| COMBINED TRAILER TENT AND MULTI-PURPOSE
LUGGAGE TRAILER
The innovative opening system has the pole work, canvas
and bed attached to and hinged inside the trailer which,
makes setting up the CampMaster quick and simple. With
a little practice it is possible to erect and peg out
a CampMaster in under 15 minutes. The folding system
including pole work, canvas and bed are all housed in
the lid with room to spare. It is hard to believe that
the bottom half of the trailer is empty, providing 500
litre's of secure storage space, ideal for camping equipment,
clothing and particularly useful to motorcyclists. The
folding system can even be detached and removed thus
increasing the trailers storage capacity even further.
|
SMALL WONDER
I know it sounds unlikely that there is a trailer tent
out there which even quite small motorcycles can tour
with and I doubted it myself, but seeing is believing
in the case of the TransCamper CampMaster 4. But to
go back to the beginning, I arrived at Camperlands,
who are marketing the CampMaster in Manchester, more
than slightly dubious about the claims made for the
product and when I saw the supposed ready-for-the-road
trailer I thought that maybe I'd got my dates mixed
up and that it was in fact April 1st not February the
11th. This trailer just looked so small, shiny and smooth,
even sexy in an automotive kind of way; one thing this
could not be is a four berth trailer tent.
'Err, I think you've got the wrong trailer out,' says
I, running my eyes all over what looked to be a millionaire's
baggage trailer, or the poshest golf trolley in the
world. Cute, yes but trailer tent no.
'Oh, no' says the man from Camperlands. 'That's the
trailer tent we promised you and there's a bike over
there, which will manage admirably'. Gulp!
TOWING
You'll have to forgive me for wimping out on the two
wheeled towing experience but the last big bike I rode
was Matchless G12, circa 1970, and my skill levels may
be a bit rusty to be climbing straight onto the supersonic
Honda Pan European, which Camperlands had lined up.
I'm assured that it tows very amiably behind any bike
legally entitled to hitch it to.
(Potential two-wheel towers should make themselves aware
of the law relating to towing with motorcycles before
considering purchase. Camperlands will gladly supply
information regarding current towing laws and I'm confident
they will give impartial advice on the suitability of
your motorcycle).
The unit is so light that I reckon I could almost have
pushed it the mile or so to the local camping park where
we were going to erect the CampMaster. Feedback from
owners has been very positive with regards to the on-road
behaviour.
PRACTICALITIES
So, it's tiny it's light and it's incredibly good looking
but what about practicalities? Surely something has
to give? First you open it and there's room on top of
the tent part for a couple of chairs and maybe a couple
of sleeping bags. Fine. Then you pick up the whole top
half (lid) and open that, revealing a cavernous place
for your cooker, camera, clothes, towels and all manner
of other previously banned items on motorcycling holidays.
Just imagine it, clean underwear on a biking holiday.
Weird.
Next thing to do is check underneath, because no trailer
this small can have so much room in it. It's an optical
illusion, a confidence trick, hypnotism, or perhaps
something mystical even; but the space appears to move
with it, so who cares.
PITCHING
The ease with which the tiny CampMaster transforms itself
into a spacious tent is just as ingenious as the design
of the trailer itself. I think that the secret lies
in the fact that the designer has incorporated a kind
of 'ridge tent mentality' into the basics of the trailer
tent construction and with a good dose of modern thinking
chucked in too.
Pitching is simple enough and it took us less than 20
minutes from start to finish. What you end up with is
a very stable, well made canvas tent capable of sleeping
two bodies off the ground, with a good sizes kitchen
extension, or second double bedroom across from the
living area, where there is ample standing room.
It has that nice taunt canvas look when it's up too,
with nothing flapping idly around. I always think that
this is the best indicator of a stable well-made tent
and though this may just be a personal foible, I suspect
I'm not alone in the quest for kink free camping. Nylon
doesn't often do it for me. |
