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We are thinking of buying a trailer tent. The idea is to go for short jouneys in the UK and, less often but more siginificantly, for touring the continent. We looked at folding campers because they seem to be quick to put up and if we are changing sites every two or three nights then that will matter. We have camped before with a very heavy canvas and cotton tent that was tough to manhandle and then took ages to erect. It used fiber glass poles that all had to be threaded through the canvas which took a lot of time and effort - eight in all I think. Also, air beds have to be pumped up etc. The Cabanon Stratos L took our eye at a showroom. We like the idea that the matresses are always ready, the tent part seemed better thought out than our old tent (zippable pole channels) and when time is short just the sleeping part can be erected (maybe as quick as an FC). Fully set out it seems a great tent with lost of space.

1. Has anyone toured with a Stratos or other similar trailer tent? How does it work out?

2. Will I end up cursing having such a difficult-to-construct unit again?

3. Do continental camp sites cope with touring customers?

4. When looking at the costs of ferries I get stuck. The prices we see are this years last-minute prices. Are these typically higher than, lower than or the same as ferries booked in January/February for an August crossing?

Any other advice would also be appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi and welcome to UKCS!

If you are planning on touring, (and you have the budget) then a folding camper is the way to go. How many of you are there in the family? A folding camper such as the Pennine Sterling will sleep 6 but we always find we have to put up the awning for 5 of us. Suppose it would be ok for overnight stops though. I couldn't imagine touring with a TT. A huge plus with a folding camper is that you have 2 double beds that are permanently made up.

Look at the various models though - Pennine and Conway dominate the market, but don't rule out Riva / Dandy as they have some excellent models and their selling point is that you can pack them away when wet (and leave them stored wet if necessary) without causing any damage. You would have to like pvc though! Personally I don't and prefer canvas, but it really depends on your needs. With the Pennine and Conway models you really shouldn't leave them folded up damp for any more than 24 hours - mould/mildew will soon start and it's a bu99er to get rid of.

Sites on the continent are much more geared up to tourers than we are in the UK, you will have no worries there and even in peak season it is not always necessary to book unless you want to stay at one of the all-singing-all-dancing sites.

Ferries release their 2008 prices in September - and if you book Sept/Oct/Nov you will get the very best prices. Depending on who you sail with, consider using Tesco Clubcard deals, or Airmiles, to cut a chunk out of the price.

LD Lines offer excellent value for money - we sailed with them from Portsmouth to Le Havre (overnight sailing) for £280 return for the 5 of us with car + roofload + Folding camper AND cabins. Of course you can get much cheaper still if you take a shorter crossing.

Finally, pop into the Camping and Caravanning Abroad section....there is a whole load of good advice!!

Claire

We have never had a FC but we do have a Stratos L. The stratos L is easy to put up, even with the awning but I would not like to tour with one. Even a folding camper would be a bit of bind if you were changing regular with family.

We take everything but the kitchen sink which makes for very pampered camping but it takes four hours to pack or unpack.

For touring I would recommend a larger folding camper, we can easily pitch ours and have the kettle on in 30mins, thats not using the awning or the bed skirts, no pegging out needed at all. We are both in our 60s and only 5' 1" and 5' 6". The trailer might be bigger to tow but is much easier to erect than a TT or small F.C.  The larger F.Cs. have 2 double or king sized beds ready made up and a kitchen inside, some have a toilet as well.  If you want more room, instead of using the awning pitch a 2m or 3m square day tent next to the camper.

Ray.

Thanks for all your very sensible advice. It is fantastic to find out directly from people with experience. Collectively it sounds pretty convincing that no-one tours with trailer tents - or not as a choice anyway.

A folding camper seems to have many advantages for touring and the points above are well taken. For us an FC would exceed the room we have to store which is a pity and with the added costs really make for a less attractive package just now. The Combi Camp is a really elegant solution and we have looked at one but my OH does'nt like it and I have to agree that in the four person layout the beds are pretty narrow. Unfortunate since it is an extremely elegant solution.

Thinking it through then, first our two daughters are both old enough to pitch in and help (no pun intended) not hinder which is a plus - there are four of us by-the-way. We could plan really carefully around a minimum set of kit choosing stuff that is easy to assemble and break-down again (I imagine everyone thinks that way even if they are not planning to tour). Working on this basis, and from what you have all said, it looks like pitching and taking down would still be an hour plus though. A process that could be split into 15 minutes when we arrive and the rest the next morning. In other words if it is late just putting up the sleeping accomodation only. We could even leave in a similar two-stage fashion taking the awning down at the end of the night before leaving - except taking down in the dark must be much more difficult. So, is this whole process comfortable enough to want to repeat every two or three days? I reckon you would all probably side with the no vote here. We will need to sleep on it I think.

hi taylor trent take a look at the raclet solena its a folding camper the main unit can be erected in  less than 2 mins & the fixed bed can be made up ready for you to use the awning take 10 - 15 mins at most also the solena has plenty of under bed storage & has a built on roofrack this unit would be perfect for touring .

HI,

If you want a quick up/down take a look at the camp-let at camperlands web site 

- we bought one this year they are danish - and the DVD that came with it shows a danish family that tour, quite sweet - but must say haven't done a big tour with ours, but I find it quicker and easier than our old TT - which was lovely but Big and time consuming. There are four of us and a dog.. 

Good luck,

So. We have found a trailer tent and are picking it up today. In the end we bought a second-hand unit, a Trigano Oceane 315. Why? Because it seems much better value than a new Stratos units we looked at and to be honest I got miffed by the dealer messing us about on price. I have a rule which is that if anyone tells me you can have this price but you must commit today then my answer is an automatic 'no'. Anyway, second hand this unit has corner steadies which were extra on the new Cabanon as well as an A-frame box and an under-bed tent. There is no doubt that price-wise second hand can be a bargain.

While I don't think there is much in it, it seemed to us that the Trigano is slightly quicker to pitch - and that of course is important to us. On the other hand it is smaller than the Cabanon Stratos and does not have the large built-in porch area. The beds are narrower principally because the seat parts that fit over the lockers in the trailer are not included in the bed. The bed instead being just on the fold-out sections which float above free-space either side of the trailer. Why? I think that on more expensive Triganos the beds are on slatted bases and incorportaing the seat areas which are on hard locker tops would leave one person sleeping across the two surfaces. This makes sense but it is not necessary of course to make it work the same way on the units with plywood bed bases like the Oceane. I expect that the inner tent designs and maybe other parts are shared across models so the separation is carried over. The beds are also a little shorter that the Stratos and I only just fit (I am only 6' so no giant). Its kitchen seems lighter weight than the Stratos one though, 30kg instead of 40kg, which is a plus when you are lifting off the tail (in fact we had decided to go for the Stratos without the kitchen because it was so heavy). Remembering particularly that the kitchen will be loaded when we remove it and replace it in the field (no pun intended). The other thing I noted that could be something to look for is it seemed that the Trigano was replete with lots of tie-backs and clips and devices to keep things open or closed or out of the way. My feeling was that the Stratos had fewer of these. My wife put it this way, it is as if the designers had actually used a trailer tent. While I could be wrong about the Cabanon (you should take a look yourself if you are interested) our old tent (non-trailer tent that is) certainly lacked this attention to detail and this really annoyed me when we were camping in it. For example our tent had nowhere to hang a light which is a right pain. So, if anyone is thinking of buying I would just suggest you take a look for these details.

The Raclet Quickstop looked interesting on paper (or rather on-web) and I would have given one serious thought if we had found one second hand in time. This looked like the TT most suitable for touring if you want the narrow 1.3m trailer which we did. The Combi Camp type units are plainly excellent for touring and just excellent anyway. We looked at one but the trailer was too wide for us (which would not be a problem for most people) and the beds in a four-berth configuration are rather too cosy.

I know that the advice here has generally been TTs are not for touring but our sites are booked up for a 15-day long tour in the summer from the bottom of England to Scotland and back so here goes. Luckily as we are buying most of our kit we can chose stuff that fits with the quick to put up, quick to tear down rule which is one advantage. In case anyone is interested I will let you know how we get on.

well done and welcome to this forum i too have a trigano t.t i went for mine because of the corner steadies and the extras you get as standard.good luck this year on your outings.

                           bruce

                              trigano owners club

Thanks for the welcome Bruce.

Good advice Jan. There seem to be a lot of optional tasks when you think it through. Tasks that you can avoid for shorter stops that is. I think the point about boxes is a good one. If stuff is in a box it is less fiddly, it can be moved in and out as one, and the box can be put on wet grass, or wherever, without the contents wicking up the water or getting dirty.

when i tow our dandy i have to look behind now and again to check its still on the back,

regarding touring ,

we used our dandy to tour.... belgium,germany ,luxembourg and france last year only 1/2 an hour to set up and dismantle it so it was ideal for the 5 sites we visited, took a pop up gazebo instead of the awning, had a really great time all four of us, two adults ,2 teenagers, you cannot always book on some sites but depending on the time of year you can usually find a pitch somewhere!

would do it again tomorrow