Jon W Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Hi all This is probably mean to go in the out and about forum but thought I would try here, so feel free to move if you like. I am in the market for some new camping gear, as I previously got rid of a lot of my stuff or it was old and knackered. I have previously had a converted camper van and enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in the vehicle and not having to faff around setting up tents and folding them away etc. Plus a comfy bed However with land rovers this is not so possible. I could setup a bed system for in my discovery. However this isn’t going to be the vehicle I always use as will take my series on Laning weekends and my work car for other trips further away due to fuel efficiency. I like the idea of a roof tent, however the range of vehicles and faff or removing and storing is likely to rule this out along with the price. so most my camping will be out the back of a vehicle rather than hiking etc, so am looking for recommendations on: camping matt/camp bed tent etc. Needs to be comfy and easy and quick to setup and take down. so would be interested to see what other people’s setups Thanks Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintman Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Can't help with pics of me using it but having borrowed my youngest's carp bed for a week under canvas last year I can thoroughly recommend them for comfort. I'm 6'4 & slim & it's fine for length. I'm borrowing it for another week this summer! It's the one featured in this clip. If you have a big tackle dealer near you you might want to have a look at some of the various carp bivvies as they are usually excellent quality & rather more robust than the usual family stuff as they are used year round. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 My roof tent goes on in spring and comes off in the late autumn, so don’t rule it out unless that’s too much hassle. It is heavy, but we only move it twice a year. Surprisingly it makes no real difference to fuel economy so I don’t mind leaving it up there. 5 mins to put up. All the bedding in it and ready to use and about 7 mins to put down (that’s me and the other half doing it). I biught a side awning as well late last year but haven’t used it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Another vote for a carp bed or bedchair. I can just fit one in the Range Rover if I move the front passenger seat forward. Easy and comfortable. 8-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Khyam Quick Erect tents for the win - up in seconds and down in seconds but NOT like those cheapo springy-poles type ones (Gelert etc.). Aside from that I can't help as my camping setup looks like this these days; 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Another vote for the camping bed in the back. Can't find any pictures though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Quecha seconds tents not air beam type. Roof tent and trailer. Now we have a caravan. Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaklander Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) We spent years camping out of the back of an estate car. By that I mean with a tent but all the stuff in boxes to make things simpler. We have done the same out of rental cars abroad by taking a minimum of stuff on a plane such as a small Khyam "umbrella" tent and stove and then buying a few essentials. I bought a 110 CSW so that we could explore without getting stuck or damaging the cars. We found ourselves turning off the tarmac and wandering on loose surfaces which isn't always a good idea especially in a rental car. Our set up is that we camp on the ground or we sleep in the vehicle. We have thought long and hard about roof tents and seen many many people with them, especially in Australia. For us they are not what we want as we usually pitch for at least two nights and often up to a week and driving away leaving a tent on the ground works for us. We also like to sit in the tent, especially if it's raining, although our trip to Ireland last year wasn't as warm or dry as in other climes! This is Greece: Anyway, we have the CSW and remove the seats for the trip or sometimes don't refit after. We made a sleeping platform that doesn't need any fixing to the vehicle and is fitted in about five minutes. We sleep on the platform with self inflating mattresses and the fridge and food / clothes boxes are all under the platform. We also throw in two proper chairs and a table which sit on the platform when we are travelling. Edited February 16, 2018 by Peaklander Typos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaklander Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) Last year we added a solar panel and mounted it for the Summer only on two of the roof bars you see. The box was also added to carry the chairs, table and wet weather gear and that makes stopping and sleeping in the vehicle a much easier job. We used the advice from @FridgeFreezer and opted for a Waeco compressor fridge to reduce the load on the electrics. The panel is 100W and is fed into our two batteries through a Ctek D250S which handles the panel and the two batteries. That setup is great. We ditched the 240VAC hookups and now go anywhere. We relied solely on the panel for several days at a time in Ireland where the weather was decidedly inclement. Edited February 16, 2018 by Peaklander Added detail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon W Posted February 16, 2018 Author Share Posted February 16, 2018 Thank you for all the replies so far. Few ideas there. Blimey fridgefreezer and I thought the 130 was a barge, now that is something else! Has anyone tried the air beam tents at all? A friend has a swag which he got in Australia which I like the idea of for the odd night camped out by a vehicle but haven’t seen them available anywhere in the UK. So the carp bed or fishing gear maybe worth a look. Peaklander, that looks a good setup, and I am definitely going to get some stack and stow type strong boxes so I can keep all my gear in and then just chuck them in whichever vehicle I am away in. Also means things are stored tidier in the garage. Your platform looks great but would probably be a bit difficult for me to make something that suits different vehicles Thanks all so far and keep the ideas coming Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaklander Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 I can recommend the range of boxes from "Really Useful Boxes". They are available in many sizes and from several places. Why are they good? Well first they are fully sealed which helps a lot in dusty conditions. Secondly the lids clamp down hard onto the base; very secure. Third they stack (if you choice the correct footprints). Lastly the lid still fits with the box full to the brim. This doesn't happen with a lot of other boxes and it's so annoying to fill it and then not be able to secure the lid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 10 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: Khyam Quick Erect tents for the win - up in seconds and down in seconds but NOT like those cheapo springy-poles type ones (Gelert etc.). Aside from that I can't help as my camping setup looks like this these days; Er . . . which one??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 6 hours ago, Jon W said: Thank you for all the replies so far. Few ideas there. Blimey fridgefreezer and I thought the 130 was a barge, now that is something else! Has anyone tried the air beam tents at all? A friend has a swag which he got in Australia which I like the idea of for the odd night camped out by a vehicle but haven’t seen them available anywhere in the UK. So the carp bed or fishing gear maybe worth a look. Peaklander, that looks a good setup, and I am definitely going to get some stack and stow type strong boxes so I can keep all my gear in and then just chuck them in whichever vehicle I am away in. Also means things are stored tidier in the garage. Your platform looks great but would probably be a bit difficult for me to make something that suits different vehicles Thanks all so far and keep the ideas coming Jon There should be lots of swags available online these days. There are the traditional ones which are just like a big canvas sleeping bag, up to more complicated ones that are like little tents. They're all meant to be rolled up complete with their mattress, sheets, blankets and pillow. They're handy things but I refuse to sleep in anything a snake might get into! So I've always used mine inside a tent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_a Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 We have a few camp setups, Tent and Gazebo, swag and camper trailer. Depends on where we are going, how long for, how far and if the dogs are with us. Camper has only been used on about 4 trips so far though. The awning tent in one of the photos is actually pretty good (our awning is an odd size, so it's a bit rumpled, but fits normal ones fine). Cost wise: Tent in picture was $300, but can't get them anymore, nearest I've seen is OzTent turbo tent I think it was which is near identical, but about $1500 Swag was $150 Awnings are about $150, tent with it was about $50. We have one one the side (2.4m) and one on the rear. Camper was about $21,000 though - so that is a bit more serious. We got the camper after going away and finding nothing but hard rock camping and couldn't put the tent out too well. The camper is a hard floor model, so no pegs unless you put the annex up, has 130L of water, water pump, kitchen, place for the fridge and a normal bed in it. We even have a hot water system On useful note, we swapped the mattress in the swag for a blow up one, the swag now rolls away to very little and is more comfortable to boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 17 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: Khyam Quick Erect tents I’ll check those tents out thank you - and what a fantastic photograph ! Where were you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 1 hour ago, steve_a said: We have a few camp setups, Tent and Gazebo, swag and camper trailer. Depends on where we are going, how long for, how far and if the dogs are with us. Camper has only been used on about 4 trips so far though. The awning tent in one of the photos is actually pretty good (our awning is an odd size, so it's a bit rumpled, but fits normal ones fine). Cost wise: Tent in picture was $300, but can't get them anymore, nearest I've seen is OzTent turbo tent I think it was which is near identical, but about $1500 Swag was $150 Awnings are about $150, tent with it was about $50. We have one one the side (2.4m) and one on the rear. Camper was about $21,000 though - so that is a bit more serious. We got the camper after going away and finding nothing but hard rock camping and couldn't put the tent out too well. The camper is a hard floor model, so no pegs unless you put the annex up, has 130L of water, water pump, kitchen, place for the fridge and a normal bed in it. We even have a hot water system On useful note, we swapped the mattress in the swag for a blow up one, the swag now rolls away to very little and is more comfortable to boot. Camper trailers always look handy but crikey they cost a bit! Which is why I'm in the middle of building a trayback trailer - just to carry all the stuff a family needs . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintman Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 10 hours ago, Davo said: Er . . . which one??? The trailer for the boat is just out of camera shot..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_a Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 15 hours ago, Davo said: Camper trailers always look handy but crikey they cost a bit! Which is why I'm in the middle of building a trayback trailer - just to carry all the stuff a family needs . . . Eagle are a SA and WA outfit, their campers are middle price, but pretty good quality. Like any of the cheaper ones they are made in China, but they do a fair bit of finish and refettle in Aus to make sure they are not duffers. I compared the eagle with the cub camper at a few shows and honestly, the cub was not worth another $20k. In fact the only stand out was Complete Campsite, their camper was beautiful, but $70k.... We don't tend to do overseas holidays so we just justified it on the base of what we would spend doing a OS holiday each year. And then we bought a new property.... our camping is now curtailed while we recover on finances and bring the land back up to standard, so the most the camper is likely to do is maybe only a few hours away or dragging it up to the back paddock The camper may also cause an end to land rover ownership... It's about 1.9t fully filled to head away and the TD5 is not getting any younger. Been seriously looking at where to go next. On the plus side, now we have a load of land I've been eyeballing S1,2,3 for a restoration and to bimble about the property in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkey964 Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 For me,it has to be a roof tent. My current set up is a James Baroud,with Foxwing awning. Horses for corses,everyone has their own preferences. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8R Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Sometimes you have to improvise a bit . . . . . . . . . . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 We tend to keep things low key: Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaklander Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Ha! At least you've all nicely reversed up to the campsite pitch markers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Hunter Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 We regularly camp in our LR. It's a 110 CSW and we've removed the rear bench seat. We've fitted plywood between the two wheel boxes with a foam mattress on top. That gives us a queen size bed: 5ft wide and 6ft long, and neither of us are 6ft tall. We take a 70 litre backpack each for clothing, which is more than ample, a fold up table, two camping chairs and a propane cook stove. All this goes on top of the bed during the day, travelling, and at night all except the back packs go outside, either underneath the vehicle or under the side mounted awning. The two backpacks go on the front seats. The advantage of having the bed only on boards between the wheel boxes is that we can both sit upright in bed without our heads touching the headliner. Access, of course, is via the back end door. The space beneath the bed plywood sheets is still available for storage, including the area inside both rear side doors, which gives storage space for taller items, eg our water carrier. Vehicle spares and oils, our second spare wheel, we carry two, forty litres of emergency fuel, our propane cylinder, and various weatherproof items are carried on our roof rack. Hope this gives you more ideas and options. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 On 17/02/2018 at 8:22 AM, Anderzander said: I’ll check those tents out thank you - and what a fantastic photograph ! Where were you? Twas Geiranger in Norway, got woken up by some barsteward tooting his fog horn there's just no need! On 17/02/2018 at 12:24 PM, paintman said: The trailer for the boat is just out of camera shot..... That made me chuckle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Is that where there is that small rail road going into the Mountains Jon? I remember being there once, and when we got down again there were no less than 3 of those huge Luxury Liners! Norway is such a beautiful country and we're really Lucky to have it so close by Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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