Help for a complete novice
Hi all, We have just purchased our first caravan, a Swift Conqueror 570. I know the caravan has lots of kit with it but I am sure that there a million things that I will see that will all look like I must have, but in reality don't.
So what would you say are the first must have items to make our first trip a success.
Thanks in advance, Kevin
Comments
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Welcome to the wonderful world of caravanning. I know people might think this a flippant answer but it's not. The three most important things IMO are 1) A decent towcar (often overlooked) 2) An inexhaustible supply of patience and 3) A corkscrew ( when 2
is in short supply).There are loads of material things you'll need, ranging from Aquarolls and Waste water apparatus to unbreakable crockery. There are other intangibles like an ability to tow safely, decent insurance, good storage and security devices.
I would suggest you take a short trip away, both distance and time wise for the first time, and observe other 'vanners and their bits of kit and for heavans sake don't be afraid to ask. It's how I learnt and still am after more than 25 years.
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hook up cable,
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Don't go too far from home, you might have to nip back for that essential item that you cannot manage without. Oh, and very important is loads of warm bedding, extra blankets for under and over you just in case. It is awful being cold at night
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Couple of bottles of wine and glasses of course.
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I can re-iterate previous comments about taking a trip close to home for your first trip out. Make a check list for hitching up and unhitching, keep it in the glove box of your tow car and always refer to it. We still do even after caravanning for many years.
Most importantly you will need a sense of humour!0 -
Don't go too far from home, you might have to nip back for that essential item that you cannot manage without. Oh, and very important is loads of warm bedding, extra blankets for under and over you just in case. It is awful being cold at night
If you'll be sleeping under a normal duvet (as opposed to those who like sleeping bags) I can thoroughly recommend a Baa-vet
A duvet made with a natural wool filling - hence the 'baa'
I have 2 - one at home, one in the caravan. Both are 'light/summer' weight and I'm perfectly warm under them. They also breathe better than man-made fillings, so you won't get too hot in summer
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Thanks everyone, my brother is an experienced caravaner and we will be making our first trip with him to learn the basics. I have been told that our car is fine for towing (Kia Sorento). We have secure storage already sorted. I guess it is things like water
pipes, I have seen them ranging from 5 to 25 meters, waste pipes, water carriers etc etc. We have a 25 meter power cable coming with the caravan, just got to learn what to do with them all!0 -
Believe me, before too long you will have accumulated more stuff than you know what to do with, like most hobbies. Don't forget small things like torches as the gas always runs out in the dark and special spanners for fixing your gas pipe to the canister
and ......0 -
Make sure you know how to reverse the caravan!!!
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The joke shop ?.......
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When you have got all those things that folk tell you you need, and those that different Magazines and Forums tell you are more than desirable, and those things that you see that you Think You need, and those things you see other people using, THEN you will realise you really do need a bigger shed to dump half of it in till the next Car Boot Sale !
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What is needed? An open mind, a willingness to ask and an acceptance when learning from mistakes but most of all, a capacity to give help and advice to others who will walk in your shoes. We have all been there!
Oh, and a shed full of essential things which are seldom, if ever, used!
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From experience, it's not how many bits of equipment you've got, (you will work out in time, what you need, and add/subtract to the pile) what's important is that you take your time doing things and practice lots. We did several short trips when we first
had a van, to get used to it0 -
Before buying anythiing, ask yorself if you Really do need it and don't just want it to keep up with others. Do your own thing, it is more natural and easier to remember......
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We had a 'cull' last summer as we decided that we had far too much stuff. We put a lot of it on freecycle. So don't get too much to begin with.
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patience, take things slowly, remember your there to enjoy yourself and you don't have to arrive on sight and set up in 5 minutes, keep a sense of humour because you will almost certainly do something silly and you can laugh about it that's how we all learned.
Enjoy and safe towing.0 -
We had a 'cull' last summer as we decided that we had far too much stuff. We put a lot of it on freecycle. So don't get too much to begin with.
Write your comments here...There's an idea, if you need something, ask on Freecycle before buying.
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Kevin, hopefully you will have many years of fun ahead of you, during which there will be many opportunities to build up an expansive arsenal of equipment. Take your time, there should be plenty and you don’t need much to enjoy it. I suggest you channel
your enthusiasm into the outings rather than the equipment. It’s what you do with it rather than what you have that matters. I started out with very little, towing with an 1100cc car, and not even a step for the van. It didn’t put us off at all.Perhaps you should’ve asked what not to take. If you can, try leaving as much as possible at home (like the MIL).
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when we started caravanning a few years ago i took along a notebook when we collected the van from the dealer and wrote everything down - sad I know. My partner was used to driving big trucks and had towed before so he was comfortable doing that. We drove
5 -10 minutes along to storage and had to park and unhitch - that was fun but we managed. we sat in the van and worked out what we would need and noted everything down in my notebook. We duly went home, found all our camping essentials and took it out to
the van. We thankfully decided to attempt to put up the awning (came with the van) with no instructions - glad we did as there were bits missing - if you have an awning I would suggest you put this up before going anywhere near a site to make sure all the
bits are there. The van has its own stuff which is left in all season and I have added to this list continually. We have bought a lot of things second hand off a site through my work and we have bought a lot at Aldi's which has lasted well. There will always
be something you forget but it is easy to find a shop to buy essentials. Most of all have fun in your caravan, board games and cards are a great thing to have. A smiley face to say good morning and hello to people you meet. Enjoy your caravan trips xx0 -
We have various lists:
Essential list of things we need on every trip and then other lists to cover shorter or longer trips, summer or winter trips. They are all stored on the PC and then checked according to where we are going. I also write a list of anything we run out of whilst
away so I can re-stock before our next trip.0 -
Make sure you know how to reverse the caravan!!!
...If you are completely new to caravanning I would seriously recommend you consider taking the Club's manoeuvering course. When my husband was waiting for his cataract operation recently I had to tow the van so I booked on this course to give me some confidence.
It was extremely helpful and now I don't mind towing anywhere. You also get a certificate to say you have done the course and with that you can get money off your caravan insurance so it was worth it for that as well.0 -
Hi all, We have just purchased our first caravan, a Swift Conqueror 570. I know the caravan has lots of kit with it but I am sure that there a million things that I will see that will all look like I must have, but in reality don't.
So what would you say are the first must have items to make our first trip a success.
Thanks in advance, Kevin
Write your comments here...Go buy a big shed to store all the bits you thought you needed, but didn't and all the stuff you no longer take with you.
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I quite agree bluemalaga. We cleared our shed out last summer and got rid of a lot of caravan related stuff that we realised we didnt need and hadn't used for years!
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Hi all, We have just purchased our first caravan, a Swift Conqueror 570. I know the caravan has lots of kit with it but I am sure that there a million things that I will see that will all look like I must have, but in reality don't.
So what would you say are the first must have items to make our first trip a success.
Thanks in advance, Kevin
When we bought our first van in 1984 we forget to buy a step. (we were its first owners), I never worked out why the dealer didn't mention we might need one. Luckily we managed to scrounge a milk crate (remember those!) from the site owners and used that
upturned.0 -
.... Luckily we managed to scrounge a milk crate (remember those!) from the site owners and used that upturned.
The last time we used our caravan we realised when we got to the site that the step was still at home .... it gave us the excuse to buy a better step though
.Yes! I remember milk crates. Plastic crates for pasturised and 'raw' milk and bloody heavy metal crates for the sterri bottles!
I've carried many a crate as a kid on a milk round0
