CC & CCC magazines

[Robert_374242026]

Hi all, after a break of 20 odd years have just rejoined CC having been in the CCC 14 years.My neighbour lent me some of his older issues of CC and the conclusion i came to that the CC magazine is far more intresting. In the past i have binned the CCC mag's soon after reading them as most of the articles are triveal and the so called tech' page in lots of cases are about as good as a chocolate teapot .Anybody foud this so?.I will still stay in CCC as the pitch price for consessions are good and at the moment i find the CC prices are higher but you seem to get what you are paying for.

 

[Rioja]

As a new vanner I eagerly looked forward to reading the CC magazine now a quick glimpse and it's in the bin. It's a reasonable magazine but there is just so much you can talk about caravans before it gets repetitive.

The one thing that does annoy me though are the van reviews which seem inconsistent in their appraisals. How can a combined shower/toilet combination with a tip up sink get high marks when an outfit with seperate facilities get the same score for the bathroom ? Of course everyone has different priorities but as a new caravanner, the obvious drawbacks are not, well, obvious !

I was looking at a very nice Bailey Senator the other day. Fixed bed where you didn't have a corner cut off, get into bed either side, seperate toilet and shower, nice wide berth, all excellent until you looked for storage and there wasn't any ! It's only when you live in a van you find out and I often think the people who trial these vans usually do so on an overnight basis if they stay in them at all.

 

[ValA.]

I agree about the CC mag - it's only very occasionally that there's anything to hold my interest. I think it may be 'novelty' in that you look longer and find more in a different layout - like it always takes you longer to shop in a different supermarket and you buy more exotic food - but it's not necessarily better. We get the CC magazine, but I used to avidly read my friends CCC magazine, and always commented that it was the better of the two!

I also agree with Rioja about the reviews - I sometimes wonder what people are looking at when they review vans. Sometimes it's quite obvious that one van is streets ahead of the other, and yet the duffer gets the vote! Wouldn't mind doing a review - as my review would be very different to those usually reported. Our van is a bit of a novelty model - and so difficult to find a replica, but there are things about it that we think should be on every van. To me you can't just 'wander around' a van, and do an objective review, you have to pitch it up, live, eat and sleep in it for at least a week, connect up waste, water, etc., and fill all the cupboards with the stuff you'd normally take - only then can you rate it in terms of storage etc. I'm surprised they don't have a 'standard' (.... all this should fit into a two berth - how easily does it go in......) sort of scenario. I've seen loads of reviews where they say there's enough cupboard space, and yet you couldn't get a box of cornflakes anywhere!!

 

[chrissie2]

I think any attempt to give scores in this sort of review is always doomed to failure. We have always looked for a compact washroom and crossed those with huge end washrooms off the list - but for many people would look for quite the opposite. And we have never yet taken a box of cornflakes (or any other cereal) away with us! I'm happiest if reviews confine themselves to saying what is there and give important data, like weights, rather than trying to pre-judge what my needs may be.

 

[mike_374313686]

we were looking at an abbey today with a similar layout to the bailey mentioned, it had a seperate shower cubical, but how many people actually use their shower? it would be nice to have the option to have the shower or more cupboard space but this does'nt seem to the case. caravan makers design the van and thats what you get with very little options

mike

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Robert

We find CCC magazine poor, preaches green issues far too much in our view,seems anti 4x4 and a lot of the articles are similar to those in other magazines, sometimes the same photos used and same journalist too. We think CC magazine is better but like most caravan magazines some months have more appeal than others.Quality of paper and production seems better on CC too.

 

[Oldfogey]

Neither of the mags has much serious DIY info, which means they are not that much interest to me.

On the other hand, I have won "giveaways" several times in CCC - so I guess that gets my vote!