Well the sad day arrived – we sold the X3 and delivered it today to David and Gretel, it’s new owners. No doubt it will help them create some great memories in the outdoors, just as it did for us.
That leaves us with a space in the garage until the TVAN arrives – I’m using that to start getting organised for our Cape York trip in August, and we need to do a bit of rearranging to fit the bigger TVAN in the space occupied by the X3. There are also some upgrade jobs on Lachie’s Patrol to make it Cape ready, so a bit of work area will be handy for that too.
Manufacture of the TVAN is also behind schedule due to Victoria’s COVID19 lockdowns, so delivery is looking like late September rather than August. This means that the Travelling Two won’t be travelling too far for a while, other than a shake down trip next month in the swags to make sure the Cruiser is set up okay for us to live out of during the three week Cape trip. Oh, and the Cape York trip itself, now there’s something to look forward to 😉
We’ll keep you updated as we get ready to head north – in the mean time stay safe out there.
Hi Shane,
Can I please ask why you changed from the patriot to the TVan?
We are impressed with both but have not made our final decision at this point.. but getting some information from someone that has owned and used can be a significant help in our assistance.
Cheers and thank you,
Mal
Hi Mal
The Patriot X3 is a great camper with some strong features, but in our mind is best suited to a young childless couple who are prepared to live out of the car and sleep in the camper.
The TVAN on other hand can be lived out of independently of the tow vehicle. The reasons for saying this include the following:
– Other than the large rear drawer most of the X3’s interior storage space can not be accessed when packed up, and even then there is not really sufficient space to store two people’s clothes and personal items for a fortnight trip. So you end up with duffle bags or similar that you have to move from bed to floor to somewhere else… The TVAN however has a huge amount of space that can be easily accessed by simply opening the rear hatch (if you have the Skyward option)
– There is really only one set up with the X3, which involves opening the camper and exposing all that canvas to the weather. The TVAN has several set up options, from a 30 second “jump in bed” through to deploying of the tent, and even then the bed section is under fibreglass and feels very secure when the weather is bad.
– There is very little standing room inside the X3 to get dressed or move around, two people struggle to move around in the camper. The TVAN tent however is quite spacious, enough room for a table and two chairs plus more.
– The TVAN kitchen is much more usable and has a heap of bench space. With the X3 you are forever shuffling things around, you end up with little bench space left if the stove is pulled out and the pantry drawer is opened – doing the dishes is also a chore because you run out of room quickly.
Some other pros and cons:
– X3 has benefit of the Exorack to carry firewood and large objects like a canoe, TVAN has little external storage other than the little wood rack on the tailgate, although I carry gear on the spare wheel carrier because I have matched the trailer wheels with the Cruiser and already carry two spares.
– This raises a good point, Patriot will match stud patterns but will not customise the wheel track or wheel offset, so you can’t run a 200 series wheel on the X3 and you can’t match the LC200 track. I found this to be a weakness in soft sand and rutted tracks, maybe not an issue if you have a narrower track car like a Hilux, but TVAN is matched to the LC200 and I even run identical wheels and tyres for complete inter-changability.
– X3 has a nice small foot print which is great in tight forest tracks and it easily stows in a garage – TVAN is quite a bit larger, though it tows well it does not easily fit in many garages due to its 2.15m height and 5.4m length.
– X3 bed is narrower than a queen but longer than a double, making linen difficult to source, and you have to pretty much make the bed each time you set up camp. We also found it awkward to climb in/out of bed in the dark, particularly if you are on the outside and need to climb over your partner plus kneel on the hard edge of the bed shell. There is also little room to store night time essentials near the bed, like a bottle of water, reading glasses, your phone, etc, especially if you are sleeping on the outside. The TVAN however has a standard queen mattress and the bed remains fully made up at all times. There is also a neat storage set up on both sides of the bed and plenty of USB chargers each side.
– Patriot has much better electrical integration, especially with the Redvision system. TVAN offers a long options list but the quality of electrical fit out is not as good, I have ended up modifying a lot of the electrical system including installation of the big inverter.
– TVAN has a much better water system – both tanks have separate fill points and isolators to maintain segregation, and it can draw in water from an external source, total of 180l that is all usable. X3 has two tanks connected together as one, can’t draw in external water and I could only get 110l usable litres from the 130l tanks.
– X3 has much more sex appeal and X factor, I have tried to make the TVAN a little cooler with the wrap.
I’ve liked the TVAN concept since the early 2000s but didn’t get one because Suzzanne was worried about feeling too enclosed, and we liked the X3 when we inspected the prototype. We got to know its good and bad points and worked with it. Then we did a road trip that included a week in the NT with a group that included four TVANs, after watching them and looking through them by end of the trip we were sold on getting one. And at end of it all, the final decision to swap came after I herniated a disc on that trip and was putting it at risk when using the X3 on my own, plus Suzzanne couldn’t open/close the X3 on her own either – the TVAN is easy for either of us to set up and pack down.
I got a bit carried away there haha. I hope the information was useful but understand that its just my opinion and another user may give a different account, let me know if you have any specific questions.
Cheers
Shane
Hi mate I noticed you pulled down the post on the modifications to the x3. I remembered a number were relevant to the x1 I have bought. I was wondering if this info can be accessed another way
Cheers Matt
Hi Matt – sorry to say that the post got some sort of bug that was causing my site to get smashed by spam, so I had to delete the post to clear it.
Most of the individual mods were also on the Patriot Owners Official Group FB page, mostly under hashtag #x3llent. I can’t check they are still there because Tommy black balled me after sharing some content that disagreeed with their marketing hype, and also the recovery point fiasco. If there is anything specific shoot me a message and I can try to DM you any pics I still have.