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Thanks to you Folding Campers out there we are on track for an FC.

Caravan means lots more bucks less space make beds up and down everyday no ta.

Little more luxary yes.... lots more bucks no thanks.

Folding camper the only issue for some is packing up wet some say this is big bother others say the design allows you to put away wet the things that need protecting are protedted.

Im at a loss is this really an issue Im mean if you have to make up the outfit you have to make up surely.

Could someone ease this doubt spend ten minutes put me mind straight.

Thank You Regards

LeeZO

Dandys you can put away wet..... They have PVC sides with insulation treated to withstand damp etc..... Also they are designed to fold down so that the soft furnishing is always protected from the damp outside. You can leave them folded wet indefinetely.  I have left mine soaking wet for 2 and a half months with absolutely no problem.

Anything made of canvas, combi, raclet, pennine etc etc will need to be dried before you can pack it away.  If you pack it away wet you will have to unpack and  dry out thoroughly as soon as you get home.  If you do not it will rot. Pennine I know have a different wet pack system to pack a unit away on a wet day.

Whether having to dry a unit out is a problem or not only you can decide.  I would find it difficult to find the space to dry the unit out which is the reason I got a Dandy, having struggled with a canvas unit.

We were away this weekend and it poured it down all Saturday night. We had the awning up so we knew we had it all to pack away and the rain was not being kind. Now at other times over the last three years we have just kept an ear/eye out for the rain and have either packed up a little earlier or we have held out until the afternoon and we have had a dry  pack.

It was quite apparant this weekend we were gonna be packing up a wet unit no matter what. Slight adjustments in our normal routine were made whereby we packed up everything we could whilst still under the cabin canvas and awning and so stayed fairly dry and then we quickly dismantled and packed the awning and then quickly folded the camper.

On arriving home it was still raining and carried on throughout the day/evening. Monday was not a good day because of lack of time so we finally managed to open the camper Tuesday evening and it dried out in no time, hung the awning on the washing line (dried in half hour) and then just folded it all back together.

It helps obviously that we have a big enough garden/drive to be able to do this. The fact that we had to wait a few days before we could open up to dry was no detriment to the canvas at all (obviously it won't wait forever though!) It could have quite easily waited until this weekend to dry out and would have been fine!

We don't find it a worry about wet packs. We do try to avoid them, obviously, but certainly don't make it a big issue.

Hope this answers some of your query :-)

I have seen a lot of conway and pennine campers about but never a Dandy so I can't really comment on Dandy except that they do seem to be expensive to buy new.When we get home from camping we erect the camper to clean it and change the bedding so it doesn't matter if it got wet or not.

Are Dandys fully enclosed when you erect the camper or are they the same as Pennine in that you have the sides exposed for a minute,it's surprising how quick you can get the canvas secured when it starts raining.

If you don't fold your Dandy out for 21/2 month doesn't the fabric go mouldy and things like hinges rust?

Regards

Blood 

Regarding packing up wet.

We watch the weather forecast to ensure we pack up in the dry. On the odd occasion we have had to pack in the wet you take the minimum time so as to keep as dry as possible and then change into dry clothes in the car.

Once home you can then pick a dry day to open the unit out and tidy up and clean whilst the canvas drys out. Penine canvas is treated especially on the top so it absorbs very little moisture.

No, blood, the fabric does not go mouldy absolutely not... ....Secondhand Dandy's seem to always have their original PVC fabric covering.  In general the trailer gives up before the roof and walls etc. Ceased to worry at all about the weather.

Yes they are expensive new but I bought secondhand.  Mind you if you do decide to buy new you can get the thing very much bespoke as the factory offer a very personalised service.  They really are tough long lived units.

Yep I was nervous of this too but when you unwrap it next it is dry ... PVC might be a little sticky and you should polish it with Ye pledge once a year so that it continues to go up easily.  If you look at the way a Dandy packs away surfaces that are likely to become wet are separated completely from the inside soft furnishings and there are lots of air gaps inside, so the water just seems to evapourate no problems.  When you pack away the side walls, bed boards cover the beds before your drop the sides, then the solid sides cover what is left the soft outer sides fold on to so everything is kept separate. Its clever......  Mind you if you have a Dandy don't cut off those odd looking strings...... The are integral into the erection of a Dandy.....

Just to agree with the above post really, even if it wet the canvas doesn't take long to dry out at all, only an hour or two.

We've not actually had to pack away yet with our fiesta but its usually just a matter of keping your eye on the weather on the last day.

All in all a very minor problem which shouldn't spoil a decision to buy one of the best campers in the world!!!!!.

Having never had a wet packup before, I was worried over exactly the same thing last weekend! I even posted on here as you have! We ended up with a wet pack (it had poured down all night and was still raining as we were packing) but once we got home we opened up the conway and by the time we had unpacked the main canvas was dry!

I unzipped all the panels off the awning and put them over my washing line and again they were dry within an hour or 2! I was really surprised it had all dried out so quickly! It wasn't the nightmare I was expecting it to be.

Just don't make the mistake we did last year. We had a dry packup after last years holiday and it never dawned on us to dry our groundsheet when we got home. Needless to say when we came to use it this year it was still muddy and wet and smelt awful! Luckily the smell disappeared within a few hours but I made sure we dried it this time!