Folding caravan

[Middleagedfrog]

Does anyone have one?
If so what are the pros and cons of them?

Check out "Today at the Caravan Show" on catch up. It's channel 5. There's a section on folding camper.

I have one. It's very retro - a 1980s 4-berth Rapido.

Pros:
Way, way cheaper to buy than a normal caravan
We can store it on the driveway.
Towing is much easier.
Ferry crossings are cheaper

Cons
Ours is a bit of a PITA to put up. It's a bit like putting a flat pack together. It has to be completely level before putting it up, so quite some time seems to be spent with DH swearing under his breath as he wields a spirit level and cranks each leg up and down. There are models like the Grober (?) which just have sides that slide up at the push of a button though. They look much easier.
It is smaller inside than most other caravans.
It doesn't have a fitted toilet. We have a porta potty.

Overall we have enjoyed having it. We couldn't afford a proper caravan and would have had to pay to store it elsewhere. We like camping but were fed up of noise from other campers. The caravan is much more sound resistant. It is very well designed inside and there is a fair amount of storage space. The beds are comfortable. It also always attracts a lot of attention at sites!

We've just sold ours as it's three berth and we are a family of four now. Ours was also a very cute vintage one and got lots of attention when we were putting it up. Agree with all the points as above and also can br towed by a smaller car due to the weight. It was a fabulous first caravan and I'll miss her but looking forward to trying out our new non folding one.

Thank you for replying, only just come back to the thread.
@QueenCelestia we had a trailer tent and that was a PITA to put up, in part, because of the levelling. DH thinks it won't be necessary with a folding caravan, we'll need to think about this again.
I did watch the channel 5 programs (most of them).
If we don't buy this then we''ll look at lightweight caravans.
A folding camper doesn't appeal.

OK, so having discussed again with dh....
Yes it's necessary to level a folding caravan but shouldn't be as challenging as it was with the trailer tent because we won't be on slopey tent pitches.

Yes, you can request a hardstanding pitch but we usually just have a standard grass pitch. Sometimes it can be levelled within a few minutes, other times it seems to take ages (I often blame DH but easy for me to do as he is the one doing the levelling!)

Which sort are you thinking of? Getting the Rapido up only takes about 10 minutes once it is levelled, although it does take two of us. Once it's up there are a lot of interior units and things to set up too which can take a while. Is it just the two of you? I imagine it's a lot quicker and easier without children under your feet!

For is, the major reasons for having it are related to cost as we couldn't afford a normal caravan and the storage fees. Second major or is definitely the comparative ease of towing.

When the DC are too old to come with us any more, we plan to get a campervan.

Also, far more comfortable, quiet and warm than a tent or folding camper.

We used to have an Opus like the one shown on the Channel 5 Caravan and Motorhome show programme. Ours was the older poled version not the air powered one they showed but, to be honest, putting up the poles isn't the most difficult thing. You have to unpack and build the cabinets and do the reverse to pack away - not necessarily a huge problem but it takes time. We struggled to pack ours down under the lids at the end of a trip but maybe that is easier with the air version. They have two double beds which are left up during the day which is an advantage over the camper van we have now but no toilet cubicle. The porta potti is kept in a sort of box which opens up to use at night. The bedroom pods have curtains so provide a little bit of privacy for the toilet user, it's fine for kids. I didn't use it much. When set up it provides loads of space and has a lovely U shaped sofa and a table in the middle.

The main problem for us was drying the canvas after a wet pack up. You can pack it away wet but need a drive where you an open it up and leave it to dry or it will go mouldy. We kept ours on a storage site so this was tricky and it put us off using it as much if the weather was iffy. We now have a camper van with small toilet and washroom and it is much more convenient and well used.

@Middleagedfrog

OK, so having discussed again with dh.... Yes it's necessary to level a folding caravan but shouldn't be as challenging as it was with the trailer tent because we won't be on slopey tent pitches.

Levelling the folding camper was never very difficult. Even a camper van needs levelling sometimes using wedges under the wheels. When we park I do the 'baked bean tin test' i.e. does a tin roll on the work top? If it stays still it's fine if it rolls we use the wedges.

The reason for moving from a tent is comfort, sleeping on the ground is getting too uncomfortable.
The trailer tent was great but hard work putting it up and down.

The appeals of the folding caravan include: cost, ease of towing and possible storage at home. We'll hopefully have an awning for it as well. The children are older now so more helpful. Depending on the lenght of stay we might book them a separate tent pich.
We'll probably just put a camping loo in the awning at night as we've done with the tent. We didn't want a shower / cubicle, we'll just use the campsite facilities.

Thanks again for your replies. I enjoy reading them.

I loved out folding caravan in the 80s. It was a huge novelty then.
We had a'proper' caravan for years and it was brilliant. DH happy to toe and we had storage at home for it. If either of these had been an issue we would have had a folding caravan.

Tow