Hiya.

Considering purchasing a second hand trailer tent for family breaks in the UK.

But, have no idea what to look for/look out for?

Car can tow 650kg unbraked, or 1400 braked, is that enough?  None of the adverts I see seem to state weights/braking.

Any pitfalls?  Or good 9nline resources?  Family of 5 BTW, which makes sleeping more tricky, so one with a side extension rather than under bunk pods would be better?

General thoughts?

All the downsides of a caravan and a tent rolled into one?

I would go normal trailer and freestanding tent. I think trailer tents fit a very small group. Maybe that is you but think about storage, drying it when wet (do you have space to erect it at home) etc

They’re great so long as its for a week camping at least. The setting up and putting back down can be faff if its just an over nighter. We have one. We love it. Its ace!

We borrowed a friends once – the trailer tent bit goes up very easily. The front awning/living area was a right ball-ache though. No where near as easy as a good tent which can be up in no time.

a normal trailer, decent tent and beds would be a better solution for me.

1400kg isn’t enough to tow a caravan suitable for 5.

I have one from the 70s and absolutely love it. More comfortable than a tent but still retains that camping feel that a caravan doesn’t have.

There’s only 3 of us though, with 5 I’d be looking for a sizeable tent(s) or caravan.

1400kg isn’t a big tow limit but their are caravan options that fit under that limit. For example, a Bailey Ranger 500/5 has a MTPLM of under 1300kg. Depending on ages/sizes of the 5 it’s an option. Other options too of course. We went through similar thought process, having camped for a few years and being a bit sick of being cold.

http://northamfarm.co.uk/sales/bailley/ranger/ranger_500_spec.html

Not a trailer tent, but have you considered a folding caravan?

We got one (Rapido Exportmatic, 1987 vintage) for my Mrs’ 40th the other year and it is really good for our family of five.

I think of it as being a half way house between a tent and a full on caravan. It’s a lot more comfortable than a tent (in particular sleeping, decent seating during the day, and the kitchen setup) but much less of a faff to tow than a full on van. Ours folded is a 650kg braked trailer which I can tow with a 1.8 litre Honda FRV, fully loaded with 5 people, kit, and roof box. Unfolded it has a surprisingly large footprint.

It is not without it’s downsides. You do need somewhere to put it up at home on occasion, and while towing is easy enough you’re not going anywhere fast (applies to trailer tent too I guess). Putting it up only really has two big moves but they are definitely two-person jobs. I wouldn’t fancy a proper storm in it (although I wouldn’t have done in our old family tent either!).

All in all it’s great, and a massive leap up in comfort and utility from our previous 6-berth polycotton Robens.

We had a trailer tent before transitioning into caravans. Towed with a Ford Focus or Discovery.  (can’t remember the actual weights)
Yrs, in some <span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>ways they combine the worst bits of caravans with the worst of tents- towing, manoeuvring and storage of the unit, plus still having to erect them once on site. We did keep it in our garage though whereas our caravan is on a storage site as it won’t fit at home.
The main bit on the trailer was pretty easy to erect, just folded out and the bottom pegged down. This gave 2 ‘double’ beds and a sitting area & you could still use the kitchen (2 burner hob, grill, sink) although a little cramped.
There were also 2 pup tents that went under the main beds to increase sleeping space so you could probably do 5 people for a quick stay like that although you’d not have a lot of room for sitting around inside of the weather was crap.
The awning part went up like you’d expect an older tent or caravan awning to do- heavy steel poles and canvas meant it was a 2 person job and a bit faffy.
This did double the floor space though and turned it into a decent base for long stays. That’s how we mainly used it- pitch up in one place for a week or more. It is certainly better for that than for one/two night stays.
Other bonus of it over a traditional tent was being able to stay on caravan sites that dont allow ‘normal’ tents.
So I guess it’s down to your usage case as to whether it’s better than a trailer with a big tent in it. </span>

with regards to weight, you want to keep what your towing to below 85% of your towing vehicle kerb weight otherwise you’ll feel the car getting ‘bullied’ about.

I’d be looking at caravans, Lunar are known for making lightweight vans

Stick to the 85% rule and towing is straight forward, get a mover for an easy life when maneuvering onto pitchs

Beware – a cautionary tale.
We had one years ago when the kids were small. Had a blowout on the motorway once (tiny wheels spinning at 10000rpm at 50mph) and it only then occurred to me that the car jack (the sort that slots into a hole on the sill) wasn’t any good for the trailer tent, as that needed a bottle jack or similar. Tried to lift the side of the trailer up to kick the wheel off and to try to wiggle the new one on (offside wheel, arse sticking into the carriageway with lorries thundering by within inches, twilight, kids crying, wife and kids stood up the bank in waist-high nettles). Obviously I had a terrible portent of instant clipped-by-a-lorry death, witnessed by my wife and three kids, so gave up and called the AA. Many hours later they arrived and realised that the bolt spacing dimension (PCD) on the spare wheel was different to the actual trailer wheels, so I was never going to get it on anyway. I was THIS close to abandoning the whole lot on the hard shoulder. After a wet fortnight in Berwick on Tweed, this was the last straw.
Came home, unloaded it, put it in the garage over the winter and put it up for sale the following spring. A nice lady came round with her small kids so I opened it up to show how it works only to find mice had eaten the fabric into shreds. Took it to the local tip and they wouldn’t take it as it wasn’t household rubbish and wouldn’t go in one of their skips, took it to the local car scrap yard and they didn’t want it as it wasn’t a car.
Nightmare holiday. Start to end. Still scarred to this day 15 years later (can you tell?😉).

Just for balance, we did have some nice holidays too, and it was nice not sleeping on the ground like with a tent.

TLDR: check the jack and practice changing the wheels, get breakdown insurance if necessary, and mouse traps! 🤨
HTH

I would go normal trailer and freestanding tent.

+1. We’ve done campervan, then caravan, and now a great big tent. Family of but our tent’s a 6-person so pretty comfortable and spacious with a 7mx4m footprint. We don’t exactly travel lightly and couldn’t take all we do with a normal car, but fit it all in a double-cab Transit inc 4 x bikes. Trailer would be next option but after having the caravan I’d do all I can to avoid towing anything – very much limits you with stopoffs enroute.

Briefly looked at trailer tents but like the quote above, they combine some of the negatives of a caravan (storing it, towing, erecting it) with the negatives of a tent compared to a caravan (setting it up, warmth, etc).

creakingdoor raises a good point. I’ve got greenflag which includes the caravan, thankfully haven’t had to use it but came close last summer (exhaust failed on the tow car)

creakingdoor raises a good point. I’ve got greenflag which includes the caravan, thankfully haven’t had to use it but came close last summer (exhaust failed on the tow car)

We’ve got the MayDay cover via green g=flag and after several disasters on last years summer hols I cannot fault them. Communication isn’t always the greatest but the service was second to none. Got a hire car while we were away for 2 days longer than supposed to have it; and also allowed us to keep it to travel home in whilst the car and caravan were recovered from Norfolk back to Newcastle. Brilliant service for the price and it covers both our cars plus the caravan. Wouldn’t be without it.

I used to work for Conway Trailer tents, then moved to Pennine Outdoor Leisure after they bought Conway. They’re based in Accrington, Lancashire.

Good products and dead easy to erect. Just looking at the website the price for new are very expensive, but they also sell pre-owned ones so have a look at their website.

Have a few friends who still work there so if you need any info I’ll ask them for you.

I would go normal trailer and freestanding tent.

Friends do this, 3 kids and even with a roofbox couldn’t fit it all in and that was before getting a dog.

Once you’ve committed to storing and maintaining a trailer though I can see the appeal of going for a trailer tent – comfy beds up off the floor, kitchen unit all in place ready to go, etc. We have a big air tent and it might go up in 15 mins but then you can spend many times that putting up camp beds, assembling cupboard units, putting stuff away in the cupboards, setting up the cooker, etc. I like the idea of hitching up a trailer tent out of the garage, chuck a few bags of clothes and food in the boot and go away, with everything else ready to go in the trailer tent. Caravan means storage and faff and a beefier tow car.

Our neighbour has a fancy OPUS one, if it’s wet when he leaves the campsite, he then has to put it up on his drive to dry out (unlike a tent that you can hang up indoors). Not much change from £20K….

I had a look at the Opus trailer tents a few years ago, I’m sure they were closer to £12k at the time ( though given pandemic time distortion it might have been pre-Brexit )

It’s a shame the Sylan sport trailer tents aren’t available in the UK as they look pretty good and even at $1 to £1 they would still be nicely priced.

GO Pop Up Camper

Had one as kids. A creighton binns double top no less

I loved it, almost acquired one a few years ago but bought a t4 instead as it suited biking better.

If your away for a weekend in summer the awnings not needed and I’m sure some modern air awnings would fit now.

Easy way to get a good camping set up.

We have had a Trigano Galleon (yes really!) for 6 or 7 years now. Bad points – it does take a fair bit of erecting, much more than a tent. This means you are restricted to long weekends or longer. Resale value is not good. It’s all very ‘Terry and June’.

Good points – you can take loads of stuff with you. It makes camping sooo much more comfortable than being in a tent, or a camper (have one of those too for weekends). We have often used ours for our ‘big’ holiday is 2 weeks in summer without any regrets. It is far easier to tow than a caravan (ours is about 500kg I think). With a decently powerful car or van you’ll barely know it’s there. Second hand they are really incredibly cheap. Also if you are on a shorter trip you don’t have to put the whole thing up. You could be set up and drinking beer in 30-45 minutes if you forego the whole West Wing and kitchen extension…