Trailer tents

Homes and Retreats
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PreppingPingu
Posts: 940
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 5:10 pm
Location: Surrey/Hampshire

Trailer tents

Post by PreppingPingu »

We were looking to move home in the near future and also buy a motor home as we have no space to park one where we live atm. (See thread motor home prepping on transport forum.) While we still want to move out of our area and get a motor home, it's on hold due to the health of a family member. Sooo we pootled up to the NEC yesterday, visited the Caravan and Motorhome expo and explored trailer tents and converted day vans. The day van isn't really an option as hubby is really tall and we have a large dog. We have done a reasonable amount of family camping in bygone years but the idea of a trailer tent is rather appealing now. Keeps you off the ground, reducing the flooded out risk and added warmth. They are a bit more sturdy and by paying extra you can get decent trailers with plumbing for waste water and basic heating. (Think Pennine and Opus for makes.) They are pretty spacious too once unfolded.

From a prepping point of view they seem a neat idea as they are compact, easy to tow - you don't need a beast of a 4x4 to tow them as an ordinary family car can do it and they are more durable than a bog standard tent. We obviously want to use it for holidays in the uk, having the freedom of a motor home but not the size. The prep angle is a useful secondary reason to have one.

Anyone else had a trailer tent? If so what are your thoughts on them?
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Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8732
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Trailer tents

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Ohhh trailer tent or folding camper.......


The ones with a lift off kitchen are trailer tents

Ones with the built in cooker / fridge are folding campers ;)

I got a old Conway campa DL 1982 vintage nothing a good diyer couldn't get back to full working order next year I'm hardwiring it with mains hook up

My mum and dad have a Pennine 6 birth folding camper they love it bar the drying it out after use...

The FC's are much heavier and anything under 1.8 petrol or 1.6 diesel will struggle. ..


TT are usually unbraked 400kg plated which care is needed when loading not to over load it (checked on a public weigh bridge, ideally)
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Yorkshire Andy
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Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Trailer tents

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

IMG_20180703_194258652.jpg
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
grenfell
Posts: 3951
Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:55 pm

Re: Trailer tents

Post by grenfell »

I had a friend who briefly had a trailer tent. Granted it wasn't new but he did have problems with water getting in , I think through tiny cracks in the fabric. He eventually replaced it with a " proper" caravan . Water ingress aside the space taken up by the trailer or a small caravan is pretty much the same and unless one has to park it in front of a window the reduction in height isn't all that useful. On the other hand his caravan is starting to show it's age now , a sprite , but most newer caravans are far heavier and his choice is now somewhat limited should he wish to get another.
Yorkshire Andy
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Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Trailer tents

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

The Triang brand use a plastic based "canvas" which does split



Conway and Pennine use cotton canvas ;)

We withstood a 18 hour deluge with only a couple of minor leaks (on the stitching) but apart from that and the door area wetting out we stayed dry!
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
grenfell
Posts: 3951
Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:55 pm

Re: Trailer tents

Post by grenfell »

No idea what the make was but I can remember the "canvas" being of the plasticky type material. I've got , or rather had , a couple of tarps that were the same material and they seemed to crack or fail on the places where it folded . Then again I have canvas awnings which work fine and seem far more resilient.
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8732
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Trailer tents

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Sadly we don't have these in the UK




If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Ara
Posts: 135
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2018 3:20 pm

Re: Trailer tents

Post by Ara »

We had a second hand Pennine trailer tent when our boys were young and we lived elsewhere. It was huge when erected ( once described as a small bungalow) but we could keep it in our garage whereas a caravan would have to be kept elsewhere due to the driveway there. We never had problems with water ingress and my brother in law, who has it now, hasn't complained either. It's big enough so that you aren't on top of each other when it rains but you can open out the whole front when it's sunny. I would certainly recommend them despite the problem of drying out before storing like all tents.
Prepping_Al
Posts: 39
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2018 2:38 pm

Re: Trailer tents

Post by Prepping_Al »

We have had a Rapido folding caravan it was a pain to put up and down but solid sides and kept water out in a heavy storm. It folded up into trailer and was easy to tow and store in a lock up. That was sold and a few years latter we got a dandy trailer tent pvc walls and roof so no need to worry about needing to dry it
It was a 1970's one bit more modern versions are available it was great for diy repairs supper light weight the smallest ones can be towed by a motor bike.
Now on to a caravan no hassle to set up just pull up plug in electric, water and waste and open a beer. Plus it has a toilet for the wife