Folding campers

[Mrspopper]

Very interested in a folding camper... Anyone got one? I've never really seen them before. What are your thoughts/experiences?

We had one. Very quick and easy to put up. Two proper beds and a sofa bed. Heating and lighting. Proper fridge. (we didn't use toilet!)
No floor space to speak of so we needed the awning which was a complete bastard to put up. (The kind of outfit that nearly causes a divorce each time it goes up!)
You do have to think about storage and towing.

Hey Wolfie. Towing is fine. storage is something I'm thinking about. Yeah we'd def get on with an awning... Good to know they are tricky can get shown how to do it wherever we buy.

Our folding camper was a penine. It had a separate awning. We chose it so each child had a bedroom and DH and I had the sofa.
Other types have a kind of integrated awning. You slide poles out. It's not the same.
We paid for storage. Didn't want it getting damp.

Is it best to not keep them on a drive?

We kept ours undercover. Could be stolen off the drive! A friend kept hers upended in the garage.

We've got one. It's lovely. The awning is a bit of a bastard to put up but husband is completely anal about height, positioning, getting water to run off, etc. Beds are very comfy. We have an end each and sons have a tent!. Lovely and toasty with a small heater. We leave the cooker at home and have a cooker and stand in the awning plus a cadac for outside. We put a loo in the awning coyly covered by a shower curtain. We do seem to take a kot of stuff which is jigsawed inside. This tends to stop us stopping overnight. Put up and take down only takes about half an hour each. Leveling (more faffing) takes a bit of time. Towing is easy. Storage is ok on a drive just get an all weather uv resistant cover.

You've probably made your decision by now but just in case...

We had a Conway crusader which was lovely but we sold it after 2 years and bought a caravan as unfortunately our list of cons started to outweigh the pros. If just two adults would probably have kept longer but with two young kids the caravan worked better.

Pros
Lighter to tow
Could fit in garage so no storage costs
Had beds, oven, toilet, heater
Was accepted as a tent or a caravan at sites
Under canvas - still felt a bit like camping
Inflatable porch awning was easier than full awning

Cons
Always needed to put up awning as not enough space for 4
Needed drying when we got home (morning dew)
Always checking forecast for wet put up/down
Basic put up was quick but took a ages to get everything level/stretched just right to prevent leaks etc
Couldn't load it up before (clothes, food etc) without opening so ended up packing car then packing FC once pitched.
These two could make for a 2 hour set up!
DS woke with the sun then woke DD when in the same pod
Fridge tiny & not much storage - kept bags on beds in daytime.