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After having to sit thrugh the Appretice last week with the other half I saw the Opus trailer tent.
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This really appealed to me, quite funky looking and the ability to load the bikes on due to the reinforced lids.
I've never considered a trailer tent till I saw this, I plan on trying to get to see one in the flesh, and other trailer tents.
Is there anyone here that uses one and if so what are the pro's and cons?
Got a Trigano Olympe GL.
pluses:
It's huuge
cooler than a nylon tent
proper slatted bed to sleep on
it's not a caravan
decent cooker
very easy to tow (got 55mpg on holiday to France last year)
they keep their value well
cons;
takes same amount of space in the garage as a car.
expensive 'for a tent' (although half what the one you link to costs)
drying it if put away wet is critical and difficult if you don't have a huge front garden
you're speed limited towing in the uk
not that easy to get up (mrs) despite what the video shows.
I'd buy another.
My wife's parents had a few and her sister had one too. Both really liked them net in winterised if possible so you can use it a year round. Only issue I can see is storage.
Cheers for that, the opus are pretty pricey at around 10K
Where would your bikes go, on top of the car?
Is there much storage space in the trailer when its packed away? clearly all that tent has to go somewhere.
My folks had them when we were kids (+30 years ago).
A lot easier than a tent, plus proper mattresses etc. Lots of storage space in the sides, plus down the middle. Bikes' and the like were just piled on top.
The folks use to keep theirs ready, with a set of everything, and just put clothes and food into the car.
Have a look at s/h ones.
you can either put on top of car or most trailer tents allow standard roof bars to be mounted to a frame on top of them.
We have enough space for about 4 50 litre boxes plus there are cubby holes all around the seating area.
in this image all the space between and under the seats in the middle is available for storage.
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we put all the hard stuff (pots and pans, chairs etc) in there and caryy clothes and bedding in the boot of the car.
Just been having a look around ont tinternet at the one you have and a few others. That opus one is pricey compared to most on the market.
Anything important to look out for if buying 2nd hand?
main thing is to see the thing up and make sure that the canvas is not damaged and doesn't smell musty. ground sheets should be in good nick and all poles presnet and undamaged (new ones can be expensive/unavailable)
you shoudl also check the chassis and brakes on the trailer.
Any mattresses etc can be replaced cheaply so I'd treat them as a bargaining point if old and saggy.
Personally, I'd buy one stored in a garage but not one stored on a drive.
Camplet Royal here. Used it for 4 years. Cheap summer hols in S France. Buy used and save a fortune.
They are a bit useless in the UK weather. Can't put them away wet and there is lots of canvas to dry out. We just bring ours out once a year but have 3 weeks away in it to make up.
I saw this episode of the apprentice too and thought how good a purchase it would be for travelling about with Ziva and with James in Europe. The only thing that occurred to me was campsite wise Im guessed youd have to book a campervan spot and couldnt just stop on the side of the road.
£10k...
You could buy a decent caravan & a car for that.
Or a nice van, with a driveaway awning.
That's a lot for a trailer with a tent on top.