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We’ve
set the Patrol up with a Carry Me Camper for our big trip through Africa.
Over
the last few years while we’ve been travelling with Macca and Karen
from Red Desert Tours we’ve always been impressed with the speed and
ease of the set-up of their Carry Me Camper.
While yours truly had been involved in the design of the previous canopy on
our Patrol it had never worked out the way I wanted it. With the thought of
a rooftop tent and a better designed and laid out canopy and tyre set-up the
attraction was just too much. Deciding to get with the strength we decided
to bite the bullet and change to a Carry Me Camper from Candy Canvas.
Candy Canvas is based in the small South Australian town of Tintinara and
has been in existence since 1991 producing a range of swags, seat covers,
bags and slide-on campers.
Carry
Me Campers come in a variety of different styles and lengths including units
for standard and dual cab utes as well as for utes that are fitted with a
tub tray. We opted for their standard camper unit that is suitable for a dual
cab ute trayback. The bed area of these campers protrude over the vehicle
cab to give you a full-length bed (6’6”) just like the proven
single cab versions.
The main part of the box measures 1.65 metres long by 1.83m wide and is just
a touch over a metre high. Made from zinc annealed coated steel this unit
is a tough and robust box designed for a life time of work and play. Weight
of these units (with jacks and tent attached) is 330kg.
Below: Our Carry Me
Camper Unit set up on the back of our Patrol
Doors
on each side lift on gas struts to make access easy while good dust seals
ensure the interior stays dust and dirt free. The lockable door handles are
easy to use and provide a positive pressure on the seals to ensure a perfect
seal.
Normally the camper is designed as a slide-on unit and comes complete with
a set of four jacks that allow the camper to be removed from the vehicle when
it is not in use or if you want to use the vehicle and you don’t want
to move your camp. As we our travels are normally pretty mobile and the camper
erects and drops quickly we opted to fit the unit permanently to the Patrol.
However if we ever change the vehicle six bolts on each side and the box will
lift off.
The inside of the box is cavernous and we set the near side (passenger side
of camper) up as a kitchen. Candy Camper’s have a unique slide and tilt
tray for Engel fridges and this works a treat, especially if you are a little
vertically challenged.
Candy also produce a stainless steel pantry for their campers that includes
a fold-down table, three plastic draws, a tub and a cutlery drawer. These
units are a little too long if you have a dual cab camper with a fridge already
fitted so we opted for a few plastic drawers to fill the available space.
These are a bit of a come down from the Black Widow drawer storage system
we had fitted previously and will not be anywhere as robust, but hopefully
they’ll last a year or two.
Adding to the usability of the kitchen area we’ve added a Black Widow
table. These are designed to quickly clip into a couple of small brackets
and with their easily extendable legs can be fitted basically anywhere you
like.
We included a Candy electrical package into the camper. The normal package
includes a fuse box, battery indicator, three power outlets, cargo lights
on each of the doors as well as a 3.5amp battery charger and a 75amp/hr deep
cycle battery. As we already had a dual battery in the Patrol we passed on
the charger and the extra battery.
We
mulled over how and where to carry the spare tyres. In the end it was decided
to fit them to the very back of the camper on a Candy designed drop-down carrier
arrangement. This demands an internal frame at the rear of the camper box
to hold the extra weight of the tyres but it is easily fitted. This has proven
to be an easy and effective way of carrying the tyres and they are always
handy and ready to use.
Up
top, the bed is a Queen size 100mm deep innerspring mattress, or if you prefer
there’s a high quality foam mattress available. This is a beauty and
is very comfortable.
The
tent section of the camper is made from Aussie produced Bradmill canvas with
12oz material for the roof and 8oz material for the walls.
To erect the camper first take the dust cover off the unit and remove the
poles and pegs from the box. Hammer a couple of pegs into the ground about
three metres out from the front and back of the box of the camper. Fold the
tent out from the box and erect a pole and use a rope to hold into position.
Immediately you have shelter over the kitchen area of the camper and the bed
is now accessible – after just a couple of minutes. This is all you
need to do for an overnight stop as there is plenty of room to dress in the
tent section over the bed. The tent area has a large screen door while screened
windows at each end give excellent ventilation.
The three external walls can be zipped on and pegged down in a matter of minutes.
A draught skirt and a floor can also be attached if required. Spreader poles
are also included and while these make the tent of the camper look much better
as it stretches the canvas taught, we’ve never used them!
Packing up is a reverse of the set-up procedure and takes a little more time
but is pretty hassle free, which is the way we like it.
Adding to the shade of the Camper or for those times we need a quick shelter
from the sun or the rain when the camper isn’t erected we have an easy
to erect Black Widow awning. These awnings come in a range of sizes designed
to mount on either the sides or the rear of any four wheel drive vehicle.
We’ve used them in the past, and out in the desert or on a wide expanse
of beach, we’ve found an awning to be invaluable. Our limited space
along the side meant we went for a smaller one and this was easily mounted
off the side of our Rhino roofrack. It is simple and very quick to set up
while working a treat.
Inside
the canopy we’ve added a 1000 watt Projecta inverter to run a range
of power tools. While you can get bigger inverters (as well as smaller) from
Projecta, I thought this unit, rated to carry a 2000 watt peak load for a
short time as well as a 1000 watts continuous load, would be all I need. Still
you need some fairly heavy cables supplying an inverter of this capacity so
the boys at Outback 4WD done the job of running heavy power cables from the
auxiliary battery.
Also to provide better power I went to Piranha and had them fit an Optima
battery. These batteries are more expensive than the normal lead acid battery
but offer more grunt as well as much better resistance to vibration. Hopefully
they’ll last a little longer and in the process work out to be just
as cheap as the more normal battery, which seem to die on me after one or
two trips.
For Africa we’ve also added a water filtration and purification system
which is fitted inside the camper. It consists of an in-line strainer ($20
and washable) before the 12-volt Flojet water pump ($135). After that comes
a 10-inch CDL polypropylene sediment filter ($25 and good for a couple of
thousand litres of cleanish water), while a 1-micron activated-carbon filter
($65) that’s also good for 1-2 thousand litres of water comes next.
In Australia and most civilized places, that is all you need. However for
Africa and for the very best water, where bad bugs are common, I’ve
added a Trav-L-Pure purifier ($125) for those times I want to produce water
good enough to drink without boiling. These are good for around 600-litres
of water. For sterilizing a small amount of water on the spot, we plan to
use a Steripen.
Our Carry Me Camper has exceeded
all our expectations and with the Patrol on the way to Africa it is going
to be well and truly tested over the next year or so. I have no doubt it will
pass the test – we’ve seen too many other happy wanderers with
similar set-up to have any doubts!
For
more information on the Carry Me Camper range or any products from Candy Canvas,
catch them at any of the big 4X4 shows or agricultural field days, Freecall:
1800 810 441, or check the web at: www.candycanvas.com.au.
Market Place
For more information contact the following:
Outback
4WD Service Centre: ph: (03) 9720 6226; www.outback4wd.com.au.
For
the full range of Black Widow 4WD storage equipment check out: www.blackwidow4wdstorage.com.
For
info on Rhino Racks check out: www.rhinorack.com.
Piranha
Offroad Products: ph: (03) 9762 1200, or www.piranhaoffroad.com.au.
For
the full range of Projecta products check out:
www.projecta.com.au.
Purifiers
Australia supply a wide range of filters and purifiers; Ph: 1300 303 605,
or check the web at:
www.purifiersaustralia.com.au
General
Ecology have a wide range of excellent filters and purifiers; check out: www.generalecology.com
For
more info on the the amazing easy to use and carry Steripen, check out: www.hydro-photon.com,
or
www.seatosummit.com.au
See you in
the bush.
Ron and Viv.
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