Are you looking into purchasing a folding camper? If you don’t know a lot about folding campers, they fall somewhere between trailer tents and caravans. There are plenty of folding camper pros and cons, but it’s difficult to find a proper list of them anywhere.
Because of that, I’ve created this page on which I explain all the folding camper pros and cons that you should be aware of before purchasing one. I hope you find my guide useful, and if you’re looking at purchasing a second-hand folding camper, please view my guide here.
Folding Camper Pros
First and foremost, I’m going to explain the pros of folding campers. Folding camper veterans – if I’ve missed any great cons out, let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!
Easy To Store
Depending on the space that you have available at home, folding campers are very easy to store. We store our folding camper in our garage, but we used to store it on our drive without any bother.
Folding campers are compact when folded away, contrary to what you might think if you’ve ever seen one erected! As long as you have space at home, you’ll easily be able to store your folding camper without any trouble.
Storing your folding camper at home is as easy as fitting a wheel clamp and a hitch lock and covering it with a proper waterproof cover to prevent water ingress. Ideally, you would store your folding camper inside. If that isn’t possible, just take reasonable precautions to protect your camper.
Easy To Tow
Although towing is rarely described as easy, towing a folding camper is much easier than towing a caravan or any other bigger or heavier trailer.
Towing a folding camper is easy with all but the smallest of family cars. This is great, as it means you probably won’t have to upgrade your car as part of beginning your folding camper adventures. For example, a car such as a Ford Focus is more than capable of comfortably towing a folding camper. If you have a small Citreon, maybe not. But anything bigger and you should be fine. I have a guide here that helps you to find out whether your car can tow a folding camper, so feel free to check it out.
Folding campers are fairly light when compared with the majority of caravans, typically weighing between 600kg and 1,000kg. When I first purchased my folding camper, I was dreading having to tow it for the first time. Fortunately, it was much easier than I was expecting.
While towing does make you drive differently, you’ll find that towing a folding camper really isn’t as bad as you’re probably imagining. When compared with virtually every caravan available, towing a folding camper is incredibly easy and anyone will be comfortable towing one. Especially if you opt for one of the lighter folding campers!
Quick To Set Up
Erecting a folding camper is so simple. Folding campers are perfect for weekends away with the family or partner, simply because you can put one up so easily.
Although it differs from model to model, putting up a folding camper usually takes around 15 – 30 minutes. How long would it take you to put up a tent? Undoubtedly it would take much longer and it wouldn’t be as easy either! Most folding campers you can put up within 15 minutes without assistance. Obviously you can do it even quicker if you have someone helping you.
Here’s a great video from Pennine demonstrating how quickly you can set up a Pennine Pathfinder folding camper:
Obviously, the guy in the video knows exactly what he’s doing. That means he can put up a folding camper much quicker than the rest of us are able to. However, the video still gives you a really good idea of how quickly you’ll be able to put up your folding camper.
More Comfortable Than Other Camping Options
Although I’m a big fan of camping, I’m not a big fan of camping in a tent. I’m sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t like how uncomfortable camping in a tent can be. Camping in a folding camper is so much more comfortable than camping in a tent – and you sleep on an elevated platform rather than the floor!
Like many, get enjoyment from camping under a camper. However, camping in a tent isn’t anywhere near as comfortable as it was when I was younger! With a folding camper, you get the best of both worlds; camping under canvas but with the luxuries you’d get in a caravan.
Folding campers are very cosy, with comfortable caravan-like furniture inside. Folding campers are more spacious than you’d guess from the size of them, so you’ll be able to live in comfort even on rainy days where you can’t go out.
Everything You Need In One Unit
A big pro of a folding camper is it has everything that you need for a weekend away under one roof. A folding camper contains beds, cooking equipment and a living area. A lot of folding campers even have a cassette toilet and sink! With everything contained within a folding camper, you’ll have everything you need to pitch anywhere that caravans can – not just tent campsites that have communal toilets.
The only necessary amenity that most folding campers don’t have is a shower. This isn’t too big a deal, because there are plenty of top-quality portable showers available that do the job. In fact, I wrote a post looking at some of the best portable showers available, which you can read here.
If you were camping in a tent, you can only stop in a limited number of locations. You’d need to make sure that you were close to toilets and washing facilities, so you couldn’t always stop on caravan campsites. WIth a folding camper, you literally have everything that you need for quick weekend breaks.
Accepted At More Campsites Than Tents And Trailer Tents
If you want the widest variety of campsites available to you, a folding camper is perfect. A folding camper is accepted at virtually every campsite available to tents. It’s also accepted at a lot of caravan campsites because folding campers can be fully erected on caravan plots.
This is a great pro because you can stop in countless locations across the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. The world really is your oyster if you have a folding camper that you can take with you anywhere.
Cheaper Insurance And Servicing Than Caravans
Even if you want the luxuries of a caravan, the insurance and servicing costs can be very off-putting. If you’re only going to use your caravan a few times throughout the year, do you really want to spend hundreds, if not thousands, on insurance and serving alone?
Insuring and servicing a folding camper is fairly cheap when compared with caravans. I wrote a blog post recently all about insuring a folding camper, where I got an insurance quote for a brand new camper to see how much it would be. Some owners insure their folding campers for as little as £50 per year, so insurance doesn’t cost a lot.
For folding camper servicing, I recommend Approved Workshops. The Approved Workshop Scheme is a joint enterprise between the NCC (National Caravan Council), The Caravan and Motorhome Club and The Camping and Caravanning Club. You can use the Approved Workshops website to find an approved workshop near you to get your folding camper serviced.
All The Storage You Need
Although some people will need more storage than others, most people can pack everything they need for their trips into their folding camper. You’ll only need storage in your car for clothes, food, and perhaps electronics. Camping in a folding camper is much less hassle than camping in a tent for the extra storage alone.
I leave most items and equipment in the folding camper unit between trips, meaning we can get up and go easily if we decide we want a weekend away. I take electronics and so on out of the folding camper, just in case of water ingress and damp. But virtually everything else, such as the soft furnishings, you should be able to store in your folding camper all the time.
There’s plenty of cupboard space in folding campers too, so you’ll have all the storage you could possibly need for food and everything you take on your travels.
As you can see, there are plenty of folding camper pros. This list probably isn’t exhaustive either; these are just the pros I’ve encountered during my time with my camper.
Here are the folding camper cons to consider before you buy one.
Folding Camper Cons
While folding campers have loads of pros, there are some cons to be aware of too. Some of these cons really are make-or-break depending on your circumstances, so please note these before purchasing a camper.
Wet Packs Are A Pain
Sometimes, it’s impossible to avoid packing away a folding camper when it’s wet. Unfortunately, packing away your folding camper while it’s wet might cause damp and mildew if you don’t unpack it and let it dry out when you get home. Ultimately, this could mean damage to the structure of your camper and its canvas if you don’t have the space to air it out. I went into more detail in my post, tips for storing a folding camper.
As I said, you might be unable to avoid packing away your folding camper while it’s wet. If you do have to pack it away while it’s wet, I advise putting it back up and airing it out when you get home within 48 hours. Obviously, this means you need to have space at home to air out your folding camper and avoid moisture damage.
If you don’t have enough space at home to air out your camper after your travels, this could be a big issue. If you don’t air it out, you potentially risk damaging your investment.
I personally air my folding camper out after every trip where there’s a slight chance it might be wet. Even the slightest amount of moisture can cause some damage, so it’s best just to make sure.
A ‘Full’ Set Up Takes A Long Time
Remember I said earlier in this post that erecting a folding camper takes mere minutes? While that wasn’t untrue, it only applies to erecting the main unit. A ‘full’ set up, where you’re setting up the awning and all other non-included extras such as TVs and so on, can take much longer.
The first time I fully set up my folding camper, it honestly took hours. It was pouring, I was trying to put up the awning myself, and this was all before I even started to sort the inside. Basically, it was a nightmare weekend.
To avoid the worst of a ‘full’ set up, you’ll need two or more people setting up the folding camper. The awning itself can take an hour or more, depending on your experience. That’s with multiple people!
Basically, if you’ll need to do a full setup every time you’re holidaying, prepare yourself for setting up to take longer than 15 minutes. There’s no way you’ll have your folding camper fully set up within just a few minutes if you’re using the awning and so on.