The Camping Forum

[Luiiz]

As I'm sure you will of noticed i have a slight shopping issue when it comes to camping kit ( and shoes, oh and hand bags, and clothes!!) anyway u get the point so we have quite alot of kit. :-)
We generally use my car which is a 2010 astra ( as it's a company car) to go on our trips but as this is slightly smaller than the older style astra I used to have we are alittle unsure we're going to get everything in without leaving Neil at home!!

So what would u say is best?? Pros and cons??

Louise

[Admin]

As I'm sure you will of noticed i have a slight shopping issue when it comes to camping kit ( and shoes, oh and hand bags, and clothes!!) anyway u get the point so we have quite alot of kit. :-)
We generally use my car which is a 2010 astra ( as it's a company car) to go on our trips but as this is slightly smaller than the older style astra I used to have we are alittle unsure we're going to get everything in without leaving Neil at home!!

So what would u say is best?? Pros and cons??

Louise

Well... i like this one.. as everyones opinion is usually different..

At the moment and for the last three seasons we have been roof box campers.. and although we got everything in.. we were still pretty tight on space.. We use a corrola verso also which is a small estate..

 

Boot size shown for reference

Now this year.. we are making the switch. fitting a tow bar and going for a trailer... despite changing our tent also which is a smaller pack size.. we just want that extra space as we want to kit out further and we simply don't have the space to do so..

What i would do.. is pack up your boot now as is.. then look at what is left to pack.. (remember don't over pack in the main car as long journeys become unbearable..)

If what you have left you think would fit in a roof box then you should be good to go.. but and heres the big question.. what kit do you think will add in the future and would that then fit.

Also storage of both has to be considered.

Fuel consunmption from what has been discussed and researched by others in the past is not worth worrying about the difference is so small..

Cheers

Andy

[M0KAS]

Another thing you have to conciser is if the company car you have will the company allow you to fit a tow bar?, some will some wont.
I would think It depends on how much stuff you intend to buy. not what you have already, Ive found online browsing is a dangerous thing, esp when it comes to looking at camping equipment, its far to easy to buy things, Its not the cost its where to put it in the car.

best would be go bigger buy a trailer, far more load space than a roof box, and enough to put countless pairs of shoes in, esp if it comes down too choosing, if the cooker goes or 3 pairs of shoes
The other advantage with a trailer, is that all your camping gear can live in it, then its just a case of hook up check all the lights are working and go, no car packing, no roof box fitting and loading. But storage of a trailer needs more space than a roof box.
And price wise, trailers are not a great deal of money more than a large roof box,

I don't think my car would be suitable for either a trailer or a roof box. esp as its an old corsa.

[Rob-merlin1973]

Hi
We have an old Discovery and there are six of us so the trailer was the only way to go as there was very little room left in the car.

This enables us to have a wet side for the tent stuff and a dry side for the other stuff and to be able to transport the kids bikes easily.
See HERE t see how the trailer was made.

That said becouse we have no boot with the kids in the back we are also thinking of having a top box aswell

I would suggest the trailer as it gives you that extra expansion space

[Nunfa1]

I've been thinking about just this topic. We bought the last pieces of our camping setup last week, sleeping bags for the kids, so now my attention has turned to getting it all in the car. We have Peugot 3008 which appears to have a good sized boot, it's quite high so I reckon I will be able to stand a lot of things up in there which should make packing easier.
I've priced up fitting a tow bar at £250, plus £199 for a small trailer ( not researched these yet so I reckon it could be less). Roof box is £200? Roof bars £70? Haven't priced these up yet.
The tow bar has to be the better option as it's more versatile, can be used for bike racks etc when not camping and if you don't fancy towing a trailer you could get a back box that fits onto the tow bar instead.

The problem is with all that extra space comes more expense to fill it up.

[in-a-tent]

I wrote a couple of blog posts about this, in the first I decided to get a roof box http://www.in-a-tent.co.uk/blogs/2/19/T ... and%20Cons. and then in the end we got a trailer http://www.in-a-tent.co.uk/blogs/2/22/T ... %20trailer lol but not the one I say we're going to get ... we got an erde 143 (which we've now sold)

[livsnana]

I'd go straight for the trailer option if I were you. We only started camping last year, by our first trip we had to buy a roof box to get it all in and now we are on a search for a trailer

[Nunfa1]

Some good blogs there IAT, pretty much the same conclusions as me in the end.

There are some good deals on second trailers on fleabay at the moment if you live in the right areas.

[Luiiz]

After further investigation I can't get a tow bar put on the car which is abit of a bummer!! So a roof box it is!!

Had a look round and can get bars and box (320L) for about £140 which doesn't sound bad??

Louise

[Nunfa1]

That sounds like a good deal, do you have a link?

[Luiiz]

Yes apologies

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/roof-boxes/roo ... -deals.php

Louise

[Nunfa1]

Thanks

[in-a-tent]

roofbox do have some good deals, but they tend to be time limited, which is good in some ways as it means that new deals come along over time so if they don't have what you want right now it's worth checking back in a week or two.

[Nunfa1]

There are some good prices on there, now I'm thinking roof box AND tow bar. Bike carrier on the tow bar then. Decisions decisions.

I really should load up the car with everything just to see how much room we've actually got.

[in-a-tent]

We've got a towbar mounted cycle rack it's great.

This one