Hi all.... Hope everyone had a great summer... I know I had... Great setting up etc... Just wondering when do people stop using the trailer tent for the year?.. I know heaters etc.. But is it too cold next week for example?
no such thing as bad weather, its only wrong clothes - billy connelly quote!
my husband is away camping this coming weekend on his motorbike, so no chance of firing the engine up and turning blowers on to get warmed up. at least you can get out of the rain should we have any.
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
Just need to adjust the gear list to suit, such as a stove that uses a fuel that can burn well at sub-zero temperatures (i.e. NOT butane); camp bed + SIM instead of an airbed; cotton canvas tent with a SIG or ZIG; a suitable fan heater; suitable clothing as in layers; etc. etc...
This is one of my favourite photos:
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
In addition to the cold, my worry would be how to dry the tent out at that time of year. Hanging the tent up inside wouldn't be possible due to the size.
There used to be a local company with a warehouse that offered tent drying services but I am not sure if they are still trading.
Quote: Originally posted by RainMagnet on 09/9/2025
In addition to the cold, my worry would be how to dry the tent out at that time of year. Hanging the tent up inside wouldn't be possible due to the size.
Drying the tent can be needed any time of year, though I don’t know if trailer tent canvas usually comes off easily. Our lounge would be out of action while the Cabanon Pyramide was draped over the furniture & regularly rearranged. But that could happen in summer as well as autumn or winter.
And yes, we have also camped in snow: snow is a good insulator over a tent - we were toasty & didn not have EHU for an oil radiator in those days.
Woolly hat & bed socks. The dog keeps us warm too.
Enjoy. There is something quite magical about camping (tent, MH, whatever) in autumn: golden leaves, blue skies, crispness
Quote: Originally posted by RainMagnet on 09/9/2025
In addition to the cold, my worry would be how to dry the tent out at that time of year. Hanging the tent up inside wouldn't be possible due to the size.
When I changed my tent from a Hypercamp Escala 4 which had a ZIG to an ESVO Bedouin 340 which had a SIG, I struggled to dry the latter in my garage due to its weight and size.
It was one of the reasons why I had to change unit to a van.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Quote: Originally posted by Fiona W on 09/9/2025
There is something quite magical about camping (tent, MH, whatever) in autumn: golden leaves, blue skies, crispness
Indeed! October in the Forest of Dean, woke up to a misty and foggy morning with frost on the ground and tent, for the day to turn into a crisp, dry and sunny autumn day, bliss!
Nowadays I do not go camping in January and February as I do not wish to be stranded and not able to come home if the weather is really foul.
I might start doing short trips over a weekend locally pending on weather forecast at short notice, now that I have a canopy type awning which means I can sit outside if it is not too wet and windy.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Not in a trailer tent/folding camper which obviously brings it's own problems of drying canvas, but I'll be in a caravan and planning to go away to the Lake District in Nov for around 10 days. Done it several times before, and it can be pretty damp!
Caravan may have advantage over TT/FC as probably better insulated, but the blown air heating has always kept it toasty warm.
I do have a 'canvas drying' issue in a way, as will be using my 2.6m porch awning, but at least I can take that indoors at home to dry it! Some may not bother with a awning in winter weather, but to me it's worth the drying issues, it means I can shed my soaking outdoor clothes and boots without dragging the wet/muck into the caravan, AND I can dry my long coated Border Collie off before I let her in the van too.
Not expecting snow, but you can never be certain, sleet may be expected, rain is a dead cert, pretty sure temps will nudge to low single figures overnight though, and may not rise much during the day if completely overcast, typically scraping into double figures if the sun's out!
The weather on site doesn't concern me much, but the near 300 mile journey from home is of greater concern. Last time I went in Nov, the region was under flood warnings, and indeed well flooded with impassable roads in parts, and I had to leave home praying that the flooding was diminishing rather than increasing, as that days flood warnings were not announced until some hours after I needed to set off! The car can wade a little through deep puddles without issue, but the caravan is a different matter, the floor is like Swiss Cheese - SO MANY holes for vents and unsealed piping/cable entry/exits! - NOT going to be dragging that through floods!
Hmmm, the canopy awning has not arrived yet, hopefully, it is not too big and I can dry it out inside the van after returning home!
Good job I did not opt for a bigger and heavier enclosed awning with a SIG!!!
DK
Post last edited on 09/09/2025 14:24:00
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Drying after use in wet conditions, in fact it doesn't even have to have rained, dew is common overnight, and condensation on the inside is near guaranteed with difference between daytime and night time temps, is something so many people never seem to think about when choosing tents or awnings. Doesn't matter where the damp came from, it needs drying out before packing away if to avoid mould!
My old Outwell Glendale 5 berth tent was a great tent to use, but a real handful to dry at home, too big to erect in my garden, it was a drape it here there and everywhere and constantly turn it over to ensure thoroughly dry type exercise, if lucky I could do it in the garden, carefully avoiding the rose bushes, but more often than not, in the spare room! Far too heavy (bad enough dry, far worse when wet!) to drape over the clothes line! Amounted to one of my reasons for upgrading to a caravan!
My Kampa 330 Airbeam caravan awning is another beast to wrestle with, smaller than my old Outwell tent, but even heavier. Found I was only using it if some assurance I wasn't going to pack it up soaking wet! The home drying was a PITA!
I bought a SunnCamp Swift Deluxe 260 SC lightweight awning for use when some certainty of packing up wet. TBH, it's become my 'only' awning in reality, the Kampa Airbeam hasn't been used in some time! The Sunncamp is small and light enough to drape over the clothes line at home, or relatively easy to spread out in the spare room. Had I been aware of this brilliant awning when looking for my first awning, I'd probably never have bought the Kampa!
DK, your canopy is near identical to my Sunncamp awning, except even lighter as no front wall and no side doors, so it shouldn't be too much to handle. As to drying it in your van, that may be a bit harder, you may need a little more space to be able to regularly turn it over and inside out to get every nook and cranny dry.
Got it at Monty. This was what I had to do in the past with my cotton canvas tents, as in keep turning while they were drying to make sure they were thoroughly dried before packing back into their bags.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
I've got a dandy which is a folding camper cum caravan. PVC impregnated acrylic instead of canvas is insulated so warm in winter and can be folded up wet and left like that until next time it's used.
The water simply can't get absorbed into the pvc so runs off, usually drying off whilst driving home.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: End date
via mobile 08/9/2025 at 12:56pm
