First Caravan

[fairlite]

Hi
I have recently purchased my first caravan. 2004 Abbey Enterprise 4 berth.
It came with quite alot of equipment including motor mover, awning, cables etc. It hasn't come with any waste carrier or water container.
We are new to this whole experience and would like advice on what we should kit the caravan out with, ie safety equipment, tools, bedding, pots and pans, chemicals etc.
Also any advice to stop me making any common mistakes and also any maintainance tips would be very welcome
Thanks in advance

 

[Mel]

Hi fairlite. Welcome to the forum and to caravanning. Most important piece of kit, a positive attitude. Second most important, a corkscrew. (this tends to support the most important piece of kit). After that you will need some other equipment; you can get lots of stuff second hand from places like preloved, and pound shops are a good source of plastic/melamine plates, cups, cutlery and the like. Some people use sleeping bags for bedding but many go for the two duvet plan, one under one over; better for ease of movement and bed making. Do read the beginners guides on this web site, Parksy will be along shortly and he knows how to to post the links. Do consider a towing course run by one of the major clubs; very worthwhile. Post specific questions in the various sections on this forum and the technically able will help you.
Happy vanning
mel

 

[Parksy]

Hi Fairlite,welcome to the Practical Caravan forum and congratulations on buying your first caravan.

There will seem to be a lot to remember at first but you will soon sort out a routine and it looks as though you have the basic equipment included with your caravan.
A good and very popular water container is the Aquaroll available from caravan accessory shops or Halfords and the waste container is usually a Wastemaster These can also be bought second hand from online auction and sales websites. There is lots of advice available and of course forum members are always happy to share information and advice. The only silly questions are the ones that you should have asked but didn't so always ask if you're not sure about any aspect of caravanning.

This website as a whole contains lots of information, there are some loading tips for beginners
in the Advice section of the website Here and some more containing other useful links Here The Camping & Caravanning Club has a webpage dedicated to new caravanners Here

You can spend a lot of money on stuff that you will hardly ever use and anything with 'caravan' as part of the label will nearly always be more expensive than the same item from a pound shop, Wilkinsons, Argos etc as Mel has said.

If you ask members in the General section you are sure to receive lots of help and advice, unfortunately not all members look at the introduction section of this forum. Happy caravanning and let us know how the maiden voyage goes

 

[Beachball]

Hi fairlite and welcome to the Practical Caravan Forum and recently purchased your first caravan ....

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Hi fairlite and welcome.
One of the first things we purchased for the caravan was a fire extinguisher and carbon monoxide monitor.
Oh.....and a torch
Hope this helps.
Adrian

 

[neila1]

a really good sense of humor when putting up the awning ,( wife always shouts and tells me i'm doing it wrong) we went to have a look round towsure i think it was, looked at everything and made a list then sat down one night and just went is this a need it or a want it item, went and got all the need it stuff and have build up the want it stuff over the last 2 years, just think logically you need to eat ( pots pans plates knifes forks mugs beer glasses ) water (waste fresh) eclectric (lead, tv. kettle,) flooring for awning, table and chairs and so on then go away for the first time and find you missed something really important and have to try and buy it, my want list gets bigger every time we go away and i see someone with something and i want one lol.....

 

[brian_c]

Hellow Fairlight. Welcome to the forum also to the world of caravanning.
I am very new to the forum myself. However the advice I would give you is Use the forum for all your queries.
I have posted three in the short time I have been on. The amount of experienced level headed and knowledgeable comments I have received is amazing.
Enjoy caravanning
All the best Brian

 

[steffanos]

Empty post (likely not intentional - probably an Internet Explorer issue!)

 

[steffanos]

....."wife always shouts and tells me i'm doing it wrong".....Wow!...how does that happen then????
...do you mean that in your household your WIFE is actually the boss!!!!!!!

 

[fairlite]

Hi Guys
Thanks for all of kind comments.

I have kitted it out with pots, pans, plates and Gin and tonic so all ready to go. I have also noticed that it has a whopping great satellite dish on the roof which you wind up and I have absolutely no idea how it works so any advice would be great.Things have obviously moved on since my parents owned a caravan in the 1980's.

We are itching to go away in it for the weekend, does anyone know of a good site to go to. I live on the east side of Nottingham so not too far to start with. Also is it worth joining the caravan club?

Thanks

 

[John_374564913]

with regards to your satelite dish on the roof I would suggest looking on the internet and downloading a map that will give you the elevation anywhere in the uk.

Then if you have a tuner box ( I have a Maxwell) you should on your remote press (info) a screen will come up on the television it will have a number of boxes on it one will be the satelite make sure its on astra 2

at the bottom of the screen you will have two meters
one signal strentgh
One signal quality
both will be a green colour you then turn your dish with the handle so it is facing 28 degress south east as it gets there the signal strngth meter will go up to around 83 to 85% once you have locked on it will go from green to blue colour.

 

[forestgump]

I know this sounds crap but a smoke alarm a fire blanket its a bit crap but they dont take up much room easy to fit and the first bit of fire its sorted.then think about the gismos.

 

[burnsy]

hello , like you i am new to the touring caravan and have a lot to know yet , luckily our caravan came with pretty much all the euipment we required . for bedding for the kids we use sleeping bags and for us ( the adults ) we use 1x duvet on top of our cushions and 1x above , a lot easier when someone has to rise for a call of nature . the aqua roll for your water is great , and if you can manage an awning , we used ours last year twice and it gave us an incredible amount of space and freedom to live in , we could leave the kids beds made up at rear of caravan and basicly live in the awning during the day

 

[fairlite]

Hi Guys

Just thought I would update you on our experience to date. Firstly I have to say that me and my family are completely hooked, It sounds sad but I actually miss the caravan when its in storage.

We have been away twice now and got into a routine and it is pretty much ready to go at a whim.

The one thing I am struggling with is carrying our bikes, at the moment we are putting them inside the caravan but obviously concerned about damage to the interior. Many people seem to have roof mounted racks but I have a Range Rover and I am not very tall so this is out of the question.
I have seen bike racks that fit to the rear of caravans and to the A frame.

Any advice would be extremely welcome

Cheers