Enough storage space in Rapido caravans
New here, and made to feel welcome by the replies to my introduction post, thanks!
We're still at the stage of buying our first caravan after years of tents. Current favourite after lots of research is a Rapido 32, for various reasons, not least being its compact size when the top is down for towing & parking.
I know they're fairly rare, but if anyone here's used one I'll welcome comments on how well the limited storage space is practical for two people on a trip of more than a few days.We've been rather spoilt by our nice big tent! (2nd hand Cabanon Biscaya,
which is wonderful, weatherproof, and comfortable... just getting tired of the fag of packing it all down, expecially in the wet, and not a tent for one night stopovers.)
Do you tend to use the car as a luggage reservoir, or just get better at compact camping?
Thanks for any comments,
Richard
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I've got a four berth fixed bed van for just two of us and still use the car as supplementary storage.
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When we had a caravan they tended to be the larger variety. However on long trips we did buy a roofbox for the car and that took quite a lot of the bulky but lightweight stuff with heavier items going in the car if that helps?
David
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What do you have in your Cabanon, which you think won't fit in the Rapido? If, when tent camping, you fit everything, including the tent, in your car boot, then you'll still have the car boot but without the bulky tent, so more space in the boot. The space in the caravan is therefore actually extra space rather than less.
If you currently use a roof box, then take that along as well, and you've still got more space than you had before.
I think caravans are just like homes - the more room you have the more things you will 'need' to fill it. If you prune everything down to what you really need, what does that include...... for us, probably about a fifth of what we actually have in the caravan!
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Are you suggesting that we might just take more things camping in our vast Cabanon than we might need? Good heavens, what an idea.... and you'd be exacly right! Ever since I started camping around 50 years ago, I've never mastered the art of travelling light, and my wife's little better... perhaps it's time we learned.
Meanwhile, of course, you're quite right, the car will have that much less tent to occupy it. The fear is that we'll just fill that vacated space with even more stuff! We just wondered, since the Rapidos are less endowed with cupboard space than some, how others coped.
Thanks for the encouragement
PS - we've long known that when a tent is advertised as "4-man" it means that four very small people could lie down in it, nose to tail, and taking it in turns to breathe, plus no baggage. Maybe caravans are a bit more generous in that respect, but not much!
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A rough rule of thumb is that you need two more berths than occupants available to fill them. We had a four berth tent for two of us, a six berth tent once we had two children, and now a four berth caravan for the two of us.
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Though I don't know the specifics I suspect the "payload" of the Rapido will be a limiting factor. Some caravans are built with pathetically low payloads, in reality not viable unless you are a minimalist, use plastic eating crocks & cutlery, don’t dream of ever cooking or using a decent TOG duvet and wash your smalls every other day.
That would be my starting point, know what the payload is and know what the essentials you carry weigh; it could be a worrying revelation. Hope it goes well though.
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Fair warning indeed. We've not yet got it, nor even confirmed the purchase yet, while waiting for inspections, so I can't check the plate, but the relevant brochure, kindly sent by the Rapido Club, reckons there's a capacity of 260kg here. Obviously a significant
proportion of that will go on gas bottle(s), battery, etc, and the previous owner also fitted a motor mover, but I'm hoping that still leaves us a reasonable amount to play with.0 -
Fair warning indeed. We've not yet got it, nor even confirmed the purchase yet, while waiting for inspections, so I can't check the plate, but the relevant brochure, kindly sent by the Rapido Club, reckons there's a capacity of 260kg here. Obviously a significant proportion of that will go on gas bottle(s), battery, etc, and the previous owner also fitted a motor mover, but I'm hoping that still leaves us a reasonable amount to play with.
Two hunderd and sixty is by UK standards quite a healthy starting point. A 10 kg Gaslight has a tare weight of 5.3 kgs, so 15 odd gone there, a spare 907 is 6.5 kgs a mover, typically kissing 40 kgs and a battery able to support off EHU use 22 to 25 kgs, so 85 is gone on those basics. Just hoist in there is a real need to be aware; though a caravan is a big box it is not much of a load carrier.
you can do a bit of weighing at home, camping chairs/ table a selection of clothes , the bedding, pots and pans ets etc; it as said can be quite a revelation of how it rockets up.
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Thanks for these guide weights. Luckily the current car is capacious and will carry other stuff - hopefully without going over the maximum train weight, or whatever it's called. The car's done 200,000+ miles, so at some point eventually we'll need to change it, when we may go for something smaller, But we'll cross that [weigh]bridge when we come to it.
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My caravan has a payload of 240Kg. It's surprising how easy it is to use it all up even when only storing the awning frame in the caravan. The other big load item is the spare wheel, so that's another 20Kg gone before you even start.
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It is difficult to say if you will need things in the car as it all depends on what you pack and for how long you are away. 240kg is very good by UK standards and I would be surprised if you exceeded that given the limited space to pack things but a heavy
awning would probably be best in the car. Having said that even with over 5.6m of caravan we still put things in the car, particularly the TV as I feel it gets a softer ride there.0 -
HI Hedgehurst, I'm told that some people travel with aquarolls, wastemasters, barbecues, awnings, awning furniture, portable satellite dishes, television sets second fridge/ freezers, outdoor cookers clothes for all seasons, animals, and potted plants. They are all optional, though we manage very well in an Eriba without them, with just a couple of folding chairs and a picnic table in the car.
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I must confess to a dropping of the jaw this summer when I used a small tent for a one-night stopover on a Herts. site. I didn't realise one took quite sizeable matching potted trees and what looked suspiciously like a roll-out patio complete with table
with arty sculpture on it while caravanning. Glad to hear these aren't compulsory
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Very many thanks to all those who took time to offer such useful comments here. As a result of this and a lot more research, we've just agreed to buy a Rapido Club 32 T from 2000. It comes with motor mover, Alko stabiliser, as-new looking awning, full starter
pack of Butane bottle, battery, and things, and some more.And thanks to the many who in various threads insisted on the value of an independent engineer's inspection. He spotted the 2009 tyres and the fairly worn pads in the hitch, and as a result has saved us his own expense, because the dealer's offered to include
two new tyres - we'll also get the spare sorted ourselves at the same time - and the pads in the agreed price.So while I'll hopefully be posting a "proud new owner" line next week when it's due to be ready for collection, here again are our thanks for all that helpful advice. It was!
Best wishes to all.
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Pleased to hear you have found what suits you.
Can I suggest one little amendment that will be in your interest if you can get it switched? Change the included Butane bottle to a Propane one, with appropriate pigtail etc. I say this because now you are moving to push the season out then you can very readily run into gassing issues with Butane in an ambient 6 degrees C and lower; the more so if as you will, you need a high draw off for powering a space heater. With Propane its gassing off limit is way lower. The cost to the dealer now is not significantly different , but to change retrospectively could be expensive to you.
It is from a "cost to run" point of view best to get as large a capacity gas bottle as fits in the gas locker.
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"Can I suggest one little amendment that will be in your interest if you can get it switched? Change the included Butane bottle to a Propane one, with appropriate pigtail etc."
Sorry, my sleepy slip of keyboard - I'll check but I think we're on propane already ... red cylinders, yes?
Thanks for the reminder!
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