If I ever get rid of anything it must be seriously broken. I am very much of the make-do-and-mend generation so if it still works I will still have it, assuming I still need it of course. I don't have a smart-phone as the phone I have still works. About 10 years ago I remember saying to someone that I'll buy a new phone when this one packs up, and the phone was really old then! It is still working fine!
Monty, you say your caravan is "getting on a bit" at nearly 9 years old. I'd regard that as almost new. Mine will be 33 years old this year and it's still going strong. My car is now 17 years old too. It's me that's getting on a bit, so I just have things to match.
I pressed the "buy" button and bought a Coleman 424 and a spare generator at VERY good price, even after taking the shipping cost into consideration (being imported from the Netherlands).
Bought 1L of Coleman fuel via Amazon.
Have I said I really really missed that stove?
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 Colin21 on 05/2/2025
....
Monty, you say your caravan is "getting on a bit" at nearly 9 years old. I'd regard that as almost new. Mine will be 33 years old this year and it's still going strong. My car is now 17 years old too. It's me that's getting on a bit, so I just have things to match.
Caravan age comment was relative to modern custom, where so many seem to buy new, use for a season or two, then replace with another new one! Mine is s/h and had been traded in at c 18 months old for a new one! - don't think the filthy owners could be asked to clean it, so bought a new one! - when I looked at it before purchase, all appeared in very good order, upholstery was spotless, but I suspected newly cleaned (detergent smell), the carpet was wrapped in protective 'cling film' so not really visible, but subsequently found to be very stained, and the fridge turned out to be mouldy in all the nooks and crannies, but the cooker appeared unused. Ever since I've had it, almost everything vaguely movable that I've shifted for the first time has revealed hidden spillages and staining (that got cleaned by me!)! They must have been complete slobs - suspect it looked a real mess when handed over to the dealer!
Now, it was no exception, nearly every under 2 year old caravan I looked at was also filthy and/or broken in many parts! Got really disheartened and despaired of finding a decent van, swapping vans at less than 2 years seemed VERY common, as certainly no shortage on the market.
It seemed keeping and looking after a very expensive (to my mind, they were expensive!) caravan, was not something many could be bothered with - just buy a new one and abuse that!
My van may be a few years old, but it's now cleaner than when I bought it c 2 years old, and nothing is broken, so I'm sticking with it for the foreseeable future. Not interested in impressing anyone with a new(er) van, and my old(ish) van serves me very well indeed.
Don't think my van will get to 33 years old in my hands though, I'd be well into my 90's! .... and suitable tow vehicles probably like hens teeth .... and I'd expect CAMC would have turned all their camp sites into theme parks or whatever by then too!!!!
Our caravan was already old when we bought it. I couldn't care less about it being old though, it was affordable and it looked like it had been very well cared for but hardly ever used. The cooker looked brand new and even had a tray inside it that still had a label stuck to it. Everything worked as it should and I couldn't find any trace of the dreaded damp.
I'm not into showing off or impressing anyone. What you see is what you get with me. I'm not easily impressed either. If the caravan next door to me is brand new, so what? My caravan cost me £1,100 and theirs must have cost them 30 times what mine did me. Does it do anything more than mine does? Mine has everything I could want, it's comfortable, tows like a dream, and owes me nothing. I owe nothing for it either. If the people next door are friendly I'll chat to them, but one thing I certainly won't do is envy them.
I returned to tent camping around age 50, a woman on my own,now with a 3man tunnel tent I can stand up in and deal with myself. I reckon as long as you find a warm comfy bed and a tent with a bit of room in it, and aim for fair weather of course, it'll be fine! Now we all just have to hope for a decent summer...
------------- Always edited for sloppy typing - when I spot it!
Another vote for the Decathlon inflatable bed bases (take about 20-25 pumps to inflate and then the Megamat or similar on top, sheet and opened out sleeping bag. A game changer.
I've recently returned from 4 days (should have been 5 but rain stopped play) using our 20year-old plus Cabanon Estoril 6-berth frame tent. I adapted two of the inner tents to make one large bedroom and the remaining one is used as a dressing room!
It's a doddle to put up in comparison to the Outwell Monterey, and has so much space. The PVC roof helped keep me bone dry, even throught a torrential Biblical thunderstorm, where other newer polyester fibre-glass poled tent, and an airbeam awning, all let in the wet stuff.
I seriously love that tent. I hadn't used it for 4 years but did pitch it before we went, and hosed it down, to allow the fibres to swell.
Good luck with finding the tent you want and returning to life under canvas.
Oh, BTW, I'm now 61, and took up camping again in my early 40s, having campeed as a child and in my 20s. And I pitch/strike the Estoril by myself.
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
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: Back to basics
via mobile 19/7/2025 at 10:30pm
