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Its a well know fact that practice makes perfect.. And not every caravan on the road is being towed by a driver with years of experiance... Some may be driers who's parents have vans and some may be owned by the small family who just want to give there kids a holiday.

lets all share the Good and the bad points weve picked up over the years to make not only there holidays more enjoyable but maybe to save on the odd traffic jam caused by an unexperianced driver thats just doing his/her best.

a list of the stuff we carnt live without and a list of stuff we've bought that just isnt worth bothering with but dont just say a cobb tell them why its so good or why you didnt like it..

does everyone understand the law of towing and the use of mirrors, how to load and how to tell if your over weight. if your licence allows you to tow,do you need additional insurance,

most importantly lets use this space to help not slate those who really didnt know 

Can do without.......

Buldog caravan leveller  you put it under one wheel and wind up. In theory it looked great but the down side is, it's difficult to wind and you need the van to be standng on a soft surface to get it to slide into place.

Can't do without...........

Fixed bed....   once you,ve had one theres no going back.

Good quality rock pegs and a good quality hammer...... assuming you have an awning.

A little spirit level.

Bottle opener....... for obvious reasons.

well atleast you botherd..

my favourite purchase cost me a pound and screwed up on the inside of the partition wall just inside the door.

it was a bottle opener from a pub that had shut down9complete with bottle top catcher)

it even gets the use from many a passer by with a bottle to open

we are quite new to having our own van, this is our second season and we have definatly had some learning curves.

our family situation isnt the norm so our needs are very different to many folk.

Couldnt do without:

portable sattelite and dish ......... Dh doesnt sleep much so it helps him to have somthing to watch during the night (very quietly!)

cadac         its brilliant!  last holiday we never used the cooker in the van at all, its stable and the right height for dh to cook on and its pretty good to clean.

motor mover................ brilliant invention i can get the van hnhitched then dh can park it where he likes.

portable clothes rail for awning  ......... no more wet coats in the van dripping

rock pegs........... no more bent pegs to straighten when we get home.

manage with out:

big canvas awning ............ to big too heavy had to go

awning that stays on the van............. had to go i couldnt manage to roll it up into the bag alone!

This is our 1st season & so far...

Couldn't Do Without:

1.  Cadac - only bought it last week whilst we were away & love it.  Can totally understand why everyone raves about them.

2.  Light Weight Porch Awning - wouldn't want to faff around with a big canvas one if only away for a couple of nights but couldn't manage without anything at all.

3.  Towing Course - neither of us have been on it yet & we live in dread of the possibility of having to reverse anywhere.  Very high on the 'To Do' list!

Don't Need:

1.  Microwave - bought one for our week away last week convinced that with 5 of us I couldn't live without one.  Didn't use it once.

Oh yes ...the microwave, we wouldn't bother with it but it came fitted in the van, we only use it for jacket spuds on occasions.

Yes I bought the micro... hum no aint used it yet..its not built in its to big to sit anywhere without looking out of place, it gets moved round the van constantly, and then ends up on the cubard in the back of the van, am i the only one who has a microwave in the bathroom?. it then gets dumped on the floor for the journey home

"FOR SALE 1 microwave for use in the home or caravan as good as new never used but had dints and dents on outside"

any tips on towing anyone?

are you supposed to use the microwave? i thought it was justthere to get in the way and take up valuable space under the bottom bunk!

tips for towing?  hmm i ve persoally only towed for a few miles, my only thing would be:

 make sure your mirrors are set right

keep up with the traaffic but within a safe speed limit

dont worry about the impatient burk flashing behind you! move over when you can but remeber you have as much right to be on the road as he does.

BEST BUYS: Cadac Barbecue...love it!!!  light weight porch awning...dont ever want to put the Isabella up again. The collapsable bin thingy that you put a bin bag in. Folding Plastic box for the washing up.

WORST BUY: A microwave same here, never used it, move the box around the van and it ends up in the boot of the car!!  FOR SALE, A pop up dog tent, complete with carry bag, (dogbag.com) our dog hates it !!! Oh and finally a rubbish battery operated hand held hoover made by (Hoover) could suck harder myself hehe.

Best Buys. Cadac the best bbq we have owned(and we have had many over the years)we havent used the oven in van since we got it and only used the stove rings for pasta.  The porch awning is great for our 'shorter' trips. The hanging light we use in awning gives us more light than the above caravan door light. I can now read in the awning late into the night if I want to. A time projection clock we use at night time for those nights you always wake up and wonder what the time is but don't want to put a light on. Its battery operated and projects onto the ceiling of the van. The wind up torches come in handy if we go out for the evening and we are walking back, sometimes in unlit area's. The table top fridge (for lager and wine of course) sits on a table in awning and saves our van fridge space for the food. 

Worst Buys. Lightweight hoover/dustbuster thingy sucked up nothing, I always ended up on my knees with dustpan and brush. We now have a small but very powerful cylinder hoover from tesco. We dont have a Microwave in the van, but if we did it would no doubt be on this list. we dont have one home and have never ever wished we had one.......... I'm quite a minimalist person and cant cope with stuff that doesn't get used. At home I sort out every year without fail and if it hasn't been used in a year it gets chucked. 

H likes the screw and clamp towing mirrors (was going for the suction one's at first till a friend had his drop off on a trip to France) H also loves the solar powered lantern, that has been attached to the alko safety ball, and we use it when away, saves us knocking our shins or tripping up (we saw this happen once to a elderly gentleman)

There are probably a few more to list but I've covered our top one's 

I have just remembered a tip for if you are reversing on your own....

Take a cane about the height of your back window, put  something on it, small flag or similar put it in the ground right by the tow ball and aim.

Must have:-

Bathroom scales and a stick, to check noseweight before setting off. I don't take them with me though, just re-pack the caravan in the same way for the return journey.

Tyre pressure gauge and pump. to make sure caravan and car tyres are well hard (well reccommended PSI anyway)

Bulldog stabiliser to dampen things...

fan heater with 0, 1, 2, KW settings and an extension lead to warm the awning in the evenings

Toaster, Kettle.

Duck Tape, Handy Mutli tool and a spare water pump

Don't use :-

Oven, -makes a handy bread bin/cake cupboard.

Window hanging clothes rack - makes dents on the side of caravan 

Mini-Vacuum cleaner - quicker/easier/lighter to use dustpan and brush