These pods are collapsible with lots of built-in gadgets and come in very bright coloursThe Caravan Pods fit in standard car parking spaces when folded and are light enough to be towed by the smallest of cars, but expand to reveal a spacious and attractive holiday home.
Inside is broken into two pods: one seats or sleeps two adults, while the other houses the water system, power supply and storage space.
And the large central window is made of film, which changes from transparent to opaque at the flick of a switch.
The designer of these innovative holiday homes is David Tonkinson, a 23-year-old industrial design graduate, from Poole, Dorset. He said: “Caravans and caravanning are regarded among younger generations as a dated and old-fashioned pastime.
“I believe caravans are in desperate need of modernisation if they are to overcome the stigma surrounding them and are to appeal to more than just retired people.
“I wanted to create a novel, two person caravan that appeals to a fashion conscious user. It also had to be small and lightweight enough to be towed by a small car.
The exterior coloured body panels, interior panels, walls and floor are contact moulded glass-reinforced-plastic.
The window is polycarbonate with a polished aluminium frame and neoprene seal. And the chassis is cast steel, nickel-plated to protect it from corrosion
For those of you getting ready to store your caravan for the winter we’ve put together a few tips to protect your caravan.
The main problems over the winter period are frost, damp and unwanted visitors so anything you can do to protect your caravan over this period helps the first trip of the season much more pleasant.
Checklist
• Empty the water system. It’s best to do this on your last trip before you set off home as this can take some time and can drain whilst you’re travelling home.
• Plug your sinks to stop insects getting in.
• Leave the mixer tap open at the halfway point, all drain points open and the shower head up fully so no water stagnates in the pipe.
• Drain the loo and empty the cassette
• Close the outside waste flaps
• Clear out all your food provisions
• Clear out the fridge and leave the door open.
• Unhook the gas and supply
• Disconnect the battery (depending on security devices)
• Wash down your van with a caravan cleaner, rinse and then wax
• Release the handbrake and place the wheel chocks.
• Spray all electricity connections with WD40
Optional
• Fit a breathable caravan cover
• Fit winter wheels (check your insurance policy)
The Northern Motorhome show kicks off on the 19th of September till the 21st. Don’t forget that there has been a change of venue this year as pointed out in a previous blog. This year it will be held at the Pickering Showground rather than York Racecourse. For more information visit their website
The Lincoln Show is known for the top flight acts they have for our pleasure. This years impressive line-up will be playing a open air concert and include the West End Show, Dancing in the Streets on Saturday supported by the mythical Hermans Hermits.
The concert is included in the price of your pitch but if you’re not camping on site then you can buy your concert tickets you can call 01778 391123 (Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm).
As well as the show on Saturday, Thursday offers;
Colin Paul & the Persuaders, 60s band The Cufflinks, country music from West Virgina and Beatles music from John & Paul.
Friday offers 60s band Union Gap, Shang a Lang, Notown without Motown, sensational Soul singer Clifton End, plus country favourites
The Diesel Cowboys and Sunday finishes off with 70s music from Ballroom Glitz and Flairz. A tribute to Franki Vallie & the Four Seasons by Lets Hang On, plus top comedian Tim Pope.
We’ve just added the new folding bike “The Pocket Bike”. Compact, lightweight and folds away in just 6 seconds, making it ideal to take away on holiday. It also comes with a free carry case which normally costs around 40 pounds.
Bike Frame: 7000 series aluminium
Drive chain: Kevlar greaseless belt drive
Wheels: injection molded 16″ (41 cm)
Folded Size: 45″ x 20″ x 20″ (114cm x 51cm x 51cm)
Rider weight limit: 250lbs (110kg)
Rider height: 5’4″ to 6’4″ (163 to 193cm)
Speed: single speed (56 gear inch)
We are pleased to say that we have now become official dealers of NR Awnings, expanding our caravan awning section to give our customers an even greater choice.
NR Awnings are well established in the UK and have been designing and manufacturing in the North of England for over 35 years. They use only the finest materials and are accepted as one of the best awning manufacturers in the UK and have sold over 250,000 awnings to date. All awnings are handmade ensuring high quality and lasting value.
As we all know, putting up an awning for the first time can be worse than taking a physics degree, and often in the rain! It almost makes Ikea furniture seem like a piece of cake. So as we are staring to get our awnings out here are a few tips.
Have a trial run at home, hidden from the neighbours if possible, before getting to the site and getting very frustrated for all the other “professional” caravanners looking on.
Choose a nice day with little wind on your first trial run, even a bit of wind can thwart your first attempts
Put your groundsheet down now instead of later when it’s all up.
Wax the beading of the awning rail, making it easier to slide the awning on. Furniture polish with silicon will do the same trick.
Once the awning is through the channel fully, fit the awning brackets into the roof cord.
Fit the centre vertical poles together and fit into the canvas then proceed to do the same for the remaining front frame poles and legs. Raise the frame to the vertical, attach the roof pole to the bracket and partially loosen it. If you have to erect your awning on a windy day, put a storm strap over the whole awning at this point. Now fit the final roof poles and loosen them as well.
Next zip in the front and sides - then you will be able to fully tension the legs to the correct height
Peg down the corners of the awning - we then slide in the awning skirt along the channel at the bottom of the caravan. You will then be able to peg down the rest of the awning
Once you’ve got the poles correctly erected put colour coded stickers on the joints making it easier the next time.
In 2012, traditional analogue television will be a thing of the past in the UK. Therefore if you still want to enjoy the TV when travelling you will need to switch to digital. To do this you will have to buy a Freeview box and a satellite.
That will mean investing in a Freeview box or fitting a satellite dish.
Freeview receivers work well at home, depending on the area you live in, but for most areas you simply plug in and get crystal clear reception of your standard channels but also BBC3, BBC4 and Film Four for free.
However in caravans and motorhomes this can be a little bit more problematic normally down to the aerial such as Status Aerials.
Omni-Directional style aerials are often not up to the job, hence the reason we don’t use them for domestic use. The problem is height and a 25 ft mast is often not practical. So what’s the solution?
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Satellite:
Freeview is fine for UK touring, but not so great when abroad because you can only pick up local stations. In theory you should be able to get a perfect picture just about anywhere that your dish can gain a clear view of a satellite.
There are lots of dishes to choose from, with the dome-style designs being the top of the range.
Once the dish is fitted you need to make sure it’s pointing in the right direction. To get a picture, you’ll need to buy a satfinder. This is a device which you connect between the dish and the receiver with an indicator to show when the appropriate satellite has been found.
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Dishes that find the satellites by themselves are even easier.
Before you decide what dish to buy, you need to check out the coverage – or footprint – offered by different satellites. For example the Camos Satellite Dome will pick up all popular UK TV & radio programmes over all of the British Isles, France, Holland & Belgium and well into Germany, Switzerland, Austria, north-west Italy and north-east Spain down as far as Barcelona. In the rest of Europe it has a similar performance to any other satellite dish with a diameter of less than 1.2M
Bob Eldridge of Summertronics has invented an innovative product called the Scanthief 200 to help in the fight against caravan crime. It basically consists of a tiny transmitter you hide in the caravan.
There is a case station that you leave at home or work and in the instance of somebody tampering with the van the station will give off an alarm to alert you.
The device is just four-and-a-half inches by two-and-a-half inches and detects movement in any direction.
Sick of lugging about the heavyweight, bulky steel frame for your Trio Sport awnings? Upgrade now to the Fibermax ultralight awning frames. Full range of TRIO Sport frames available now on the site. FREE UK delivery!!!