Mid-Range Marvels

We like to classify things. Clothes are small, medium or large. Fuel is standard, super or high-octane. Cars are compact, family sedan, SUV, 4WD or prestige. Camper trailers, more akin to cars than t-shirts, are commonly referred to as budget or entry level rather than compact, mid-range rather than family sedan or SUV and high-end rather than prestige.

A comparison with cars is perhaps the easiest analogy to use for those new to the camper trailer scene looking to quickly understand the differences between the hundreds of camper trailer products out there in a cluttered marketplace. Everyone understands the humble car.

Camper believes equating a standard model Toyota HiLux or a Ford Ranger with a typical mid-range camper trailer is a pretty much spot-on comparison. It’s a clear way to communicate some fast facts about what this type of camper trailer is to someone previously oblivious to their existence. They’re not a Mercedes Benz or a Suzuki Swift, rather they’re something in-between.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

In essence, a mid-range camper is a family camper, akin to the family sedan many of us grew up being carted around in, to and from school, back and forwards between footy practise, netball training and home. During school holidays it would be piled high with gear and used as a chariot of glory, so to speak, transporting everyone on the annual family holiday.

A family car is typically the most popular car in the market, renowned for fulfilling key primary needs for busy families. Great for the school run, perfect as a work commuting vehicle and a reliable performer on quick family trips away during summer holidays. They have good boot and storage space, enough room and head space for the whole family and solid fuel and travel-efficiency features that translate to minimal on-road costs.

Similar to a family sedan, a mid-range camper must, at a minimum, be able to provide comfortable arrangements for at least four adults, have enough storage space for their gear and be relatively affordable to run and maintain.

A good family car is designed for safe, roomy, travelling comfort. These days, a family car is likely to be a SUV or a 4WD. Not too long ago, the market was dominated by sedans like the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon.

GOLDEN MEMORIES

A key feature back in the glory days of the Commodore and Falcon — perhaps the only feature really — was a decent sound system, or as it was called in the ‘80s, a ‘cassette/radio deck’. Notorious for losing reception as soon as you rounded the bend at the top of the street, they provoked some classic holiday lines. Who can forget gems like, “Dad not the news, again,” or, “I’m not listening to this crap, it’s doing my head in”? Regardless, it was all good fun. In-car family disagreements were back then part of the grand tapestry of life. With a renewed focus on driving holidays due to the COVID scourge, we’re going to have to get used to it all over again, so best we all remember such instances fondly. Also, now there are headphones.

These days, a family car, like a Ranger or a HiLux, usually features a couple of screens embedded in the front-seat headrests, especially if young kiddies are in the mix. They have sensitive, computer-controlled, auto-adjusting AC and heating systems. Back in the day it was scalding-hot or freezing-cold vinyl seats-with-a-funny-smell and seriously low-tech hit-and-miss air con and heating. It’s easy to take modern advancements in car comfort for granted. It wasn’t long ago that a drive of anything more than two hours would require a stubby decompress upon arrival at your destination. Come to think of it, maybe things haven’t changed too much.

A mid-range camper trailer, of course, is all about the destination rather than the journey. A mid-range camper trailer, rather than providing comfort for its passengers en route, must provide comfort for them on-site. These comforts include: a decent slide-out kitchen and food preparation area, a place for everyone to comfortably kip down during the night and a large outdoor living area roofed by an awning or tent extension.

Like the awesome uptick in family car features over the last few decades, mid-range campers bristle with self-sufficiency and comfort-giving technology. One touch heating and cooling, hot and cold plumbed water systems, solar and renewable energy generating systems, screens and speakers galore and computerised battery management system to control them all. All this for a competitive price that won’t startle the horses or provoke calls to the bank manager.

JAWA SIROCCO — 2020

KATH HEIMAN

“The Jawa Sirocco will make you smile, and your kids squeal with joy. The good times start under the four-metre awning which shades a highly functional kitchen with external wall pantry. Although the fridge slide sits outside the line of the awning, the kitchen is spread over two further slides around which the chef has ample space to shelter. A welcome inclusion is the split-level pantry drawers located on the fridge slide which allows dry goods to be stacked independently for storage. The under-sink slide-out prep bench and external wall shelf are also handy additions.

The four-burner stove is functional but looks like it would be happier in a domestic setting than out on the road. Around the back, a hot water shower point ensures that grimy bodies can be dealt with effectively, far away from food preparation surfaces. And, helpfully, the camper’s internal sink is benchtop mounted, rather than located directly within the en suite cubicle. An impressive internal electrical switchboard will keep ‘Gadget Dads’ happy.”

SWAG RAPTOR X13 — 2020

DAVID COOK

“The Jawa Sirocco will make you smile, and your kids squeal with joy. The good times start under the four-metre awning which shades a highly functional kitchen with external wall pantry. Although the fridge slide sits outside the line of the awning, the kitchen is spread over two further slides around which the chef has ample space to shelter. A welcome inclusion is the split-level pantry drawers located on the fridge slide which allows dry goods to be stacked independently for storage. The under-sink slide-out prep bench and external wall shelf are also handy additions.

The four-burner stove is functional but looks like it would be happier in a domestic setting than out on the road. Around the back, a hot water shower point ensures that grimy bodies can be dealt with effectively, far away from food preparation surfaces. And, helpfully, the camper’s internal sink is benchtop mounted, rather than located directly within the en suite cubicle. An impressive internal electrical switchboard will keep ‘Gadget Dads’ happy.”

AUSTRACK TANAMI — 2020

TIM VAN DUYL

“I really appreciated the positioning of the cooktop relative to the fridge slide. I think having them apart is best as someone always wants a cold one while the chef is busy. There is a great amount of external storage including a big slide-out that would swallow some big pots and pans (a problem for many camper trailers). There were some reservations on the ease of popping the top, but it should be an easy fix with new struts.

Set up time, if you don’t include the time-consuming annexe with its sail-runners and 28 poles, is minutes. Pull out, get out, unlatch and drop the spare wheel carrier, lift and pull out the sides to the extension, lock them away. Unlatch the safety catches for the roof, head inside and pop the top, and you’re pretty much ready to make the bed. Rolling out the awning is the push of a button. It’s that easy.”

BLUEWATER LACHLAN — 2020

SCOTT HEIMAN

“The Lachlan is the family-size version of the Bluewater Macquarie (named after a different river but the same bloke) and shares all the same features, including the north-south 100mm thick queen size bed, but adds a slide-out east-west 70mm thick double. A key feature of the Lachlan bed spaces, that distinguishes them from those found in other fold-out style campers, is that they can be fully enclosed with their own midge screen. This makes for five separate living spaces (if you include the detachable en suite) and that’s a great feature when you’re catering for a mixed group of travellers.”

METALIAN MAXI — 2018

EMMA RYAN

“When considering a camper designed for serious offroad adventure you shouldn’t settle for less than an excellent capacity for self-sufficiency off the beaten track. The Metalian Maxi exudes rough-and-tumble cool and was not designed to sit in a caravan park, so it’s little wonder it can sustain itself — and you — for extended periods in the scrub. It has an enviable power set up, with twin 130Ah AGM deep cycle batteries charged by a 10A three-stage charger and a 12A DC-DC 12V charger.

This is supplemented by a 150W solar mat and 270W solar regulator. There’s reasonable lighting at the kitchen and in most compartments, but additional lighting at the bed including a couple of bedside reading lights would be a nice inclusion.

Water capacity comes in twin 70L stainless steel tanks mounted in the body of the camper to avoid potential damage on the tracks. There’s a gas hot water service plumbed through to the kitchen and shower, fed by twin 4kg gas bottles, and a water filter comes standard.

Incredibly, the Metalian Maxi contains 2800L of usable storage, so you’ll find a place for every piece of gear and toy you need to make life more comfortable (and more fun!) on those extended bush sojourns. There’s a system of adjustable drawers to keep it all tidy — the configurations of which can be changed to suit your load — and these are each rated to a whopping 180kg.”

BUSHWAKKA BHOMA — 2020

KATH HEIMAN

“The Bushwakka Bhoma markets itself as a true offroad camper. And stepping into the Bhoma, you can almost taste its rugged outdoor credentials. Indeed, it’s probably true to say that this rig would look as comfortable as a native animal, whether in remote savannah country or tropical wilderness.

The Tonka-Tough features are evident as soon as you approach this rig. The Bhoma chassis is 3CR12 stainless steel and the body is a combination of stainless steel and checkerplate, clad in a combo of Raptor coat and automotive painted aluminium panels. There’s Sikaflex and rivets everywhere you’d expect to find them. All this is sat on a progressive-rated 2200kg bundle of 10 leaf springs supported by a set of heavy-duty Gabriel Safari shocks to complete the suspension with a 2500kg axle. Coming standard with alloy rims, the serious offroader may wish to consider replacing these with steelies for added durability.

Whether you’re a pair of mates or a family, the Bushwakka Bhoma will take you places where others simply won’t follow.”