THANKS to Manchester-based Camperlands, we can still purchase Camp-let trailer tents in the UK. If you have not come across Camp-let yet, this Danish brand is a real eye-opener when compared to some of its more popular competitors. It successfully addresses problems like poor build quality, badly designed frame, and the hard work needed to pitch many trailer tents.

Camperlands supplied a four-berth Concorde for us to check out Camp-let quality - and we can see why the company has remained popular with campers for decades. As soon as you hitch this neatly manufactured trailer on to the towcar, you find out just how nicely balanced and easy to tow it is. And that low 450kg weight makes it ideal for campers with smaller tow cars. It also makes the unit very easy to push into position by hand.

Close inspection reveals the body is made from hand-laid GRP, and all the fittings are either stainless steel or powder-coated against rust. To cap it all, the canvas is made by Isabella Denmark, a company renowned for its top quality and very expensive caravan awnings.

Once you purchase a Camp-let, Camperlands provides an hour-long handover to ensure you know how to use the tent correctly. Then there are the two concise instruction books and a DVD to take in. Given this post-sale care and attention, you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a complicated unit to erect. Far from it - our Concorde proved oh, so simple and, with practice, it should take around ten minutes.

All you do is wind down the corner steadies and unlock the kitchen unit. Swing this out - lowering its end support to hold it steady (it can also be used in this way when you park up for a meal while travelling). Insert the legs into the roofrack and swing the trailer roof over to create two bedrooms. A small pole is used to connect the apex poles, and the canvas is then dragged over the kitchen unit - pulling up the poles in the process. Peg out after the ridge and front pole are clicked into place.

The curtain runners are the best we have seen on a tent. And just check out the waterproof underbed storage area built into the vinyl draft excluder. There is also a useful wardrobe that sits between the two bedroom compartments. The kitchen unit is particularly impressive. It sports an electric pump and water container supplied as standard, and a 12V power point that draws off the car battery (battery box optional if not using your car's supply).

The metal poles that lie across the windows first appear intrusive until you realise they support the canvas when the wall panels are dropped. This relieves the strain placed on the zips and keeps the walls off the floor. The Concorde has a mesh screen running the base of the beds to reduce condensation, but daily mattress turning is still advised. Once home, you simply pull the canvas off its runners for drying indoors. The trailer can be stored on its side.

Clive Garrett

CAMP-LET CONCORDE

• Type: Trailer tent
• Price: £3,795 ex works
• Trailer size: 304cm x 160cm x 95cm
• Overall size: 550cm x 400cm
• Max headroom: 7ft 7in
• Inner compartment: Two bedrooms 215cm x 160cm
• Berths: Four
• Net capacity: 250kg
• Load capacity: 200kg
• Weight: 450kg
• Inner: Cotton
• Outer: Cotton
• Poles: Powder coated steel
• Pegs: Plastic and steel
• Options: £99 Dealer special package (consisting of spare wheel, spare wheel carrier, sun canopy, groundsheet); gas box; bike rack; jockey wheel; brakes; slatted beds; awning side walls; awning annexe with inner tent; trailer cover; storage rack; gas struts

CONTACT

Tel: 0161 998 8523; 0161 998 3467
www.camperlands.co.uk


This tent review was published in the March 2007 issue of Camping magazine's Trailer Tent Guide 2007.

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