Welcome campers.....

[Ayahuasca]

fatpasty said:

Ayahuasca said:

It is great, very light, can set it up and repack it in seconds (with practice) and completely water / sun / insect-proof. Also the design allows you to lie pretty much flat. It is assymetric and you lie on the diagonal. Not like normal hammocks where you are bow-shaped. I have slept it it in rainforests and on beaches (watch out for falling coconuts!).

http://hennessyhammock.com/

Ayahuasca - Where abouts to you go hiking etc ??

This is something I would like to get in to but don't no where to start to be honest.

Panama mostly.

But also used to in the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, etc. Get yourself an OS map, a compass and a pair of boots and off you go!

[fatpasty]

Ayahuasca said:

Panama mostly.

But also used to in the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, etc. Get yourself an OS map, a compass and a pair of boots and off you go!

That's awesome going to look in to doing a small hike before the end of the year.

[Ayahuasca]

fatpasty said:

Ayahuasca said:

Panama mostly.

But also used to in the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, etc. Get yourself an OS map, a compass and a pair of boots and off you go!

That's awesome going to look in to doing a small hike before the end of the year.

Great stuff - make sure you know the basics of map / compass reading and all is good!

[XJSJohn]

Ayahuasca said:

XJSJohn said:

Ayahuasca said:

What about hammocks? I hike and camp quite a lot and much prefer a hammock to a tent.

I have a Hennessy Expedition:

That looks perfect for shore trips when we are island hopping with the boat in Indonesia ....

looks like your "expedition" version is about right for equatorial rainforest and beaches, if they keep the mozzies out then they will keep the sand flies out too!

It is great, very light, can set it up and repack it in seconds (with practice) and completely water / sun / insect-proof. Also the design allows you to lie pretty much flat. It is assymetric and you lie on the diagonal. Not like normal hammocks where you are bow-shaped. I have slept it it in rainforests and on beaches (watch out for falling coconuts!).

http://hennessyhammock.com/

added to the shopping list for The Neptune Regatta at the end of the year!

[crankedup]

Great new forum, thanks.

[Nigel Worc's]

Nice one Garlick old chap ....glad I asked the question now lol

We didn't buy the one last weekend, but it wasn't far from Glossop caravans or whatever it's called, so we had a look around there.

Wifey can't make her mind up if she wants the end bathroom (that's better than home lol), or a permanent bed.

[Lunablack]

Nigel Worc's said:

Nice one Garlick old chap ....glad I asked the question now lol

We didn't buy the one last weekend, but it wasn't far from Glossop caravans or whatever it's called, so we had a look around there.

Wifey can't make her mind up if she wants the end bathroom (that's better than home lol), or a permanent bed.

We bought our motorhome from Glossop caravans we found them to be very good.....

Not sure if this helps..... But our first 2 caravans had a fixed bed.... I was convinced it was the way to go, so we bought a bailey pageant Vendee with a fixed bed.... Great van and suited us well, but the layout was a bit of a compromise...
So we decided to upgrade to a bailey Virginia with a fixed island bed......at first I was over the moon and thought this is the bees knees..... BUT once we really started to use the van for long stays away, (over 3 weeks) we realised how much room the bed took up, and how little space we had in the rest of the van....
Basically we came to the conclusion that during the day, when we just wanted to doss around in the van, the bed was in the way.... It was dead space....

So when we went for the motorhome, we deliberately set out to avoid a fixed bed..... It was just by chance that we dropped on the van that we ended up with, but it has a massive end bathroom, no fixed bed... And the whole layout is a massive improvement...

So much more room during the day, and it takes 2 minutes to make the seats into a massive bed for night time..

Bottom line is that everyone has different needs and wants... But it took us 3 goes to figure out the best layout for us, and it was no fixed bed and an end bathroom....

Hope that helps

[bqf]

Jesus Christ - a caravan forum on Pistonheads??? WHAT THE F?

I have a 2010 Elddis Crusader Mistral - lovely van, island bed, roomy shower, nicely fitted out.

I'm 39.

[911newbie]

Ayahuasca said:

What about hammocks? I hike and camp quite a lot and much prefer a hammock to a tent.

I have a Hennessy Expedition:

I quite like the idea of hammocks, but ther eis one drawback I just can't get around - you must have two trees conveiently located.

So if you're wlaking around in a forest fine, but if you're thinking about camping somewhere with out a plethora of conveient trees you're stuck, right ?

Or are ther fancy new lightweight suports you can buy...?

[cv01jw]

This new section is timed perfectly, as we bought our first caravan a couple of weeks ago

Been camping in both tents and trailer tents before, but after an offer of a free weekend in a friend's van (which turned out to be a cunningly disguised sales tactic), we have 'upgraded'.

By sheer luck, I changed my car in April and bought a diesel V70, completed with towpack too

I don't have any pictures of the caravan yet, but here are a couple of our trailer tent, which drew a lot of attention whenever we went away in it:

[Watchman]

cv01jw said:

Quite like that. Like a small caravan with a large awning. I take it the bed is in the trailer?

[cv01jw]

It supposedly had space for four in the trailer! For some reason we didn't manage to get a photo of the interior.

It had a single bed on each of the fold out sections of the trailer, and foam mattresses which fit into the base of the trailer to create a double. It also had bunk style hammocks, but I never trusted those.

It was called a Chateau Mobile and ours was apparently one of the last made in the late 1970's.

No loo or kitchen etc, just beds and a wonky door (it had full height plastic hinges which were cracked and splitting along 60%).

We loved it thought, bought it from a elderly gent who had stored if for 15 years in his garage. New tyres, a good service of the hubs, bearings and brakes and away it went. Electrics needed no attention at all.

Unfortunately it was far from comfortable and so after a summer of use (8 trips I think) we sold it on and bought a big tent, which was a mistake, because it took an age to pitch, even longer to take down and weighed a ton. Plus, I had to go a buy a trailer to tow it and the assorted camping crap around in.

Never really saw the appeal of a caravan until we tried the alternatives!

Edited by cv01jw on Tuesday 10th July 14:04

[Ayahuasca]

911newbie said:

Ayahuasca said:

What about hammocks? I hike and camp quite a lot and much prefer a hammock to a tent.

I have a Hennessy Expedition:

I quite like the idea of hammocks, but ther eis one drawback I just can't get around - you must have two trees conveiently located.

So if you're wlaking around in a forest fine, but if you're thinking about camping somewhere with out a plethora of conveient trees you're stuck, right ?

Or are ther fancy new lightweight suports you can buy...?

Trees? pah.

The hammock I recommended can also be used as a tent if needed: http://hennessyhammock.com/articles/hh_as_a_tent/

[Watchman]

cv01jw said:

Unfortunately it was far from comfortable and so after a summer of use (8 trips I think) we sold it on and bought a big tent, which was a mistake, because it took an age to pitch, even longer to take down and weighed a ton. Plus, I had to go a buy a trailer to tow it and the assorted camping crap around in.

Never really saw the appeal of a caravan until we tried the alternatives!

You have just summed-up everything I feel about family camping. It's OK taking a lightweight tent up Snowdon or somewhere (equally) interesting but as soon as you need a trailer to carry your tent and assorted kit around it, you may as well have a caravan, and THEN you'll realise what a mistake camping WITHOUT a caravan is.