Mrs MTG is looking at various holiday options.
Buying a caravan and storing it long term on site was the favourite option.
She could go and visit whenever she wanted, then move it to another site after a year or so.

She’s now thinking of a trailer tent though.
Lighter and towable with her Citroen Picasso.
Not tied to one site or area.
Less conspicuous stored in my garden.
Can also be used for bike race weekends. 😉

We are both completely new at this sort of camping though, so could do with some advice.
Prices seem to range from £300 to £5000 second hand, yet they all look the same to me. Just like bikes to a non-cyclist.
Some have the tent bit made from a type of material that doesn’t rot if stored folded up while wet. I think it would be worth paying extra for that, but apart from that, what should we be looking for?

How much setting up do you want to do when you get places?
How often do you want to go to different sites?

personally, I think they have all the disadvantages of a tent:

– you have to set it up when you gete where you’re going
– you have to dry it (even if yo get the ‘store wet’ stuff, you must have to get the worst of the water out first)
– you don’t have a bog, shower etc

with all the disadvantages of a caravan:

– you have to tow it
– they’re expensive
– you have to store it.

If you want a trailer tent for use at race weekends as well how about a Go Trailer

They look just perfect for a whole host of different uses.

Not cheap though.

The whole idea of a trailer tent is that the ease of putting it up outweighs the inconvenience of towing it, so she’d want it to be pretty quick and easy to just park up and get straight in to bed.
Usually, it would be set up on a Friday night and left until Sunday night.

personally, I think they have all the disadvantages of a tent:

– you have to set it up when you get where you’re going
This is why I’m asking.
How much trouble are they to set up?
I picture it as park up, fold out the sides, climb in. 5 minutes or less. Is it that easy?

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=10&TopicID=301186

Of she’s looking for something one person can pitch then I’d suggest going to a few showrooms and trying them.

They tend to use heavy canvas and strong poles so not the lightest of tents to be hauling around singlehanded when pitching .

We like ours – it feels like camping but have proper beds and a cooking area.

Storage and towing is a lot easier than a caravan.

Home

What about something like that?

How much trouble are they to set up?

A friend lent me theirs once and it took bleedin’ ages to set up compared to our Outwell Montana tent. We can have that up in 15 mins or so and be filling it with kit.

I’d agree with IHN

Interesting link, IHN, not as fast as I thought then.
One advantage over a tent, as someone on that thread mentions, is that most of your kit is stowed in the trailer. No need to pack the car before setting off.
There seems to be a lot of them about second hand, so it might be best to just get a cheap one, try it out, then either upgrade or give up on the idea.

Sounds like you want a folding camper, not a trailer tent, mine used to take me around 30 mins to set up on my own, the better ones have the advantage of having hot/cold water, shower, loo etc & you can even leave the beds made up, so just fold it out & you’re almost ready.

I went from a seasonal pitch with a caravan to the folding camper & hated it, if the canvas is wet when you pack up you have to open it all out again when you get home until it’s dry, having to leave site around 10- 11 am on leaving day & because you’re towing it’s not practical to spend the last day exploring the area or doing anything, so it’s a case of hitching up & going home in the morning wasting the last day.

We went back to a seasonal pitch & just move the van to where ever we fancy going after a year or stay where we are if it’s a nice place, pull up, kettle on & you’re ready to relax. It might be just because we went from being on a permanent pitch to towing but the hassle just made me not want to bother going away for a weekend & the folding camper spent most of it’s 18 months with us on the driveway doing nothing, now I’m away most weekends again & quite often go for a few days during the week when I’m “working from home” 🙂

We’ve even taken the van off the seasonal pitch for a week or two when we fancy a change & then put it back afterwards.

pull up, kettle on & you’re ready to relax

A bit like having a campervan then *smug* 🙂

Had a trailer tent for years, loved it! (Conway)

But… It took over an hour to set up, once we were good at it!

Different ones might be easier???

Got a caravan now, not going back!

IHN – Member

pull up, kettle on & you’re ready to relax

A bit like having a campervan then *smug*

Did the campervan thing too, loved it, free holidays all over Spain & the UK 😀 we will going back to it in a couple of years when the youngest is at uni

One advantage over a tent, as someone on that thread mentions, is that most of your kit is stowed in the trailer. No need to pack the car before setting off.

You can get the same effect more cheaply by using an ordinary tent and carrying it in a trailer 🙂 Quicker to put up too…

We have had 2 of them over the years and really liked them. After a few practices I got the routine down and could set it up in 15 minutes. Had a stove, refrigerator (small of course) and built in toilet. Here in the desert, stowing wet tent material usually isn’t an issue 😀
One aspect I really liked was we could unhook the 4X4 pickup and do all the exploring we wanted.

You want a popup tent from Decathlon, you do. 😉

Not much better than a good tent despite been much more expensive. When not in use they’re always in the way.

Not much better than a good tent despite been much more expensive

A good point and very true. I used tents for many years and got on fine.
What I liked about the tent trailer was was I could store a lot inside the trailer, even when closed up, so didn’t have to load/unload as much from the pickup (not to mention putting the MTB in the back of the pickup). That and the convenience of stove, refrigerator and toilet.

We have had one for 5 years. Its a Camplet so not cheap to buy new. I’d say its easier to put up than a conventional family tent, unobtrusive to tow and store. Bikes/ boards etc go onto it no bother. Nice and spacious with comfy bed + small kitchen.
The downside is getting it wet. It needs to be thoroughly dry before putting away if you want to protect your investment. Now think of the weather here recently.
We go away or a few weeks each summer to S France. Its perfect for that. I don’t use it the rest of the year.