New To The Sport

Apr 6, 2014
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Hi all, we're a family new to caravanning. We've finally taken the plunge and acquired a 2010 Lunar Ultima TL behind my Disco 3. It feels comfortable towing but reversing with a lack of experience can be a bit daunting.

Anyway, after our first weekend away we've come back with a few random (and probably simple) questions - apologies if they make us sound neurotic-

1. Is a motor mover on a twin axle caravan a better investment than a divorce, or is it just practice and patience reversing into tight spots?

2. We'd like a good small porch awning but have been daunted by prices and sizes - Any recommendations? I remember Vango being a trusted brand from my camping past but is £600 for an inflatable awning a good investment?

3. The folding bunks have never been used, so we've found a kit of boards and brackets for the bunk guards with no instructions, is there any available or is it just a case of trying to see what's best?

4. Bed guards for kids - we have a 2 year old and a 6 month old, we would like to remove the hassle of setting up the double bed to accommodate them but have made it up so far for their safety - can anyone recommend a method to stop them falling out of bed (apart from sleeping on the floor)?

5. Do people make up their beds with a sheet and duvet every night?

6. Storing duvets - are vac packs best or are there better breathable solutions?

7. Adjacent pitches - is it etiquette to drop your blinds on your neighbours on the next closest pitch for privacy?

8. Finally, our caravan has previously been stored under a tree, is there an easy way to give the roof lights a good scrub - or is it a long ladder and long arms?

Thanks in advance, we appreciate the advice.
 
Apr 7, 2008
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Welcome to the Forum :cheer:
Others will be along with more answers for you to mull over ;)

1. Is a motor mover on a twin axle caravan a better investment than a divorce, or is it just practice and patience reversing into tight spots? ( its cheaper than a divorce :p )

2. We'd like a good small porch awning but have been daunted by prices and sizes - Any recommendations? I remember Vango being a trusted brand from my camping past but is £600 for an inflatable awning a good investment?

We are waiting delivery of a Kampa Rally Air Pro 330 do your research before you decide on the one that you want, we decided to go to the NEC in February to check on the feel & the quality & then decided to order this one.

3. The folding bunks have never been used, so we've found a kit of boards and brackets for the bunk guards with no instructions, is there any available or is it just a case of trying to see what's best?

4. Bed guards for kids - we have a 2 year old and a 6 month old, we would like to remove the hassle of setting up the double bed to accommodate them but have made it up so far for their safety - can anyone recommend a method to stop them falling out of bed (apart from sleeping on the floor)?

Have a look at one of these to stop the little one's rolling out

5. Do people make up their beds with a sheet and duvet every night?

We have fixed beds & they are always made up.

6. Storing duvets - are vac packs best or are there better breathable solutions?

7. Adjacent pitches - is it etiquette to drop your blinds on your neighbours on the next closest pitch for privacy?

Your choice on that one.

8. Finally, our caravan has previously been stored under a tree, is there an easy way to give the roof lights a good scrub - or is it a long ladder and long arms?

Some roof lights can be removed quite easily for cleaning otherwise a long car wash brush will do, but you will still need some steps or a ladder.

Thanks in advance, we appreciate the advice.
 

Parksy

Moderator
Nov 12, 2009
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Hi U/C Engineer, welcome to the forum and congratulations on buying your tourer.
Please feel free to ask any questions that you want to, we're fairly non judgemental here and are happy to help, we were all newbies once :)
We don't own a family caravan with bunks etc but I still might be able to help with one or two answers, here goes.....
Q1) A motor mover can be a good investment but remember that there is a weight penalty if you fit a mover.
You should still continue to practice reversing with your caravan, our caravan is twin axle (t/a) and a longer t/a will be easier to reverse than a swb 2 berth. Ask on the General message board and you'll receive lots of tips and advice.

Q5) You can use sheets and a duvet, alternatively a duvet on the top and one on the bottom makes for a warm snuggly sleep or there are very good sleeping bags which are inexpensive if bought from supermarkets, Argos or similar outlets rather than caravan accessory shops.

Q6) Our caravan has a fixed bed and we store spare duvets in polyurethane boxes sold by household goods shops for around £5, these containers fit under the front seat lockers and the duvets are rolled and kept together using bungee chords.
Items such as bottles of wine, spare crockery etc also go into these boxes and they are prevented from clashing or breaking by the spare duvet. ;)
Q7) The positioning of blinds is down to personal choice. I dislike the feeling of being stared at so if that happens I drop the blind where I'm sitting and I'd also do this to avoid appearing to intrude on the privacy of neighboring caravans.
You can't sit inside the caravan all day long with the blinds drawn even if the weather is bad though, so the general rule of thumb is if you feel uncomfortable or you are possibly making others feel uncomfortable then by all means drop a blind or even just a fly screen which at least gives the impression of privacy or non intrusion.

Q8) As Sprocket mentioned, a step ladder or similar and an extendable car cleaning hose brush are handy tools, use a good spray bottle of caravan shampoo such as Fenwicks or Muc Off, leave on the wet surface for a few minutes and then scrub off with the brush.
We hope that you will enjoy using this website and forum :)
 
Aug 9, 2010
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Hi UC and welcome.
I can't comment on most of your questions, as I've never had those problems, but on Q7, if my neighbour dropped his blinds on me for no apparent reason, I would be very offended! If there had been a difference of opinion, then perhaps, but otherwise, I think its a no-no.
Purely a personal opinion, but one of the reasons I caravan is for the social life .If you shut the blinds, it ain't being social is it?
But, as I've said so often on here, to each his own!
 

Mel

Mar 17, 2007
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Hi UC welcome to the forum. Excellent questions.
We have a motor mover but not a Twin Axle. We wouldn't be without one.
If you are getting a porch awning the inflatable ones seem like a good buy to me. They look easy to put up. Kampa gets a good press on here. Vango also do one. If you want a full awning remember that they are not called "a divorce in a bag" for nothing. however with practice patience and a visit to Relate they do get easier.
Can't help you with the bunks.
Unlike emmerson I have closed blinds on a neighbour but we were on a site in which the pitches were so small that we could have passed him cups of coffee through our windows and it seemed like the decent thing to do.
We now have a fixed bed and it stays made up with sheets and duvet. In the days when we made up a bed every night we had a duvet (in a cover) under us and a duvet (in a cover) over us so we just threw them on the bed each night without having to fight to tuck in a sheet.

Roof. Himself has a ladder combination with a plank between two stepladders. He uses this and a long handled brush to do the roof. Occasionally he will stand on steps inside the van and put his head up through the Heiki rooflight (opened obviously :lol: ) to get the middle of the roof.

Keep posting
mel
 
Feb 4, 2014
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Hi U/C Engineer, welcome to the forum, I love your enthusiasm! Hope you and your family enjoy caravanning for years to come!

Lots of questions; the only one to which I'll provide my own reply is No. 5. One thing that used to work really well for me was a piece of memory foam with the bedding made up around it, then this would be rolled up tightly and secured with bungees, then stored in the wardrobe during the day. Nowadays I have a folding caravan so have a much shorter wardrobe, so that doesn't work so well! I have reverted to the use of a sleeping bag, though I'm still experimenting with what is the most comfortable and practical fabric. This could be an expensive process if bags are bought new - I scout round car boot sales these days for these.

The only other comment I'd make about your posting is the bit about the blinds. I used to have flyscreens with my previous caravan, and these are a good compromise between wanting privacy and not seeming to be anti-social! It does worry me when I read of pitches being too close together; whatever happened to the 6 metre safety gap between units?! Or is that only on Club sites?

Anyway, happy days! I think part of the fun of camping and caravanning is getting your unit up together in a way that suits the needs of you and your family. It's an area that provides great opportunities for exchanging ideas with others, as you are already discovering for yourself!
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Hi and welcome to hobby of caravanning.

1. A TA without a motor mover is pretty much a nightmare. Even on a perfectly smooth flat painted concrete floor the effort required to man-handling a TA is surprisingly high. A motor mover will be much easier, and prevent injury. If she say's she'll divorce you if you get a mover, then ask her to move the caravan by herself - she'll soon change her mind!.

Reversing is a skill, and its worth persevering. There'll be times when you simply don't have the opportunity to unhitch and use the (wife) or mover. If you can find space it may be worth marking out some obstacles with cones or something similar and practice. Its not just turning corners but reversing a trailer in a straight line can be just as skill full. Alternatively, invest in some towing lessons.

2. I don't have an air beam type awning, so I cant make any specific comment about them, but others on the forum have been discussing them. I guess that the units where the air poles have to be individually blown up, may have an slight advantage if a bean gets punctured - it wont totally collapse. As general comment it probably best to stick with a well known established manufacturer, but ultimately it comes down to which model suits you best.

3. Assuming you have purchased the caravan from a dealer rather than a private sale, your first port of call even with a second hand product is to ask the dealer for the instructions. They should have ensured they were present in the caravan. Alternatively you could aske the caravan manufacture for a set of instructions, though they may charge. (Incidentally the company I worked for never charged for replacement instructions as a matter of policy) However I am sure that some forum member with he same model will have a set they may be able to copy for you.

4. If you google "bed guards for children" you will see there are many propriety manufacturers of side gaurds.

5. This is a matter of personal preference, but we tend to use a rectangular sleeping bags that can be zipped together for a double or just the two single berths. The're washed after each trip. If we're away longer then we will use a liner.

6. Vac packs are a great idea, BUT do make sure the duvet is clean and dry before you pack it up. If you're considering using them in the caravan, do you have the means to evacuate the air in the caravan?

7. There's no specific etiquette asking you to close blinds, so again its down to personal preference, and good sense. Its basically up to the individual to protect their own privacy, unless there is some unreasonable behaviour by your neighbours. If there is a problem with your neighbour, then if its safe and appropriate, approach them direct or tell the site warden/operator.

8. You can get brushes with a long handle to save the arms, but you will need a ladder or platform to get you high enough to access the roof. There are propriety caravan cleaning solutions , Fenwicks has been mentions, but from time to time ALDI does sell a pretty effective caravan cleaner. Follow the manufacturers instruction for use. Something to consider for the future, may be to get a caravan cover which simply covers the roof, and will protect it from tree and bird droppings.

Happy caravanning
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Hi
With regard to your porch awning request we have been using a Quest porch, and been very satisfied with it,they are around £400 with alloy frame,they are similar in appearance to an Isabella,but made in China. For a video of how to put an awning up I recommend isabella.net/uk, click on instructions and choose ambassador and you should go to a video that shows you how. Good luck with whatever you decide to do and I hope you all enjoy your new van.
 
Apr 6, 2014
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Second trip out. Mixed results!

- Reversing has improved resulting in a noticeable decrease in arguments.

- We definitely need an awning, I spoke to a guy who said his porch awning cost £100 and has lasted 3 years, I assume it can be hit and miss with an awning, so if anyone can recommend a good porch awning I'd welcome the advice. I really do like the Vango Airbeam concept, and I know Kampa make an air awning, but are their cheaper 'poled' awnings well made and recommended? Is cost directly proportional to quality? - from my camping days 20 years ago I know this isn't always true.

- The site electrics weren't reliable, meaning the microwave was out of action all weekend, it tripped regularly (probably when the next door neighbours satellite tv and kettle were on!) and the fridge was on gas. Why don't caravans have an indicator to let you know when the electric goes off?

- as a result of being on gas we finished off a bottle, again, apart from hearing the igniters clicking, there isn't an indication that a bottle has emptied.

Caravanning really does require all your senses, or maybe because I'm a submariner I'm used to noticing a slight change in the caravan that means something needs doing.

Thanks for the advice so far, all is welcome.
 
May 7, 2012
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I think with awnings you generally get what you pay for. Look carefully at the construction to see how well they are made. We have an NR one but it is many years old and so cannot say what the newer ones are like. Porch awnings have the advantage that if you change the caravan they should still fit where a full one probably will not. Before buying one check what size you need to avoid windows though and make sure it is big enough for your needs. You can now buy them in sections that zip together to reach the size you want although they are expensive.
Air awnings are more expensive and you simply have to decide if the extra cost is justified by the easier erection process. This is a personal choice and not one with a right or wrong answer.
Not sure what you can do about the electrics tripping except try a different site with a better supply. You need to see what power there is at the hook up, 16 amps is now the norm but if it is less then you will need to keep an eye on what you have switched on.
 

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