Our new 2005 Cub Camper

After nearly 5 years* and over a thousand nights in our Lifestyle Reconn R2 Hybrid Camper, we returned to Perth from our Big Lap of Australia, content in what we’d achieved and having already decided we’d sell the hybrid.

It didn’t make sense to hold onto a depreciating item worth so much with limited use in our new chapter of life, and it didn’t take long to sell. We always knew we’d get something else in the future, but it’d be far cheaper, and another compromise to meet our ever changing demands.

We looked at every option out there; swags and a gazebo, tents, caravans and camper trailers, and always came to the same conclusion. A camper trailer made the most sense for weekend and school holiday trips, with the best use case.

Having something set up and ready to go at the drop of a hat is so under appreciated, and knowing you have everything in a trailer always ready to go is ideal. I think we’d struggle to fit everything into the back of our Ute, and it wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable. We’re not unfamiliar with camper trailers, having owned a soft floor camper for many years prior to the Hybrid.

Price; a major factor

There was very little wrong with our Reconn R2. We absolutely loved it, and if it weren’t for money being a consideration we would have kept it. However, we recently purchased a fairly expensive property, and are back on the grind to knock the mortgage down, and that meant budgeting a lot less for our potential camper.

Over the years, we’ve realised that whilst your travel setup can make your life easier when camping, you still enjoy the same views, and experiences as everyone else who also goes away. To take it a step further, you can have almost as much fun in a cheap camping setup as you can in a several hundred thousand dollar setup, and we figured for a couple of weeks at most a year, the dramatic reduction in price was worth it.

What did we look at?

I opened marketplace a number of times since getting home, and we checked out a whole array of campers online. They’ve come down in value an incredible amount, and I was always keen on a hard floor option. We’ve had a soft floor in the past, and I know how difficult and time consuming they can be to set up and pack away.

I looked at a number of cheap soft floor campers for about 2 – 8k, and was never fully convinced. I liked the Kimberley Kampers, and Pioneers, but the hard floor section is so small you’d have a hard time with two mattresses and room to get in and out.

I liked a lot of the Cub Campers that came up, but the prices were pretty up there (15 – 20k), and so I left it, focused more on our house and not the itch to go camping, which had only slightly started to emerge.

However, one evening after a big day at work I happened to open marketplace again, and saw a 2005 cub camper that was advertised for $6500, which I knew was cheap. I opened it up, and saw the condition of it was immaculate, and it was a 3 metre hard floor, which meant you got a lot of extra room inside. It didn’t take long for Sarah to agree it was probably the best option we’d seen so far, and so I sent a message, offering to pay a deposit sight unseen, and to come the next day.

The owner was amazing, and said he’d hold it, and we all headed off the following afternoon. I was shocked to see how well it had been cared for, with incredibly little use and presenting well. To top it off, we walked away paying only $5800, and he dropped it off at our house.

We were stoked, and keen to check it out, with the first night spent the day it was dropped off, on our driveway.

About the camper

Our new camper trailer is a Cub Spacematic 2005 model, with a 60 (or 70 maybe?) litre water tank. It’s got no battery system, a 3 way fridge inside, the usual stainless kitchen (with a grill!), Trigg hitch, mechanical override disk brakes, and space on the hard floor to tie things onto. It’s simple, light weight and pretty much exactly what we thought we’d want. It is far less well equipped than our Reconn R2, but also about a tenth of the price!

Weights

The primary concern I had with this camper trailer was the weights, with a 750kg tare weight, and mere 1000kg ATM (and axle rating). Essentially, that meant with a full water tank and gas bottle, along with the awning, you’d have less than 150kg of payload left, for your food, camping gear etc. I figured being CUB campers I’d be able to get an ATM upgrade easily enough, and took the risk. More on that later.

How does it go?

So far, we’re wrapped with the camper. It’s light, small, cheap, in great condition and super easy (and fast) to set up. We love the internal fridge, the low main bed (Sarah doesn’t have to climb up), and the fact that it has lots of room in the fold out section for the kids mattresses, for a chair or two to sit inside and heaps of head room.

We’re working on the weight issue with an ATM upgrade, and expect it will do us well, for many years. The intention is to hang onto it, as it should cost little to keep, and won’t depreciate much.

Upgrades

Beyond the ATM upgrade, I’m hoping to install a diesel heater so we can camp comfortably in winter, a lithium battery, some basic lights and potentially a second water tank. The awning will likely remain unused, in favour of a gazebo (but we’ll do some testing). The tyres are 9 years old and a weird size, so I’ll likely swap them out for something bigger and more common. I’ll likely remove the manual water pump in favour of an electric one, but that will be it – cheap, cheerful and more than capable of providing us with a comfortable and fun camping experience.

This should allow us to do weekends away in comfort, and the occasional one or two week trip in school holidays as needed. Should we do anything else to the camper?

We’ll see you out there!

Sharing is caring!