Live from the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show
Comments
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Not to my taste. Looks too much like my dentist's surgery. +1 for the covers at least.
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Blimey, you must be a private patient. My dental surgery uses the same interior designer as the bus station!
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On Thursday's Today at the Caravan Show we watched a Club instructor show a new caravanner how to attach the emergency braking cable by hooking the wire round the towbar. We were horrified. Now thousands of people new to caravanning think that this is acceptable practice. It is most definitely not!!!
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Strange thing is Mortimer I have just posted this very subject his on the CCC forum,because I thought the instructor was correct looping the cable around and clipping it back on itself if it is a "Snap Lock"type clip.If you have a fixing point you have to use a caribiner type clip instead.
It may of helped if the instructor had coupled up first,but that is another issue.
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Here’s the club's advice -
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/advice-and-training/technical-advice/breakaway-cables/
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When you think about it, it's the safest thing to attach the breakaway cable as early in the hitch up as possible.
On another point, they did not show the jockey wheel being raised, but hey, the show was meant to be humorous. I could have said a joke but I restrained myself.
Colin
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Looping around the ball is great until the removable/retracting ball falls off; or if caravan unhitches and loop of cable just flips off the top.
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If you look again at the recording, where other than looping the breakaway cable round the hook could that set up have been secured; I can see no dedicated provision?
The arrangement is not ideal, here with the cable being a carabiner type would not require looping back if there had been a fixing eye, but with the particular vehicle used, there appeared there was not.
It can't be decried as "most definitely not" an acceptable practice, here it was the only and still a legal method that could have been adopted.
Pity the CCC fronted someone prepared to appear on TV using a vehicle where the "best practice" could not be demonstrated; the more so given the target audience and the presumed desire to educate, where that audience is unlikely presently to know better.
It was a fixed tow hook, so issues about not protecting from a detachable don't apply, nor do I buy into any real fear the cable if ever asked to work is going to "jump off", given the hitch drops downwards.
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I know of two incidents were this has happened one of which was our neighbour their car was damaged and the caravan was written off the other was on the motorway luckily the caravan wound up a bank not on the carriageways. It would appear there is enough thread on the bolts to accommodate one of those brackets to clip the cable to
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Know what, please?
Single mode failures of the van coming off the hook, or were these double failure events, where both the van came off the hook and the cable, still looped onto itself, jumping off the hook?
All those I have directly known and been there to inspect myself, were within the camp site or its access road. All cases involved a unit leaving the site, so relate to short distances since coupling up. Two appeared to be related to going over a site speed hump.
In all, the breakaway cable system had worked and applied the parking brake. The cable system itself post functioning "breaking", typically with one end or other of the cable's fixings, "unfolding".
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Not every vehicle has a "fixed" tow ball. In the programme one could see two bolts holding the tow ball onto the tow bar.
When I had a trailer detach I was fortunately just moving it in my yard, but as it was rear heavy the hitch came clean off the ball and the loop of cable jumped off as well.
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"When I had a trailer detach I was fortunately just moving it in my yard, but as it was rear heavy the hitch came clean off the ball and the loop of cable jumped off as well."
Which in that case is exactly what is likely to happen if the hitch comes uncoupled, lifting off because the trailer is rear heavy, will likely also lift off the cable.
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I attended the show on Tuesday and was disappointed however I acknowledge that I was looking to view Swift brand caravans in particular. Disappointment, there were no Swift caravans nor were there any caravans on display from their main retailers. I asked a number of reps. No, they aren’t here this time was the reply.
If I was looking for a campervan then the numbers present appear to multiply each year. Maybe in a couple of years it will be renamed as the Campervan and Caravan Show.
I was considering changing my 2023 campervan for a new caravan. I guess I will have to seek out the main Swift agents. BTW has anyone any information as to why Swift wasn’t present? Are they struggling?
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Not going myself, but I did notice from the online programe guide that Swift were not present and did think that a little odd for such a large company. Thought it might have been a misprint. Campervans seem to be the in thing right now.
peedee
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I was considering changing my 2023 campervan for a new caravan. I guess I will have to seek out the main Swift agents. BTW has anyone any information as to why Swift wasn’t present? Are they struggling?
Perhaps they are putting their money into advertising instead.
In the last week I have seen an advert for swift caravans and MH’s on TV several times. As Sky target the adverts to specific areas the bit at the end suggested Lowdhams of Nottingham as the place to view them. Presumably folk in different parts of the country were given other dealers. At the time I did think it odd that they didn’t mention the show as a place to view, but not so odd if they weren’t there0 -
I was considering changing my 2023 campervan for a new caravan. I guess I will have to seek out the main Swift agents. BTW has anyone any information as to why Swift wasn’t present? Are they struggling?
Countax, You certainly don't need the show to pick up a bargain from Swift...just pop to your local Swift dealer. I have just bagged a bargain from my local Swift dealer...with an Elegance Grande 835 well below advertised price plus a half price Air Con (although I chose the Comfort model so didn't get that offer) thrown in. May have been a pre show offer / not attending ..??
Aside, at the time we PX'd the dealer had 12 twin axle's lined up, all sold ready for collection (ours included) and another 5 TX's in PDI. Coachman, Buccaneer, Swift. I asked where are the motorhomes...reply was, yes we have sold a couple but the trend appears to be people are either preferring caravans or are going back to caravanning. Interesting...
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, at least it'll keep 'em away from the Northern reaches!!
Hmm, to go or not to go, that is the Question !
