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Ebay is a great place to look. Often a poor-looking listing for a tt - lack of/poor photos/info can put people off but in fact hides a gem. We bought a lovely 2007 Sunncamp for less than £400 last year because the poor photos made it look awful!

When we erected the tt for the first time it felt like luxury compared to our old tent! 

On a practical level it frees up tons more storage space.

Good luck  

Frees up space in the car. More comfortable with beds off ground. Canvas is more substantial and durable. Canvas also breathes unlike polyester, which means a more comfortable living environment and it is much safer to cook inside a canvas tent than a polyester one - trailer tents are designed to be cooked in. The kitchen is more substantial. Trailer tents tend to be more stable. They do open up the possibility of caravan only sites (trailer tent owners can join the Caravan Club for instance). Offer better head height in living area. Can be easier and quicker to pitch depending upon make and design.

I would never go back to a tent, but if you aren't persuaded because of concerns about towing or the like, then seriously consider a decent canvas frame tent.

I love my TT but I have ordinary tents as well. We use the TT for our long summer holidays but it takes too long to set up for an overnight or two night stop. Of course, it depends on whether you get one of the quick-erect models...ours is a classic design Conway.

Pluses? Comfort is definately superior, as is having a lot of storage in the trailer, having a kitchen on board and of course it's canvas. On the minus side it's more of a faff to put up, drying it out can be a problem, you have to have somewhere to keep it, you have the towing restrictions of 60mph etc, it costs more on the ferry if going abroad.

I've never had problems with pitch size and mine is pretty big once the sun canopy is on as well as all the awning sections. (See profile pix.) It's a neat rectangle when up. Campsites like TTs too..they're nice respectable tents!

Cost? Mine cost £200 second hand, from a friend, when it was 14 years old and in perfect nick. £500 nowadays would get you a good condition one around 10 years old,. The lifespan of a well cared for quality make TT is about 25-30 years, btw, so a 10 year old one has plenty of life in it yet. Prices will only go up between now and the summer though. If you want one, start looking now.

Quote: Originally posted by Steve McV on 13/4/2010

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Yes. You'll never be flooded.

Steve.

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Really???? Lol....the one time I've ever had to abandon a tent it was because a sudden monsoon had caused a small river to start running through the TT, which was pitched on a slope. We dug a trench above it to try and divert some of the water but there was a very real danger the water was going to undercut the wheels, so we grabbed our gear, told the campsite owner we'd be back in the morning and drove the 30 miles home. (There was nothing downhill of the TT so if it had slipped, only it would have been damaged.) Next day we went back and it had held, by some miracle...possibly the rope we'd run from the towbar to the nearest tree?....so we bailed out the awning and stayed for another three days, lol. But we were up to our ankles in mud every time we stepped down from the cabin into the awning area.

Had the awning flooded a few times, but never the living area in the camper.  It would be up to my waist to reach the beds.  I can't say the same about the tent we had before.

Steve.