Travelander Kwik Camp 2019 Review

Forgotten sounds for many of today’s remote area travellers: the rustle of wind on canvas; the patter of rain; the shared family pleasure of setting up camp, where none previously existed, with your kids...

These are some of the pleasures that many of today’s travellers are missing out on. The world of hybrid campers with instant set-ups, thermally efficient composite walls, massive energy storage with enough inverter power to run coffee pod machines, and huge water and waste capacity to ensure you don’t need to interact with your species for weeks on end, has sanitised the once-hallowed and inclusive ‘camping’ experience for many.

That’s where Travelander’s new Kwik Camp family camper comes in. It combines the social and tactile experience of canvas camping with the speed and simplicity that today’s time-poor travellers demand.

Time poor adventurers

Now, I’m certainly not flying a flag for wet, flapping canvas, rock-solid ground that defies tent pegs and lengthy cleaning that follows any camping trip! I’ve more than paid my dues to that lifestyle over the years, as have Travelander founders Darren and Julia Hoger, but there’s so much good in that old-school experience that shouldn’t be flushed into your grey water tank with the dishwater.

Having lived the dream, with Darren originally building their own manual-fold camper 18 years ago for travels with their young children, the Hogers have grown up with the industry changes and with their children now in their twenties, they understand the impatience of Millennial travellers.

“As a general rule, younger travellers today want to go further than their parents, but with shorter holidays, they need to drive more and make quick overnight stops to get there,” he explained. “There’s no time or appetite to fully unpack a camper after a long day’s drive with a tired family and an early start ahead the next morning.”

Appreciating this early, Travelander was one of the first adopters of a fully automated folding tent process, moving later from air rams to linear actuators.

Given their own experience, the new side-folding, hard-floor Kwik Camp that Travelander has just released alongside its new rear-fold, hard floor Lantrex, has taken this concept of family camping into the 21st Century and for an RRP of $36,800, they may have a winner.

Side-by-side design

While the Kwik Camp’s Duragal and powder-coated chassis, independent trailing arm suspension, 12-inch electric brakes and aerodynamic fibreglass tub are all made in China by a long-standing contractor, the design is principally that of Darren Hoger's, based on his, Julia's and their friends’ personal experience.

One good example of this is the Kwik Camp’s elevated side-by-side high density foam mattresses – one queen bed for the adults and the other to be shared by their children. This is in response to the requirement of many risk-averse parents for their kids to be accommodated off the ground to avoid the jaws of dingoes and crocs.

Would someone who has never camped in an Australian National Park or by a wild creek in Northern Australia understand this, Darren challenges?

A slide-out drawer, plus under-bed storage should satisfy most family camping clothes needs.

And, apart from the rope securing its Darche wrap-around external awning to the Kwik Camp’s swing-up jockey wheel handle and with the twist-lock aluminium poles there's no need to peg anything out for a short stay if the wind is moderate.

Quick set-up

Then there’s the quick set-up. Undo four over-centre roof clips holding the hard cover, use the remote control on your key ring and the camper opens like a willing oyster, leaving you to simply attach perimeter elastic cords to complete the set-up.

Once you have done this, you’re set for the night, with the fold-over bed section supported on the right side by two steel legs that swing into place when the opening mechanism is activated.

There’s no need to do more, other than pull out the comprehensive powder-coated steel kitchen that slides-away longitudinally into the Kwik Camp’s front locker, while the optional portable fridge next door glides out with your cool drinks from the adjacent tapered front nose-cone locker.

Erecting the 180-degree Darche awning takes a few minutes more, but it's not essential for overnight stops, making the Kwik Camp almost as fast to set up as many hybrid campers. Awning walls and sides are available options.

The kitchen and awning can also both be used for roadside rest breaks or lunch stops, as they're independent from the living area of the camper.

Locally supplied components

While Travelander campers and slide-ons are largely made in China, some of their important equipment is sourced from proven and trusted Australian suppliers because of their unique understanding of local requirements.

A good example is the 10mm thick Wax Converters DX10 canvas, with its turquoise shrink-resistant cotton stitching. Because of the tent section's built-in fly sheet, the canvas isn't as bulky as on some campers, meaning that it folds easier on cold mornings.

The tent’s midge-proof window mesh is also locally-made by Ricky Richards to ensure its resistance to our local insects and tropical conditions, while the standard 120Ah Enerdrive lithium battery is also locally-sourced and supported.

And, if the automatic roof system mechanism fails while you're ‘miles from anywhere’, Travelander has two separate back-up systems that will allow you to pack up and move on.

Plenty of water storage

Once you’ve set up camp, other features you'll appreciate include a total of 240 litres of water capacity from the separate 160 litre and 80 litre tanks, with the camper having the ability to draw to one or both from a dam or creek.

If you're onsite for a  few days, you might want to connect a portable glass solar panel or a solar blanket to the standard 50Ah Anderson plug input atop the front nosecone.  And, if the thermometer drops to zero inland, as it often does, tick the box for the optional diesel space heater. A bit soft? Who cares when you’re warm!

It’s all this local knowledge and input that separates the Kwik Camp from many other imported campers and helps Travelander justify its $36,800 price tag. While this is cheap for a similarly-equipped locally-built camper, it’s at the upper end of what you might expect to pay for a fully imported camper, but local know-how is valuable.

Unusually for an imported camper,  the Kwik Camp is quite light at just 960kg, which puts it in the legal towing range of most mid-sized SUVs.

With its overall length of 5100mm, width of 1800mm and height of 1725mm, the Kwik Camp should be able to negotiate many hard-core adventure tracks with ease, although its long drawbar might be a limiting factor on some extreme ones like Cape York’s Telegraph Track unless your vehicle has plenty of ground clearance under the camper’s standard McHitch off-road 360-degree coupling.

The standard 16-inch alloy wheels with Toyota Landcruiser-size 265/75 AT tyres, with the spare winched up between the chassis rails, already do a  good job here.

Summing up

The Kwik Camp we reviewed was a pre-production prototype and had a few small fit and finish issues that Travelander's Darren Hoger pointed out and assured us will be rectified in production versions.

Otherwise there's plenty to like and little to quibble about in the Kwik Camp. It’s the best reason we’ve found for some time to get back under canvas...

2019 Travelander Kwik Camp KC. 1

Travel length: 5100mm
Body length: 4800mm
External body width: 1800mm
Travel height: 1725mm
Tare: 960kg
ATM: 1950kg
Ball weight: 60kg
Body: Fibreglass moulded
Chassis: Powder-coated DuraGal Y-frame with McHitch 360-degree off-road coupling
Suspension: Iindependent trailing arm suspension with coil springs and single telescopic shock absorbers per wheel
Brakes: 12in electric drum
Wheels: Alloy with 265/75-16 A/T tyres
Freshwater: 1 x 160L and 1 x 80L
Battery: 1 x 120AH Enerdrive Lithium with BMS
Solar: Provision of 50AH Anderson plug for optional portable panel
Gas: 1 x 9kg
Hot water: Optional gas HWS
Cooking: Slide-out powder-coated steel kitchen with two-burner gas cooktop, plus stainless-steel sink
Fridge: Optional 80-litre Engel portable compressor fridge
Shower: Exterior with optional gas HWS
Lighting: LED.
Price: $36,800 (Queensland)
Supplied by: Travelander, Sunshine Coast, Queensland