Nice little breakdown, our choice was purely based on access to the tighter more secluded spots. The wife & I preferred the upper storage for clothes & soft lighter items but the biggest downside for my wife was the smaller windows in the pop-top. The van we were looking at had very large windows either side of the bed which was great for breeze & comfort so going the pop top she lost those large windows but we have no regrets as we would never have been able to access some of the great spots if we didn’t have the pop-top model.
We have found over the years that it is track widths and sharp turns that do the most damage, not the height of the camper / caravan. We currently have 3 year old a SUV Navigator TS that has numerous battle scars, but it is an off-road camper so we expect that. Otherwise we’re not going where we want to go, and bugger letting a tree branch stopping that! Electric Chainsaw does get a bit of use though 😊 But recently we have ordered a new Jawa Commander, with a lot of the decision to buy coming from watching Ant & Dee’s awesome videos. Will it look brand new for long… Hell No, Not if we use it for what it is built for, which we fully intend to do 😎
This vid came at the perfect time for me as it's time to upsize from my little guy to a bigger one. You made me realise my wishlist is not everything to consider. Although Jawa doesnt offer an internal layout I want, I really love the enthusiasm you guys show for the brand. It comes through as more than just 'a paid gig'. Happy and safe travels
@@slinca hey no worries at all and we’re very glad it helped. What many don’t realise, is long before we did some work for Jawa, we were just customers… we had some small issues, but Jawa always look after us to the best. We don’t do this sort of stuff to just make a buck out of whoever offers it, we will only work with companies that we value and trust. They have made a huge investment in developing the 2024 models and they really are awesome value in our opinion
Great video, would love some more information on dealing with moisture in the pop top when moving between camps when its raining and also when you are in humid conditions Also the reconmend way for storing them if you need the top up or down etc
We have never had issues with a poptop and moisture. Our biggest advice when travelling is ALWAYS leave the windows in the vinyl top slightly open to allow airflow. As for storing, we stored closed with a few damprid buckets in it
Classic example of the difference as shown in the latest Lil & Jake post with Harry from farm to fork . Hard top struggling to follow pop top on a track
We have been looking to buy something more seriously in the last 6 months. Our biggest issue with a hybrid is not having an island bed. The ordeal of making the bed must be a pain, and having to crawl over the bed at 3 am to go for a wee must also be difficult.
Great video as always, informative. We love the look of the Jawa hybrids but wonder why they don’t have a fridge inside . Just a small think we’re considering.
@@empty_nestadventures the Sirocco Grande looks 👌🏼 but just a whisker more than what we wanted to spend, but what’s $5k when you’re spending $70k. We need to make the trip to Jawa from Vic. Keep up the great work Ant and Dee 👍🏼
@@zubinirani6620 thanks! We’ve never had issues with the Jawa bump out bed area with weather, but I have heard of other brands having issues. The Jawa is both insulated and lined with marine carpet. As for dust, again the Jawa has a dust reduction system as standard and we’ve never had dust in any of these vans. Other manufacturers have had problem though, particularly when they don’t have a DRS
@@jakobcarruthers1086 hi mate. I’ll add that to the list of things when I talk to the guys next… We’re about to pick up a Lowdown for the first time to test for a couple of months. I’ll ask if it’s ever been considered. I know the LD has been a very popular model, but not sure if there are any limitations stopping it from being longer
Hi guys... we enjoy your channel and enjoy your layback,honest reviews and informative details of the places you visit in your travels. We are interested in the Retreat , matching it with a dual cab ( which comes first...chicken or egg? :) The Tare weights being 2525 av . and a payload of 460 av.. how easy have you found it to stay under ATM when travelling fulltime?? assuming you like to be comfortably under ATM? We usually do 2-3 week trips in our Forward fold SUV camper.
@@DellBattle hi Dell! Yeah it’s a great question. We haven’t tested the Retreat yet, but is in the pipeline. The Tare weight is 5kg less than the original Commander and its ATM is the same. For context, on our first lap, the weight of our gear and 240L of water was approx 600kg. When we got back, we significantly culled this as we took way too much stuff. Clothes, cooking stuff and for example- a fire pit… we found that half the year there were fire bans, and then when there wasn’t bans, every camp spot had fixed or existing fire spots made by other campers- hence never used it…. We’ve got our stuff down to about 400kg with water. Some would say we pack light, but still think we have too much stuff… As for the car- if you are purchasing new, I’d advise a pre-rego suspension upgrade with engineered GVM and GCM upgrade. This will not only safeguard you better for these weights, but provide much tow and handle tougher road conditions. Sorry for the long response, but this is a complex area. In short- we love the look of the Retreat and very keen to test it. Keep an eye on our socials as we often don’t make a van review until 6 weeks into having it so we can give more insight, but always do realtime stuff on Insta and FB
Hey guys love your channel! We are from Victoria and find Jawas very uncommon down here. Have you heard of any good hybrid Makes down here that would compare to the Jawa ?
@@michelletoga9575 hey Michelle! A couple of things- We know quite a few people who live a long way from a Jawa outlet, but have been stoked with Jawa’s post sale service. I know a lot of cases where they have a network of local repair/technicians that can help (at their cost if it is a van issue). I also know that the owners also have a transport company, so they can deliver to Melbourne at very reasonable price
There have been a few prototype models with washing machines. Usually deletes the drawbar fridge. Personally think that these are designed to be offgrid and a washing machine uses too much water for long term offgrid camping.
@@davidspeakman7489 hi David. We are actually picking up a Lowdown tomorrow to test for a couple of months. We’ve never had a LD before, so if you wait a week or two we could answer this with first hand experience in both. Dee loves the look of the new Lowdown though
Nice little breakdown, our choice was purely based on access to the tighter more secluded spots. The wife & I preferred the upper storage for clothes & soft lighter items but the biggest downside for my wife was the smaller windows in the pop-top. The van we were looking at had very large windows either side of the bed which was great for breeze & comfort so going the pop top she lost those large windows but we have no regrets as we would never have been able to access some of the great spots if we didn’t have the pop-top model.
Good to hear about the towing dynamics and differences in fuel consumption with the higher roof :)
We have found over the years that it is track widths and sharp turns that do the most damage, not the height of the camper / caravan.
We currently have 3 year old a SUV Navigator TS that has numerous battle scars, but it is an off-road camper so we expect that. Otherwise we’re not going where we want to go, and bugger letting a tree branch stopping that! Electric Chainsaw does get a bit of use though 😊
But recently we have ordered a new Jawa Commander, with a lot of the decision to buy coming from watching Ant & Dee’s awesome videos.
Will it look brand new for long… Hell No, Not if we use it for what it is built for, which we fully intend to do 😎
This vid came at the perfect time for me as it's time to upsize from my little guy to a bigger one. You made me realise my wishlist is not everything to consider. Although Jawa doesnt offer an internal layout I want, I really love the enthusiasm you guys show for the brand. It comes through as more than just 'a paid gig'. Happy and safe travels
@@slinca hey no worries at all and we’re very glad it helped. What many don’t realise, is long before we did some work for Jawa, we were just customers… we had some small issues, but Jawa always look after us to the best. We don’t do this sort of stuff to just make a buck out of whoever offers it, we will only work with companies that we value and trust. They have made a huge investment in developing the 2024 models and they really are awesome value in our opinion
Cool, looking forward to this one, since you have spent plenty of time in all of them.
Thanks ANT, good job.
@@briangill4000 cheers mate! We love your questions and comments!
Great video, would love some more information on dealing with moisture in the pop top when moving between camps when its raining and also when you are in humid conditions
Also the reconmend way for storing them if you need the top up or down etc
We have never had issues with a poptop and moisture. Our biggest advice when travelling is ALWAYS leave the windows in the vinyl top slightly open to allow airflow. As for storing, we stored closed with a few damprid buckets in it
Classic example of the difference as shown in the latest Lil & Jake post with Harry from farm to fork . Hard top struggling to follow pop top on a track
Excellent video very honest and helpful, we are sold on the Sirocco Grande
@@aussiewatcher5986 great choice of van! Comfortable and capable of going anywhere
We have been looking to buy something more seriously in the last 6 months.
Our biggest issue with a hybrid is not having an island bed.
The ordeal of making the bed must be a pain, and having to crawl over the bed at 3 am to go for a wee must also be difficult.
Keeps you fit and agile 👍
@donr62 I don't have a problem with it, but after driving 700k round trip to look at an Urban Ultralite I was out voted because of the bed. Bummer.
@@briangill4000 just did 3 months 16k trip both over 60 , it not a big deal as some may make out
Great video as always, informative. We love the look of the Jawa hybrids but wonder why they don’t have a fridge inside . Just a small think we’re considering.
@@scottbrooks4856 hi mate. There are several models with an internal fridge- Commander, Sirocco Grande, Retreat
@@empty_nestadventures the Sirocco Grande looks 👌🏼 but just a whisker more than what we wanted to spend, but what’s $5k when you’re spending $70k. We need to make the trip to Jawa from Vic. Keep up the great work Ant and Dee 👍🏼
Great video thanks. With the 15 foot pull out bed, how does the sleeping area feel when cold/hot/wet. And does dust get in from the rear when driving.
@@zubinirani6620 thanks! We’ve never had issues with the Jawa bump out bed area with weather, but I have heard of other brands having issues. The Jawa is both insulated and lined with marine carpet. As for dust, again the Jawa has a dust reduction system as standard and we’ve never had dust in any of these vans. Other manufacturers have had problem though, particularly when they don’t have a DRS
Just wish they could offer the lowdown in a longer model
@@jakobcarruthers1086 hi mate. I’ll add that to the list of things when I talk to the guys next… We’re about to pick up a Lowdown for the first time to test for a couple of months. I’ll ask if it’s ever been considered. I know the LD has been a very popular model, but not sure if there are any limitations stopping it from being longer
Considering a low down ourselves will be keen to see your review
Hi guys... we enjoy your channel and enjoy your layback,honest reviews and informative details of the places you visit in your travels. We are interested in the Retreat , matching it with a dual cab ( which comes first...chicken or egg? :)
The Tare weights being 2525 av . and a payload of 460 av.. how easy have you found it to stay under ATM when travelling fulltime?? assuming you like to be comfortably under ATM?
We usually do 2-3 week trips in our Forward fold SUV camper.
@@DellBattle hi Dell! Yeah it’s a great question. We haven’t tested the Retreat yet, but is in the pipeline. The Tare weight is 5kg less than the original Commander and its ATM is the same. For context, on our first lap, the weight of our gear and 240L of water was approx 600kg. When we got back, we significantly culled this as we took way too much stuff. Clothes, cooking stuff and for example- a fire pit… we found that half the year there were fire bans, and then when there wasn’t bans, every camp spot had fixed or existing fire spots made by other campers- hence never used it…. We’ve got our stuff down to about 400kg with water. Some would say we pack light, but still think we have too much stuff…
As for the car- if you are purchasing new, I’d advise a pre-rego suspension upgrade with engineered GVM and GCM upgrade. This will not only safeguard you better for these weights, but provide much tow and handle tougher road conditions.
Sorry for the long response, but this is a complex area. In short- we love the look of the Retreat and very keen to test it. Keep an eye on our socials as we often don’t make a van review until 6 weeks into having it so we can give more insight, but always do realtime stuff on Insta and FB
Hey guys love your channel! We are from Victoria and find Jawas very uncommon down here. Have you heard of any good hybrid
Makes down here that would compare to the Jawa ?
Urban do a 17 also Conquerer
@@michelletoga9575 hey Michelle! A couple of things- We know quite a few people who live a long way from a Jawa outlet, but have been stoked with Jawa’s post sale service. I know a lot of cases where they have a network of local repair/technicians that can help (at their cost if it is a van issue). I also know that the owners also have a transport company, so they can deliver to Melbourne at very reasonable price
@@empty_nestadventures thanks heaps great to know.
can washing machines be fit into these hybrids?
There have been a few prototype models with washing machines. Usually deletes the drawbar fridge. Personally think that these are designed to be offgrid and a washing machine uses too much water for long term offgrid camping.
Hi. I’m a single, 63 year old male. Could you please suggest which might be more suitable for me, the Stealth 12 or the Lowdown 13. Cheers.
@@davidspeakman7489 hi David. We are actually picking up a Lowdown tomorrow to test for a couple of months. We’ve never had a LD before, so if you wait a week or two we could answer this with first hand experience in both. Dee loves the look of the new Lowdown though
Thank you. I enjoy your channel and trust your opinions. Good luck.