Part 4 – Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

We finally made a decision.

Last time on Big Guy Camping…sorry, couldn’t resist. However, in my last post I talked about going to the camping show and listed a number of camper manufactures that we looked at. The truth is, we had already ordered ours before the camping show and good thing too as the delivery times are even longer now. We actually got in before the Melbourne show in May to bring us further up the waiting list.

After reviewing all the material we were given and after discussing it at length, there was only one camper we felt worked for us and if you guessed it, well done. It was the AusTrack Telegraph X. Yes, we went for the X, the inclusions for only $3k more made sense, even though some are not exactly what we want, we figure we can sell them off and get upgrades.

Give me reason and I’ll come on in….

No, I am not John Farhnam, but I will give you the reasons why we chose the AusTrack Telegraph X.

Again, the inclusions where just hard to pass up and while it didn’t tick every box, it ticked 95% of them and that was more than the other manufactures did. Plus, we liked Darren, our sales guy. What a champ.

The inclusions are:-

● 80L Dual Zone fridge. Now we already have a 60L Brass Monkey, which we are a fan of and we intend to keep it as a car fridge, if we sell it, we will get a smaller one for day trips or as a dedicated drinks fridge. We have a few options. The 80L is huge and one thing we have said is the 60L is just a smidge too small. We also like how the lids can open either way. Yes it’s missing Bluetooth, which I love about the BM fridges, but small price to pay. 

● 2x 120AH Batteries (240 total). This is nice. We currently have 1x140AH Giant battery and it’s been great, having an extra 100AH is awesome. 

● 1000W Redarc Inverter. This one is one we umm’d and ahh’d over. Not that I have anything against Redarc, they make really good products, but they are also at the upper end price wise. Also, 1000W is really not enough. Sure I could run a laptop off it (Don’t use a laptop) and maybe charge some drill batteries, but not much else. Look, an inverter is a luxury. I have done my best to work off a full 12v system, so adding 240V in is not something I was looking to do. But if it comes with it, then sure. What do I want to run off it? The only thing I can really think of is a Pod Coffee machine, which my wife owns. I actually don’t drink coffee, but she does. So having an inverter to run that would be great and maybe a microwave, but I think that might be cheating when it comes to camp cooking. The pod machine needs 1200W, so the 1000W inverter wont cut it. Redarc offer an upgrade, but it’s cost an extra $1k to get a 2000W inverter, which is just not worth it. And besides, other well respected manufactures sell 2000W inverters for a 1/4 of the price. So my plan is to sell the 1000W and buy a 2000W and I will actually have money left over in the end. 

The inclusions continue…

● Hotwater system, toilet and solar panels. We actually removed these from the package saving us a few hundred dollars. We already have a Joolca and a toilet and solar panels. So there wasn’t much need for them.

● Gas plumbed, not to just the kitchen, but to the draw bar for your hot water shower AND an extra one at the back for a BBQ. No one else offered this in other campers and for the sake of convenience, it made sense to me to not have to move a gas bottle around all the time.

● 170L of water (120L and 50L tanks). Some offered the dual tank option, while others just gave us a 100L tank. Having a shower and sink I think it makes more sense to have the 2 tanks and the Tele X also includes a switch so you can choose which tank your water is coming from. Makes sense.

● Projecta 25A multi stage charger. Most others offered this feature, it just means you can plug into the wall at home and charge your battery or run off power at a powered site.

● Bluetooth Stereo System. Again, some offered this option. It’s nice, jury is out if it will sound any good. A better head unit might be in the cards.

● A TV/DVD. So, this one we don’t overly care about. We typically watch stuff on my 12.9” iPad Pro. But I guess it would be nice to watch it on a TV, it comes down to how much power it draws. It also takes up room when packed away. We don’t use DVD’s anymore, but we can plug a HDMI into it.

And still more…

● Boat rack, when we first ordered the camper, we had them remove the boat rack as we didn’t think we would use it. But we changed our mind as we seen some great uses for it from other owners. 

● Like all these campers, it comes with a fully enclosed annex as well, most likely something we will never use. 

● The Tele X comes standard with a McHitch, which apparently is a good hitch, but we are upgrading to the DO35 as it is a low profile hitch which works best with the rear door on the Pajero. It is apparently the best hitch on the market anyway, so that’s good too.

● Queen sized mattress. This is actually a foam mattress and we are upgrading it to an inner spring mattress. 

●Tropical roof not only keeps the top of the tent dry, but it creates an air gap that makes it cooler in summer.

No-one like to compromise, but…

As we have learned, there is always compromises and this no different with this camper, although they are minor. Mainly it’s just things we have seen on other campers that would be nice, but as I said, you have to compromise. 

Here are a few things we think would make it perfect.

● The cushions in the lounge area are just fabric. While they are comfortable, a vinyl cover would be better for us. One of their other campers, the Plenty X has a really nice looking lounge suite, but unfortunately it is not available on the Tele X. If you are wondering why I would want vinyl, it’s because we have a very hairy dog and anyway we can keep the lounge from having fur stuck to it is a win. We plan to investigate having the cushions covered.

● Hot water piped to the sink. We have hot water for our showers, but having it in the sink make good sense for washing up, etc etc. Now I’ve been looking into it and I’ve seen others do some mods to make it happen and it looks pretty straight forward. So I plan to do that. (Planned Mods for the camper is a future post, I have many).

● One other camper has the water and gas permanently plumbed to the kitchen, this would be nice too.

These compromises are minor as you can see and some can be solved with some modifications, which I don’t mind as I find that fun.

To sum up

All in all we were very impressed with the trailer and it’s build. We know they are not perfect, but with some TLC and a little bit of extra work, I think we will have a great trailer that will last us for years.

So, there you have it. Not the largest purchase we have ever made, but certainly up there. Alison and I are super excited for it to arrive. They said 4 months from May, but they also said it could be earlier. Until then, I have one or two more trips planned with our current trailer. It will be sad to see it go once we sell it. I’ve loved upgrading and mod it and it’s done us very well for the time we have had it. 

Once our new camper arrives, I will give you a tour and take you through each and every mod we make. 

Have a great week everyone, we will.

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