Best and worst caravan experiences?

(RIP) PLANK · 03-11-2008, 18:21

caravans seem to be a popular theme at the moments so while we are on th subject, a few questions to mull over:

What is the best and / or worst caravan you have ever owned and why?

what is the best and / or worst caravan aid / gadget you have ever tried and why?

what are you best and worst caravaning experiences?

Deleted Member D · 03-11-2008, 20:00

The worst caravan experience I've ever had was on the A1 north of Morpeth. I was driving A 44T artic northbound and got stuck behind a caravan moving at speeds between 35 & 40 mph at what seemed to be for hours !!! :evil:
Everytime I reached a straight bit of road to pass him another caravan was coming the other way :twisted:
That was my worstist experience of a caravan :roll:

mav · 03-11-2008, 20:21

I bet Dinky can tell us a story about about having a caravan on the back!.

Mav.

(Think it was dinky!.)

extreme-4x4 · 03-11-2008, 20:24

come on guys lets just keep this post open for the caravaners of the world, we seem to spoil all the caravan posts, and it just seems a little unfair

i too don't like them on the roads , but hey if that's there thing lets not knock it,

it should be a giggle reading how they have improved caravans with full size cookers, fridges , heating showers etc... so lets see if they have found a nice way to empty the toilet 8O 8)

:

extreme

iandouglas · 03-11-2008, 22:18

hi my worst was seeing my caravan along side my escort one night just before it went into a headge . :P
not as bad as dinky though .

the best bit waking up in the morning looking out of the window and thinking im on holiday ,then turning over and going back to SLEEP.

THE FUNNIEST WAS when i was working away from home .
we were living in old sea side caravans while moving one from one site to another seeing a full set of body building weights coming straight through the front of the van so i just drove the CAT D9 DOZER OVER IT DUG A HOLE AND BURIED IT.
rgds.iandouglas

(RIP) PLANK · 03-11-2008, 22:28

the chugging truck stuck behind a caravan reminds me of the happy hours i'[ve spent behind lorry drivers. one going 48 on the inside one overtaking in the middle doing 49 and me frustrated stuck behind them caravan in tow, not being able to overtake (as your not allowed in the outside lane towing)

or having them pull out and cut me up with no indicators!

or seeing them eating and drinking and wodering across the lanes and hard shoulders

or when you have to slow for a genuine obstruction driving 2 inches off the back end, thinking it will some how make you go faster when there is another slower vehicle stuck in front!

or etc. etc. etc.!

but these are by no means bad experiences just run of the mill every dya stuff you learn to put up with!

some good posts so far, keep tem coming!

makeitfit · 03-11-2008, 22:59

: The funniest experience I've had of caravanin was watching Top Gear go camping

: Totally top dollar

:
The worst thing was when my mate and his girlfriend woke up in one on fire

ops:
They got out with minor burns but major hang-ups

Only rented it for the weekend :roll: and they didn't get their deposit back either :evil:

(RIP) PLANK · 03-11-2008, 23:30

Yes that top gear episode is cracking, did you see this weeks one with trucks?

andrewk · 04-11-2008, 00:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by PLANK

What is the best and / or worst caravan you have ever owned and why?

Worst - probably the first I had. An old Silverline that leaked rain through the roof, wouldn't reverse without having to jump out and wedge the reversing lever. A bit of a nightmare really.

Best - the Burstner we have now. The rear fixed bed layout suits us. It's got lots of bells and whistles. Everything works. Its dry and it tows perfectly.

Quote:

what is the best and / or worst caravan aid / gadget you have ever tried and why?

Best gadget - probably satellite TV. Worst, most useless gadget- satellite TV when you pitch in a forest with trees all around and cannot get a signal.

Quote:

what are you best and worst caravaning experiences?

Best - we went away to a farm site in Penrith on a UKCampsite (UKCS) rally. A mate and his better half came too with their van. We consumed a large volume of red wine and dark rum - and got totally bladdered. It was a great night. Later, I felt rather poorly and later still had an odd dream about someone shouting about feathers.

Worst caravanning experience (abridged version) - the morning after getting bladdered in Penrith (or was it afternoon), I discovered that the someone shouting about feathers in the night was in fact SWMBO. I later learned from her that whilst the Lunar van we had then had been in storage at a farm site in Royton, it had a small visitor or two who apparently enjoyed munching their way through part of a duck feather duvet. Most of the remaining duck feathers now covered most every surface in the caravan. Needless to say, I was on the pointed end of a few choice words about waving the duvet around during the night. It's not fair though, is it? You cannot really expect a drunk to understand about duck feathers when all he's really doing is trying to keep his share of the bedding. :smile:

Cheers
Andrew

BlueBull · 04-11-2008, 10:32

Myself and gf had a bad experience with a tent, sorry we can't afford a caravan yet lol. It happened while staying at the billing aquadrome for a week. I was inside the tent, gf outside sunbathing whilst I cooked dinner. I turned on the gas for the small 2 ring cooker and lit the ring that I needed, unfortunately I didn't see the hose had dozed slightly, thus making it burst under pressure and of course it burst near the ring that was lit sending a flame straight accross the tent and right in my direction. Lucky for me its a tall tent and plenty of room to move with 2 doors and I was able to Stop Drop and Roll as I singed my chest hair, lucky I was not wearing a t-shirt. I was able to turn the gas of at the cylinder and only lost a small amount of chest hair and a few blisters and had to suffer the laughs of my GF is she nearly wet her self. lol. Since then the hose has been speedily replaced and the cooker stand has been reinforced.

:

knotting_pot · 04-11-2008, 11:20

My worst experience was some 15 years ago in Newquay Cornwall. We had borrowed a relatives van and during the night I needed to get out of bed and remembering that the light was directley above me and only at arms length away I proceeded to fumble around in the dark to turn it on. As it was pitch dark my eyes were wide open straining to get any light they could, I touched the light fitting which promptly fell straight onto my eyeball! One trip to casualty later...

Best was before we were married and decided to do a "John Lennon" for the day!! Apparentley we missed a nice day outside... :wink:

dinky · 04-11-2008, 13:08

Well here goes as a few have commented,as im a stickler on servicing of car /van on time when req etc.had van and car serviced 2/3weeks before we went on holiday in Devon/Somerset with a Group of friends.Also whilst away we had our 25th wedding anniversary.Friend wanted a site miles fron anywhere so picked a site called Halse farm in the middle of Exmoor.That was biggest mistake i,ve ever made as accsess to it was horrendous.Anyhow back to the story after A fortnight away 2nd week was in north Somerset coming home at a steady 60mph all the way up till the end of the m42 as i had noticed the time and worked out if i slowed down a bit by the time we get home local chippie would be open so get some dinner then unload van.Just passing turn off to Donnington on the a42 lost the plot doing approx 55mph going up a slight gradient next thing i know im going backwards in the outside lane van leading the way.Jayne had time to phone the police and tell them we were having a accident and location before it came to a crunching stop.Van on its side at 45 degrees unhooked itself from car and put tow hitch through back window of our cavalier.Road was closed for 4 hours whilst they sorted it out,Ian has a few of the photoes so if he wants to post a few to show damage.The lenth of car/van combined was 8ft longer than road was wide no damage was done to front or back of car or van.Still to this day cant explain what caused it all loaded correctly ,not speeding ,no vehicle faults on either. going uphill so weight is at rear.Good job both had been serviced as i said earlier had no problems with insurance payout from either.First vehicle to pull up was a undercover police car .Best part of caravanning both coming home safely.JD :smile:

dinky · 04-11-2008, 13:17

As a footnote passed the same spot a few times and never give it a second thought.Also had blade type stabaliser and basic alko hitch.

Thomas-the-Terrano2 · 04-11-2008, 22:31

worst ive had was a jacknife with an exhibition trialer about size of a 14
foot caravan. went to collect it with a twin wheel transit van with jaw and ball coupling.

trailer had eye type. had no nose weight and had to force it down to get it in jaw slightly.
open road about 40 mph, sudden snake and trailer is seemingly alongside transit. stopped,
changed undies and carried on at 20 mph from harrogate to darlington by old roads,
not a1! one slow trip. damage one cluster on transit and my pride.

after we fitted it out guys came down from glasgow to collect with a hilux,
commended them on their forth coming bravery hoped they had plenty
of sweeties for the haul.

on a site in dorset pitch was that steep didnt need rear steadies and front
lowered to extreme and blocks. handbrake hard on all week and car parked in front,
in case! at night...didnt sleep well.

too many good nights to recall, personally love with it throws it down and it wakes you up,
but sooo snug in sleeping bag.

willow · 05-11-2008, 01:22

for what it is worth
My parents took us kids and I am 50! all round england and some of europe (France, Switzerland,Italy.) towing a caravan with a ford transit 6 seater. We saw the most fantastic places I loved my holidays. My parents are now in there 80's and are still towing a caravan

: Bet thats got you all worried :wink:
Thinking of having a caravan site here on my land just a small one up to 5 vans or so.
Where do you all stay what do you look for in a site :?:

03-11-2008, 18:21	#1
(RIP) PLANK Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Central England, in the Heart of the Black Country Vehicle: T2 2004 TDI SE LWB Posts: 7,740	Best and worst caravan experiences? caravans seem to be a popular theme at the moments so while we are on th subject, a few questions to mull over: What is the best and / or worst caravan you have ever owned and why? what is the best and / or worst caravan aid / gadget you have ever tried and why? what are you best and worst caravaning experiences?

03-11-2008, 20:00	#2
Deleted Member D Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 1,441	My worstist is The worst caravan experience I've ever had was on the A1 north of Morpeth. I was driving A 44T artic northbound and got stuck behind a caravan moving at speeds between 35 & 40 mph at what seemed to be for hours !!! :evil: Everytime I reached a straight bit of road to pass him another caravan was coming the other way :twisted: That was my worstist experience of a caravan :roll:

03-11-2008, 22:18	#5
iandouglas Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Vehicle: LANDROVER Disco 300TDI Posts: 1,802	best and worst caravan experiences hi my worst was seeing my caravan along side my escort one night just before it went into a headge . :P not as bad as dinky though . the best bit waking up in the morning looking out of the window and thinking im on holiday ,then turning over and going back to SLEEP. THE FUNNIEST WAS when i was working away from home . we were living in old sea side caravans while moving one from one site to another seeing a full set of body building weights coming straight through the front of the van so i just drove the CAT D9 DOZER OVER IT DUG A HOLE AND BURIED IT. rgds.iandouglas

04-11-2008, 22:31	#14
Thomas-the-Terrano2 Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Hackenthorpe Sheffield Vehicle: Terrano2 R20 lwb 2.7TDi Posts: 5,234	worst ive had was a jacknife with an exhibition trialer about size of a 14 foot caravan. went to collect it with a twin wheel transit van with jaw and ball coupling. trailer had eye type. had no nose weight and had to force it down to get it in jaw slightly. open road about 40 mph, sudden snake and trailer is seemingly alongside transit. stopped, changed undies and carried on at 20 mph from harrogate to darlington by old roads, not a1! one slow trip. damage one cluster on transit and my pride. after we fitted it out guys came down from glasgow to collect with a hilux, commended them on their forth coming bravery hoped they had plenty of sweeties for the haul. on a site in dorset pitch was that steep didnt need rear steadies and front lowered to extreme and blocks. handbrake hard on all week and car parked in front, in case! at night...didnt sleep well. too many good nights to recall, personally love with it throws it down and it wakes you up, but sooo snug in sleeping bag. __________________ M6YTB / 20YTB '60' 2010 Ford C Max Zetec 1.6i, black '56' 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0TD, silver 2021 Bailey Pegasus Grade SE Turin caravan Smile, its more likely to confuse. One Life, Don't Just Live It, Drive a Nissan, or ...... a Jeep. Owner of Nissan 4x4s 2005 to 2019, and maybe in the future too!

03-11-2008, 20:21	#3
mav Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: South Posts: 1,748	I bet Dinky can tell us a story about about having a caravan on the back!. Mav. (Think it was dinky!.)

03-11-2008, 20:24	#4
extreme-4x4 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: WALES Posts: 6,295	come on guys lets just keep this post open for the caravaners of the world, we seem to spoil all the caravan posts, and it just seems a little unfair i too don't like them on the roads , but hey if that's there thing lets not knock it, it should be a giggle reading how they have improved caravans with full size cookers, fridges , heating showers etc... so lets see if they have found a nice way to empty the toilet 8O 8) : extreme

03-11-2008, 22:28	#6
(RIP) PLANK Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Central England, in the Heart of the Black Country Vehicle: T2 2004 TDI SE LWB Posts: 7,740	the chugging truck stuck behind a caravan reminds me of the happy hours i'[ve spent behind lorry drivers. one going 48 on the inside one overtaking in the middle doing 49 and me frustrated stuck behind them caravan in tow, not being able to overtake (as your not allowed in the outside lane towing) or having them pull out and cut me up with no indicators! or seeing them eating and drinking and wodering across the lanes and hard shoulders or when you have to slow for a genuine obstruction driving 2 inches off the back end, thinking it will some how make you go faster when there is another slower vehicle stuck in front! or etc. etc. etc.! but these are by no means bad experiences just run of the mill every dya stuff you learn to put up with! some good posts so far, keep tem coming!

03-11-2008, 22:59	#7
makeitfit Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: on the beach WEST WALES Vehicle: Maverick TDi BLACK mmm Posts: 15,136	: The funniest experience I've had of caravanin was watching Top Gear go camping : Totally top dollar : The worst thing was when my mate and his girlfriend woke up in one on fire ops: They got out with minor burns but major hang-ups Only rented it for the weekend :roll: and they didn't get their deposit back either :evil:

03-11-2008, 23:30	#8
(RIP) PLANK Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Central England, in the Heart of the Black Country Vehicle: T2 2004 TDI SE LWB Posts: 7,740	Yes that top gear episode is cracking, did you see this weeks one with trucks?

04-11-2008, 10:32	#10
BlueBull Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Castlerock, N.Ireland Vehicle: Terrano II Posts: 188	Myself and gf had a bad experience with a tent, sorry we can't afford a caravan yet lol. It happened while staying at the billing aquadrome for a week. I was inside the tent, gf outside sunbathing whilst I cooked dinner. I turned on the gas for the small 2 ring cooker and lit the ring that I needed, unfortunately I didn't see the hose had dozed slightly, thus making it burst under pressure and of course it burst near the ring that was lit sending a flame straight accross the tent and right in my direction. Lucky for me its a tall tent and plenty of room to move with 2 doors and I was able to Stop Drop and Roll as I singed my chest hair, lucky I was not wearing a t-shirt. I was able to turn the gas of at the cylinder and only lost a small amount of chest hair and a few blisters and had to suffer the laughs of my GF is she nearly wet her self. lol. Since then the hose has been speedily replaced and the cooker stand has been reinforced. :

04-11-2008, 11:20	#11
knotting_pot Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: midlands Vehicle: nissan t2 Posts: 120	My worst experience was some 15 years ago in Newquay Cornwall. We had borrowed a relatives van and during the night I needed to get out of bed and remembering that the light was directley above me and only at arms length away I proceeded to fumble around in the dark to turn it on. As it was pitch dark my eyes were wide open straining to get any light they could, I touched the light fitting which promptly fell straight onto my eyeball! One trip to casualty later... Best was before we were married and decided to do a "John Lennon" for the day!! Apparentley we missed a nice day outside... :wink:

04-11-2008, 13:08	#12
dinky Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SOUTH YORKSHIRE Vehicle: t20 lwb Posts: 1,238	Well here goes as a few have commented,as im a stickler on servicing of car /van on time when req etc.had van and car serviced 2/3weeks before we went on holiday in Devon/Somerset with a Group of friends.Also whilst away we had our 25th wedding anniversary.Friend wanted a site miles fron anywhere so picked a site called Halse farm in the middle of Exmoor.That was biggest mistake i,ve ever made as accsess to it was horrendous.Anyhow back to the story after A fortnight away 2nd week was in north Somerset coming home at a steady 60mph all the way up till the end of the m42 as i had noticed the time and worked out if i slowed down a bit by the time we get home local chippie would be open so get some dinner then unload van.Just passing turn off to Donnington on the a42 lost the plot doing approx 55mph going up a slight gradient next thing i know im going backwards in the outside lane van leading the way.Jayne had time to phone the police and tell them we were having a accident and location before it came to a crunching stop.Van on its side at 45 degrees unhooked itself from car and put tow hitch through back window of our cavalier.Road was closed for 4 hours whilst they sorted it out,Ian has a few of the photoes so if he wants to post a few to show damage.The lenth of car/van combined was 8ft longer than road was wide no damage was done to front or back of car or van.Still to this day cant explain what caused it all loaded correctly ,not speeding ,no vehicle faults on either. going uphill so weight is at rear.Good job both had been serviced as i said earlier had no problems with insurance payout from either.First vehicle to pull up was a undercover police car .Best part of caravanning both coming home safely.JD :smile:

04-11-2008, 13:17	#13
dinky Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SOUTH YORKSHIRE Vehicle: t20 lwb Posts: 1,238	As a footnote passed the same spot a few times and never give it a second thought.Also had blade type stabaliser and basic alko hitch.

05-11-2008, 01:22	#15
willow Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Norfolk East Vehicle: terrano11 1995 TD Posts: 1,955	for what it is worth My parents took us kids and I am 50! all round england and some of europe (France, Switzerland,Italy.) towing a caravan with a ford transit 6 seater. We saw the most fantastic places I loved my holidays. My parents are now in there 80's and are still towing a caravan : Bet thats got you all worried :wink: Thinking of having a caravan site here on my land just a small one up to 5 vans or so. Where do you all stay what do you look for in a site :?: