a look around my camper trailer

Tony & Chris's Oryx

 

 

 

Tony & Chris's Oryx

I'd like to give you a look at our Camper, why we chose it and what we have done so far to make it 'our' camper.

Like many people we graduated from tents to a Camper Trailer. Our first trailer is a evolution in itself. We still have it and it’s a gem for outback travel, particularly in the summer. Living in the Canberra area we get plenty of experience with cold weather and we found our trailer quite useable but limiting in mid winter or when there is constant rain (we wish). Last but not least, stopping in crowded sites necessitated changing inside the bed capsule and that entails a bit of unnecessary contortion.

We initially saw the Oryx at the Queanbeyan 4WD show and liked the concept. At that time we were committed to a series of improvements with the trailer and thought the Oryx was pretty pricey in trailer terms. We also drove to Melbourne to see the Tvan and to Batemans Bay for the Ultimate, and for many reasons neither made the final cut.

Time passed, and we changed our view after seeing the substantial prices now being asked for the top of the line trailers of all types. We were aware that an improved model Oryx was on the way and that the changes although relatively minor were similar to what we would want, so we placed our order. Development took longer than expected and so after some extensions to the delivery date for the new Oryx, we settled for the last remaining Oryx from the only shipment of the original design to reach Australia.

At this stage you may well ask, is this a camper? That crossed our mind and we believe the Oryx is. Really it's just another designers view of how you can package an off the ground bed within accepted trailer parameters of size and weight. It equals or betters the weight and size and off road competence of similarly specified canvas tent trailers. It's relatively light, approx 1000 Kg fully loaded; is no bigger dimensionally than an Ultimate or Tvan and significantly the unit is the same width as the tow vehicle, mandatory for serious fire trail travel.

The Oryx is solidly constructed from insulated composite board, fibreglass and canvas on a galvanised chassis with ALKO suspension and auto reversing drum brakes. It has a double bed, fold down kitchen, water tank with electric pump, a full 240v and 12 volt system incorporating a battery charger. The A frame has an innovative coupling, fibreglass storage box and twin Gas bottles. This unit came with a gas hot water system as well although we haven't used it yet. The interior has caravan type storage with piano hinges on all doors. It's certainly big enough for two if you're camping people. The Oryx also has available several awning options. We have both, an easi-awn roll out awning and a full awning and wall system that extends the side and rear area considerably. The full awning is usually only worthwhile for longer stays but very handy when used.

Despite the Oryx being quite satisfactory as delivered there are always features that you want and the incentive to make changes. What changes? Well the van is built around 12v power and yet had no 12v power points. We installed a voltmeter and 4 outlets. It has 4 fluro lights but no reading lights. I installed two LED bed lights as part of the electrical upgrade. The battery is inside the van and is slowly drained over time by the transformer / charger if left connected. A 100 Amp isolating switch has resolved that problem and allows the battery to be electrically disconnected at will. The Battery was upgraded to a Lifeline AGM unit as it is situated inside the camper.

The van was delivered with the 68 litre water tank situated under the rear section of the bed plus two 20 Ltr Jerry cans mounted one above the other on the outer rear wall. To improve the fore /aft and top-weight weight distribution the Jerry cans have been removed and are being moved to the A frame. The water tank has been removed and replaced with a Stainless Steel unit mounted above the Axle. I should add that we have had no stability problems and as the company holds the world speed record for a caravan there was probably little chance of that.

We made a lot of small improvements as most people do including a flyscreen for the door, shock cord retainers for pantry shelves, improved the pots and pans stowage for off road use, extended the sink drain hose to site it outside of the annex area, added an external workbench for the kitchen and replaced the combined kitchen tap / shower head with a standard tap.

Recently we rebuilt the kitchen unit and turned it around to make the whole food preparation and clean up easier. The Kitchen unit originally came with an attachable leg required whenever the kitchen was lowered. We included an inbuilt support when we changed the kitchen.

Finally, the comfort upgrades included using a self inflating sleeping mat on top of the foam mattress / cushion arrangement and a piece of closed cell rubber between the canvas and nylon fly as insulation. This was particularly successful in preventing the condensation that always occurs during winter with all thin skinned sleeping areas.

Well, what's it like to use. Set up is quick, the roof flips up and the bed flips out and four stabilizer legs are fitted to the van corners. The easi-awn is a two-minute job to roll out. Other than the domestic organization such as setting up the chairs and table to use outside, it's drop down the kitchen unit and plug in the gas for a cuppa. Water is via the 12v pump or a tap situated on the rear bumper bar. A useful fall-back if the pump fails. The concept is outside living so we usually "live" outside unless the weather is lousy or the flies / insects particularly bad.

We're very happy with our solution. It took a leap of faith to try something other than the standard canvas flip overs, as we had already put the Tvan and Ultimate to one side. Without the Annex OR the optional two man tent that mounts over the A frame, it wouldn't be the first choice for a family. If we were doing the Northern outback / national parks in mid summer we'd probably take the trailer for the increased ventilation, otherwise we don't really have anything else we would like to change.

 

 

 

rear as delivered rear after Jerry can removal full Annex interior showing 12v power points



Thanks to Tony and Chris for this article