What more can I say, but you have created a layout for other serious campers, without necessarily having to go through all the challenges you have to get the Reconn to the point you wanted! Great video

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate. This sure has been a seriously impressive camper and all of those hours of research and decision making that went into choosing this particular make and model was well worth it in the end 👍

Unbiased, honest and informative are 3 words when I think of your platform. Great video. Rather impressive set up that’s for sure that did well to house a family for an entire year around Australia!

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks again mate! 👍 I have been so impressed with this trailer, although there are the minor things here and there that need to be mentioned, overall there are not many products out there that would take on this amount of abuse and still look like ours at the end! 💪

Can I just say how well you do as a host of this channel. Fantastic editing, scripting and energy you give in front of the camera. Keep up the good work.

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate, I really appreciate that 🙏

Great review, have been to the lifestyle factory (years ago now) and was impressed. They really care about the products they were producing. Even got a sneak peek at the first tandem r4 chassis. Couldn’t afford one then… still can’t… but doesn’t mean I don’t want one!!

Outdoor shower is a must on any van. Clean sand off before you enter the van. Or enjoy a nude shower on the red dirt in remote locations!!

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

I thought we'd use it more, but just never really eventuated with our style of travel, not sure why? 🤷‍♂️

That was a really great summary review. Well done. It gave me a LOT of confidence that we picked the right camper. Ours is only 5 or 6 months away now (ordered 18 months ago). We skipped the rock slider bars, and ours is a single axle on springs, but pretty much identical spec. Thanks for making these videos. Lifestyle should make you a brand ambassador, except that you are a better reference because you're independent so easier to trust what you say. Cheers - David

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks, appreciate that. I'm sure you will be very happy with your choice when it arrives.... it does take a lot of patience at this stage through 🙄 Staying independent does offer a little more freedom, however its much more costly 😂

G'day Nathan,a great, unbiased balanced ,real-world review of the Lifestyle camper. I agree with not having scrub bars ,we have a similiar racked rear section & has never looked like scrapping. The trailing arms on our camper took a pounding also ,I made a protective flexible flap fitted in front of the trailing arms .I repainted the trailing arms no further damage in the the last 16k. The Camec doors need kind treatment, a mate has broken the plastic mesh door clips on a couple of occasions ( he used to slam the door)😮. I machined him a couple of aluminium replacements with no further problems. The Reconn appears to be a more than capable unit ,but with any trailer, there has to be some compremises, but you experienced very few. Safe travels

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate. I have been very impressed with the quality overall, especially considering what we put this trailer through! Nothing is invincible, but something like the Reconn is certainly setup for someone who just wants to hop in and go without worrying to much or spending weeks and weeks before their trip doing DIY projects!

I am glad you have had so few problems with yours as it gives me reassurance that our recent purchase of a Reconn LRX was the right move. We have on had a week in it so have after the drive back to Perth from Adelaide (which included a bit of off road camp sites on the Eyre Peninsular). The only drama we had was having the scissor lift above the door sticking in the open position. We severely bent the scissors before we realised it had stuck. My immediate thought was that I had left something above the fridge but I had not. I could only close it was by putting all of my weight on the roof while lowering. I have no idea why it jammed as it is a very basic mechanism, Lifestyle replaced it which was good even though they initially said no. They originally stated that I must have bent it while raise the roof with a latch still attached which was definitely not the case. I thought it may be a drama, but once I escalated the issue to their customer service manager, they agreed to cover it under warranty. I cannot really fault them. I am looking forward to more adventures to erase the bad memory. The wood box that came with ours is a much better design than the original that you had. It is a lockable box with a heavy duty mesh bottom. Our LRX came with the extended draw bar. When I was originally spec'ing a R4TSE like yours, I wasn't going to bother. I have a LC200 with rear spare wheel carriers and I am actually glad I have the extended drawer bar to give me a tighter turning circle while reversing and a lot more access to the rear of the Cruiser when attached. I have a GX with the barn doors. Nothing is perfect and things will go wrong with components. Lifestyle seem to want to maintain their customer reliable reputation so far with my dealings with them. The thing that sold me on the Reconn was the chassis build strength, suspension, the Victron 12V gear and how as much of the plumbing and electrical cabling is inside the chassis. There is very few breakables hanging below.

Great review.........appreciate the direct review approach. We purchased our Reconn (Original Series in 2016) , and whilst we have probably only done 30,000km in that time, we have found the same build quality has stood up to our adventures.

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate, we have been thoroughly impressed with how well this trailer held up to our tough travels and I'm glad to hear that you are experience a similar result 👍

As expected, a ripper of a review! If you weren't sponsored by Reconn you definitely earned one now. As said by other viewers, a great, unbiased and honest review! Cheers mate.. PS, nice shirt btw

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks Simon 👍 Such an awesome camper with many, many memories made for life! Great product for someone just wanting something that works from factory!

Love your honest review well done we have a R4SE and very happy with the performance and quality Thanks keep up the great videos

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate, I appreciate that. As mentioned here, I have been very impressed with this trailer. It really is a great turn key option for those wanting stress free travel.

Well I am very happy to be proven wrong . We did chat about some bad reviews before however it seems they have lifted their quality big time . Great to see and what a magnificent trip your family has had !

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

For sure, theres always going to be the outlier, however I couldn't be happier with our experience. I hope that maintain this level of quality moving forward 🤞

Nathan such a great review as always. Your honest review helped give us the confidence when we ordered our Reconn R2SE. One area you did potentially save us was the induction. We had optioned up with one when we saw your review on the issues. As we will be going to some of the most challenging places in Aussie we decided to not risk it and changed it back to gas. The latches are a concern as we have now heard this a lot.

I was waiting for this! Great review. I would say you definitely put it through the ringer and it survived pretty dang good. Come on Lifestyle Campers throw this guy a bone!

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Awesome, well I can confirm it performed so well! Very happy overall! 👍

Love this review. I am still waiting for mine to be built since placing an order with Lifestyle Campers in March 2022!

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Yikes, yep that wait time is a killer, but after my experience I can say that I think it's worth it! 👍

Fantastic video Nathan.

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks Garry 👍 The Reconn was sure put through its paces this last year! 💪

Great review Nathan, looks like the build quality is first class, I’m sure most vans would have fallen apart if they got the same treatment Glad you had an almost trouble free trip which does a lot for your confidence in other remote holidays

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate, for sure. I think a lot of other products would have struggled on similar terrain! The investment was well worth it. Certainly have more confidence with the cruiser now too 💪

Excellent review mate.

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate, appreciate it. I'm really impressed with this unit though, performed so well throughout our travels 💪

You're a resourceful and hands on type of person so you should look at replacing the Simarine screen and shunt with screenless (can't remember the model) Victron shunt in conjunction with a raspberry pi build of the Cerbo, Raspberyy P touchsreen and including a few victron specific coms cables, total cost is less $400. Thanks for adding Thetford to my do not buy list (sounds like their products might be ok but Oz after sales a fail). Thanks for sharing. Cheers

Hi Nathan, Thankyou for the comprehensive review, the depth and knowledge you have is 1st class, you must be so happy you chose this van and as you said apart from some relatively minor issues you set yourself up for a great no fuss holiday with your family , thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and suggestions,cheers Darrel 👍

We sold our R2 for a Bruder. Loved our R2 and took a hammering in the tracks. The Bruder is next level, but the kitchen is no comparison to the awesome Reconn. Highly recommend the R2 or R4!

@XploringOz

2 ай бұрын

Awesome, we got the opportunity to walk around a few Bruder's in our travels and they are impressive trailers! I agree with the kitchen comment though, more bench space in the Reconn 👍

Well I was most impressed to find you called thru Bathurst and did a lap of the track (Mt. Panorama) & I'd guarantee you did more than one lap, it's so enticing and you quickly realise the TV coverage does not emphasize the gradient up & down the mountain. You'd also learnt it's extremely difficult to stay within the 60klm limit, yes you need stringent self control to maintain 60klm. The concrete walls concede the local highway patrol cars well, our state government recieves a lot of revenue from the circuit. After our lap of Aus & seeing so many glorious sites, views & lookouts onroute we quickly realised we took one of the best views in Aus for granted. We arrived home in Bathurst early Jan and it had obviously been a good moist start to summer as there were green rolling lush grasses on gentle slopes, bright yellow fields of canola all dominated upto the distant rise of the blue mountains to the east. Wow, this is home, so friggin overlooked previously, but not now though. We do walk the circuit frequently to take it all in but not this weekend as the 12 hour race begins tomorrow, Sunday 18th February, so many glorious cars in town for it, just love the 12 hour event. So wished we'd known you were calling thru, loved to have shown you around our part of the world other than Mt. Panorama. Interesting, I've not touched on the subject of the van at all, but i het the 200 knew it was behind on the climb up the Mt., especially out of the cutting. Regards, Wealie. Edited to add this in. A work colleague had a SL/R 308 (5L) Torana. One night he's horning round the Mt. and notices a blue light persuing him, so he quickly turns his lights off and pulls to roadside, reclines seat and makes out he's asleep. Officer bangs on window, chap makes out he's been woken, officer accuses him of speeding, he says you're got the wrong guy, I've been asleep. Officer asks him to pop the bonnet and step out of the vehicle, escorts him to front of car, lifts bonnet, takes ahold of his hands and firmly pressed them on-top of the radiator. He now says, "do you want to change your version of events?" Wouldn't get away with that today, but it worked way back then, haha 😂.

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

We did drop by quickly and then headed out to cruise down the Bridle Track not long after it reopened! Very nice area to spend a couple of nights. You're right though, the TV does not capture that gradient or the atmosphere of that area whatsoever, its definitely worth visiting in persons and also, yes most definitely did a couple of laps 😂 We were well warned of the local speed traps and another good reason to leave the trailer in tow to keep us under control haha. I hear you though, sometimes you don't appreciate what you have until you have travelled and experience other regions. Although we thoroughly enjoyed so much of Australia, we definitely count ourselves extremely lucky to be living in WA with the variety and expanse of land with next to nobody around! Haha, love that story, definitely not something that would happen these days without headline news and jail time 😂

@ianweal3081

3 ай бұрын

@@XploringOz The old mountain entertaining the world again today, hosting the 12 hour. Very impressive cars screaming around the track plus incredible cars wondering the streets of town. I'm also impressed you got the chance to trundle down the reopened Bridle Track. What a Sarga that was, 13 years after the rock fall that closed it, council finally financed, rebuilt a portion of track with massive dozers etc. in comparison to the convicts efforts with picks & shovels, the whole track would have possibly only taken 6 months, haha. 😆 Enjoying your content as per usual, thanks, Wealie. N.B. Horn there now, instant licence disqualification, car impounded then crushed plus goal time and yes some guy lost his pride & joy years ago to the state. Got heaps of press to set the example.

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

@@ianweal3081 Yes! I've been trying to keep up with the highlights reels of the current races. So much better watching now having that experience driving around the track! Yes, the Bridle Track was great. We made it in good timing just after it opened so that was awesome. The work they put into that diversion was significant though, but 13 yrs! Crazy!

Great review, thanks

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback 👍

Another great video, if you were buying new again to do another 12 month trip would you consider the Zone RV Expedition. On paper it seems to be pretty good with a massive payload and I love the seperate toilet and shower.

Glad it has performed to a high standard and ticked a lot of your boxes. Just wondering if the accommodation space inside was adequate for a family of 4 and whether it would be an issue once the little ones aren't so little. Would you have preferred a dedicated bunk arrangement? I must admit we looked at a lifestyle reconn and were not impressed with the inside of the van. Thanks for another thorough review and safe travels. Cheers Mick

Could you please explain again what filters you used for the van pressuring system. Thanks

Thanks Nathan for another great video. I have watched your vids for many years now, being a 200 series owner as well and really value your content. Thank you. I am interested in your comments on the height of the internal roof in relation to the bed. We were considering this hybrid but found when we were hopping up to the bed we kept hitting our head on the ceiling, when at the top of the ladder. What was your experience with this?

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for the continued support on the channel, this is always appreciated 🙏 So yes, there is limited space there. Personally we didn't find it much of an issue getting into the bed as you are in a crouched over position climbing onto the mattress anyway. Getting down was a little different as you did a slide down towards the end of the mattress. It wasn't a big deal for us and we got used to it very quickly, but it is certainly something that needs to be considered. Depending on your location, it might pay to look to hire one through Camplify if you were seriously considering purchasing one 👍

@Bertram72

3 ай бұрын

Thanks, appreciate your reply. Your suggestion is a good one and we might look into it. Cheers.

nice rig Nathan.

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate 🙏

Just curious why the Honda generator when those bluetti power generators and portable solar panels were going to replace it?

Thanks for the review. May I ask what brand and where you got it from for the knife block you have on the wall in your kitchen? Thanks Gail

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks Gail, yes this is a 'Joseph Joseph Knife block'. Worked really well on our travels 👍

And now the competition to give it away?😅

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

😂 I need about 1M more subscribers to afford that 🤣

Great review however I'll never ever buy anything from lifestyle again, I left that brand behind me with all the other cheapish campers and bought an ulti, never looked back.

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

I appreciate the comment, disappointed to hear of your bad experience and let's face it, no company gets it perfect every time. This being said, I can only comment on my experience which has been exceptional 👍

Great job mate!!

@XploringOz

3 ай бұрын

Thanks mate! Looking forward to hearing about how your Cruiser pulls through your next huge adventure! 💪