in a caravan over FC will be easier overall
We have had tents, trailer tent, FC and caravans. As your children are older we found that, like you only one wanted to come with us, we bought a small 2 berth with end kitchen as out daughter (16) does not like the caravan and always wants to sleep in the awning / own tent. We have a universal 3 berth inner tent and a porch and main awning. I made some small elastic "bands" with "Lafuma reclining chair chord" and now the inner tent can be attached to almost anything and in any position so can use both awnings with inner tent for very little cost.
We keep our van at a local farm with basic security but its cheap and works well - could always take the cushions out and leave a window blind open as people are less likely to nick it as the cushions cost a bit to replace.
We love our caravan and as we only invested 1K in it then we dont feel we have to use it every weekend.
With the FC we were always weather watching to take it down dry. I would not go back to a FC now but we do have tents for camping with friends / festivals etc..
we did the same last year and i don't regret it ,not been away yet this year health and wealth problems have put paid to that ,but its day will come again
We've just come back from our first short trip after moving from a 12 year old Conway Crusader (6 berth, slide-out beds, loo etc.) to a 3 year old Elddis 474.
We owned the FC for just over a year and enjoyed it but decided that we wanted something that we could use without having to consider the weather too much. In all that time we were fortunate never have to do a wet pack up though the last trip had a very wet set-up which was one of the reasons we considered changing.
When deciding on the 'van we had a number of criteria in mind, the most important being a fixed bed layout, a total length that would still enable us to park it at home. After searching online we found one we liked the look of at a local dealer and visited them the same day we came back from our last FC trip. It met all of our criteria and we agreed a fair bit off the price and some extras so left a deposit there and then.
Given that we'd only had one trip we're still in the learning phase, however so far we've found that:
Shaving the default noseweight from 100kg+ down to 80 took more doing than we thought and it means we can't use the front storage areas when travelling.
Fuel economy has dropped by about 8mpg which is no surprise given we're towing something that weighs 200kg or so more and is no longer below the car's roofline.
The FC wasn't swayed (literally) by wind whilst the caravan does move about more when travelling across unsheltered roads. Again, no surprise there.
As a passenger my wife thinks that the caravan gives a smoother ride. That could be because it has a stabiliser on it which the FC didn't.
Leaving things in the front locker isn't a problem as it's not blocked by the travel cover and bed when set up!
More work surfaces when preparing food/washing pots and they're also high enough so I don't have to bend over them, thus avoiding back-ache.
The interior feels smaller but more cosy - our colour scheme is light wood and we have a huge single pane front window and three sky lights.
It's easier to regulate the temperature - the FC tended to go from hothouse during a sunny day to a draughty cave at night. Not so with the caravan where we comfortable all of the time
I have done tents, caravans, folding camper, now back to a caravan. We had a Conway Crusader which is one of the larger campers.
Advantages of a large FC over a caravan
A bit smaller to store, Easier to tow, Lighter weight, better MPG and don't need a large car. Two end (fixed) beds (6ft 4in x 4ft) made up ready could be an advantage? Third double made from seats.
Disadvantages.
As mentioned, weather watching. Should I book a day or two before for a bank holiday and find most sites full? Folding it away wet and trying to find a fine day to dry it out. Having to open it up to get inside at home to check if it is ok. Just open the door on a caravan and walk in. Putting it up when it's raining. More chance of damp in walls. When it is up you have to lift up the hob and sink, put the shelf on, make up the toilet cubicle, put the inner ceiling up, clip on bed inner tents etc. The living space is smaller than an average 4 /5 berth caravan, length and width. Storage is much less than a caravan. We had to used a folding wardrobe in the awning. Not as secure. End beds difficult for person at the back to get out, nothing to hold on to and beds high up.
Awning and connections similar to caravan.
All the best,
Fred.
Just one note in case anyone else is looking at this and considering FC/caravan etc - we never ever took down the inner lining or inner bed tents of our FC, we never had to and were told not too - it only took us maximum 10 mins to put the entire thing up so you dont have to take down the lining which, once when I washed it took absoultely ages to put back up.
I agree we always kept our inner linings up apart from the once a year wash. Putting up the inside was a doddle once you had done it a few times and not really a massive downside for us.
However I believe you may not be able to keep them up on the sliding bed Crusaders?
The fold over bed types like Pathfinder and later Crusaders also had a 4ft 6 wide front bed
We had our folding camper for 3 years nd enjoyed it very much. However, we wanted to get into rallying so that we could get our more often and hopefully make friends to camp with. Although it was possible in the FC we didn't have onboard toilet or hot water or heater. Our garage couldn't store a bigger FC and we don't have anywhere at home to keep it so we thought as we would need to pay for storage we might as well get a caravan.
Its much roomier, cosier, cooler, and more comfortable than the Countryman. The only bugbear is having to make our bed up every night - we have a twin dinnette layout so I make up the end for our daughter and leave it like that for the duration of our break - but I do that while OH takes the dog for her last walk. In theory I suppose it could all be left made up as in a camper but you'd need to live mostly in the awning.
We had many happy times in our camper and I do miss it, but having experienced the luxury of the caravan we are very glad we switched.
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Topic: From folding camper to caravan ?
