how quick are you....

[Mel]

Just for conversation.......How long does it take you to de-camp. So that it is a fair comparison don't consider the morning of a planned deparature when you may already have started some preaparatory work the evening before. Let us assume that;
You have a caravan and a full awning up.
That you are mid stay, just after lunch and you haven't washed the pots yet.
That there are 2 adults and the belongings of I other (child/dog/elderly person) who will neither help nor hinder the task.
That it isn't raining
That the two adults have no other help but are in OK physical shape (ie neither very fit, nor disabled).
Then you unexpectedly have to de camp for a good reason but not an emergency/something awful (let us not argue as to the reason, it is all hypothetical)
That the time starts from the announcement of decamping and ends when the van is hitched up and you start to pull away.
What is your best time?
mel

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Mel.
I have two answers for you.
In your scenario, we never rush because that's when mistakes happen. Both working on our inside and outside tasks.Toilet has to be emptied . all water tanks & aquarolls and wastemaster emptied. The awning is massive and takes us a while to fold it properly and then of course all the security stuff has to come opff and we are careful to load correctly and measure the nose weight tyre pressures etc. TWO HOURS.

On collection at the storage we know everything inside is secure, loads are already correct, a quick look at all tyres remove security stuff .30 minutes.
I'm feeling knackered now

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

We can usually do it in about an hour Mel, everything has it's place and we know exactly where to put it, also, we keep our 'van at home so no need to empty for storage!

 

[Joann]

We usually do it in a leisurely two hours, the awning always comes down surprisingly quickly, then we have an arguement on how to fold it to go back in the bags. We have two small dogs, (a minor hindrance) and a four year old son, so the DVD player gets packed up last! My husband has still never emptied the toilet, he manages to weasel out of it every time.

 

[Delt1c]

Got a van to suit my needs without the dreaded awning, takes les than 30 mins to set up and can pack up be on the move in less than 30 mins.

 

[Big S]

Given the scenario that you have given, usually it can take around a leisurely 2 1/2 hours. Recently left Scarborough CC site and started clearing the awning at around 8:30. Everything was taken down, packed away (also had a break for tea and toast) and hitched up for 11am. Biggest problem is waking up my two girls though!! Twelve and thirteen year olds tend to lie in a lot more than they did when they were younger.

It is obviously a lot quicker with a porch awning but we only tend to use this for weekends away or during the winter months when often the weather makes you work that much speedier.

 

[thursdays child]

I do so admire and look on in absolute wonder at the speed some people can get off site all packed up on the same day as they are leaving. We take our awning down the day before and we still cant get moving till mid -morning.Off course the problem is we have too much stuff.Mind you the tea breaks may have some bearing on our slow progress. These days it takes 10 minutes to just get the Jeep off the drive because of the numerous gadgets, sat,nav,phone holders,chargers,fridge box etc,etc,etc. I really miss the days when we just got in and drove off.Its all these "time saving" gizmos.!!!!!!! Then of course there is the" did I lock the door" procedure. and "I need the loo again now".Oh well here we go again!!!! Patience is a virtue and I deserve a halo some days.
Thursdays Child

 

[Gagakev]

We did it in 1.1/2 hours yesterday which we thought was brilliant, and that with a new porch awning as well.

Sorry I have just told you fibs. As the awning was wet I did'nt actually pack it away!!!!!!!
Chucked it in the van wet and dried it out at home in the sunshine, so by the time it was dry and packed away it took me 9 hours

 

[DeliDave_]

we went to the CC national rally near york and as it was so windy left taking the awning down til the Monday,hoping it would ease off.It did but it then rained cats and dogs so we got the car packed by removing an awning panel and reversing it inside.Then parked it on the side and took the awning down threw it in the shower.Got out of our soaking wet clothes after we had hitched up and drove off.Met a bus coming in through the exit and the warden told us we would have to go off the hard road onto the sodden grass in our 2wd galaxy as the bus would get stuck so I waited for the road to completely clear(10 minutes? probably less) then went round the bus without stopping and onto the road.Came home and trawled the ads to see how much we would get for the van as well fed up.The minute we got on the road the rain stopped and the sun came out just our luck.If you havent got fed up reading this it took us 5 hours with coffee and bacon sandwiches,from start to road.The good news ifs we are not divorcing although we hardly spoke for 120 odd miles lol only joking

 

[Big S]

we went to the CC national rally near york and as it was so windy left taking the awning down til the Monday,hoping it would ease off.It did but it then rained cats and dogs so we got the car packed by removing an awning panel and reversing it inside.Then parked it on the side and took the awning down threw it in the shower.Got out of our soaking wet clothes after we had hitched up and drove off.Met a bus coming in through the exit and the warden told us we would have to go off the hard road onto the sodden grass in our 2wd galaxy as the bus would get stuck so I waited for the road to completely clear(10 minutes? probably less) then went round the bus without stopping and onto the road.Came home and trawled the ads to see how much we would get for the van as well fed up.The minute we got on the road the rain stopped and the sun came out just our luck.If you havent got fed up reading this it took us 5 hours with coffee and bacon sandwiches,from start to road.The good news ifs we are not divorcing although we hardly spoke for 120 odd miles lol only joking

I thought I was doing well with Toast. Sounds like I need to up the stakes next time and order a bacon butty to go with my tea!!

 

[Gagakev]

Come on Mel, tell us, dont keep us all in suspense, there's no need to be shy

 

[Mel]

Thank you all for joining in. Hope the bacon butty saw you through, Dave. I rate me and OH at the cack-handed and generally useless end of practical caravanning tasks so I am reassured that we take about 2 hours or so to decamp like many of you. Still can't get the awning down without dropping at least one pole on my head though. When I think "Why do we do this" I remind myself that if we were flying it is the same amount of time at check in at the airport (and a damn sight longer if there is an ash cloud!)
Happy Days
mel