Esentials Your Check List

O.K. so you have brought your caravan, checked that it is compatible with your cars towing ratio and made sure your covered, both by your insurance and everything else. The next thing you need to sort out are your accessories, So that your caravan starts to feel like a home from home, you will soon find that your caravan is filled with all sorts of gadgets, gismos, bits & pieces, most of which you will find you use once or twice a season or maybe even less. Basically put in whatever you like or can fit without overloading, but here is a list of Must Haves to make sure you don't fall short on your holiday.

Water & Waste. Needless to say the chances of you being right next to a fresh water tap is unlikely, unless your caravan is kitted out for "euro pitches". So you will need to make sure you have a suitable water container for fetching and storing your water supply, you can get the standard type white water bottle or one of many variations which roll to ease the task of fetching and carrying the water. Unless you are built like Arnold Schwarzeneger, you will also find it useful to have a small length of fresh water pipe with a flange to attach it to the site water tap so that you don't have to hold the opening of the container up to the tap whilst it fills up, instead you can leave the bottle on the floor and use the pipe and flange to fill the bottle with ease. You will also need a waste container to catch the dirty water from you waste outlet. This bottle is usually not transparent or opaque as waste water is not a pretty sight. Again, you can get the standard black bottle or one of a variety of systems that either have wheels or roll. You will also need the pipes to connect your container to the water inlet and outlet points on your caravan, these are usually colour coded so as to ensure you are not drinking contaminated water, the fresh water pipe should be blue and the waste pipe is black flex pipe. You will also note that the cross section of the pipe on the fresh water pipe is smaller than that of the waste pipe and can only be connected to the correct outlet or inlet.

Gas. Your caravan will use gas for cooking, heating and maybe even lighting so it's important to make sure you have the correct gas and equipment on-board. There are two types of gas used for caravanning in the U.K., butane and propane. Depending on your caravan gas storage arrangement and your own personal preferences, you can chose from a range of sizes of bottle too. Most modern caravans have storage for two small or medium bottles in the storage compartment at the front of the caravan, having two bottles with you will often help ensure you never run out of gas, that is as long as you replace the empty one when you change onto the other. Although most appliances run equally well on either type of gas there are a few pros and cons for each. Propane, which is found in a blue bottle, is often best if you use your caravan in the winter months because butane; found in a red bottle, tends to freeze below zero degrees Celsius. Propane is also slightly the better of the two if you use any appliance that requires a large supply or if you use more than one appliance at a time. If you are traveling abroad you need to have a good supply of gas or have a completely different set up as they use Camping Gas on the continent and you cannot exchange your U.K cylinders over there.Your gas cylinder is connected to the caravan via a black gas hose and a regulator, make sure these connections are secured with a small jubilee clip and are air tight. Each type of gas needs a different type of regulator. Butane containers use a regulator for 20mbars that screws onto the bottle, and the on/off valve is located on the bottle itself, make sure that the valve is turned off when swapping over the cylinders and that you use a spanner to tighten the connection between the cylinder and regulator. Propane on the other hand uses a universal regulator at 37mbars, this has the on/off valve on the regulator and this type clips onto the bottle.Usually you will find that the regulators are colour coded, you can also get many variations of regulator which can give you an indication of how much gas there is in the bottle or even ones that connect to two bottles and sense when one bottle runs out and automatically swaps over to the other full bottle. When you are in transit we would advise that you do not have your gas supply in use or even turned on, although it is not illegal unless you are on a ferry, Eurostar or in a garage of service area, and you should also ensure that the bottle are stored upright and secured.

12 volt Electrics. One of the most common ways to supply your caravan with 12v power is via a leisure battery, but there are a couple of safety tips you need to follow with these as well. Firstly make sure you use a leisure battery specifically designed for use in caravans and not a car battery, you can get different ratings and can use more than one at the same time, as long as they are connected in parallel not series, check with an auto electrician or your caravan center if you are not sure and want to use more than one battery. Make sure that the battery is secured down whilst you're traveling, These batteries also emit hydrogen gas, so it is recommended that there is sufficient ventilation around the battery when in use, often the batteries have a rubber tube on them so that if they are used inside the caravan you can pass it through a hole in the floor by the battery so that the gas is released outside. Many people are now using solar panels to help recharge their batteries whilst on site which are most useful and contrary to popular misconception, they don't rely on it being a sunny day, any amount of daylight will give a charge to the battery. You can also get 12v electricity and recharge your battery using a petrol powered generator, although some sites insist that they are not used after a certain time at night or may not allow them at all.

240v mains electrics. Many sites and caravans are equipped for mains hook up, to allow you to use standard domestic appliances and mains voltage for your fridge and battery charger, although it is normal for an extra charge on your pitch if you wish to use this facility. Even if your caravan is not rigged up for mains electrics you can soon convert using a mains kit available from your caravan center or on-line store. Once installed all you need is a mains lead to connect your caravan to the hook-up point, usually around 25 meters of 3 core 2.5mm orange sheathed cable with relevant connections at each end. The cable and connections must also comply with British Standard B54343 or CEEE17, the cable can also be purchased from your on-line caravan store or local caravan center, or you could make your own with the correct components which you can purchase individually. One word of caution, when you are using the cable make sure you unravel the lead completely or the heat generated in the cables is effectively amplified and have been known to melt and overheat you electrics.

Toilet & Chemicals. Dependant on your caravan you may have a build in cassette toilet or you may need to buy a stand alone chemical toilet for your caravan, you will need to make sure you have some "blue" fluid for the toilet for the waste container section and a flush additive for the flush tank. When emptying the toilet make sure you use the correct designated disposal point, commonly known as the elsan. Wooden blocks or Jack Pads. O.K., so you've just pulled onto your summer holiday venue in the the glorious British climate and its muddy, raining and howling a gale!!!!!! This is where you find out just how versatile and useful a couple of pieces of wood can be. Firstly if the pitch is uneven you can pull the caravan wheel on the low side of the pitch onto one of the blocks to help you level the caravan out from side to side. Great, but then you find that when you try and level the caravan from front to back using the jockey wheel the wheel disappears into 4 inches of muddy grass, so put another block under the jockey wheel to stop this happening and help you get the caravan level all round. At last we're level so lets get the corner steadies down and we're away!!! , well no even if the weather is great you will find that as the weight of the caravan settles onto the steadies they will eventually bed down into the grass and the steadies don't stay steady for long, so put a block under each of the legs to distribute the weight over a larger area and avoid them sinking into the mud quite as much. O.K. so that's everything covered except for the force ten gale, how can a block be of benefit there you may ask!!!! Many people will put up windbreakers the same as those used for the beach, they do this for many reasons from giving that extra privacy, marking their territory or protecting the caravan or awning from the wind. Using a block over the top of each pole as you hammer it in will not only give you a larger area to hit but it will help stop the poles from being damaged with the hammer. So here is our advise on how many and what size blocks to carry,

Corner Stead Winder. O.K. I now that sound a bit obvious, but I thought it was worth mentioning, many people have adapted the use of their cordless household drills for caravanning ease. With the use of the correct sized socket from their ratchet set and an adaptor for the drill you can wind your legs up and down at the pull of a trigger, you can buy specially made gadgets from some caravan accessory suppliers and manufacturers to do the same thing but a little adaptation saves you the expense of such gadgets.

Caravan Step. There is only one thing worse than having to climb into a caravan or forgetting that there is a 2 foot drop to the floor when you step out of your caravan because you haven't got a step, and that's smashing your head on the door frame because you forgot to duck your head as you get out of the caravan. Needless to say it's far less strain and far more elegant using a caravan step, there are many different type of these as well. The basic type is a single platform step but you can get twin steps as well which are even better, whichever you use make sure your step is level and well seated to avoid unnecessary accidents. Some caravans have a pull out step built onto the chassis, when using these make sure that it is securely clicked into place and any securing pins used before you use them. Personally I don't like this style and prefer a separate step as I feel they are more secure and trusty.

Tool kit and Spares. It is always advisable to keep a small tool kit in your caravan for those little repairs and mishaps, you should also make sure that the kit includes some spare light bulbs for your caravan as well.

Spare Wheel & Jack. You never know when you are going to need to change your tyre, so make sure you carry it and maintain it at the correct air pressure. Also carry a bottle jack or similar to raise the wheel off the ground, it is not advisable to and is nigh impossible to get enough clearance from the ground using the corner steadies of your caravan, they are not designed to lift the weight of the van they are only for steadying the caravan. However, if you do need to change the wheel and don't have an axel stand, it would probably be best to wind down the steadies once the jack has being used to ensure your safety.