Safe and easy trailering depends on preparation and practice. Once you know the basics, towing a trailer is simple. Backing up is more difficult. Remember that no one is a “natural” at backing a trailer, and even the experts needed time to master the tricks. Before you drive off to launch your boat at a busy ramp, take time to practice backing the trailer in a deserted parking lot or empty field. Read the rest of this entry »
Camping is one of childhood’s greatest adventures, and the times you spend with your children having fun in a tent or caravan will remain in their memories forever and unite your family in later years.
The sheer novelty of it all and the fact that the whole world comes so much closer may have something to do with this. Whatever the reason, don’t hesitate when it comes to packing them into the car and going away.
Children take to camping like the proverbial duck to water, and apart from when fatigue overtakes them, the simplest pleasures still have the ability to carry them further, and in a more wholesome fashion, than the most expensive toys. Read the rest of this entry »
With or without its own toilet, a caravan is quite like a house in that it stays warm for a while after the sun has gone down. Caravanners therefore tend to remain up, talking and reading after dark for much longer than their friends who are camping in tents. When choosing a van, you should check whether it has a lighting system and power supply that will enable you to do this. Read the rest of this entry »
As an alternative to staying in a ready-erected tent, it is possible to hire the tent and other equipment before setting off from home. This has the advantage that you are not tied to staying at a particular campsite and it also disciplines first-time campers into cutting down on the amount of baggage that they take with them.
Considering the huge packing problems that the beginner faces, he might wonder exactly where the advantage of the latter lies, but it is an odd fact that above a certain basic level the family’s comfort and happiness on holiday do not increase in proportion to the weight of paraphernalia that has been dragged along. Read the rest of this entry »
There are few opportunities for any major repairs in the field, but a temporary patch can prevent down spilling out from a ripped sleeping bag or a snagged jacket. More and more garments, bags and flysheets are in rip-stop material, in which the fabric is seamed with reinforcing strands of nylon, but tears are still a possibility. Rip-stop repair tape and a needle and thread are useful accessories carried in a 35-mm film container, inside your pack.
In winter especially, the countryside is muddy. It is frequently not much better in high summer and mud can cause trouble in a number of ways. Nothing is more discouraging than to return to your car on a cold wet winter’s night and find when you try to move that the wheels sink swiftly into the sodden ground. Read the rest of this entry »
