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Hi there.Newbie to the forum.Can anyone give me their opinions?I am looking to purchase a fc or tt,and am pointing to either a conway crusader or a camp-let concorde? There is only me,the missus and our young daughter,but dont want anything cramped. Drive a ford focus 1.8 (petrol) estate, and so know theres limits to my towing capabilities. Dont want to go back to the days of deflating airbeds,no lighting,drafts under a windblown tent & no pumped warm water,(so i know i want to be sleeping off the ground for starters). Being steered more towards a fc(due to ease of erecting),but have been also been swayed by the new concorde. Anyone suggest which i may be better suited to??

Two very different products but quite frankly the camplet is so much better conceived and designed in my opinion... also consider the combicamps in the same bracket. Okay they are both called folding campers but honestly would put the camplet and combi into sylish trailer tent territory. If you want a folding camper get a Dandy .... for that sort of money you need something that lasts, and can be used all year round.

Yes I am biased, as are most others here but all I can say is I really did my homework.

You will love whatever you choose... camping is the best

thanks tentpegjenny

Will start to look at Dandy. Never thought about them.

 I do like the look of the camp-let though...?

Anyone else any suggestions?

http://www.conwayowners.org.uk/units.htm

See the link above to Conway Models.

The two units are very different beasts. The Crusader is a folding camper (no pegging out of the main unit) and the Camp-let is a trailer tent (pegging required - i believe)

The Crusader has hot and cold water as from 1999 models and a toilet / washroom (a little cramped though) The Crusader has two totally seperate bedroom areas (one at each end) - we like this as the children sleep together at one end and we have the other.

The Crusader in a way is like the bottom half of a caravan and top half canvas with toilet / washroom, oven / hob, hot and cold water and a sink - i believe these are some of the facilities you were looking for.

We have had many tents, a Conway Canterbury (trailer tent) and a Crusader and we love the all round flexibility of the folding camper for weekend and long stays

I am sure there are many people out there that love their Cam-lets too - go have a look at a few and compare before you buy. The Conway Club also allow friends or visitors to join one of their rallies so you can see the units in use

The Crusader is heavier and larger

I hope this helps 

Andy

THANKYOU EVERYONE.

I THINK I WILL HAVE TO GO AND HAVE A LOOK AT SOME FOLDING CAMPERS ON DISPLAY TO SEE WHAT THE MISSUS THINKS(ALTHOUGH IM STARTING TO THINK A CONWAY MODEL WOULD BEST SUIT US).

 WANT COMFORTABLE BEDS, WARMTH,QUICKNESS OF PUTTING UP,SINK WITH WARM WATER,TOILET,LIGHTING....I GUESS THE THINGS MOST PEOPLE WANT.

 IF I WANT IT THEN TO KEEP THIS FOR A FEW YEARS THEN I GUESS IT WOULD BE BETTER TO SPLASH OUT ON SOMETHING GOOD(LOOKING AT AROUND #5000.00 or less of course) 

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE INFO.

KEEP IT COMING...

Thanks marynov

The quest gets more and more confusing????

The only thing im led to believe may distract the missus from a pathfinder is (arent they green n cream inside?...she doesnt want green interior?...and i got to keep the missus happy too).

Do pathfinders or others come with gas strutt opening? Like the idea of making it easier...thanks.

Thanks for the advice!!!

Keep it coming...youre all narrowing down my options for me,honest!

What i meant to say is...is there any other models other than the pathfinder(ie..not green/cream interior), which have the hep of gas strutts?(my last question didnt seem very good english?)

Hopefully get time to look at some campers displayed this weekend(where?).and that is if i can drag the missus past the caravans!

 http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.co.uk%2Fws%2F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=folding+camper&category0=

 http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alisoncole/conway/2004.pdf

http://www.thepenninegroup.co.uk/

Try the links above - they will give you some idea of the kind of thing you are looking for. 5000 pounds will get you a good Conway Crusader with all the extras and would be my recommendation but you have to make up your own mind on this.

The Crusader and the Pathfinder have different opening mechanisms. The Pathfinder opens from the middle by flipping the beds over and thats why the gas struts are an advantage. The Crusader has slide out beds that also open up the canvas at the same time this is called a conaumatic system. Pennine bought out Conway in 2000 so the models have started to become similar and especially this year where both models have a king size bed.

Some will say that the bed slides on the Crusaders stick but i have one of these and its all about technique - so watch carefully if you have any demonstrations

5000 is quite a sum of money so be sure to establish what you need and how you are going to use it.

Finally the Crusader comes in Blue/Beige and Green/ Cream so i am sure you will find what you are looking for I think in 1999 the Crusader was blue then it changed to Green for 5 years then in 2004/5 a blue version came oit again - i might be wrong but that is what the catalogues seem to suggest

Check for 

Modifications, repairs, rips, servicing, spend a while checking that everything works including hot water, fridge on gas and electric, condition of tyres, gas pipes (flexible) as these should be changed within 5 year periods, mould, bent awning poles etc..

Hope this helps

p.s. dont use capitals when typing as this is a form of "shouting"

Regards

Andy