Best soft floor camper

Ok, I'll throw my 2c worth in to kick off this discussion.
Soft floor campers are and can be more spacious than hard floor campers and in some respects that is why soft floor camper are more "wanted" by families.
That said...there can be swings and roundabouts when using them, so be aware of this during you research.
You get the space...the bigger the tent and awning...more poles and guide wires...the longer the setup and takedown.
Depending on the type / weight of canvass you get...the heavier the tent / awning will be to work with....
There is a method for packing the canvas away and it will require initially 2 people..but once you get the "hang" of it...well being on the road it will become second nature.
The campertrailer industry has seen in the last 5 years more imported campers being sold by some Australian companies..
There have been plenty said about this...I will not go on about it.
...but...
If this fits into your and your families budget and future camping style..it means you will have to do more detailed research...because what these campers achieve in price...may and I mean may, come back with initial quality and warranty
issues.
It may be the second hand soft floor camper trailer market will be another avenue into buying a soft floor camper...so do not dismiss this out of hand..there can be some bargains, to be had.
Disclosure: I bought a second hand australian built trailer and tent that was 10 years old prior to my purchase..that was 8 years ago and the trailer has not missed a beat and the tent has been through some tough wet and windy weather and still it functions well.
Tambo campers were a good camper and had a good reputation for quality trailers and canvass.

Why I mean quality......

Having a camper for a couple of weeks in a "Static set up" during school holidays 3 or 4 times a year can be done by many of the camper trailers being sold at present.
It is quite different being on the road, you will be setting up and breaking camp more frequently, so the campertrailer will be getting a decent workout...plus there is the driving over all types of surfaces... including the weight you will be carrying.

Just a hint when researching..

If it is raining and pretty bad weather and there is a Campertrailer & 4wd show on...this can be the best time to go and look at the products, for you will see which are the quality campers..
I went to such show during bad weather about 3 years ago and it was an eye opener for me..

Good luck on your journey

I tend to associate soft floor campers with cheap and lower quality. I may be wrong there and stand to be corrected. You mentioned in the other post that you would be doing the CSR, that's no place for most campers on the market. I'd be looking at less canvas and higher quality like an Ultimate or a Tvan. Honestly, setting up and taking down acres of canvas in mud, rain and wind is not fun.
Do your homework on the tough tracks and make sure the trailer won't fall apart on it. You may not have driven a 1000kms of bad corrugations to really know what I'm talking about. It's an ordeal for the car, trailer and the travellers. I apologise if you are already familiar with the challenges involved.

Metallian maxi was close for us. As was a step through such as the mdc Aussie Nomad - fully Aust built but no longer made.

Hi Emily,
We have had two soft floor camper trailers, both Johnnos Off-road models. We have done the Gibb twice, Cape York twice, Savannah Way, Strezlecki track with no issues at all. Yes it is longer to pack up if you put the annexe up but will be the same with most campers I would think.
For overnighters or even two nights you would not bother with the annexe. Once you have done it a few times it is very quick, it's actually removing all the stuff outside again that you put in there the night before! We have people come up to us all the time and say how quick they thought we packed up!
We have been very happy with ours, and we are off again on another road trip for 5 weeks in June this year. Everyone's situation and needs are different so go to the shows and have a play. Also one you purchase your camper take it away of a few short trips to get the hang of everything.
Good luck with the research....

Hi Emily

Like some of the others here I have owned two soft floor campers. Both quality Australia made units, which were second hand when I brought them.

Both provided many years of god service and the only reason for updating them was to get better features for camping in adverse weather. I live in Tasmania and camp for a significant portion of the year.

One of the comments here was that soft floor campers are of a lessor quality and cheaper. I agree on the cheaper not so much on the quality. It depends on how much you spend on the camper. I believe the most important features are the quality of the trailer and the canvas.

Many of the soft floor camper come with a good quality heavy duty trailer and high quality canvas. The reason they are cheaper is they don't generally have all the expensive widgets and fit out of the hard floor models.

One of the other advantages is they tend to lighter and easier to tow and move around.

The biggest disadvantage is set up and pack up time on short stays. On longer stays putting up an annex on soft or hard floor is about the same.

Goodluck with your selection.

If you dont want to spend a lot of money and are fixed on a soft floor camper for a family, then have a look at the Trak Shak campers. Two pole principle set up and built like a German tank. Try and go one of the older ones though 1994-2000 as they were 100% Australian. How do i know? We had a 1994 model and dragged it over heaps of outback roads like the Gibb, Tanami and Savanah Way etc. Around 50000km all up and about 5000km on the types of roads mentioned above. We did not have one thing go wrong with it in the 12 years we had it.

Good luck with your search.

We have a soft floor and It takes literally 2 minutes to unzip it, throw over the side fold and walk inside and put up the two poles that fit into the frame. Ready to sleep, with a queen sized bed on the trailer and the soft floor space available. We have a canopy permanently attached to the roof but often don't use it for an overnighter. If we do it takes us ten minutes max. to have it up and it doesn't use any ropes at all. Granted, I have seen some soft floors with more rooms than the Hilton chain but surely you don't need those every night. I think that some soft floors are slow to set up but to say they all are is a bit of a generalisation.

As i mentioned in the other thread, have a look at Trackabout...not cheap but they had a good reputation for being a tough built go anywhere camper.

We have had two Johnnos.
The Evolution off road model is far and away the best they make.
Totally Aus made and will take you anywhere your tug can drag it.
Johnnos ran an Australia wide rental business as well. You don't want to be recovering wrecked trailers.
We love them, set up in the rain in 5 minutes, heaps of room, great kitchen, relatively light weight, lots of inclusions, rave, rave, rave...