Campervanning

[grumpyhack]

Although I'm now a caravan convert there's a lot to be said for a trailer tent (as per Whisty).  I had one for many years and with a huge awning it was the best thing I've had for festival socialising .  Relatively cheap to buy and store (mine lived in my mother in law's garage).

If you do go down the caravan route storage can be an issue.  I keep mine at a secure caravan storage site not far from the Severn Bridge and about 20 miles from  my house.  Cost is £250 a year but money well spent.

[BlueDaze]

This talk of The Joy of Caravanning has to stop...

they are all going to be out there buying cheap caravans and my bet is that in the 2 years since last jaunt more fields than E22 are going to be swapped out for glamping... I reckon they will have a greater use of Bath & West show grounds..

[Quark]

12 hours ago, grumpyhack said:

Although I'm now a caravan convert there's a lot to be said for a trailer tent (as per Whisty).  I had one for many years and with a huge awning it was the best thing I've had for festival socialising .  Relatively cheap to buy and store (mine lived in my mother in law's garage).

If you do go down the caravan route storage can be an issue.  I keep mine at a secure caravan storage site not far from the Severn Bridge and about 20 miles from  my house.  Cost is £250 a year but money well spent.

Fun fact.  Friend of mine from uni moved back to home to find that the new house his parents had moved to didn't have enough bedrooms, so he lived in their caravan on the drive for a year or so.

[Havors]

15 hours ago, The Nal said:

Having access to ice is a thing of wonder when its hot. Chuck a couple of frozen bottles of water in the guardian type bag on your back before you head off. Like making yourself into a fridge and after a while you have freezing cold water too. Winning.

I have always wondered why there is not Ice stalls at festivals.... They could charge £5 per bag massive mark up and people could keep their drinks colder for longer over the weekend. Do a drink chiller service too... 

[Crazyfool01]

39 minutes ago, Havors said:

I have always wondered why there is not Ice stalls at festivals.... They could charge £5 per bag massive mark up and people could keep their drinks colder for longer over the weekend. Do a drink chiller service too... 

myself and friends had thought of providing that service before ... but the cost of hire of a refrigerated container was astronomical ... I think when I worked at a supermarket the cost of a trailer hire was about 80,000 for a week ..... thats one hell of a lot of beer refrigeration to cover this cost ... without the other costs involved ... pitch / staffing etc .....and if it rains or is cold then the demand won't be there  

[The Nal]

53 minutes ago, Havors said:

I have always wondered why there is not Ice stalls at festivals.... They could charge £5 per bag massive mark up and people could keep their drinks colder for longer over the weekend. Do a drink chiller service too... 

In 2009/10ish they sold cups of ice in the shops for £1 until they ran out after people twigged it. Really handy to drop down the front of the shorts and sit there in bliss.

[eastynh]

I plan to get a camper van next year and stay in the disabled field. Would I still have to get a camper van ticket for the disabled field?

[H.M.V]

Hey there, coming into a small bit of money and have decided to get a Caravan. Ideal for Glasto if we get tickets but also handy for last minute trips away and not having to worry about getting someone to mind the dogs for us. 

We've had a look at autotrader etc and have a fairly good idea of the layout we want. So with that in mind does anyone have any helpful tips for a first time buyer to consider? I know absolutely nothing about caravans, as in how does the shower work? Where does the water come from, I'm assuming some kind of container that you can fill. Are the fridges electric or gas? Budget is about £2000 but can be adjusted a little if needed. 

Please help.

Edited August 25, 2018 by H.M.V

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

29 minutes ago, H.M.V said:

Hey there, coming into a small bit of money and have decided to get a Caravan. Ideal for Glasto if we get tickets but also handy for last minute trips away and not having to worry about getting someone to mind the dogs for us. 

We've had a look at autotrader etc and have a fairly good idea of the layout we want. So with that in mind does anyone have any helpful tips for a first time buyer to consider? I know absolutely nothing about caravans, as in how does the shower work? Where does the water come from, I'm assuming some kind of container that you can fill. Are the fridges electric or gas? Budget is about £2000 but can be adjusted a little if needed. 

Please help.

Hello H.M.V.

First of all, I hope that we can be at peace now. Our last dialogue wasn't exactly the way I'd like it to have gone. I hope that you and yer man are happy and well.

In connection with the caravan thing, grumpy's the man to ask. If he doesn't see your post, then I'd strongly recommend PM'ing him. I do know that fridges can run on gas or electric, and maybe also a duel system, but am not too sure of the later. Also, just to say that eBay an Facebook have advertisements for caravans for sale too. Don't limit your available options by sticking with Aototrader.

I'm afraid that's about all I know. 

All the best. 

[semmtexx]

2 hours ago, H.M.V said:

Hey there, coming into a small bit of money and have decided to get a Caravan. Ideal for Glasto if we get tickets but also handy for last minute trips away and not having to worry about getting someone to mind the dogs for us. 

We've had a look at autotrader etc and have a fairly good idea of the layout we want. So with that in mind does anyone have any helpful tips for a first time buyer to consider? I know absolutely nothing about caravans, as in how does the shower work? Where does the water come from, I'm assuming some kind of container that you can fill. Are the fridges electric or gas? Budget is about £2000 but can be adjusted a little if needed. 

Please help.

You can get 3 way fridges. They run on battery (generally only while driving as they use a lot of power and battery goes flat quick), run on mains (i.e. mains hook up, essentially a long extension lead), or run on gas. Yes, thats right, they run on gas - you burn gas in them and cold comes out (via magic pixies).

These people make the magic fridges.

https://www.dometic.com/en-gb/uk/products/food-and-beverage/refrigeration/refrigerators

Most campers have a big tank of water you fill up at home before you set off then a pump that leads to a sink you can use. Mostly just cold water but posh ones have hot water too. 

[Pear_Cider]

3 hours ago, H.M.V said:

Hey there, coming into a small bit of money and have decided to get a Caravan. Ideal for Glasto if we get tickets but also handy for last minute trips away and not having to worry about getting someone to mind the dogs for us. 

We've had a look at autotrader etc and have a fairly good idea of the layout we want. So with that in mind does anyone have any helpful tips for a first time buyer to consider? I know absolutely nothing about caravans, as in how does the shower work? Where does the water come from, I'm assuming some kind of container that you can fill. Are the fridges electric or gas? Budget is about £2000 but can be adjusted a little if needed. 

Please help.

Hi Joyce  Finally you're getting a caravan!!

Firstly the fridge. As @semmtexx has pointed out, caravans can run on mains, battery or gas although the battery option is just to keep the fridge cool during the journey when the van is hooked up to the car. It won't work on battery alone (it would flatten the battery in no time). You'll be using gas at Glastonbury and anywhere else you go where you don't plug into the site mains. I always pre-chill my cans in the fridge at home then put them in the caravan fridge the night before I leave then have the van plugged into the mains to get the fridge cool (pre-chilling the cans helps here - it won't take long to get the temperature down). Then on the journey down the battery will maintain the temperature. There'll be no drain on you caravan battery because the car will keep it charged - once you switch the car engine off (rest stops etc.) then the fridge won't draw any power from your leisure battery. When you get to Glastonbury and get set up you switch to gas - It's just like firing up a gas oven.

The water comes from your aquaroll water container (other brands are available!) which hold 40 litres and you can fill up from various points around the CV fields. I have a spare so that if one runs out I can just switch them over and fill up the other one at my leisure ( when there isn't a big queue!). You sit it outside the caravan next to the water inlet and connect it using your pump. It's a short length of hose with a pump on one end which you submerge in your aquaroll and the other end is the connection to the van. When you turn on a tap a switch kicks in and runs the pump which pumps the water into the caravan. If it's a hot tap the water runs through the water heater so you get hot water. Waste water runs down the plughole and out of the waste outlet where you'll have hoses leading to your waste water container which you can empty at designated points.

Toilet has a cassette under it (accessed from outside the van). You'll put chemicals into it - blue into the cassette itself to help break down the waste and pink in your flush reservoir to help it smell nice  When the cassette is full you take it to the designated point and empty it.

As you probably worked out, there is a dual electrical system - 240v and 12v. Obviously nothing on the 240v system will work unless your caravan is hooked up to the mains system. At Glasto you'll be running the 12v system but pretty much all you'll be using will be the water pump and the 12v lights so there shouldn't be an issue with your battery running flat.

That's it...caravanning in a nutshell!! There's more to it but them's the basics  Shout if you need to know owt else.

Trev xx

[BlueDaze]

3 hours ago, H.M.V said:

Hey there, coming into a small bit of money and have decided to get a Caravan. Ideal for Glasto if we get tickets but also handy for last minute trips away and not having to worry about getting someone to mind the dogs for us. 

We've had a look at autotrader etc and have a fairly good idea of the layout we want. So with that in mind does anyone have any helpful tips for a first time buyer to consider? I know absolutely nothing about caravans, as in how does the shower work? Where does the water come from, I'm assuming some kind of container that you can fill. Are the fridges electric or gas? Budget is about £2000 but can be adjusted a little if needed. 

Please help.

I got my first caravan in 2009 specifically to go to Glastonbury as i couldnt see the sense in hiring campervans at a grand a week (as i did for my first  Glasto in 2007).. £2,750 from an old bloke in Shrewsbury... who really loved his caravan.. He had it up on breezeblocks and properly 'wintered' it... (covered, water system fully drained, moisture preventers inside etc..) try and find one that has been looked after like that... "has it been wintered..?" is a good question.. It also came with a full size awning which was brilliant and in my mind is a must.. My wife and i sleep in the van (double bed), daughter & bf in awning, other daughter & bf in tent. I sent other vans that were filthy outside and inside, just walk away from them...

Have you got a car that is suitable for towing..?  check out the price if fitting a tow bar with electrics.. i paid about £250 last time out. I still find towing a bit stressful tbh (and i went on a 2 day towing course 10 years ago.!) ... but you get used to it once you get going..

Fridge, Cooker and water heater will all work off gas.. Lights etc run off a leisure battery (like a car battery basically). You fill the water tank via a water barrel (aquaroll) and a pump.. There are standpipes around the campervan fields to fill the aquaroll.

The toilet empties into a closed box that you can empty into giant piss tanks in the fields (my wife and daughters have no fucking clue how this works conveniently enough...)

Whilst that all sounds a bit negative, it is just a reality that it takes a bit of work... Come the Tuesday afternoon when you are in the fields with your mates camped alongside and you are all set up with a bbq on the go and cold beers.... I love it.!

[semmtexx]

There is nothing like driving onto site, parking up and having camp set up in 10 minutes, cold beer in hand and others gently keeping cool in the fridge. It's mint. 

[BlueDaze]

17 minutes ago, semmtexx said:

There is nothing like driving onto site, parking up and having camp set up in 10 minutes, cold beer in hand and others gently keeping cool in the fridge. It's mint. 

10 minutes...??!!

Jesus, i am rubbish at caravanning...

[semmtexx]

2 minutes ago, BlueDaze said:

10 minutes...??!!

Jesus, i am rubbish at caravanning...

To be fair it's a camper van and all I do is put the kettle on and grab a chair out! ?

[BlueDaze]

Just now, semmtexx said:

To be fair it's a camper van and all I do is put the kettle on and grab a chair out! ?

10 minutes to get a chair out..??!!

I can get four out in 13 minutes... Jesus, i am brilliant at caravanning...

[semmtexx]

15 minutes ago, BlueDaze said:

10 minutes to get a chair out..??!!

I can get four out in 13 minutes... Jesus, i am brilliant at caravanning...

Loll! And make tea? That's where it's at!

Edited August 25, 2018 by semmtexx

[Pear_Cider]

19 hours ago, semmtexx said:

Loll! And make tea? That's where it's at!

Tea?? TEA???

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Maybe it's a Long Island Iced Tea?  My favourite cocktail. I discovered it in a pub in Dublin called Judge Roy Bean's (I don't know if it's still there), and the barman got the measures all wrong - essentially he was giving me 5 shots of spirit (and the gills are larger in Ireland anyway) per iced tea. I had five or six of them one afternoon, while waiting for my brother to finish work, so that we could go out on the lash early evening. That's, at a minimum, taking 25 shots of drink, before we'd even really started on the sesh! Happy days.

[H.M.V]

Wow, that's some really good info and advice. We're going to look at some caravans hopefully on Thursday. Decided to buy from a dealer rather than private as its our first rodeo and would prefer the come back. So thanks @Pear_Cider and @BlueDaze I may be twisting you for some more info. Could I ask ball park for a cheapish caravan for insurance? We're going to have it parked at a specific caravan park up as we can't really keep it on the drive of our guesthouse. What would the neighbours think. Lol

@Yoghurt on a Stick not sure if Judge Roy Beans still exists but I had my first long island iced tea in Dublin obviously cos I'm from there. The measures in Ireland are 35ml as opposed to UK 25ml.

 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

30 minutes ago, H.M.V said:

Wow, that's some really good info and advice. We're going to look at some caravans hopefully on Thursday. Decided to buy from a dealer rather than private as its our first rodeo and would prefer the come back. So thanks @Pear_Cider and @BlueDaze I may be twisting you for some more info. Could I ask ball park for a cheapish caravan for insurance? We're going to have it parked at a specific caravan park up as we can't really keep it on the drive of our guesthouse. What would the neighbours think. Lol

@Yoghurt on a Stick not sure if Judge Roy Beans still exists but I had my first long island iced tea in Dublin obviously cos I'm from there. The measures in Ireland are 35ml as opposed to UK 25ml.

 

Hello H.M.V

Sometimes the only way forward is to grab the bull by the horns. I feel that moment is now, with my communication with you. As far as I'm concerned I've done, or at least in my opinion, attempted to, offer an olive branch. So, I need to ask you directly 'Do you accept'?

 

 

[H.M.V]

1 minute ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello H.M.V

Sometimes the only way forward is to grab the bull by the horns. I feel that moment is now, with my communication with you. As far as I'm concerned I've done, or at least in my opinion, attempted to, offer an olive branch. So, I need to ask you directly 'Do you accept'?

 

 

Hi @Yoghurt on a Stick I've never been one to bear a grudge. I say what's on my mind and move on. So of course I accept. Would be nice if we could share a cold drink at a smaller festival one day and have a laugh at how silly we've been. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

1 minute ago, H.M.V said:

Hi @Yoghurt on a Stick I've never been one to bear a grudge. I say what's on my mind and move on. So of course I accept. Would be nice if we could share a cold drink at a smaller festival one day and have a laugh at how silly we've been. 

Nice one H.M.V.  That's music to my ears. I really don't like not getting on with people. It's alien to me.

Yep, totally up for meeting you both at a smaller festival sometime. 

Fair play to you. I'm now a happy bunny this end. Cheers. 

[H.M.V]

37 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Nice one H.M.V.  That's music to my ears. I really don't like not getting on with people. It's alien to me.

Yep, totally up for meeting you both at a smaller festival sometime. 

Fair play to you. I'm now a happy bunny this end. Cheers. 

Excellent, always nice to know you've made a frown upside down.

[amfy]

We finally got a caravan this year. We realised over the past few festivals that we were done with lugging our stuff across the site. Going to Sziget and having an apartment for the festival also helped to break our sentimental attachment to camping,

We were going to buy second hand but went to the caravan show at the NEC to get an idea of how the space worked and what we were looking for in terms of layout.

Out of the blue we completely fell in love with the Swift Basecamp, which is designed specifically for campers who feeel they have got too old for camping! It’s just so little a cute but has everything you could need! We just kept coming back and sitting in it again and again - we pretty much knew it had ‘got’ us. We thought about it for a while, and then got a loan to get one. It’s small and light and can be towed with a pretty regular car.

https://www.swiftbasecamp.co.uk/

We’ve done Bestival and Boomtown in it this year and it has made an incredible difference. It is such a joy to be able to sit in a proper loo within your own space when you need to go in the middle of the night, and to have left behind the trek across the field or the indignity of the Lenor bottle! 

Its also brilliant to just be able to sleep properly, with a bit of soundproofing and shade between you and the outside world. As we worked both festivals, I’m actually unsure we would have coped in a tent!

When working with Oxfam we can’t use the awning because the space in the Oxfield is limited and they don’t tolerate you taking up more than your fair share of space, but it is still a great little space for festivals - still bigger than the old stand up tent!

As it is new, they aren’t on the 2nd hand market yet (or at least no cheaper than new) but it’s a real investment in our future festivalling for us. We retire in the next couple of years and intend to work festivals for much of the summer so we think it’ll be worth it. If anyone else is in the same position, (i.e. would use it a lot and could afford the outlay) then I seriously recommend it. We love it!