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Hints and tips for campers and caravans.

9K views 46 replies 24 participants last post by  rgren2 
#1 ·
Coupla hints.
Instead of tent pegs I use 150mm baton screws with a plastic washer that I've countersunk so the screw is flush. I already carry a cordless drill to wind down the stabiliser legs. They hold in sandy and ground you can't drive a peg into. Use them on the awning and on the ground sheets.
We also carry three Bunnings "grass" squares, one for a door mat and the others to put the chairs on. If they get wet I just roll them up and zip tie them to the rear bar on the van, dry shake, fold and store. Even on wet concrete it gives you somewhere to wipe your feet before entering the hallowed abode. :)
 
#3 ·
Here's another coupla.
If you have a fitting to plug a hose into your caravan, make up a sealed fitting to go over the inlet. This will stop dust and crud from getting in and wrecking the valves in there. I attach mine to the van with some whipper snipper cord, use heat shrink to prevent the cord from becoming untied.
We all freeze drinking water in a bottle, add water, use a stubbie cooler to keep it cold. Now, try adding some squeeze lime juice (the stuff you buy in the supermarket, green bottle for lime, yellow bottle for lemon) to the water before freezing and add some more to the water you add to the frozen bottle. Adjust the amount to suit your taste.
 
#4 ·
A very handy tip I picked up somewhere, regarding rolling up canvas flaps on tents - rather than try to 'barrel roll' it from the bottom, you instead fold it from the bottom left up to the top right then from the bottom right up to the top left - makes an inverted triangle. Now grab the 'point' and roll from there - couldn't be easier :)
 
#7 ·
When it's freezing cold and you're sitting around the campfire, get a shovel of coals (about enough to cover the size of your hand) and plonk them on the ground under the middle of your chair. It won't melt anything, but the exquisite warming of your arse and under your thighs is quite delectable.

Try it next time you're sitting around the fire :D
 
#11 ·
G'day, great idea about the baton screws, but I have a question? How do you attach the guy ropes to the screws? Thanks in advance. John
Some little plastic (3mm grey plastic that we use at school) thingies that can be shaped to whatever shape you wish with a little heat.
 
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#12 ·
I posted this somewhere else, but here is probably most appropriate.

If you have a Treg hitch... When you open barn doors of car, and you're standing on the left, but need to lean over to the right to get to a draw or the fridge, how many times have you leant your leg against the bit of the Treg where the grease has oozed out from when you last greased it?

In my case, plenty, really cheeses me off.

A piece of foam and a cable tie, and Bob's your auntie.



If this has ever happened to you, you'll understand :)
 
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#13 ·
Warning for people with 9kg gas bottles on campers!!!


This won't be relevant for most people fortunately. In my case, the BOTTOM of the 9kg gas bottle is located by an 'X' shape bracket on the INSIDE of the ring that is welded to the bottom of the bottle as a base.

I got a full bottle (swap'n'go) the other day, only to find the diametre of the ring on the bottom is 20mm LESS than normal, so it would not fit in its spot.

I've never come across this before, so in future I will have to measure them while at Bunnings or wherever I change it.



Probably can't really tell from pic, but one on right is 20mm diameter smaller.

Keep it in mind if your 9kg bottle locates the base from the inside instead of the outside.
 
#30 ·
4.5kg gas bottle



Same with the 4.5kg bottles Leethal, I recently made up a gas enclosure for my camper, and luckily had 2 bottles at home . . . different sizes!

I made the ring in my gas cabinet a bit bigger and then made a ring spacer to drop in the hole when I'm using a small one ;)
 
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#19 ·
If you want to keep moisture out of ya campers, buy a box of chalk and place that in when you fold up. When the chalk becomes moist, just dry it out in the sun and reuse. ;)

So before ya retire, Rgren, ya better get some boxes of chalk. :naughty:

Foo
 
#24 ·
Hot water system anode.

I saw this on another forum and it's not my photo. I have ordered 2 new anodes and purchased a 27mm socket. I suggest you check your anode, cheap and easy to replace. Recommend to be checked every 12 months.
 

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#26 · (Edited)
Hot water system in the caravan. Note to oneself, release water pressure before undoing anode. It does come out rather quickly and covers you with water if you don't.
Another note to oneself, take your phone out of your wet pocket.
Dead phone at the moment.
 
#28 ·
You can make curly cords to keep them neater. Get a piece of 12mm wooden dowel & drill 2 holes through it, about 100mm apart, that the cord will fit through. Poke one end of the whipper snipper cord through one hole, leaving enough for the loop poking through. Wrap the cord tightly around the dowel, until you get to the second hole & poke the cord through that hole. Put it into boiling water for a few minutes then put into cold water. When it's cool, take the cord off the dowel & it will stay curly. I make leashes for my rods etc for when I go kayak fishing this way.:cheers:
 
#33 ·
I used to keep one larger tent peg just for that purpose but then at one particularly windy camp site, someone decided to bang my extra long peg all the way down to bury it in really hard clay ground, where it remains to this day.
So at a caravan and camping show I bought a rubber mallet that has a tent peg extractor hook on the handle. You hook it on and use like a slide hammer. So now I have both, a new large tent peg and the rubber hammer tent peg extractor, just as a backup plan.
 
#39 · (Edited)
For the back windows in the wagons. This insulation material is for sheds. Cheap as. A few suckers from eBay and you have insulation and shade, also keeps prying eyes out. The bit hanging off the side is for display purposes only.
 

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#40 · (Edited)

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#41 ·
Carry a bit of insulated wire (2.5m x 1mm core, with aligator clips either end) and a tent peg.
When you can't get anything on the radio on a standing camp, knock the peg into the soil, pour a billy of water over it and connect the peg to your aerial with the length of wire.

Sometimes it doesn't work, but mostly you get plenty of stations with good reception.
 
#42 ·
And a little rechargeable leaf / dust blower is good for inflating air beds real fast, clearing dust/grass/leaves off gear that's done a few hundred k's of dirt bashing, and getting the camp fire roaring like a blacksmith's furnace.

Freeze 2L longlife milk cartons as freezer bricks for the esky.

And mark or colour code each of the kids plates/cups cutlery......... if they don't wash it, they eat off it dirty..... if they lose it, they do without.
 
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#43 ·
For those with HR WDH bars that use a C clip to lock the chain hook over centre, make a washer to fit over the chassis retaining bolt for the bracket, connected to a small length of chain then a piece of tinplate looped over the C clip.

You'll never loose the C clip or have it pinched.

Les
 

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